TOP 3 NIGERIAN POLITICIANS CURRENTLY FACING THE LAW OVER ALLEGED FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES

President Muhammadu Buhari‘s effort in tackling corruption is gaining momentum by the day, Buhari stresses that there is a clear linkage between the billions of naira lost to corruption and the poor living conditions of the people. Under him a  number of politicians and public office holders have been arrested over fraudulent activities, here’s the top 3  currently trending on social media.

1. Sambo Dasuki

Sambo Dasuki

On December 1, 2015, Dasuki was arrested by Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS) for allegedly stealing $2bn and accused of awarding phantom contracts to buy 12 helicopters, four fighter jets, and ammunition meant for the Nigeria’s military campaign against Boko Haram Islamist militants.

The embattled former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd, has on several occasion tried to persuade an Abuja high court sitting at Maitama to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, from prosecuting him on a 22-count criminal charge bordering on alleged diversion of N19billion arms fund.

Dasuki was among four majors (Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, Lawan Gwadabe, and Abdulmumini Aminu) who arrested the Nigerian head of state Muhammadu Buhari in the 1985 palace coup led by Major General Ibrahim Babangida. Following the coup, Dasuki was made Aide-de-camp (ADC) to General Ibrahim Babangida.

2. Bukola Saraki

Bukola Saraki became the first senate president in Nigeria to be issued with arrest warrants, when Danladi Umar the chairman of the Code Of Conduct Tribunal, issued an arrest warrant against Saraki on September 18, 2015.

The Code of Conduct Bureau cited a 13-count charge of corruption against Mr. Saraki. In charge number ABT/01/15, dated September 11, 2015 and filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Saraki is accused of offences ranging from anticipatory declaration of assets to making false declaration of assets in forms Saraki had filed with the Code of Conduct Bureau while he was governor of Kwara state. He was also accused of failing to declare some assets he acquired while in office as governor, acquiring assets beyond his legitimate earnings, and accused of operating foreign accounts while being a public officer.

An official of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Peter Danladi, stated in a court affidavit that the investigation of the various petitions of corruption, theft, money laundering, among others, against Saraki in 2010, was conducted jointly by the officials of the EFCC, CCB and the DSS. “The EFCC conducted its investigation on the various petitions and made findings which showed that the defendant/applicant abused his office, while he was the governor of Kwara State and was involved in various acts of corruption as the governor of the state. The defendant/applicant borrowed huge sums of money running into billions from commercial banks, particularly Guaranty Trust Bank, and used the proceeds of the loan to acquire several landed properties in Lagos, Abuja and London, while he was the governor of Kwara State.

On March 18, 2016, Kanu Agabi, Saraki’s lead counsel and ex-attorney general of Nigeria, led a huge delegation of 79 lawyers, to defend Saraki at the tribunal, in  recent developments,  the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar, directed that the trial of embattled Senate President will henceforth proceed day to day until the conclusion of the case.

3. Olisa Metuh

In January 5th, 2016, Olisa Metuh was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, answering questions regarding some fund (Arms Deal) said to have been traced to his firm. ”From the records, Metuh got over N400 million, he has not said anything because we need the public money to be returned so that it’s going to be used for public good,” Mr. Magu said during a meeting with online media publishers in Lagos.

ABUJA — The current scarcity of foreign exchange confronting the country is being turned into an advantage through the local production of goods for which hard currencies were hitherto wasted. CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said this during an assessment tour of the farmlands cultivated under the Anchor Borrowers Programme in Kebbi State, weekend. A statement by the Acting Director of Communications, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, in Abuja, yesterday, quoted the governor as saying rice output from Kebbi State alone had proved wrong, critics of the apex bank’s forex policy measures. Emefiele noted that with the level of success attained with the pilot project in Kebbi State, in addition to what he saw at Sunti Golden Sugar Estate in Niger State just recently, the country could produce enough to feed itself and even export in no distant future. Agriculture, bedrock of genuine economic growth The governor reiterated that agriculture remained the bedrock of genuine economic growth of any nation, adding that Nigeria could not be an exception. As such, he said Nigeria with large expanse of arable land ought not to be spending huge amounts of money on importing food items at the expense of other competing needs. The CBN governor stated that the success recorded by rice farmers in Kebbi State had rekindled hope in the ability of Nigeria to be self-sufficient in rice and wheat production. He noted that with N210,000, each farmer was able to cultivate a hectare of rice farm. He disclosed that a total of 78,581 farmers were mobilized in Kebbi State under the Anchor Borrowers Programme and that the farmers are already looking forward to a total of one million metric tons rice this year. Speaking further on what the programme had been able to achieve, the CBN governor stated: “With the disbursement of N4.9 billion as loans to the farmers, over 570,000 direct jobs have been created and saved with the multiplier effects. “70,871 rural farmers now own and operate bank accounts and captured under the Bank Verification Number (BVN) biometric project and timely supply of inputs to 73,001 farmers.” According to the CBN governor, the performance of the Anchor Borrowers Programme has vindicated the stance of the apex bank and that given the incentive and appropriate support, Nigerian farmers can fill whatever gap exists between the demand and supply of agricultural products like rice, wheat, cotton and palm produce. On his assessment of the programme, the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe, said the level of activities in the rural areas visited by the team had shown that with Kebbi State alone targeting one million tons of rice out of the projected seven million tons required by the entire country, self sufficiency in rice production is very much in sight at this time when 12 other states identified as rice producing belts harvest their produce. He commended the efforts of the CBN for reinventing agricultural practice into profitable business venture.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/nigeria-turning-forex-scarcity-advantage-emefiele/