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Nigeria Vice President Yemi Osinbajo escaped death as his helicopter crashes in Kabba.
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You’re Wealthy, Your Family Lives Large – UK Mail Mocks Buhari’s Anti-corruption Stand

A British newspaper, UK Mail, on Sunday questioned President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption credentials ahead of his arrival in London for a world anti-corruption summit to be hosted by UK’s prime minister, David Cameron.

The report added added Buhari had spent £150,000 on educating his daughter Zahra, a Surrey University student.

The paper also questioned Buhari’s failure to give a full account of his worth, and pointed out his partial admission of more than £1million in the bank, five houses and two plots of land.

UK Mail added: “The presence of Nigeria’s president at David Cameron’s anti-corruption summit this week may surprise many in his nation – which receives vast amounts of UK aid.

The Self-proclaimed ‘People’s President’ Muhammadu Buhari began a war on corruption after taking power last year, but critics allege it is a political witch-hunt.

“The Government is giving nearly £250million in the coming year to oil-rich Nigeria..

“Supporters say 49 arrests of members of the previous regime show the anti-corruption war is genuine, but opponents say it is politically driven.

“Nigeria has the highest-paid government officials in the world but is one of the largest beneficiaries of UK foreign aid.

“The president of its senate, Bukola Saraki, is due to face trial on corruption charges after it emerged he has a £6million London property in his wife’s name.

“The Nigerian Embassy did not comment”, UK Mail added. 

DP

Onnoghen Explains Sources Of Foreign Deposits In His Accounts

The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has explained the sources of the foreign currencies deposited in his domiciliary accounts.

Onnoghen was suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari on a directive by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), before whom Onnoghen is standing trial over allegations of the fraudulent declaration of assets.

According to Sun newspaper, in a ‘Cautionary Statement Form’ filed at the Department of Intelligence Investigation and Monitoring, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), in Abuja, Onnoghen said the deposits in his dollar account were from trading in foreign exchange (forex), AGRICODE, while other investment returns were from proceeds of his investments. 

This was contained in a voluntary statement he made at CCB.

In the statement, he specifically explained that “the deposits made in my US Dollar account No. 87000106250 with STD. Chartered Bank of $10,000 at different intervals of June 28, 2011 were sourced partly from my reserve and saving from my estacodes, including medical expenses. 

“The same applies to my deposit of July 28, 2011, of $10,000 twice. It is important to state that prior to my opening the US dollar account, I had foreign currency, which I kept at home, due to the fact that there existed a government that proscribed the operation of foreign currency account by public officers including judicial officers. 

“It was when I got to know that the policy had changed that I had to open the said account. Upon opening the account, I was made to understand that I cannot pay in more than $10,000 at a time and per payment slip. I  cannot remember the total amount I had on reserve at the time, but it spread from my practice days as a private legal practitioner from 1979 to 1989.

“Some of the deposits are a result of forex trading, AGRICODE, and other investment returns were from proceeds of my investments into them. The withdrawals in the account are partly to pay children’s fees, upkeep abroad and further investments. My British pound and euro accounts with Chartered Standard Bank are savings accounts.

“In the January 1, 2019 document, the suspended jurist, who wrote his statement on January 11, 2019, between 12:30pm to 1: 45pm added: 'I, Walter S. N. Onnoghen, of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, hereby, voluntarily depose to the statement averred herein, knowing that whatever I write or state may be tendered against  me as evidence in court'.

“I also volunteer to state that the statement was not taken in evidence from me under duress but after the administering officer had explained and made known the details of the allegations against me.”

In his response to allegations of non-declaration of his assets, Justice Onnoghen added: “My asset declaration for numbers. SCN000014 and SCN.0000 5 were declared on the same day, December 14, 2016, because I forgot to make a declaration of May 2005 of my assets after the expiration of my 2005 declaration in 2009. 

“Following my appointment as acting Chief Justice of Nigeria in November 2016, the need to declare my assets anew made me realise the mistake and then did the declarations to cover the period in default. 

“I did not include my Standard Chartered Bank Account in SCN. 000014 because I believed they were not opened during the period covered by the declaration.

“I did not make a fresh declaration of asset after my substantive appointment as CJN because I was under the impression that my SCN. 000015 was to cover the period of four years; which includes my leave as CJN.” 

Meanwhile, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) will resume sitting on the matter on February 4, 2019.

SR

BREAKING: Nigerian Govt Never Approved N30,000 As National Minimum Wage, Says Ngige

Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, says the Nigerian government did not approve N30,000 as national minimum wage as believed.

He stated this at the public hearing on the national minimum wage bill ongoing in Abuja.

According to Ngige, the notion that the government approved N27,000 and N30,000 as the national minimum wage is a misconception.

His words: “I want to clear some misconceptions. The outcry that the government had approved two national minimum wage figures of N27,000 and N30,000 is not true. What the government approved through all the organs — the Federal Executive Council, the National Economic Council and the National Council of State — was for a figure of N27,000 for all workers in the federation of Nigeria.

“However, the Federal Government, based on the principles of ability to pay, augmented their own N27,000 without putting workers through a protracted negotiation to N30,000, which means that the lowest paid worker in the federal public service GL1 Step 1 would earn N30,000 minimum wage.”

He also noted that the government's figure would not preclude the workers from being paid higher by the employer, depending on the employer’s financial capability.

He added: “We also want to go and say that nothing prevents any employer, who is financially capable either in the public or private sector of the economy, from paying higher than the statutorily prescribed national minimum wage. As a matter of fact, as we speak, the former or well, the prevalent minimum wage now is N18,000, but some state governments, like the governments of Lagos, Edo, Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, some of them are already in the rung of N25,000. Edo State pays N25,000; I’m categorically sure about that one. Therefore, what has been proposed as national minimum wage does not preclude anybody who has capacity to do better than even the Federal Government from doing so and there are many state governments that have that capacity.

“They should be allowed to negotiate with their workers and get to the threshold of N30,000 and go beyond it. Many can go beyond it; Lagos can go beyond it. So, if you even start putting them in a straitjacket, you may end up at the end of the day not making them pay what they are supposed to pay".

SR

BREAKING: 10 Dead, Retired Judges Among Newly Appointed Election Petition Tribunals’ Members

Lawyers in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital have cautioned Nigerians against the danger of appointing dead and retired judges into the nation’s election petition tribunal.

The group of concerned lawyers who declined being identified faulted the list of the recently sworn in 250  tribunal members as parading over 10 names of dead and retired judges.

Though  admitting that this would not be the first time the Buhari-led government has displayed this level of “cluelessness and carelessness in handling sensitive issues concerning Nigeria”, they described a posthumous appointment of anyone for such sensitive role in the country as burying Nigeria alive.

It will be recalled that the new acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Mohammed on Saturday, January 26 swore in 250 members of the election tribunals at the Supreme Court Complex in Abuja.

This has continued to generate heated criticism by both members of the legal community and social media users who pointed to some Nigerians who have long been dead and buried, but have posthumously made the list.

One of the lawyers, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said that up to ten judges in the list were dead.

He identified some of the late appointees to include Justice Edemekong Edemekong whose name appeared as number 58 on the list and declared that the late Justice died since 2013.

ID