Nigerian Seaports, Land Borders Exposed By Lack Of Functional Scanners . The nation is at risk – Experts
The interception of 661 pieces of pump-action rifles by the operatives of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) A, Ikeja of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is one out of the many contrabands -arms, ammunition, substandard products, fake drugs -that are exiting Nigerian seaports and land borders on daily basis due to obsolete and non-functional scanning machines at Nigerian entry points.
The truck-load of pump-action rifles was imported from China. According to Col Hameed Ali, (retired), controller-general of customs, CGC, the contraband which was routed through Turkey enroute Nigeria contained 49 boxes with a total number of 661 pieces of pump action rifles.
According to him, “On Sunday 22nd January 2017, the roving team of the NCS Federal Operations Unit while on information patrol intercepted a Mack truck with registration number BDG 265 XG conveying a 1x40ft container with number: PONU/825914/3 along Mile 2 Apapa Road.
“The truck was immediately taken to the premises of FOU A, Ikeja where physical examination revealed 49 boxes containing a total number of 661 pieces of pump action rifles, concealed with steel doors and other merchandise goods.”
But, investigations by our correspondent show that the incident was not the first time the FOU A, Ikeja had to intercept contraband goods that have been duly cleared by customs at Lagos seaports.
Last year, men of the Nigerian Customs raided a warehouse in Lagos where imported furniture which is on import prohibition list was warehoused after making its way through the Lagos seaport into the country.
Apart from corruption which drive the actions of the men and officers of the Nigerian Customs, contraband consignments are able to slip through Nigerian ports, undetected because of the non-availability of scanning machines that would have dictated what was imported in the country.
Investigation revealed that the only one scanner working at Apapa Port work for few hours and it is allowed hours on end recover before it is put back to work. Lack of functioning scanners had made Nigerian ports very stressful and insecure places to do business. Maritime experts who are alarmed by the state of scanners at Nigerian ports say they have frequently caused delays in goods clearance as well as escape of contraband goods into the society.
Stakeholders say one scanner is grossly insufficient to handle the number of cargoes being discharged at the Apapa Port and worse is that Tin Can Port has none.
According to maritime experts, busy ports like Apapa and Tin Can, need four functional scanners each in other to handle containers coming to the ports. LEADERSHIP Sunday can authoritatively confirm that the busiest ports in Nigeria – Tin Can, Apapa ports – have a total of three totally broken down scanners, with one dysfunctional one at Apapa Port, which works below 40 per cent capacity.
Our correspondent observes that due to the non-functional and inadequate scanners at Apapa and Tin Can,100 per cent examination are done manually on containers by customs officers, which stifles business and trade and increase chances.
SULTAN, SARAKI ASK NIGERIANS TO PRAY FOR PMB’S SAFE RETURN
By Abdullahi Olesin, Ilorin
The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Saad Abubakar, 111 and the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday asked Nigerians to pray for the safe return of President Muhammadu Buhari from the United Kingdom where he had gone on medical vacation.
The two leaders made the call in their respective speeches at the closing ceremony of the 31st National Quranic Recitation Competition in Ilorin, Kwara state where the winners were also given various types of awards.
Sultan who spoke first said, “ let’s offer prayers for our President for God to ensure that he comes back safely.
“Let’s also pray for our political leaders for God to show His mercy on them to enable them provide right leadership for the country.”
Sultan who described religion as a personal matter, equally advised Nigerians to their common problems of “poverty, unemployment and extremism.“
He added “ let’s face our common problems instead of waging religious war. “
The monarch who said Muslims are peace loving, hailed the court of appeal’s verdict on the right of female Muslims to wear hijab.
He, therefore, urged Muslim organizations in the country to always employ legal means in asking for their rights.
“As Muslims, we do not intend to dominate anyone, but what we demand is the freedom to practice our religion. Religion is a personal matter. We should preach peace, stability and peaceful co-existence no matter what religion we profess,” he counselled.
Also speaking, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki urged the gathering to pray to God to continue to grant president Buhari good health and wisdom.
While commending the participants of the event, Saraki noted that the knowledge of the holy Quran is one of the best ways to spread the words of God.
He said, “I am convinced that if we all forget about religion and look at the rationality of the words contained in the holy books, our world will be better.
“The holy books of the two major religions, the Quran and Bible, teaches morality, justice, equity, love, compassion, respect for elders, making money through just and fair means and many other virtues which if we all imbibe them, there will not be war, disease, poverty, squalor, deprivation, crime and injustice.
“The holy books talk about the responsibility and burden of leadership. The books say those of us in position of leadership will have a lot to account for before Allah. Also, it is true that all of us are in one position of leadership or the other. We are leaders at various levels and we will be held accountable. Even as a follower, we will be held accountable on whether we have played our role in making our leaders lead with the fear of Allah.”
Abuja-kaduna rail transport: passengers lament hike in fare
BY ISAIAH BENJAMIN, Kaduna, and ejike ejike, Abuja
Passengers who patronize the Abuja-Kaduna rail transport has decried the recent hike in the fares, saying the aim is likely going to be defeated if not addressed urgently.
But an official of the railway corporation said the increase was not meant to punish the masses but to serve them better.
Recall that at the inception, the fare from Abuja- Kaduna by rail for the standard class was N600 per passenger while the 1st class was N900. With the new rate, the standard class will have to pay N1050 while the 1st class now pays 1500.
Some of the passengers that spoke to our correspondent at the Abuja-Kaduna (AK) train service station in Rigasa said they are disappointed with the sudden increase.
According to Hajiya Salamatu Ibrahim, “The increase of N450 all of a sudden is too much. The train service was meant to help the ordinary citizens but with the increase now, am not sure if it will still achieve the same aim,” she said.
On his part, Mr Danjuma Alkali said, “we heard that the increase was due to the increase in the price of diesel, in any case, it is stillcheaper that the fare of taking vehicle to Abuja by road,” he said.
In defence of the fare increment however, the AK train service station manager Kaduna, Lawal Mohammed, said the fare increase is basically toimprove service delivery to the customers.
When asked if the increase in fare has affected the patronage, he said, “we now have more passengers, some of who have to wait for hours to board the train.”
Nnamani: My challenge with electoral
reform committee
Former Senate President Senator Ken Nnamani, who is currently the chairman of the Electoral Reform Committee offers a tip of what to expect from his committee in this exclusive interview with CELESTINE OKAFOR. He also provide reasons for his decision to join the APC.
Your committee is schedule to submit its report by April. I recall there were salient issues to be sorted out which you indeed acknowledged. What were those issues really?
I did not intend to go into the details of the work we are doing currently because so many people are wondering what is going on. A lot of things are indeed going on. I recall that we organized the committees such that they have clusters that have thematic areas they are covering. And we have a group of coordinators that are coordinating both the public memoranda and from other sources. So they are collating all that and analyzing it and they are getting reports from our members within these clusters. Once in a while, we hold a plenary where each cluster makes presentations to the plenary. After that we return to our various clusters because people made inputs and so on. We have had three retreats, one in Uyo, another in Calabar and one here in Abuja. In that of Uyo, the chairman of the Constitution Review Committee and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, made a very marvelous and exhaustive presentation which touched on various areas. That enabled our committee to see where there are meeting points and divergent views. He (Ekweremadu) made presentations on the legislative and the executive arms of government. So we had the opportunity of making comparisons on these contributions. There are several areas which l don’t think it is proper for me to dwell on now on those specific areas because we are yet to subject some of our thinking and findings to public review in terms of public hearing. Recall also that there is no section of the Nigerian constitution that make public hearing mandatory in matters like this. Even the constitution review they are doing in the National Assembly, public hearing is not mandatory. But because we in the electoral review committee don’t have the monopoly of ideas, we try to carry the public along what we’re doing by carrying out a zonal public hearing soon after our consultation work. We will also debate these things and then go out and get inputs from the members of the public. We haven’t done that aspect yet but we shall do that very soon.
Curiously asking, what are the key issues, the high points Nigerians are likely to see in your committee’s recommendations by the time you submit your report to the government?
Well, you recall as you and l are talking now, that there are several cases that are still pending in either High Courts or the Supreme Court. But those who are the actors, those who are involved in those matters have served their tenures and have left office. For example, the former governor of my state (Enugu), Sullivan Chime, had his case in Supreme Court recently. His election as governor was seriously being challenged by Dr Alexander Obiechina in a pre-election suit in which Obiechina claims before the apex Court that he validly won the governorship primary conducted by the PDP in Enugu on January 9, 2011 but which he (Obiechina) told the court that the party leadership set aside and held another one two days after on January 12 of same 2011 in alleged violation of the relevant electoral act and PDP guidelines for the conduct of primaries. This matter lasted for almost two years after Chime had left office as governor.
The case was prominently reported in the newspapers including your paper LEADERSHIP. I read it regularly in LEADERSHIP. It was only recently that l learnt the case was finally struck out by the Supreme Court. You see, issues like this should have long been addressed by the electoral act. Pre-election matters should not drag on for so long and should be addressed immediately they come up. Such delay is not good for our electoral system. In our electoral reform committee report, we will probably have a way of shortening the period of litigation of such cases and find a way of addressing these things once and for all. Currently, there is no such provision in the electoral act now. Our committee will put an end to it. Somebody whose election is being challenged should have the case against him dispensed with quickly before he leaves office so that both the petitioner and the defendant will know where they stand on the matter before his tenure ends. In the case of Obiechina vs Chime, such case should have been concluded when Chime was still in power. Therefore we need to find a permanent solution to things like this and our committee will eventually take care of it when we make our recommendations. That is number one.
Number two, most Nigerians are aware that our election tribunals are set up after elections. Cases that come to those tribunals keep dragging even till the defendant gets closer to the end of his tenure. It is similar to the matter between Obiechina and Chime. As a democratic society, we don’t need to wait that long before we do the right thing. As soon as the dates for elections are known, the judiciary should set up its tribunal and which will go on with the elections. There could be pre-election matters that could be going on even on the day of the election. Such matters should be disposed of in a swift manner. There is a Federal High Court in almost all the states. How come such pre-election matter cannot go on and it will be pending in court until about four or five years. I gave you an example of my own state (in the case of Obiechina vs Chime).
It can be done. Even on the day of the election, a court can give a judgment. There should be no hoarding of cases which will necessitate the disputants to be coming to court all the time. Pre-election cases, for instance, should be made time-bound so that both parties know ahead of time their status with such case. We don’t have such provisions for now and that’s why things are compounded. It will eliminate the agony being experienced and the heavy financial burden and time being expended. The undue delay in Obiechina and Chime’s case is ridiculous. Chime has served his term and moved on. That is not the only one. There are many cases like that. So why won’t the court set up the tribunals alongside on-going elections? There are other nitty gritty areas that need to be looked at by Your committee is schedule to submit its report by April. I recall there were salient issues to be sorted out which you indeed acknowledged. What were those issues really?
I did not intend to go into the details of the work we are doing currently because so many people are wondering what is going on. A lot of things are indeed going on. I recall that we organized the committees such that they have clusters that have thematic areas they are covering. And we have a group of coordinators that are coordinating both the public memoranda and from other sources. So they are collating all that and analyzing it and they are getting reports from our members within these clusters. Once in a while, we hold a plenary where each cluster makes presentations to the plenary. After that we return to our various clusters because people made inputs and so on. We have had three retreats, one in Uyo, another in Calabar and one here in Abuja. In that of Uyo, the chairman of the Constitution Review Committee and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, made a very marvelous and exhaustive presentation which touched on various areas. That enabled our committee to see where there are meeting points and divergent views. He (Ekweremadu) made presentations on the legislative and the executive arms of government. So we had the opportunity of making comparisons on these contributions. There are several areas which l don’t think it is proper for me to dwell on now on those specific areas because we are yet to subject some of our thinking and findings to public review in terms of public hearing. Recall also that there is no section of the Nigerian constitution that make public hearing mandatory in matters like this. Even the constitution review they are doing in the National Assembly, public hearing is not mandatory. But because we in the electoral review committee don’t have the monopoly of ideas, we try to carry the public along what we’re doing by carrying out a zonal public hearing soon after our consultation work. We will also debate these things and then go out and get inputs from the members of the public. We haven’t done that aspect yet but we shall do that very soon.
Curiously asking, what are the key issues, the high points Nigerians are likely to see in your committee’s recommendations by the time you submit your report to the government?
Well, you recall as you and l are talking now, that there are several cases that are still pending in either High Courts or the Supreme Court. But those who are the actors, those who are involved in those matters have served their tenures and have left office. For example, the former governor of my state (Enugu), Sullivan Chime, had his case in Supreme Court recently. His election as governor was seriously being challenged by Dr Alexander Obiechina in a pre-election suit in which Obiechina claims before the apex Court that he validly won the governorship primary conducted by the PDP in Enugu on January 9, 2011 but which he (Obiechina) told the court that the party leadership set aside and held another one two days after on January 12 of same 2011 in alleged violation of the relevant electoral act and PDP guidelines for the conduct of primaries. This matter lasted for almost two years after Chime had left office as governor.
The case was prominently reported in the newspapers including your paper LEADERSHIP. I read it regularly in LEADERSHIP. It was only recently that l learnt the case was finally struck out by the Supreme Court. You see, issues like this should have long been addressed by the electoral act. Pre-election matters should not drag on for so long and should be addressed immediately they come up. Such delay is not good for our electoral system. In our electoral reform committee report, we will probably have a way of shortening the period of litigation of such cases and find a way of addressing these things once and for all. Currently, there is no such provision in the electoral act now. Our committee will put an end to it. Somebody whose election is being challenged should have the case against him dispensed with quickly before he leaves office so that both the petitioner and the defendant will know where they stand on the matter before his tenure ends. In the case of Obiechina vs Chime, such case should have been concluded when Chime was still in power. Therefore we need to find a permanent solution to things like this and our committee will eventually take care of it when we make our recommendations. That is number one.
Number two, most Nigerians are aware that our election tribunals are set up after elections. Cases that come to those tribunals keep dragging even till the defendant gets closer to the end of his tenure. It is similar to the matter between Obiechina and Chime. As a democratic society, we don’t need to wait that long before we do the right thing. As soon as the dates for elections are known, the judiciary should set up its tribunal and which will go on with the elections. There could be pre-election matters that could be going on even on the day of the election. Such matters should be disposed of in a swift manner. There is a Federal High Court in almost all the states. How come such pre-election matter cannot go on and it will be pending in court until about four or five years. I gave you an example of my own state (in the case of Obiechina vs Chime).
It can be done. Even on the day of the election, a court can give a judgment. There should be no hoarding of cases which will necessitate the disputants to be coming to court all the time. Pre-election cases, for instance, should be made time-bound so that both parties know ahead of time their status with such case. We don’t have such provisions for now and that’s why things are compounded. It will eliminate the agony being experienced and the heavy financial burden and time being expended. The undue delay in Obiechina and Chime’s case is ridiculous. Chime has served his term and moved on. That is not the only one. There are many cases like that. So why won’t the court set up the tribunals alongside on-going elections? There are other nitty gritty areas that need to be looked at by ur committee. The earlierreport by Justice Muhammed Uwais committee was very good. But there are other areas that requires some kind of panel-beating. the APC government to implement whatever recommendations that will be contained in your committee report which government may not find very suitable as we have seen in the past?
The reason why most of us in the committee feel that our report in the new electoral act that will soon come out will be implemented by the government, is that President Buhari himself is case study to the Nigerian electoral system. So Mr President went through it. He has worn the shoe many times so he knows where the shoe is pinching. And if you observe, Mr President carefully composed the membership of this electoral reform committee.
There are some practical politicians in the membership composition. The civil society members are there, academicians, former legislators like my humble self and so many other people. Some of the politicians and lawmakers in our membership are practical people who have experienced the imperfections in our electoral system. You know, there is a great difference between classroom experience and field experience. These important issues were taken into considerations when the membership of our committee was being put together by Mr President. There are so many recommendations on things that we did not even anticipate that will help the new electoral system. Some people have asked this question: why another electoral reform committee. But the truth is that there are so many things that we need to urgently address in that committee for the sake of the future.
You recently registered your membership of the All Progressive Congress (APC). What were your considerations before joining ruling party?
Well, you recall that l resigned my membership of the PDP ((People’s Democratic Party) very regrettably on the 6th of February 2016. That was after l made all kinds of efforts with my colleagues to see how we can redeem the party (PDP). At a point, l was even the chairman of the proscribed PDP reform committee and which even fetched me a suspension in the party. But we were recalled when they saw that we were in the right direction. The result of what we were crying about in the PDP is evident today in whatever is left of the party. However, after l made some efforts and my suggestions were completely thrown out by an overwhelming forces in the party, l figured out that l found myself in a wrong place. I issued a statement on Saturday the 6th of February 2016 withdrawing my membership of the PDP. And then a couple months after, l registered my membership of the APC recently.
Don’t you think you run the risk of being accused of joining the APC simply because you have been given an Electoral Reform job by the ruling government and therefore, the whole thing may have been pre-arranged?
No, it is not! You see, l did what l did with a clear view of my role as the chairman of the Electoral Reform Committee. For those who don’t seem to understand what is involved in that electoral reform panel, it is not based on APC, CPC, PDP or any party. The committee is not a final arbiter or final point in the electoral amendment exercise. And the committee is not expected to make a recommendation that is favorable to any political party. In other words, like in the business of lawmaking, you don’t make laws for anybody or for any particular group of persons. You make laws for all times. If you make laws for APC or PDP, when that party is no more, you have to go back and make another law. It becomes a banana republic way of doing things. No! The recommendations that will come out of our committee has nothing to do with party affiliation because it is not the final bill neither is it a final act. It will still go through the executive branch and the executive branch will now submit the executive bill to the National Assembly. Even at the National Assembly, members that will adjudicate on the recommendations of the committee belong to one political party or the other. So the issue of my being a member of APC is my right of freedom of association. I chose to be a member of the APC but it has nothing to do with my assignment as the chairman of the electoral reform committee.
The challenge is that we should make such recommendations that can stand the test of time. It’s not geared towards PDP or APC. It is the ability to think in many dimensions. Yes l have sympathy for the APC, but l thought l am free to belong to a group l like in exercise of my freedom of association which is in line with the Nigerian constitution. So it is not in any way conflicting with my assignment. It is those who don’t understand the rudiments of what we are doing that will use all kinds of phrases to describe it. I live very close to the market place in my village (Amaechi Awknawnaw, Enugu state) so l am not afraid of noise. The important thing again is what do l bring to bear as the chairman of the electoral reform committee through our recommendations. How does it reflect the views of Nigerians? Our recommendations, like l said earlier, is not for APC or for PDP. Infact if you must remove every person because of his or her political affiliation, then there will be no President for the whole country.
As l already indicated, those that will actually pass the bill on electoral reform recommendations, the National Assembly members, are the final authority. Our recommendations will still find its way through rigorous processes before it gets to the National Assembly and they belong to the various political parties. Nigeria does not have Independent candidacy yet. For you to practice politics in Nigeria, you must belong to a political platform. But that platform should not becloud your judgement to things that will affect Nigerians. Our electoral process, if we get it right, will reduce all the problems we have been having. Infact, three quarters of the cases that we have been having in the judiciary have to do with electoral matters or with election related matters.
If you recall some weeks or months ago about some judges that were clamped down on in a night raid, almost all the issues relate to the electoral process either to the election tribunal or to the pre-election or post-election matters. If we can get it right, we will be freed of the almost three quarters of the election cases now pending in court. So it is a very critical thing. It has nothing to do with me joining a political party. Whoever is going to chair a committee as critical as that, should know that it is a function of individual ability to show good judgement as against showing the party you belong to. The recommendations of my panel, as l said, will have nothing to do with the party l come from or represent. The party did not send me there.
Now that you are in the APC and have been made the leader of the party in the South East zone, what value are you going to add in the party?
Well, l think some of my experiences and reforms l spearheaded in PDP will bring to bear on the APC. There are certain things you learn from personal experiences. If you recall in my statement when l resigned my membership of the PDP last year, l thanked the party for giving me the platform to attain the position l attained especially as Senate President. That was why l did not fail to point out the things l felt were going wrong with the party. Having said that, APC is not yet a perfect party. That is the truth. But there are chances that there are areas that can be amended. I don’t see APC as hardened such that it will not give a well-meaning member an opportunity to sell a worthwhile idea that will help the party to become better. APC is a brand new growing party. People have said to me Nnamani why didn’t you people float another political party. I don’t think it is proper for us to be forming parties almost every four years. We should make the best out of the existing ones. If my former party had been able to listen to us, there would have been no need of our going to a new platform. I don’t like this idea of abusing people and using gutter language on others. I like where we can debate and come up with different ideas because nobody has a monopoly of ideas of how things should be done.
If you say that a party is democratic, then you should listen to your members. I think APC will probably learn from the mistakes of other parties. You don’t wait to make the same mistake others have made. APC stands a chance of learning from the PDP experience because a lot of people from the PDP are now in APC. Particularly from my area the South East, there are some good materials who are experienced veterans that are in APC also. But for me, l think because of the position l have held in my former party and in the Senate, l would imagine that l will be a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC.
I also imagine that l could serve in the membership of any other strategic organ of the party. Our people don’t seem to understand that when a heavy rain is failing and you’re standing in that rain being beating and you are crying, nobody will notice that you are crying because you are under the rain. You can’t bring about change by merely shouting from outside. You have to come inside the room. I think from all l know about myself, l’m in a position to speak up at the highest level of the party to make suggestions.
Won’t you be misunderstood by the party as the PDP did when you and a few others tried to call the party to order some time ago?
Well, my suggestions usually are well-meaning and the party will eventually find out that such inputs are healthy for the party. I am capable of making such good advice or suggestions to the party in a calm, mature and responsible way such that no offense is
Yabaji: How ADP Will Dislodge APC, PDP In 2019 –
The interim national chairman of the prospective mega party, Action Democratic Party (ADP), Engr. Sani Yabaji has blamed the spate of corruption in the polity on the failure of party administration in both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The interim party chairman who noted that both parties are in a mess, lambasted them for lacking any philosophy or guiding principle for proper governance. He stressed that it was wrong for either the president or a governor to be ascribed leader of the party.
Speaking exclusively with LEADERSHIP Sunday, Yabaji however boasted that Nigerians are in a pleasant surprise in 2019 as the new party when registered will sack the ruling APC and send both the ruling party and the PDP to oblivion.
Yabaji noted that the yet to be registered party has worked out clear cut modalities which it hoped to adopt in wrestling power come 2019.
He said “The political issues that we have today stem from party administration. You cannot expect any thing good from a child comes from a home that there is no discipline and that is the bane of our problem politically. So we cannot address our economic and social issues.
“As a matter of fact both parties do not have any philosophy. They don’t having any guiding principle. One person will not determine what happens in our party. Just because you are an elected governor of president does not make you leader of the party. In our party you can’t blow your siren 100 meteres to the party office as a governor because you are coming to the party office as a member. So if you come you have to wait until the chairman arrives.
“The party is supreme so as to bring in discipline that we need. We have what we call Founding Members Council (FMC) where all disputes must be resolved. Members will sign a carter that they will not take the party to court. So it is discipline that is lacking. But we know it. Those who played politics in 1983 know what I am talking about.The chairman of the party was always the last person to come to the meeting and the president must stand up.
“If you make the governor leader of the party, it’s like standing the pyramid on its head. It cannot stand and that is why they don’t have discipline and they do whether they like. The party manifesto is thrown to the woods and the chairman is left to run after governors which shouldn’t be the case. The party must be organized and members must be accountable to the party.”
The interim chairman, while dismissing insinuations that their party will be made up of aggrieved members from APC and PDP. He noted that they will use option A4 for party primaries as against delegate systems used by most political parties.
He further dismissed claims that the party will be hijacked by money bags adding that the party’s structures all over the country are already being established by contributions from party members. Conference