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I Did Not Misappropriate N1.3trn – Okowa

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By Mike Odiakose, Abuja

Immediate past Governor of Delta, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, has denied allegations that he misappropriated N1.3 trillion oil derivation funds of the state while in office.

Okowa spoke out for the first time when he received the national leadership of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) led by its President-General, Chief Ese Owe, which paid him a solidarity visit at his residence in Asaba on Tuesday.

He said that he was not worried by the EFCC’s invitation because he was confident that he would come out clean having served Deltans well as governor.

He disclosed that the petitioners were driven by mundane political considerations but asserted that he would continue to support Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to deliver on the mandate freely given to him by Delta people.

“It was a petition written several months ago, but unfortunately, with the politics of our time some people decided to ensure that Okowa must be invited by EFCC.

“People are genuinely uncomfortable about Okowa and I was actually invited and I went there by myself and the first thing I saw was that they said I misappropriated N1.3 trillion and I said, do you know the kind of money you are talking about?

“To successfully take N1.3 trillion, it means you have to be taking between N16 billion and N20 billion every month into your pocket. I don’t even know if the President of this country will be able to do that, not to talk of the governor of Delta State.

“They have forgotten that the first in three years we came into office – 2015, 2016 and 2017 – the money that was coming into the state was not even enough to pay salaries at all.

“Some local governments like Ethiope East were owing as much as 15 months salaries and even in the state here some people were getting half salaries.

“Delta State is the highest salary-paying state in this nation; our salaries grew to the level that salaries and pensions went up to over N11 billion in a month.

“There are some states whose total staff strength is less than 18,000, but here in Delta, we have over 56,000 workers.

“Workers always received their salaries promptly while we also embarked on all the projects that were done, and nobody thinks about it, especially the projects we did in the riverine areas. But, I know that the people are not happy with those who wrote the petition.”

“Personally, I am not against investigation because the EFCC has to do its job, and I know that I have done everything how it ought to be done.

“For every allegation, they will investigate, and when they have found the truth, they will stop, but for those who sent a wrong communication, it is rather unfortunate.

“I just pray for them because when you allow yourself to be used as a tool, when evil starts to come, the impact will be so much, but I pray that God will forgive them.

“I know that by the special grace of God we have done the things we ought to do to the best of our ability and by the special grace of God, Governor Oborevwori is beginning to do a lot.

“I believe that by next year he will do a lot more. So, let me assure you that I will continue to support the UPU and the governor of the state as much as I can because I know that he has a lot to offer this state.” The former governor added.

He commended the UPU for its support to him over the years, saying, “I thank the UPU and the Urhobos because they supported me a lot and they also believe in equity because I always got more votes from them than their sons who contested against me.”

Earlier, the President-General of UPU had said that their visit was to thank the former Governor for supporting their son, Rt Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, to emerge as Governor of the state.

He expressed the union’s appreciation to Okowa for all his support to it throughout his tenure and out of office.

POLITICS

Journalists Honour Barau for Topping Chart of Private Member Bills Sponsorship in Senate

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By Mike Odiakose, Abuja

Journalists covering the Senate have honoured  Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, with award on highest number of private member Bills sponsorship.

Records on Private Member Bills sponsorship among serving Senators in the 10th National Assembly , obtained from Rules and Business office , indicated that Senator Barau tops with 21 bills within the last 18 months.

One of the 21 private member bills sponsored by Senator Barau was the NorthWest Development Commission Bill which is now an Act of Parliament legalising the creation of North West Development Commission (NWDC) after assented to, by President Bola Tinubu.

Barau in his response to the honour, said it would make him to do more for his constituents in Kano North Senatorial District and Nigerians generally.

”Your recognition of my legislative inputs in the Senate within the last 18 months, particularly on series of development – driven bills sponsored so far, is something that will energize and propel me further to do more.

“Once you are given an award, it’s a kind of telling you to go and do more. To whom much is given, much is expected.

”This to me also is considered as your contribution to making sure that the legislature remains vibrant.

”Once you identify those who are doing well and you honour them through awards of this nature, that will create some kind of competition and will propel others to do more so that they can be recognized at some other time in the future.

”We can’t perform here in the best manner possible, without your contribution to what we are doing. And you are contributing in a very robust way to what we do here, making us as partners in progress for the good of Nigeria and Nigerians .

”So our relationship with you is sine qua non to our success. We can never succeed without you because without you reporting what happens here , Nigerians can’t know what we are doing,“ he said .

Earlier, the Chairman of the Corps, James Itodo, told the DSP that the honour is strictly on performance as contained in the records and not for any other thing.

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POLITICS

Atiku Emerges Deputy Clerk to National Assembly

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By Mike Odiakose, Abuja 

National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) has apponited

Sokoto-born seasoned technocrat, Ibrahim Atiku as Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly (DCNA), with effect from February 2, 2025.

This was contained in a letter dated 19th December, 2024 and signed by the Executive Chairman NASC, Engr.

Ahmed Kadi Ahmshi.

Ahmshi said the decision was taken during the just concluded 616th Meeting of the Commission, held on Thursday, 19th December in recognition of his “hard work” and “administrative competence.

“The National Assembly Service Commission, at its 616th Meeting held on Thursday, 19th December, 2024, approved your appointment as Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly with effect from 2nd February, 2025.

 

“This Appointment is in recognition of your hard work and administrative competence. It is therefore expected that you will continue to uphold the confidence reposed in you. 

“While congratulating you on your appointment to this exalted position, please accept assurances of our highest esteem,” the letter reads.

Until his appointment, Atiku was the Director, Finance and Account, House of Representatives, in National Assembly.

He is an Alumnus of Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, and fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management. Atiku also obtained a Masters degrees in legislative studies as well as a Ph.D. in Legislative Studies.

Atiku also attended various courses home and abroad, among them are, the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Harvard University, USA, JF Kennedy School of Government USA, Duke University USA, West African Institute of Finance and Economic management, (WAIFEM), Harvard Business School USA, RIPA International UK. among others.

Recall that the NASC had last month, approved the appointment of Barr. Kamoru Ogunlana as Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA).

Both Ogunlana and Atiku are billed to resume their respective offices February 2, 2025, when the current occupants of the offices shall be due for retirement.

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POLITICS

SDP Ex-Presidential Candidate, Adebayo Scores Tinubu’s Economic Team Low

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By Mike Odiakose, Abuja

Former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has scored President Bola Tinubu’s economic team low, saying they are “uncoordinated.”

Adebayo also came down hard on the Minister of Finance for saying that the economy was doing good amidst heavy external borrowing.

Adebayo told an online newspaper in an interview that the President Tinubu government is suffering from economic illiteracy.

He said, “I always wish there will be a good day for Nigeria, but it is not a good day when the finance minister believes the day he goes borrowing in London is a good day.

“How can it be a good day when Nigeria goes overseas to give investments in the capital market from the excess production that we have? 

“No minister that we had in the past would say the day we went borrowing was a good day.

When told that even advanced countries like America also borrow, he had this to say: “America borrows from within. You borrow from your own currency. I am not quarreling with them borrowing from the currency they issued. 

“When you are borrowing Euro bonds, borrowing currency from other people in other capitals of the world, it’s a sign of crisis.

“Yes, you can do it but you don’t say it’s a good day for you. If you are anaemic and your neighbour comes to donate blood to you, you should be grateful but you don’t say that’s the best day of your life, because you are not supposed to be anaemic in the first place.

“They need to run the economy in such a way that we can generate capital for ourselves. 

“Fundamentally, I think they are uncoordinated. Even though he is supposed to be the coordinator of the economy, he is not coordinated.

“The thinking isn’t coordinated but if they coordinate well and work with us as a population, we should be able to generate wealth for the country.

“The parameters are a bit basic and elementary. Even in those basic elementary parameters, they are not sincere about them. They don’t want to meet them because they are not realistic,” Adebayo said. 

“The exchange rate they fixed is unrealistic.

“Given the other measures they have taken, I think it is the lack of coordination that concerns me. I wish that Tinubu’s 2025 budget works.

“I want them to succeed. I want investors to come to Nigeria. I plead with anyone to have confidence in the economy of Nigeria. That is my desire, even though I am in the opposition. 

“However, they are self contradictory as these contradictions would at the end of the day prove themselves.

“For example, in their mind, if they are able to succeed, they are working towards 15 percent inflation, but any basic micro-economist knows that you must never have double digit inflation.

“It is one thing to have a high BP, and the doctor tells you he will only give you medium BP; the doctor wants to kill you because his job is to return your BP to normal. The objective they set, even if they succeed, is a failure on its own,” he further stated.

He noted that, “I saw the minister and I heard him and I understood his philosophy. I am not against him in person. I like him as a finance person who can manage your assets, like a merchant banker.

“There are two things you need to do with the type of our size of development. First is the fiscal and budgetary housekeeping. The government budgets for itself in the first part of the budget.

“Then, the second part of the budget signals to the rest of the economy and creates a stimulus for areas they want to emphasize, and then uses other incentives to encourage others to do investments. They are sending wrong signals.

“First, in their own housekeeping, they are wrong in the way they are going about it. You can never say to anybody, especially somebody that understands basic microeconomics that your inflation rates cannot be lower than your unemployment rate. You can do it.

“You have already got it upside down. If you have a 15 percent inflation rate, definitely, your unemployment cannot go below 15 percent because of the way you run the economy.

If you listen to the gentleman again, he painstakingly celebrated the idea that they have 25 million households that they are trying to give little money to.

“Why don’t you have 25 million households from whom you are going to give employment? 

So, you have a social register for people you want to give money but you don’t have a register of unemployed people that you can give jobs to. What sense does it make?

“The idea that you are going to imagine manufacturing by thinking that if you give N50,000 to any enterprise, whether small, medium or micro, is invisible; N50,000? If the person comes to your office to collect the money, he will spend about that on transportation.

“If you say you want to grow the economy by bringing investors, don’t you understand that borrowing money in the bank is just one of the factors of production?

“Loan capital, for example, won’t you realize that there are other paper expenditures like labour cost, infrastructure cost, and other costs. If you are driving those costs above sustainability, there is no way you can generate employment or capital in the economy.”

Responding to questions on INEC chairman’s claim of Ghana learning from Nigeria he said: “Yes, they took a lot of lessons not to be like Nigeria. That is what it can mean logically because the INEC chairman is a professor; he must be speaking in some sound way because what Ghana has done is exactly the opposite of what we did.

“They tried to make their own credible. We tried to make ours not credible even though we invested more in terms of technology, and quality of manpower.

“You don’t go to other countries and find professor emeritus, dean of faculties, and vice chancellors coming to be returning officers,” Adebayo added.

On the push for rotational presidency, the ex-presidential candidate said, “Rotation is at two levels. You must rotate according to the geopolitical zone for peace to reign among the elite. But you must rotate from the elite to the people for growth and justice to happen in Nigeria.

“If you are rotating from North to South and all of that and rotating about the same wasteful elite who have no idea, you will be rotating poverty, insecurity and others.

“But if you rotate inter generationally from the old people to the young ones and ideologically from those who follow the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank to those who have indigenous ideas, authentic and pro Nigeria ideas, you would have some progress for the country.”

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