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A major event in the media community in the week that has just end...Read the full article.

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Hi, folks!


Yes, indeed, we live in most interesting times.


For the information and general enlightenment of those of you who may still be blind, deaf, dumb, and naïve, ThisDay newspaper is actually a surreptitious front of some foxy members of an extant influence-peddling, covert Nigerian cabal, post-Babangida. If you doubt this seemingly irresponsible and indiscriminate assertion, please take a second close look at the banner of that newspaper:

For a start, the ThisDay corporate logo is the symbolic equivalent of the insignia on the shoulders of every serving or retired Major General, Lieutenant General, or 4-star general of the Nigerian Army: an eagle positioned over a sword that is crossed over a pen!


Furthermore, ThisDay newspaper is managed by a holding company called “LEADERS AND COMPANY”, the presentable face of a “military-intelligentsia” joint venture in Nigeria that has effectively exploited the standard ploy of all past military despots in Nigeria, post-Buhari, by co-opting suitably screened, and censored cerebral inputs into their insatiable over-indulgence in their sustained rape of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

For good, or for bad, this is the era of aggressive “political advertisements”, and subliminal seduction in Nigeria, and some people are getting pretty desperate about this 3rd Term of a pipedream, as you all can see. So, next time you read anything in ThisDay newspaper, no matter how innocuous, no matter how seemingly harmless, please, please, p-l-e-a-s-e, p-l-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-a-s-e, SHINE YOUR EYE WELL, WELL! This is a caution note, especially for those addicted members of the “free readers associations” worldwide. Beware of the hidden persuaders!


We are much obliged to Dr. Reuben Abati, for allowing the gentle breeze to blow, even if very mildly, near the fowl’s nyash, thus exposing the abysmal depths to which proponents of 3rd Term-ism have sank in Nigeria, in their inordinate hot pursuit of 4-Star General Okikiolakan Aremu (3rd Term) Olusegun Mathew Obasanjo’s progressively creeping delusions of indispensability, generously garnished with acute megalomania, crass autocracy, and absolute impunity.

Gracias mucho, Dr. Rubén Abati.

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Mr Abati, my question is - where is all the money coming from for these frivolities? Could it be the product of all the import waivers, oil blocks etc and "free money" that this PDP government has been throwing at these select few business people now being recycled in political capital expenditure? RMAFC reports misappropriations in the oil sector of $12.7bn (Daily Sun 22/04) by this PDP government( another impeachable offence!). Will you tell us more or do we have to find out for ourselves where our government is (mis)leading us to?

What we need in return for the purposes of "fairness and balance", is for the Guardian to donate equal space and prominence to the anti-3rd term campaign who are not so financially endowed. Afterall why should the "free" press allow the small matter of money stand in the way of availing the public with both sides of a very important and life changing (threatening?) story.

So Abati, over to you. Put your money where your mouth is!!!! Let us see your own wrap around "Baba go home" campaign launched with "immediate effect and automatic alacrity".

Nice to see Sonala back on your pages.

Finally, when are you going to start responding to comments we post to your stories because at the moment it's like having a dialogue with the deaf? Just like talking to this government!

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OIL MONEY SCAM
• Revenue Commission exposes monumental scandal in Excess Crude Account
• Presidency unilaterally blows $12.79billion
• Confusion over another N196.25billion
• The debt forgiveness connection
By By STEVE NWOSU
Saturday April 22, 2006

How did the the presidency unilaterally withdraw, and spend, over $12.79 billion from Nigeria’s external excess crude account without recourse to the other two tiers of government? What were the huge unexplained sums, totalling over a billion dollars, withdrawn from the same account, between October and December 2005, by the Central Bank, used for? How did the NNPC gain access to the domestic excess crude account of almost N200 billion?

These are questions agitating the minds of some of Nigeria’s financial managers as the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) opens a can of worms on the monumental scandals, sharp practices and abuses that have characterised the management of the controversial Excess Crude Accounts maintained both locally and overseas by the Obasanjo administration.

The revelations form the crux of a report submitted to the RMAFC by its Subcommittee on the Management of Excess Crude Account.
According to the agency’s report, the excess crude accounts may have become the cash pot of a few favoured government officials who now withdraw from them at their individual convenience, without recourse to other relevant arms of government and stakeholders to the accounts.

The report observed that the accounts have so far been run like the private account of the presidency with withdrawals made for even some of those obligations that should directly be met with the federal government’s statutory allocation from the federation account.

With the states and local governments always in the dark as to the exact amount in the accounts – both the foreign accont and the domestic account kept in Naira – the federal government and its agencies and officials are said to have liberally helped themselves – determining the inflow, deciding the outflow and also working the books themselves.

The result is that the federal government unilaterally stopped the sharing of the excess crude revenue, telling the other stake holders that it had already spent over $12 billion of their money to pay Paris Club. This is in addition to the fact that the same federal government and its NNPC have failed to give the other stakeholders, and the nation, a clear picture of the domestic account and had made other sundry payments and commitments, allegedly on their behalf without as much as first asking them – even as they have no immediate means of independently cross-checking and verifying the claims.

However, the RMAFC, an agency of the Federal Government, had been compelled to investigate the accounts following the deadlocked meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) on January 17, 2006 where the states and their governors refused to accept any payment from the federation account. The refusal, Saturday Sun gathered, was as result of the “withholding of substantial amounts from the Domestic Crude Proceeds due to the federation account by the NNPC”.

The FAAC, as a result, had attempted to pay the states a lot less than they were expected to get. The states, collectively rejected their allocations and a deadlock ensued. It was in order to find a solution that would resolve the deadlock and ensure that such a problem does not occur again that the RMAFC organised the retreat on the federation account and other related matters.

The retreat held between Monday, February 13 and Sunday, February 19, 2006 and the shocking revelations of flagrant abuse were contained in the report of the Sub Committee on the Management of Excess Crude Account.

Paris Club, debt forgiveness fraud
The report also frowned at the way and manner the presidency unilaterally drew down over $12 billion from the overseas account to pay to the Paris Club in the still very controversial debt forgiveness deal.
It said that apart from not seeking the consent of the states and the local government, the federal government pulled the money from the collective account to settle a debt which was not collectively procurred.

According to the report, over 80% of the said debt belonged to the Federal Government while the other 20 was owed by the states. Even at that, staes like Nasarawa, Katsina and Kaduna were not owing Paris Club a dime. The same goes for all the local governments. The RMAFC, therefore, noted that it was unfair and a disregard of the concept of fiscal federalism to force those states and the local governments to repay what they did not owe.

It said this was only possible, however, because the federal government usually operates the Excess Crude Account to the disadvantage of the other tiers of government. The report noted that as at the time Obasanjo refused to pay the other tiers of government, on the ground that the money had been used to settle Paris Club, the amount due to be shared from the excess crude earnings was $12,510,838,669.75.

Given the operational sharing formular of 52.68% to the federal government, 26.72% to the states and 20.60% to the local government, it meant the councils were unilaterally robbed of over $2.5billion.
It noted: “The share of the local governments from the excess crude account should have been excluded from the debt payment for the obvious reason that they contracted no external debt.The federal government which owed 83% of the loan ought to have contributed $10.383billion while the 33 debtor states should have contributed $2.016billion of their respective shares from the excess crude account to make up the $12.4billion arrears required to be paid”.

However, the report noted that “this simple equity principle ‘from each according to his burden’ was not followed, hence the lump sum payment which included share of local governments and some states such as Nasarawa, Katsina and Kaduna that were not owing the Paris Club”.

CBN withdrawals
While not alleging any fraud on the part of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the Excess Crude Account mess, the committee noted that there was no explanation as to what the CBN used the huge amounts it withdrew from the foreign account for.

Most of the withdrawals, totalling $1,169,364,481.86 and made between October 2005 and December 2005, were not accompanied by any explanatory notes.
There was one huge withdrawal of $846,554,061.00 in October 2005 and then five other withdrawals later.

In the same 2005, the federal government had withdrawn over $98billion as first instalment payment for the funding of the Niger Delta Holding Company Plants. Another $77.8billion was soon withdrawn as second instalment payment for the plants. Then there was the $12.4 billion withdrawn to pay the Paris Club external creditors.

The Niger Delta Holding Company Plants soon appeared on the list again with a further $664,771.18 and finally another $609,145.25 million. Between those two withdrawals, there was a $213,230,000.00 withdrawn for the NNPC Joint Venture Operation –Gas for NDDC Plants.
All the withdrawals were made without consulting any of the other stakeholders to the Excess Crude Accounts.

Conflicting figures
Of all the questionable deals surrounding the Excess Crude Accounts, the report noted that the most disheartening is the inability to establish, with some degree of certainty, the exact amout in the Domestic account.

While it was able to establish that the Excess Crude Foreign Account, as at January 2006, stood at N5.325 billion, it noted that the about N196.25 billion recorded for the domestic account could not be relied upon.

“It is of interest to note that according to FAAC January, 2006 a sum of N196.25 billion was stated to be in the domestic excess account. However, during the recent Senate hearing, there were discrepancies among the figures from NNPC, CBN and the Federal Ministry of Finance”, the report said.
Much of the confusion was attributed to the practice of giving the NNPC access to the said account, even though the corporation, as a revenue contributor should rather be monitored over the account and not the other way round.

Illegality
While noting that it was not out of place for a government that makes extra-budgetary revenue to put something aside for the rainy day, the report urged government to work with the National Assembly to make a law that would give legal backing to the practice. For, as it stands today, there is no legal framework to support the setting up of an excess crude account, as the constitution states that all revenues earned by the country – except a few stated exemptions – must be paid into the federation account.

It further noted that this lack of legal backing has seen the presidency doing as it likes with the accounts and the funds therein. For instance, it pointed out, “The federal government has taken it upon itself to be the sole custodian of the excess crude account. It also imposes directives on the use of the account. The executive directive to share only 50% of the 2004 excess crude proceeds and nothing for 2005 was most arbitrary. The directive not to distribute anything from the excess proceeds account in 2006 was most unfortunate”.

The RMAFC subcommittee which re-emphasized the developmental drawbacks of refusing to pay the other tiers of government their due from the excess crude account was chaired by Alhaji Yakubu Shehu and had other members as Mr. Sam Nnebe-Agumadu (Vice Chairman), Otunba Oladeji Ariyi (member), Maj. Gen. O.E. Obada rtd (member) and Abdullahi S. Maiunguwa (secretary).

Genesis of excess crude account
The Excess Crude Account concept which was revived in 2003 by the Obasanjo administration followed in the path of the dedicated account which the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida administration opened to accommodate the excess oil revenue that came as a result of the first Gulf War – earnings that would later be dubbed ‘oil windfall’.

With oil prices soaring to all-time high since the coming of the Obasanjo administration, the differentials between projected revenue in the annual budgets and the actual revenue necessitated by ever-rising global oil prices has seen the country’s earnings nearly doubling at the end of every budget year. This year for instance, while the budget was based on a $33-per-barrel estimation, the barrel of Nigeria’s type of crude sold for $60 for most of the year and has now nodged beyond the $70 mark.

The excess crude account is therefore a way of mopping up excess liquidity and checking inflation.
The account is operated in two parts. While one, domiciled overseas, recieves payments in excess of budgeted benchmark for barrel of oil sold, excess PPT (any amount above the budgeted monthly revenue target of $394920,000) as well as excess royalties (any amount in excess of the budgeted monthly revenue target of $180,610,000), the account domiciled in Nigeria is the one into which excess revenue derived from sales of crude oil to NNPC for local production is paid.

“In 2003 alone, for instance, a total of $1.07935 billion was realised, out of which $0.8569 billion was deducted. By 2004, the amount realised as excess revenue had jumped to $6.07083 billion with $0.1519 deducted and a further 50% of the balance was shared to the beneficiaries in 2005. In the same vein, a total sum of $18.232 billion was realised in 2005 out of which $12.907 billion was deducted, leaving a balance of $5.325 billion as at January 2006”.

source: DAILY SUN

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Aluta!


Gwobezentashi

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First, can all NVS subscribers club together and do their own wrap round Ad? #15m? i am sure we can manage that.


Only in Nigeria does a committee say unauthorised withdrawers on one hand, but no wrong doing.

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@ gwobe, this is just another piece of news that one will always find difficult to believe, even if it were remotely true. So much about the fight against corruption.
Salstep correctly captures it with his question. Maybe we have to redefine legality.

Let's hope the EFCC wades in, even if it's only a rumour; or is it outside their terms of reference?

There is no need asking of the identity of the fellows behind the advert on Thisday. Odimegwu of Nigerian Breweries and co have come out in the past to throw their weight behind the third term, with the NB boss especially claiming that Objsm is good for his company, shareholders and those who would prefer to drink themselves to a state of stupor.

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Villagers,

When OBJ was on his way to the US recently, the New York TImes published an editorial arguing against the third term ambition of the OBJ administration. A day later, some group out of QUeens, New York took out a fulll page ad in the same newspaper protesting the editorial.

One thing that was perculiar about this phenomenon was that, given that the ad cost for a full page in the NYTimes cost well over $100,000, the authors of the ad failed to sign their names on the ad and in fact used a bogus address and contact information.

It appears the same act of cowardice was repeated by the folks who took out the ad in the ThisDay.

It should be instructive especially to OBJ that those who would ask him to go forward with their backing would not even use their own names. These people know that the chances of this 3rd term thing going through is less than even and dont want to be caught at the wrong end of the stick. Even on this NVS, the syncophants like Adujie and Anibaba will never come out through the front door to state their case for the 3rd term; they would only cowardly nibble at the edges, talking about viability of other candidates and other drivel.

The indisputabke thread common in and running through all these people is their implicit shamed acknowledgment of the immorality and devilishness of the 3rd term program; even they know it!

Free Publius

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I am not surprise at the Thisday. It has being in their character to be used as a political tool but the general public did not take note. During the of reign of Lawal as the Governor of Kwara State people like Segun Adeniyi and Bolaji Abdullahi used to their columns to castigate the government of Lawal and promote Saraki. Today the so called Bolaji Abdulahi is a Special Assistant to Governor Bukola Saraki on Media Matters (or so). It got to a stage then when you wondered if Olusola Saraki himself was a shareholder or a Director in Thisday. Today the people of Kwara State are at the mercy of one family ruling them. (There is another Saraki as Senator and rumor have that yet another Saraki is being groomed to be the Governor after Bukola). As long Thisday Newspaper sees nothing wrong in one family running the affairs of a whole state I don’t think they will see anything bad in the Saraki Family ruling Kwara State forever, they will see nothing bad in a third term advert. We all know that some sections of the Nigerian press feed and live on government patronage but, personally I am not surprise at Thisday’s action. We are going to witness more of such advert because they go with a fee that I guess are mouthwatering and tempting.

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@ Odinaka, which bit of the story is incredulous? The RMAFC bit is easily verifiable and will do shortly. Even tabloids cannot afford to be this irresponsible especially in the current climate. The Sun though is proving quite robust.

@Free Publius, true they are cowards like the rest of us but we know who they are and they know that we know who they are. The problem is after we defeat them, we drop our guard and let them worm their way back into our affections and then they do it again. Then we are suprised and swear not to let it happen again but then it does. So who is to blame? Us.

@betternija2007, which one you dey? This Day is a business. Do you expect them to see dollar and not take? They will moralise all they like but at the end of the day, the dog(dollar) not conscience wags the tail (press). Vanguard has also carried the wrap round. At least we know who is benefitting from 3rd term. What we are saying to all confronted by this moral dilemma is by all means take the lolly, just vote with your conscience. That means vote No to 3rd term.

@salstep, N15m to give to Abati? why? Hell No! Our hard earned money can never compete with free lolly shelled out by these people. Guardian can afford to donate the space.

On another note, is Don Juan No. 3 back from the Amazonian jungle or has he set up a genset out there because he should not have light to power his Nokia and Toshiba in the "lungu(koro)"? The cyber interpol want to know seeing as they wish to ask him questions bordering on desertion of his duty post in PH without leave and crossing through Maiduguri borders which was closed when Calabar/Bakassi was open. Also the cyber SSS:wink: would like to question him about some missing files on 3rd term payments.:redface: and for organising a rally in cyberspace without police permit. The cyber Immigration Service also want to know how he left the country while his passport was at his home address:rolleyes: Cybercustoms want to know about the exportation of three cartons of Ogogoro without NAFDAC certificate and egunje. What has become of busty daughter Juanita Esmerelda whom was last seen on a beach in Bahamas on the arms of a notorious 3rd term advocate who was taking a well earned rest with his $1m payoff and Abuja land allocated by a Jimi "the crab" Lava being consideration for good though unsuccessful outings on behalf of deep pocketed principals.:D :D :D Is Abraxas a double agent? Is he a spook on the village square disseminating misinformation and propaganda while sending smoke signals to the Apo Hill villa? Has the invidious plot taken another dangerous turn? Where is Abraxas? A reward of NX trillion kobo (where X=-1) is being offered by unanamed (4,19) benefactors believed to be from the cyber NIA for information leading to his/her apprehension. Is he a man or is he a woman dressed as a man? Has anyone seen a picture of him/her? Is he a ghost or a thing? What is IT then? Oh no, its DHL....
Now, all that one na fiction I begi oooo!! I no know the man from Adam o before dem come catch me too o. Abraxas, you are on your own o.:cool: :wink: Ok. Come back home. All is forgiven!!

Aluta!


Gwobezentashi

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I think the objective of media institution is to lend credence to the freedom of speech. As long as balance and fairness is maintained the media practitioners need not be intimidated by segmental provocative opinions that tend to stifle other opinions. Beside the incumbent's desire to accomplish his political agenda, it is also equally dangerous in a democratic dispensation to disenfranchise a group or individual the right to be heard of their opinions (good or bad). The third term agenda is not a constitutional mandate, it is the opinions of some citizens who believe that the constitution need be amended at this time and who would like to canvass and promote their belief. So, what is wrong about that?

There is no where in democratic republics that operate on limitation of constitution. The diverse opinions of institutional parameter of all or any issues of conflict is the ingredient of a well-baked democracy. What Thisday News posit as the essential base for the democracy is the prevalent role in United States and all progressive democratic countries. There should be endless advertisement in any paper as far as freedom of speech is concerned. The context of debates must be stretched endlessly until consensus is reached.

Now, it is time for the anti-third term to put up their own advertisement and stop undemocratic approach and political shenanigan. Why any media institution has to deprive others to speak up their opinions? Eh! there is no sense in this!

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Selling cocaine in the open market
By
Sam Nda-Isaiah

The fact that the so-called “private sector group” that paid for the “wrap around” advert in the ThisDay of April 20, 2006, to sell their third term idea could not do it with their names appended should confirm that even they knew that they were marketing an illicit product.

To date, I am yet to see or meet any responsible man with a good name openly campaigning for Obasanjo’s third term. Like Senator Yari Gandi said, doing so would be like selling cocaine in the open market. I, for one, have heard of the booming cocaine business, but I don’t know of any shop where cocaine is sold on the shelves. Advertising Obasanjo’s third term is akin to selling cocaine in a shopping complex.

The only people you see displaying their third term wares publicly are people like Festus Odimegwu, Ibrahim Mantu, Bode George and their likes who need no introduction. Anyone who has met any of these people and noticed how they comport themselves in public would not be surprised by their chosen vocation. They know they are marketing a bad product, but hell, so what?

They have nothing to lose. Not even a name!
But the intensity with which Nigerians rejected the ThisDay advert and the veiled apology in an emergency but very good counterpoise by Segun Adeniyi, the editor of the newspaper, the very next day, should send a clear and unmistaken message to the perpetrators and sponsors of the third term project. If they had listened attentively, they would have heard what Nigerians were saying.

Which is that they will treat anything appertaining to Obasanjo’s third term project with “extreme prejudice,” as Mahmud Jega would say. There is nothing wrong with what ThisDay did except that it committed the professional lapse of accepting to carry an advert of such nature unsigned.

But the newspaper will survive the public anger because, like every other newspaper and indeed all mass media in Nigeria, except of course Tony Iredia’s NTA, it has been one of those shouting loudest against the third term rascality of President Obasanjo.

If the advert had been brought to Leadership, we would have received it with thanks, but we would have insisted that someone take responsibility by signing it and, like Segun said in his write-up, we would have appended a disclaimer on the top right hand corner of the advert, which would have read: “This advert we are carrying today is dangerous to the health of the nation.

Those behind it are irresponsible and shameless and are the most worthless of the Nigerian society. But we publish it nonetheless because even Lucifer has a right to free speech.”

I can understand the extreme animus that is currently being directed at third termers who are considered Satanists, but we will not allow them to force the rest of us to start behaving like them.
They are the scoundrels who would not as much as allow an anti-third term gathering or, as happened recently, a meeting between members of the National Assembly and top politicians including a serving vice president, a former head of state, two former inspectors-general of police and several state governors. We must not allow ourselves to become as roguishly minded as they are. Only the guilty behave that way.

In the imprudent advert, the sponsors asked us to vote for greatness and they listed the president’s numerous “achievements” which are supposed to be good reasons why we should confer a life presidency on him. I thought they would have also told us why PHCN has become a byword in Nigeria, in spite of the billions of dollars that have been expended in that sector.

Or maybe, as they said, “for the first time ever, Nigeria now has a middle class,” they should also have said, “for the first time ever, Nigeria now has 24-hour uninterrupted power supply daily.

” They must have also forgotten to talk about our booming refineries and our hospitals and schools that have been refurbished like never before. They also forgot to get the children of Bola Ige, Marshal Harry, Aminasoari Dikibo and Chuba Okadigbo to endorse the advertisement.

They should also have told us in their advert what has happened to all our money since 1999 and what has been happening to the excess crude proceeds, since the president’s achievements they listed included the cessation of misappropriation, mismanagement and corrupt practices in government.

Maybe the sponsors did not go to school to understand the meaning of those terms or simply that they have no manners to think that the rest of us are as depraved as they are.

Nobody signed the adverts, but it is not too late. Let the sponsors take another page tomorrow and probably tell us their names. That would mean that they believe in the project and would identify with it even if the Obasanjo government falls tomorrow.

But even though no one signed it, there are suspects already. Nigerians are already pointing fingers at those behind “Transcorp,” that unregistered shadowy organisation whose life is inextricably tied to Obasanjo’s life. There’s also a text that is currently being passed around which reads thus: “For supporting 3rd term, please start a boycott of goods and services from Panalpina, Transcorp, Dangote Group, Nigerian Breweries Plc…

Please pass on”. I know the incidence of such texts will increase in the coming days. My advice to the owners and CEOs of these organisations is to come out publicly to deny any involvement with the third term project. All of these companies (except Transcorp) have been operating successfully even before Obasanjo became president, so I don’t understand why their owners would do this to themselves.

The only advice I will give to those legislators who have collected bribes in order to vote for Obasanjo’s third term is to have a rethink.

If the sponsors, including the president himself, cannot muster the courage to come out and own up to the third term project, why should anyone risk his or her life since the voting in the National Assembly would be done openly and every member would answer “his father’s name” as both the Senate president and House of Representatives speaker have hinted? Or do they love Obasanjo more than they love themselves?

source: www.leadershipnigeria.com