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Stop Paying Allowances To Lawmakers – Jibrin

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Jibrin

Jibrin

Abdulmumin Jibrin,who was recently suspended for a year by the house of reps has urged Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, to stop the payment of running cost allowances to members of House of Reps.

According to him lawmakers collect as much as N10 million every month as running cost allowance which they utilize for their personal use

Read what he wrote below:

After about 10 weeks since I commenced exposing corruption in the House of Representatives, Speaker Dogara and other accused persons are yet to respond to dozens of allegations bordering on budget fraud, abuse of office and public trust and corruption. This is in addition to my revelation that there exist chronic, deep-rooted, monumental and systemic corruption in the House.
In the light of the foregoing, I wish to make the following statements and demands:
1-I am also demanding the Minister of Finance, Accountant General of the Federation, Attorney General of the Federation and Clerk of National Assembly in exercising my right as a citizen of Nigeria to stop with immediate effect further payments of running cost allowances to Members of the House of Representatives because as an insider, I know that most of such money have been and are diverted into private pockets. There is no law in our country that is intended to protect corruption. So the continuous payment of such money negates the spirit and genuine intention of establishing such laws in the first place.
2- I am also calling on Nigerians, companies, ministries, departments and agencies to shun invitations from the House of Representatives until the House allows for a transparent investigation of individual and systemic corruption allegations in collaboration with ongoing external investigations by the police and anti-graft agencies and commence a wide ranging reforms to restore the battered image of the House and strengthen it to effectively discharge its constitutional mandate. As a Nigerian, you have enough reason to shun them. I assure you that they can do nothing.
Why did you think the House could not do anything to the former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke towards the end of the 7th Assembly when she shunned and dared the House? Think? I will come to that latter and narrate to you the story of how she met a senior member of the body of Principal Officers of the 7th Assembly in the Aso drive residence of a Lebanese business man, the deal that was struck and what followed after in devastating consequences to the House and its image. A complete shame!
3- As I promised and gave a 72-hours ultimatum to the Principal Officers and one week to other members, I have forwarded to the Anti-graft agencies the first batch of names of 50 members of the House that are involved in running cost allowances fraud in their entire stay in the House. I have broken the list into batches to make the work easier for the anti-graft agencies. I will be sending the names in batches of 50 until the list is exhausted. The first batch include Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun, Whip Alhassan Doguwa, Minority Leader Leo Ogor, Hon Herma Hembe, Hon Jagaba Adams, Hon Timothy Golu, Hon Yunusa Ahmad Abubakar, Hon Mukaila Olayiwola Kazzim, Hon Lynda Chuba Ikpeazu, Hon Abdulrazak Namdas, Hon Osai Nicolas Osai, among others.
I deliberately included the name of Hon Osai Chairman Ethics Commiittee who wrote the report that suspended me from the House on the grounds that I lied over my allegations that there exists monumental systemic corruption in the House. After the anti graft agencies investigate his running cost, the world will know whether I lied or told the truth.
4-Nigerians must be very vigilant because as an insider, I know how the House usually responds during period like this. As you have started noticing, many investigative hearings and ad hoc committees are springing up like mushrooms. The investigative hearings are intended to blackmail the executive arm and coax them not to act on the allegations and the ad hoc committees are used to settle aggrieved members as it provides avenues to collect bribes. You will also notice irrational grandstanding over approval of MTEF/FSP and the budget or correspondence from the President. All these are legislative antics employed by the House to use the institution of the House to shield corrupt members. This is exactly what Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his corrupt cabal are executing presently in the House. The EFCC and the Police has severally been victims of this kind of evil tactics by the House in the past.
I am therefore urging Nigerians and the Executive Arm of government to stand up against any blackmail from the Speaker Yakubu Dogara-led House of Representatives as they are all antics to evade investigation and prosecution. I have said repeatedly that the Senate and executive arm of government can rely on doctrine of necessity to bypass the House in the face of such allegations of monumental corruption, which has been described as the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the parliaments around the world.
Finally, i wish to call on the Federal Government to make me face the harshest punishment prescribed by our laws if my allegations are found to be false.

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IGP Never Ordered Beating, Attacks On Policemen During Stop And Search. It Is A Lie – FPRO

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The Nigeria Police Force wishes to address a viral fake news story that has emerged, claiming that Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM., has instructed citizens to physically assault and throw stones at police officers who request to search their phones.

This claim is entirely false and has no basis in reality. The IGP has not issued any such directive encouraging violence against law enforcement officers. Instead, he has called on citizens to report instances of police misconduct through appropriate channels. This approach underscores the importance of accountability and maintaining the rule of law, rather than resorting to violent actions.

Members of the public are urged to make use of the following Police helplines & contacts to lay complaints whenever necessary: +2347056792065, +2349133333785, +2349133333786, @PoliceNG on X, @ngpolice on Facebook, and @nigeriapoliceforce on Instagram. Citizens can also contact us by mail through; pressforabuja@police.gov.ng and reach us through the police website at npf.gov.ng

Members of the public are advised to remain vigilant against misinformation and verify information through credible sources. The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to fostering a cooperative and trustful relationship between the police and the communities they serve.

ACP OLUMUYIWA ADEJOBI, mnipr, mipra, fCAI
FPRO, ABUJA.
22ND DECEMBER 2024.

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Court stops customs from seizing imported rice in markets, seaports

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A court of appeal in Kaduna has ruled that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) should not impound foreign rice in the open market or on highways.

In a judgment delivered on December 6, a three-member panel of justices led by Ntong Ntong held that existing laws restrict NCS’ enforcement to land borders only.

The judgment was delivered in an appeal filed by the NCS, against a decision of the federal high court that acquitted one Suleiman Mohammed, a businessman, of charges related to the importation of rice.

Customs had arrested Mohammed after seizing a truck carrying 613 bags of foreign rice and 80 bags of millet belonging to the businessman on June 14, 2019, along the Kaduna-Zaria expressway.

Mohammed was charged and arraigned on a two-count charge.

However, in a judgment delivered on November 10, 2021, Z. B. Abubakar, trial judge, acquitted the defendants of the charges.

Abubakar held that the plaintiffs (customs) failed to adduce enough evidence to prove that the defendant imported the goods.

The judge also held that there is no subsisting blanket ban on the importation of foreign rice as claimed by the plaintiffs.

“…the evidence led by the prosecution through PW1, PW2, PW3 and the Exhibits tendered has not established that the Defendant imported Exhibit ‘NCS B1-B612’. Even the investigation conducted by the complainant (Nigeria Customs Service Board) on Exhibit ‘NCS B1-B612,” the judge held.

“As a matter of fact, Exhibit ‘NCS D’ could not reveal who imported the said Exhibits or where they imported from.

“It should be borne in mind that importation of foreign rice is not absolutely or totally prohibited. It is only importation of the product through the land borders of this country that was proscribed by the Federal Government vide Circular No. NCS/TXT/1XE/045/S.416/VOL.1X of 18th March, 2016. The circular provided that foreign rice only be imported into the country through seaports.”

The trial judge held that the prosecution failed to show that the goods were imported through land borders, adding that “the said exhibits could have been imported through the seaport, and the court is entitled to presume so”.

Furthermore, the lower court held that “loading any foreign rice into a truck is not an offence under both Sections 46(b) and 47(1) (a) (ii) of Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) (Supra)”.

“It is the landing or unloading of goods or foreign rice at designated customs port CA/K/33/C/2022 or wharf that is prohibited by the aforementioned provisions of the Act,” the judge ruled.

‘APPEAL IS A HOAX’

Aggrieved by the trial court’s judgment, NCS filed an appeal.

However, the appellate court commended the trial court judge for “doing justice in the evaluation of the law and evidence adduced before it”.

Ntong said he agreed with the arguments put forward by the respondent’s lawyer and the judgment of the trial court.

“Truly, I also agree with the learned trial judge, that Kaduna-Zaria expressway is not a “Land border” as stipulated by the law and Exhibit “NCS D,” the justice held.

“Importation of foreign rice in any wise is not generally prohibited. It is restricted to land borders alone.

“If I were in the shoes of the appellant (NCS), I would have honourably thrown in the towel as this appeal is simply a hoax, a fluke and unmeritorious whatsoever.

“From the evidence in the Record of Appeal, the Respondent was merely a purchaser for value and not an importer. The Appellant ought to have arrested the importer and not a mere purchaser from open market with a receipt of purchase Exhibit NCS D.

“How can a fowl leave to attack who killed it to pursue who is de-feathering it? This is an Annang-African Idiom that means the Appellant ought not to shut its eyes away from the importer and be chasing petty traders and consumers who buy from the open market. After all prohibited or contraband goods always pass through the borders which are the beats of the Appellant.”

Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal in favour of the respondents.

The court further ordered customs to return all the goods seized from the businessman in 2019 or pay him the money equivalent.

“Consequently, the Appellant is hereby ordered to release or cause the release of the 613 bags of foreign rice, 80 bags of millet, Exhibit “C” and DAF truck with Registration Number: 57 BS 45 impounded and confiscated from the Respondent on 14th June, 2019 to the said Respondent Suleiman Mohammed or his representative forthwith,” the judge ruled.

“Where it has become difficult or impossible to return the items aforesaid, the Appellant shall pay to the Respondent a sum of money equivalent to the current price or cost of the items aforementioned.”

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Many feared dead as rice distribution causes stampede in Anambra

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An unconfirmed number of residents of Okija community in Anambra state have reportedly lost their lives in a stampede.

TheCable understands that the stampede occurred on Saturday morning during an event for the distribution of rice.

Victims of the stampede are mostly women.

Multiple social media videos seen by TheCable show lifeless bodies laying on the ground after the incident.

Some victims have reportedly been taken to nearby hospitals.

Charles Aburime, the chief press secretary to the Anambra governor, confirmed the incident when contacted.

Aburime said the state government is monitoring the situation and would soon release a statement.

The incident is coming a few days after over 35 people, mostly children, died during a stampede at a carnival in Ibadan, Oyo state capital.

The Anambra stampede is the second rice distribution-related mishap in 2024.

In March, some students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, were killed in a stampede during the distribution of rice donated by the state government.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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