Major Shakeup In Army: COAS Redeploys 317 Officers

Following the recent promotions and retirements in the Nigerian Army, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Onyemoabi Azubike Ihejirika yesterday redeployed 317 senior officers to fill the vacuum created by the wind of the retirements.
LEADERSHIP had exclusively reported last week about the impending redeployment that would affect all the Army units and formations.
According to a statement issued in Abuja and signed by the out-going Director, Army Public Relations, Maj-Gen. Mobolaji Koleosho, the COAS said the action was taken “to fill the vacuum and maintain effective command structure in Army units, formations and the Defence Headquarters.”
The new GOCs are 3 Division, Maj-Gen. Ebiobowei Awala, 2 Division, Maj-Gen. Ahmed Jibrin, the former Commander, Nigerian Army Engineers, Maj-Gen Ashimiyu Olaniyi is now the new GOC 82 Division while the new GOC 81 Division is Maj-Gen. Obi Umahi and the new Army Headquarters Garrison Commander is Maj-Gen. Obidah Ethan.
Other affected senior officers are the former GOC 81 Division, Maj-Gen. Kenneth T.J. Minimah now the Commander, Infantry Corps and Centre, Jaji, the former Chief of Training and Operations, Nigerian Army Major Genral Lawrence Ngubane is now the Chief of Training and Operations at the Defence Headquarters, the former GOC 3 Division, Maj-Gen. Jack Nwaogbo is now the Chief of Training and Opeartions at Army Headquarters, former GOC 2 Division, Maj-Gen. Mohammed Abubakar is now the Chief of Army Administration at the Army Headquarters.
According to the statement, Maj-Gen. Paul Isang is the new Chief of Army Standard and Evaluation (CASE) succeeding Maj-Gen. Shehu Abdul-Kadir who has been appointed the Force Commander of the African-led International Support Mission for Mali (AFISMA). The new Commander for the Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is Maj-Gen. Babagana Munguno, Maj-Gen. Daniel Kitchener is now Chief of Logistics at the Army Headquarters while Maj-Gen. Emmanuel Bassey becomes the Chief of Policy and Plans popularly known as COPP.
Other new appointments include Maj-Gen. Obinali Ariahu, now the Chief of Research and Development at the Defence Headquarters; Maj-Gen. John Zaruwa is named the Coordinator, Peacekeeping Operations at the Ministry of Defence, Maj-Gen. Salihu Uba is now the Commandant, Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre; the former Defence Adviser, UN Headquarters, New York, Maj-Gen. Garba Audu is now Chief of Logistics, Defence Headquarters, the new Director General, Defence Industries Cororation [DICON] is Maj-Gen. Ekwenugo Chioba and Maj-Gen. Abubakar Gana is the new Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Logistics (NACOL). The former Commandant, Maj-Gen. Adekunle Martins is now Commander, Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps while the new Commander, Nigerian Army Signals [NAS] is Maj-Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin.
The Commander, Nigerian Army Supply and Transport Corps is now Maj-Gen. Emmanuel Nienge while the Commander, Nigerian Army Armoured Corps (NAAC) is now Maj-Gen. John Nwaoga. Maj-Gen. Bolaji Koleosho has been redeployed as the new Chief of Civil-Military Affairs from the Director, Army Public Relations while Brigadier General Ibrahim Attahiru has succeeded him as the Army spokesman. Maj-Gen. Bitrus Kwaji who left office for Koleosho is now the Group Managing Director, Nigerian Army Welfare Limited and Guarantee (NAWLG).   

FIRS Opposes New Property Tax Law In FCT

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), yesterday, kicked against the introduction of new tax laws in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It said that doing so would erode its authority to collect taxes for the FCT.
Coordinating Director of Support Services at FIRS, Mr. Osy Chuke, made the declaration while making submissions before the Senate Committee on FCT on two bills for the establishment of the FCT Property Tax and the FCT Internal Revenue Service.
Consequently, the FIRS called for the suspension of property tax bill in the FCT.
“Our view is that the constitution does not envisage the creation of two revenue collecting agencies of the federal government overseeing the FCT, given that the FCT is an agency of the federal government just like the FIRS.
“It should also be noted that there will be need for several legislative amendments to accommodate an FCT Internal Revenue Service. The legislation to be amended will include FIRS Act, Taxes and Levis Approved List of Collection Act, Personal Income Tax Act, the Stamp Duties Act and Capital Gains Tax Act,” he said.
The proposed FCT IRS according to him will encroach on the mandate of the FIRS in many ways, by providing for the collection of taxes that already were being collected by the FIRS.
“It should be noted that the FCT presently collects ground rent and tenement rates on properties through the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) and the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC),” he added.
Chuke further said that it was the wish of the FIRS that its current status as the collecting agency of the FCT was maintained, and noted that it had been collecting taxes for the FCT over the years.
According to the director, the FIRS had collected and remitted to the FCT N100.6billion from 2005 to 2011, while N30.9billion had been collected between January 2012 and January 2013.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, in his remarks at the hearing, said that the FCT should have its own structures and systems similar to those of states of the federation, and added thatit would be in line with the spirit of the Constitution. “I understand that presently the FIRS collects, on behalf of the FCT some form of taxes, but for a fee of four per cent. There are other revenue sources that could be taxed, but are left to fallow, for lack of enabling laws.”
 He drew the attention of the public to the constitutional provision for all citizens to pay taxes, and added  that, “The FCT property tax bill when it becomes law would lead to expanding the revenue bases and creating new sources of funds.”

Enugu leaders, Speaker disagree over Chime’s health, absence

THERE may be no end yet to the controversy trailing the long absence of the ailing Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime as the Save Enugu Group has asked the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Eugene Odo, to make available to it within seven days a certified true copy of the letter transmitted to him by Chime before proceeding on vacation.
Meanwhile, for being able to maintain stability in the states despite long absence of their governors due to ailment, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has commended the leadership of the party in Enugu and Taraba states.
The Save Enugu Group threatened to sue him should he fails to produce to the group the said letter within the specified time frame.
But in a swift reaction, Odo said that though the document was a public one, it would however not be made available to the said group whom he said was not “a legal personality”.
He said, “Certified True Copy documents are only made available to individuals who identify themselves properly or associations known to law. Save Enugu Group is not known to law. We have made our search to discover that the Save Enugu Group is not a legal personality. It is not registered with Corporate Affairs Commission. So on what basis should they be making such demand. But if her members can come individually and apply, we will make the document available but to the group, we will not because you cannot sue them”.
Odo said he has not received any such demand from the group or any individual in the state.
In the letter to the Speaker dated January 28 and signed by the group’s co-ordinator, Maxi Okwu, he stated that releasing the letter would enable the group ascertain the authenticity of his claim that Chime actually transmitted a letter and its contents.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement yesterday said the fact that government activities have not been grounded in those states showed that that PDP governments have direction and focus in line with its manifesto to ensure the welfare of the people at all times.
“We want to commend our party leadership and government officials in Enugu and Taraba states; the acting governors, the Speakers of the Houses of Assembly and other state caucus members and government appointees in these states for holding forth in the absence of Governors Chime and Suntai, who are out of the country for medical attention.

Bayelsa may okay death sentence for kidnappers

Deceased kidnap victim’s husband wants probe
Council chief’s parents abducted
IF Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State finally has his way, death penalty awaits any kidnapper in the state.
A bill to this effect, according to the governor, will be forwarded to the state House of Assembly for passage into law. Meanwhile, Mr. Henry Edokpayi, the husband of the late Mariam, who was kidnapped and allegedly buried in a shallow grave on New Year’s eve, has appealed to the police to expedite action in their investigation with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice.
In a related development, armed men at about 10.30 p.m. on Sunday invaded the Oloibiri residence of Ogbia Council chairman, Mr. Richard Ibegu, and abducted the aged parents, Mr. Festus and Mrs. Ibiye Ibegu.
In 2012, the Bayelsa State House of Assembly passed into law, an Executive bill prohibiting secret cult, kidnapping and related vices.
The governor disclosed this during the swearing in ceremony of the chairman and members of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Agbere communal crisis, held at the Government House, Yenagoa.
He said that he would not hesitate to sign the death warrant of kidnappers or those attempting to commit the crime, as government would no longer condone acts of lawlessness.
“We have made it very clear that wherever there is any breach of the peace and breakdown of law and order, this government will use all its resources and authority to ensure that the right thing is done and people are brought to book,” he warned.
He also threatened that any traditional ruler caught aiding and abetting kidnapping and other related vices would be dealt with in accordance with the law.
Edokpayi who spoke to reporters Monday shortly after the burial of his wife in Benin City, stressed the need for speedy investigation of the matter so as to know the true motive of the abductors
The slain 48- year old woman was   abducted in Ughelli in Delta State while on her way to midnight service on the eve of the New Year. It was learnt that the family paid ransom to the suspected kidnappers but were shocked to discover her dead body in a shallow grave after the ransom was handed over to her abductors.
A young man was said to have gone to the Area Commander’s office in Warri, to confess his involvement in the abduction and led the police to a shallow grave where the body of the deceased was found.
The Guardian gathered that the three-man gang who stormed the predominantly fishing and farming settlement in a speedboat, reportedly fired sporadically into the air to ward off potential threats before heading straight to the council chief’s residence.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) Fidelis Odunna (DSP), confirmed the incident, adding, “a police crack team has swung into action with a view to apprehending the kidnappers.

Boko Haram declares ceasefire, gives conditions for peace

• Seeks freedom for arrested members, rebuilding of Yusuf’s mosque
CITING the need to spare women and children further calamities engendered by its activities, Boko Haram Monday declared a ceasefire.
But the ceasefire came with some conditions: Freedom for the arrested members of the group and the rebuilding of the destroyed mosque of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf.
Declaring the ceasefire Monday through a tele-conference at the Borno State Radio and Television (BRTV), spokesman of Boko Haram, and second-in-command of the group, Sheikh Abdul Aziz said: “This ceasefire being announced today, is a goodwill message from the Jamaatul Ahlus Sunnah Lid Dawatil wal Jihad (Boko Haram), following a series of meetings with government officials and leaders of thought in Borno State.
“I am announcing this ceasefire with the consent and approval of the leader of Boko Haram sect, Sheikh Abubakar Shekau. We therefore, call on all our members to stop all acts of violence immediately and await further directives. We have adopted this measure as a result of the hardship women and children are subjected to.”
He added that members of the Boko Haram should relate the ceasefire message to those “who are not aware or informed of today’s (Monday) development.”
Aziz explained: “The Boko Haram ceasefire is nationwide and commences immediately.”
He, however, denied the group’s involvement in the recent attacks and killings in Borno and other parts of the North, attributing the violence to the activities of armed robbers and other criminals that allegedly operate under the guise of Boko Haram.
While speaking on the violence that took over Maiduguri recently, Aziz distanced the group from such acts, pointing out that such attacks were politically-motivated by those seeking power in the Borno Emirate Council, government or otherwise, but not in line with the ideology of the group who are fighting for the cause of Allah.
He also said that the burning of old and newly constructed primary schools witnessed across the state was not masterminded by the group, insisting that the burning of such places was carried out by aggrieved politicians who were denied contracts from the state government.
He also urged the Joint Task Force (JTF) and other security agents to respond positively to the ceasefire.
He said: “Talks with government officials on how to surrender our arms and weapons has also commenced,” urging members of the sect to cooperate fully, by surrendering their arms and weapons to security agents.
Confirming the ceasefire, Borno State Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Isa Umar Gusau said that the Boko Haram insurgency was a national security issue, which involved the Presidency, National Security Adviser and JTF.
Gusau also said: “The ceasefire announced today was also as a result of Governor Kashim Shettima’s efforts at exploring all means to end the insurgency.”
Members of the group had on November 1 last year said they were ready to ceasefire and listed some conditions. The conditions included the arrest and prosecution of a former governor of Borno State, and also that the dialogue must take place in Saudi Arabia.
They had also demanded that all their members, who were arrested and under the custody of security agencies be released immediately, just as their wives and children who were displaced following the crises should be rehabilitated into the society to allow room for dialogue with the Federal Government.
Nigerian mediators who were to represent the group in the dialogue with the Federal Government had included Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Ambassador Gaji Galtimari and Barrister Aisha Wakil and her husband.
Boko Haram, which in Hausa, loosely translates to mean “Western education is sinful”, said they were fighting to impose Islamic law on Nigeria.
At least 2,800 people have died in the North and Abuja since the group unleashed violence in 2009. Its most lethal attack killed at least 186 people in Kano in January 2012 in co-ordinated bombings and shootings.
The group has repeatedly struck churches during services, at Christmas and Easter killing scores of people. A bomb attack on St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla on Abuja’s outskirts during a packed Christmas Mass in 2011 killed at least 37 people.
Last Easter Sunday, a bombing at a church compound in northern Kaduna during a service killed at least 36 people.
In other major attacks, gunmen killed at least 19 people in two attacks on Christian worshippers in the Nigerian city of Kano and in the northeastern town of Maiduguri on April 29, 2012.
In June, three gunmen sprayed bullets at the congregation of a church in Biu Town, in northeastern Borno State. In Jos, a Boko Haram suicide bomber drove a car to the entrance of the Christ Chosen Church and blew it up.
In the same month, a bomb attack in a church in Kaduna triggered a week of tit-for-tat violence that killed at least 90 people.
In October a suicide bomber drove a sport utility vehicle full of explosives into a Catholic church during morning mass, killing eight and wounding more than 100. The most recent attack on a church a few weeks ago was when suicide bombers struck the St. Andrew Military Protestant Church at the Jaji barracks in Kaduna State killing 11 people and wounding 30.


-culled from The Guardian

Outrage as pension funds’ fraudster gets two-year sentence

CAN the nation’s laws really fight corruption? This poser  Monday ran through reactions to a two-year jail term given to a man who confessed to embezzling N23.3 billion belonging to the Police Pension Board (PPB).
A former head of the PPB, Yakubu Yusufu, got the sentence from an Abuja High Court.
The court also gave him the option of paying N750, 000 and walking away a free man. But it ordered that Yusufu forfeits a property valued at N325 million.
Yusufu, the eighth accused person on the charge sheet specifically pleaded guilty to counts 18, 19 and 20 wherein he was alleged to have connived with Mr. Essai Dangabar, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma, Sani Habila Zira, Mrs. Uzoma Cyril Attang and Mr. Christian Madubuike, to convert the sums of N24.2 billion, N1.3 billion and N1.7 billion respectively, belonging to the Pension Office to their own use, an offence punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007.
While delivering his judgment, the position of the law and the plea of Yusufu’s counsel, Mayaki Thoedore Bala, that he “tempers justice with mercy” seemed to weigh heavily on the mind of the trial judge, Justice Abubakar Talba.
Justice Talba held that Section 309 of the Penal Code under which the accused persons were charged provides for a two-year imprisonment with an option of fine or both if found guilty.
Accordingly, he had no trouble reaching the decision to give a two-year sentence for each count expected to run concurrently or an option of N250, 000 per count.
He noted that the convict with no previous criminal record, voluntarily pleaded guilty to the charges for which he was standing trial and had agreed to forfeit the money he stole as well as the property he acquired with the ill-gotten money.
Justice Talba lamented that corruption was a monster, which had denied Nigerians better living conditions.
Reacting to the judgment on Monday, a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Itse Sagay, said even though he was not a crime lawyer, he was aware that the law for such offences provides for at least a 14-year imprisonment. “This particular stealing is aggravated not just because of the amount of money involved but because of the people affected. Those are the people who have served this country in their prime; spent their years serving this country and are now dying in penury. To me, he deserves a capital punishment”, he declared, adding that the two- year sentence was quite surprising to him.
Also, the chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Onyekachi Ubani, said that something drastic had to be done to amend the penal code that provided for such penalty.
“It encourages impunity. If it is true that the provision of the law says two years, it does not make for the orderliness of the society. Punishments are supposed to serve as deterrent, but this type will encourage more crime. What is two years?” he queried, adding that the National Assembly should as a matter of urgency amend the penal code to provide for a stricter punishment.
But the former National President of the NBA, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), had a different opinion. He said that the fact that there was a conviction was enough to cheer about. He said: “It is encouraging. This news about the conviction is good and everybody should be happy. Let us first get conviction at all. This is a country where it is difficult to convict corrupt cases. All we hear before is arrest, charge, and bail with nothing to show for it.”
According to him, while not losing sight of the fact that the sentencing was inappropriate, it is cheery news that he was convicted in the first place. According to him, what is important now is to encourage the judges to tread that path and begin to hand out stricter penalties in order to discourage others. “I am happy that there is a conviction while not losing sight of the fact that the sentencing was inappropriate. We can rather continue to encourage the judges to continue in that direction but to make it more stringent so that it will send a strong signal”, he declared.
Meanwhile, the other accused persons in the matter, which is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) maintained their earlier plea, insisting that they were not guilty.
In the amended 20 counts charge, bordering on conspiracy and criminal breach of trust brought against the accused persons by EFCC, two more persons, Mrs. Uzoma Cyril Attang and Mr. Christian Madubuike who were not included in the earlier charge were introduced in the matter.
The Permanent Secretary of the Pension Office, Mr. Atiku Abubakar Kigo, was initially docked alongside Mr. Esai Dangabar, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakubu Yufufu, Sani Habila Zira and one woman, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Oyegbula in 2011 on a 16-count charge before the charge was amended to include Mrs. Attang and Mr. Christian Madubike.
The judge had earlier granted each of the accused persons bail in the sum of N10 million, with two sureties in like sum, one of whom must not be less than an officer on grade level 14 and that the sureties must live within the jurisdiction of the court.
Other conditions for their bail, the judge held, were that the sureties must depose to affidavits of means, which must be verified by the EFCC and that the accused persons should deposit their national passports before the court.

Ehiz Wins MTV Base VJ Search Competition, Gets N10m Worth Deal

Ehizojia Okoeguale simply called Ehiz has won the MTV Base VJ Search competition. Ehiz, who is 25 years old and a graduate of Computer Electronic from Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, also got a N10million contract from the competition.

The event, which was held at One-Eleven club in Victoria Island, Lagos, saw two other finalists; Kemi Owatemi and Ada Ogunkeye, compete for the grand prize.

Iyanya, Ice Prince, Burna Boy thrilled the audience with music while Funke Akindele, Toolz, Banky W and Tim Horwood were the judges.

Ehiz also went home with a brand new Kia Cerato car.