POLITICS
Reps Panel Alleges Gross Irregularities in Sales Of Govt Assets by FRCN, VON
By Ubong Ukpong, Abuja
The House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Abandoned Properties of federal government has alleged gross irregularities in the sales of certain properties by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, (FRCN) and the Voice of Nigeria, (VON) respectively.
The Committee yesterday, queried the Directors-General of the FRCN, Mansur Liman and his VON Counterpart, Osita Okechukwu, over the purported outright sales and leases of some of the properties in parts of the country.
Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Hon. Ademorin Kuye and other members at an investigative hearing had grilled the two Directors General over the reports to the committee on the sale of some properties of the agencies.
The Chairman said that the Committee vide letters written to the Special Presidential Investigative Committee on Sale of Abandoned Properties to the two agencies in March 2020, separately requested the documents on the sales as well as processes and proceeds of the properties.
The probe panel helmsman, while grilling the two top chief executive officers of the information agencies requested evidences of the valuation of the sold or leased properties and hand over documents of the properties to find out the real reason for the sales and leases.
Some of the federal agencies properties said to have been sold or leased by the foremost broadcast agency include Lagos Zonal Office of the FRCN, 30 hectres of land in Kano, and No 3 Savage Crescent GRA Enugu property of the agency said to be under litigation.
However, the FRCN DG in his testimony before the ad-choc committee said the agency bought the Lagos property from the Special Presidential Committee on Abandoned Properties and later sold it to Seaman Tech Co Ltd Idumota Lagos before it was gutted by fire.
He further told the probe panel that he made enquires at the Corporate Affairs Commission CAC on the property and it was then confirmed that the Special Presidential Committee on Abandoned Properties had sold the property.
He said, “I made enquiries at the CAC and some names came up. I showed the documents to the honourable Minister and he said that it is a government building and further said he will take it up at the Federal Executive Council FEC”
Fielding more questions from lawmakers on what led to the sale and for how much, he said that there was no plan to sell the property even as there was no insurance cover on it.
On the Kano landed property of the agency, he said that the property was about 30 hectres of land, adding that the report the agency has is that some elements had began selling some parts of the land to build estates.
He added that the property was handed over to the Kano State government by the military government after a coup.
On the Enugu property of the agency it was said to have been leased out at N20 million to Innoson Technical Co Ltd and a memorandum of understanding was signed by the Minister with the lease.
Nonetheless before the new owner was able to put up any structure at the area, he said it was demolished, which led to initiation against the agency.
The Committee Chairman who later constituted a 3-man sub committee to inspect some of these properties also demanded the valuation report, mandate extract, evidence of remittances to the federation account from the sale and all the documents relating to sales and leases.
He informed that due to the complacency of the Kano State government the probe panel was yet to get the reaction of the later on the agency’s land issue in the state.
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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