The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is presently interrogating a former Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Babatunde Fowler, over the N100 billion tax evasion allegations levelled against a tax firm, Alpha Beta Consulting.

Fowler, who is also a former Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, responded to an invitation from the EFCC on Monday.

A former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Alpha Beta Consulting, Dapo Apara, had accused the firm of tax fraud to the tune of N100bn.

In a petition to the EFCC in 2018, Apara stated that Alpha Beta, the firm given exclusive rights to monitor and collect Internally Generated Revenue on behalf of the Lagos Government, “has become an avenue for official corruption of government officials, a conduit pipe for massive money-laundering scheme, tax evasion, among other vices.”

In the petition which was written by his lawyer, Adetunji Shoyoye and Associates, the ex-CEO claimed that the fraud had been covered by powerful politicians in the state.

The petition signed by Adetunji Adegboyega on behalf of the law firm, read in part, “Over the years the company has been protected and shielded by some powerful politicians and people in the society which made them to always boast of being untouchable, but our client, feeling the need not to keep quiet again and strengthened by his belief in the fact that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is keen on fighting corruption, which has been the bane of our country, is of the firm belief that it’s time to expose and open the can of worms called Alpha Beta Consulting.”

The EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that Fowler was with the commission.

“Yes, Fowler responded to an invitation this morning. I believe he is still here,” he explained.

Uwujaren, however, did not comment on the investigation.

As life gradually returns to normal after a tumultuous week of looting, arson, wanton destruction and death that followed the #EndSARS protests, many Nigerians are counting their losses. In Lagos, hoodlums attacked public and private facilities two weeks ago and burnt Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses in their terminals in Oyingbo and Berger Yards. Many commuters were stranded for days. The available commercial buses took advantage of the opportunity to make super profits. They increased their fares, heaping further misery on the life of passengers, many of whom were already groaning from the cost of the curfew imposed by the Lagos State Government to stem the tide of violence that engulfed the city.

The pains of the commuters in Lagos pales in comparison with those of private individuals and companies whose goods were damaged and mercilessly looted and those whose properties were damaged or set ablaze by hoodlums whose actions have little or nothing to do with the need to reform the Nigerian Police. It was disheartening to watch several video clips posted on social media, showing our youths and adults in large numbers brazenly making away with other people’s properties. Warehouses were forced open and emptied while some shops saw air conditioners, doors and windows removed and taken away after people looted all the goods. The lack of empathy and intent on wilful theft by thousands of Nigerians was not just about hunger. There is social depravity and anger all over the country.

Then the dead. Maybe the dead are not even casualties. John Pepper Clark, the legendary poet who died some weeks ago in his famous poem ‘The Casualties’ stated that ‘The Casualties are not only those who are dead. They are well out of it.’

Therefore, it is incontestable that the most significant casualties of the recent crisis were those who lost their loved ones in the fray. From people whose breadwinners were felled by aimed and stray bullets of law enforcement agencies to police officers and other security personnel killed by hardened criminals masquerading as angry protesters, the reverberation of the recent events will echo in some families and communities for years and decades to come. Some are stuck with a sense of grief as they lost sons, daughters, relatives, friends, the bereaved who would be further traumatised by the Nigerian tragedy.

As the country takes stock of the losses of #EndSARS, all must learn many lessons. It should be re-stated that the grievances of those who asked that SARS be scrapped, and the Nigerian Police reformed were genuine and germane. Their modus operandi in showing their anger and disgust at the system in the form of peaceful protests was spot on. But there are other areas where perhaps they did not get it right.

Firstly, the perceived lack of centralised leadership will always pose a problem. Some reports indicate that some people, mostly social media influencers, were regarded as the informal leaders of the movement. These people reportedly held no formal positions and the implication will always be that they would not have the authority to direct and supervise the protesters, giving room for a cacophony of scattergun pronouncements and approaches that would always bring a problem to the movement. When the Lagos State Government imposed a curfew on the state after the burning of a police station and killing of some policemen, reports show that some of the leaders of the protest asked the protesters to heed to government directive and go home. In contrast, others asked them to continue in the streets. So, it was apparent that there was no leader whose word carried some substantial degree of authority and this was a severe minus to the #EndSARS protest movement.

The protesters’ demands were clear from the beginning. They wanted the government to scrap the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). When the Inspector-General of Police announced that SARS had been scrapped, they demanded that the President must address them. The President obliged, and they presented a five-point demand. The government accepted all their demands, and they remained in the streets. Some of them were demanding that the salary of federal legislators be reviewed downwards, some were asking that the IG of Police should resign and others went as far as suggesting that President Muhammadu Buhari should step down.

At this time, it became unclear what those on the streets were looking for, and this gave the room for hoodlums to take advantage of the situation to perpetrate looting, arson, mayhem and destruction.

Understandably, the protesters were wary of the government move to scrap SARS as similar pronouncements in the past has been fruitless, and things remained the same. But the fact of the matter is that genuine reforms of the Nigerian Police cannot happen overnight. It would be difficult to wholly reform the Nigerian Police while the protesters were still on the streets.

It was challenging to differentiate the peaceful #EndSARS protesters from the hoodlums who were intent on looting, mayhem and destruction. Flooding the protests with food and drinks meant that hoodlums would always see the venue of the rally as an arena for free food and drinks with attendant consequences. The organisers failed to come up with a strategy to prevent the infiltration of the peaceful movement by subversive elements, and this proved costly, destructive and deadly.

Fake news and misinformation probably doomed the #EndSARS protests more than any other thing. The incident at Lekki Toll Gate in the night of Tuesday, October 21st 2020 was calamitous. If the reports that soldiers used live bullets on protesters are true,then there cannot be any justification for it. The protesters themselves who were intent on violating the curfew imposed by the state government to quell an orgy of death and destruction that had visited the state earlier in the day did not also cover themselves in glory.

However, it is becoming increasingly clear that, even though the Lagos State government has confirmed fatalities resulting from the incident, the use of hashtags like #LekkiGenocide and #LekkiMassacre, gave the impression that security agents have killed hundreds of protesters. This seeming misrepresentation resulted to insane carnage in Lagos and other parts of the country, leading to loss of hundreds of lives, destruction of properties worth trillions of naira, as well as severe economic devastation as many states in the country, imposed curfews. This representation was as virulent as they were destructive.

On the side of the government, there are far too many gaps in the current internal security strategy. The extensive involvement of the military in internal security is defective. It has created permanent psychology of siege. Historically, evidence has proved over time that Nigerian soldiers may not be well trained in dealing with civic matters. Some of their interventions in civil conflicts has often led to high handedness, dehumanisation, serious injuries, permanent disabilities and extrajudicial killings.

It is still the duty of the Police as a civil force to secure a democratic society. We should increase the human resources strength and upgrade the training and doctrine of the Nigerian Police to bring it in line with the needs of modern democratic society.

Similarly, the equipment of the Police needs upgrading. Civil Police armed with assault rifles is an offshoot of military era mentality. We need a pistol based weapon system except for the riot and special police units which may have rifles. The Police should have rubber bullets and water cannons, for use to quell civil unrests. Besides, they should know the rules of engagement as it regards to peaceful protesters and rioters.

The Department of State Security (DSS) should work more in providing intelligence to the Police. The present orientation of the DSS with emphasis on state security needs to be reviewed. The DSS needs to be more proactive than reactive. They should function like the FBI in the US, helping the Police with more specialised investigative and intelligence capabilities.

Of course, there is the urgent need for community-based policing and comprehensive national disarmament programme to reduce and decommission the quantum of small arms in circulation.

The resulting looting, arson and destruction that followed the largely peaceful #EndSARS protests calls for an establishment of a special security unit that may come in the form of the United States National Guard. The US National Guard is composed primarily of traditional Guardsmen — civilians who serve their country, state and community on a part-time basis. They serve the governor of the state to augment civilian authorities in times of emergency. Riot control, firefighting, snow removal, security, flood control, water purification, search and rescue, medical support and transportation are just examples of what this support might be. They serve to augment the active military when federalised by the President. In this role, they support or perform military operations.

Being partly civilians, a special security unit established in the form of the US National Guard will perform better in engaging the population than the army. There would also be some form of state police that can be used by the state authorities to solve local problems. The part-time nature of their work will help conserve the state resources, and in peaceful times, they can be used for special assignments.

We should not discard the lessons of the #EndSARS movement. Nigeria must rise from the ashes of #EndSARS with a better police force, a better system of managing internal protests and better internal security architecture for the whole country.

The Amnesty International and Socio-Economic Rights And Accountability Project (SERAP) have expressed worry over alleged killing of persons and human rights violation by the military in Oyigbo (Obigbo) Local Government Area of Rivers State.

AccordIng to a tweet last Sunday from its Twitter handle:@AmnestyNigeria, Amnesty International said it “is receiving disturbing information from #Oyigbo, Rivers State. Despite the existing curfew, soldiers are allegedly invading homes. Some residents reported seeing dead bodies on the street, allegedly shot by soldiers”.

The rights organisation via the tweet also called on the military to exercise restraint.

“We are calling on the military authorities to exercise restraint and stop the killings”, Amnesty International stated.

In the same vein, SERAP in its Twitter handle (@SERAPNigeria) said “we’re concerned about reports of grave human rights violations by Nigerian military in #Oyigbo, Rivers state”.

The group further urged President Muhammadu Buhari to institute a probe into the alleged human rights violations and prosecute all perpetrators.

“We urge @MBuhari to immediately order a probe into the reports and ensure perpetrators are prosecuted.

“Authorities must end attacks on Nigerians in #Oyigbo”, the tweet stated.

Reports say many residents of Oyigbo have fled the territory following increased military presence in area.

Sources say many have fled to neighboring Obio/Akpor, Etche Eleme and Port Harcourt LGAs.

Information filtering in from the besieged LG blames the military for shooting and abducting people including adolescents in the area.

The residents have cried out over the difficulty in getting  food, medicine and fuel for power supply as Governor Nyesom Wike had imposed a 24 hours curfew in the area.

It will be recalled that military authorities from the 6 Division, Nigeria Army, Port Harcourt, alleged that some of its men were killed following an attack by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who the military also said took their rifles. (City Star)

Senate has queried the issue of N110.4 million allegedly collected by ghost workers, which is presently rocking the Joint Admission Matriculation Board, JAMB.

The allegation that the ghost workers were paid about N110.4 million was raised by the Senator Matthew Urhoghide-led Committee on Public Accounts.Senator Urhoghide represents Edo South on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.The Senate Committee is relying on the report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, OAuGF, submitted to it for investigation.According to the report, the AGF, Anthony Ayine said in the query that 66 persons were removed from payroll before the end of 2013 and these persons were on the payroll between one month to 23 months period and have collected about N110.4 million as emoluments.The AGF stressed that no evidence to show that these officers presumably resigned their appointment or absconded.The query read: “Examination of the records of the Board revealed that in 2012 and 2013, 70 and 65 employees, respectively, were found on the payroll but not on the nominal roll.“The request for the personal files of the affected employees for verification of their status was not granted.“The Registrar/Chief Executive was requested to forward the personal files of the employees for verification in order to authenticate them as bona fide staff of the board.“However, his response with reference number JAMB/FIN/127/Vol.2/181 dated 24th May, 2016 did not provide the documents requested.“It was also observed that 66 persons were removed from the payroll before the end of 2013.“These persons were in the payroll for between one month and 23 months each, during which period they received emoluments totalling N110,481,985.00.“No evidence was shown that these officers who presumably resigned their appointments or absconded, were legitimate employees of the board and that they gave or paid one month salary in lieu of notice before they left the employment of the board.“The Registrar/Chief Executive was requested to account for the total emoluments paid to these officers in the sum of N110,481,985.00.“However, his response with reference number JAMB/FIN/127/Vol.2/181 dated 24th May, 2016 did not address the query satisfactorily.”The AGF also said that the former JAMB boss has to account for the N1.1m tax not deducted from the payments made in respect of consultancy services.The report read, “Tax liability amounting to N1.164,550.59 was not deducted from two payments for consultancy services to a single vendor on payment voucher numbers 6407 of 2/11/13 and 6833 of 26/3/2013 for N13, 074,790.00 and N10,216,221.75 respectively.“The board deducted Withholding tax at the rate of 5 per cent instead of 10 per cent, resulting in loss of government revenue.“The Registrar/Chef Executive was requested to recover the amount of N1,164,216,221.75 and pay to the Federal Inland Revenue Service with evidence of payment forwarded to my office.“However, his response with reference number JAMB/FIN/127/Vol.2/181 dated 24th May, 2016 did not address the issue satisfactorily.“Examination of the board audited accounts revealed 11 bank accounts operated in 2012 and 2013  but the bank statements, as well as cash books, were not presented for audit examination, despite repeated demands for them.“This is contrary to financial regulation 110 which provides that the Auditor General and the Accountant General or their representatives shall at all reasonable times, have free access to books of account., files , safes, security documents and other records and information relating to the accounts of all federal ministries,/extra ministerial offices and other arms of government.”

(Sundiata Post)

By Chibuike Nwabuko

The National Assembly hasdebunked the claim made by the Works and Housing Minister Babajide Fashola to the effect that the federal lawmakers were responsible for the deplorable state of roads in Benue State.

The falsification was contained in a statement signed by  the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs Senator Ajibola Basiru, made available to Sundiata Post.

Recall that Fashola was quoted to have made the allegation on Monday in his office in Abuja during a courtesy visit by retired Generals and ‘other leaders of thought’ from Benue South Senatorial District led by Air Vice Marshal Morgan, following complaints about the deplorable state of roads in the senatorial district by members of the delegation.But in a reaction, the Senate Spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru, said the National Assembly cannot and should not be held responsible for the deplorable state of roads whether in Benue State or any part of the country.According to Ajibola, the decision to respond to the claims by the Minister became imperative in view of setting the records straight, particularly against the backdrop of how critical the issue of road infrastructure is to the nation’s development.“The attention of the Senate was recently drawn to disturbing and erroneous claims made by the Minister for Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.“Much as the upper chamber would not want to engage in any unnecessary altercation with the Minister, it is however necessary to speak up because the issue of roads infrastructure is too important and controversial a matter to be ignored where the National Assembly has been fingered by a serving Minister.“The records must be set right so that the two arms of government should not be seen as working at cross purposes in the course of delivering good governance to electorates.“For the 2020 fiscal year, the National Assembly approved the request for 265, 868, 037,093 billion Naira for capital expenditure by the Executive.“The Executive later brought a revised allocation of 256, 734,983,667 billion Naira which we also appropriated. As we speak, even in the budget proposal for 2021, the Executive proposed a capital expenditure of 363, 266, 425, 976 billion Naira.“The upper chamber cannot help but wonder where Mr. Fashola got his figure of 600 billion naira which he said was proposed by his ministry and allegedly not approved by the National Assembly.“The Senate, therefore, invites Nigerians and specifically the Minister’s guests from Benue South Senatorial District to note that figures do not lie.”The Senate Spokesman listed three road constructions which are ongoing in Benue South to include: Oju -Adum Okuku road at N 91,180 000; Oturko Township road at N357 200, 000; and Oju/Loko – Oweto bridge at a cost of N357, 200, 000.The Senate spokesman further described allegations by the Minister for Works, suggesting that the National Assembly gave priority to constituency projects over other projects as an attempt to incite Nigerians against the Legislative arm of government.“On the Minister’s allegation that priority is given to constituency projects over other projects, is an attempt to set the National Assembly on collision course with the people they are democratically representing.“It should be emphasized, therefore, that never has allocations specifically meant for other projects been diverted to constituency projects as the later have specific allocations in the budget,” the Senate Spokesman said.

(Sundiata Post)