Africa Security Investigation News

By Emmanuel Daudu

The National Coordinator, Grassroot Mobilization for Asiwaju (GMA 2023), and National President, Youth, and Civil Society Coalition for Development,  YCSCD, Comr. Aminu Aminu has extended gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for considering the iron lady, an Amazon of the 21st Century, Dr. Mariya Bunkore for a ministerial portfolio.

Aminu Aminu who is also
Director of Contact and Mobilization, ICC, and a member of seven other presidential campaign committees made this known to journalists in Abuja during the weekend.

According to him, “Managing government for effective service delivery needs not just educated persons but also committed, dedicated, devoted and selfless ones that would work for the interest of the country and its people.

“Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu has demonstrated that to Nigerians by nominating educated capable hands to assist him in pushing the country to the next level of development.

“The opportunity that the Nigerian Leader is giving to the youth in the affairs of governance is unprecedented most important is the gender consciousness he was able to inject into the selection of those that will form his cabinet.

“Dr Mariya Bunkore’s ministerial nomination which came after another name earlier nominated in Kano was withdrawn from the ministerial list, has not only justified the superiority of competence but also maturity, experience, and a recognition of service to humanity.

“Born in 1976, Dr Mariya is an accomplished public servant who had contributed immensely to the well-being of the people of Kano State in particular and Nigeria as a whole as a medical practitioner and as commissioner for higher education in Kano State.

“The mother of four has always stood by the people of Kano State and has impacted positively their lives as such her nomination for minister did not come as a surprise but rather the confirmation of the expectation of the people in the state.

“Dr. Mariya is a woman of virtue, a woman of substance whose compassion, desire to take responsibility for others, incorruptible nature, detribalized posture, and love for the progress and development of the nation are known to all that has ever crossed her path.

“I, therefore congratulate Dr Mariya for her nomination as the minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and on behave of the Nigerian Youth under the Youth and Civil Society Coalition for Development (YCSCD) and Grassroots Mobilization for Asiwaju (GMA 2023), thank President Bola Ahmed for bringing on board tested and trusted hands to undertake the Nigerian project with him.

“Dr. Mariya’s nomination and subsequent confirmation are a plus to the stock of leaders carefully selected across the country who are ready to sacrifice their time, family, and comfort for the betterment of Nigeria and its citizens.

“Ministerial designates like His Excellency Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, his confidant, His Excellency Atiku Bagudu, Dr. Iman Sukeman Ibrahim, Barrister Bello Muhammad Goronyo, and a host of others across all regions in the country give Nigerians hope for a brighter future and the feeling that the country is in the good hands.

“With this caliber of people in the President’s cabinet, Nigerians should expect extraordinary performance from this government. We the youth in the country have supported and will continue to support this government until the country is delivered from the myriads of social and economic challenges bedeviling it.

“We pray that more capable hands will continue to be selected for other positions in the government so that the reforms for better development in achieving a prosperous nation targeted by Tinubu’s administration will become a reality.

“Once again on behave of my fellow Nigerian Youth, I congratulate all the Federal government appointees and wish them God’s guidance, protection, and wisdom to do the right thing always.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Long live Mr. President
Long live the Nigerian Youth”.

By Emmanuel Daudu

The Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase, CFR, retired Inspector General of Police has declared in his first official town hall Meeting with the Staff of the Commission that he is in the Commission for service to God and humanity. He noted that with the support, understanding, and patience of the staff, ” it will be ‘uhuru’ for us very soon ” adding that better days ” are indeed ahead”.

Dr. Arase in his State of Affairs address to the staff over the weekend told the excited Staff ” Just know that I share in your pains; your financial complaints are cogent and I promise to always do what I can to lessen these pains”

According to Ikechukwu Ani, Head, of Press and Public Relations in a press release, he signed on Sunday, August 6th, 2023, disclosed that Arase does not believe that the Commission’s relationship with the Police must be fractious to show the world “that we are alive to our duties”
According to him ” I neither work in toxic environment nor subscribe to confrontation and belligerence as a leadership approach to getting results; for me, the ultimate is achieving our goals and delivering on our mandate and I believe there are better ways of resolving conflicts without resorting to actions that will embarrass the government and paint both institutions in bad light”.

The PSC Chairman assured the Staff that serious talks and efforts have already begun toward an amicable resolution and settlement of “all vexatious issues in a win-win situation for all”.

He declared that as much as ” I do not believe that the powers of the Commission should be subsumed by the NPF(of course it cannot happen under my watch), the truth however remains, we cannot succeed and deliver on our mandate as an agency if we are working at cross purposes with the agency we are over-sighting”

Dr. Arase, therefore implored the staff to show restraint and eschew every form of preconceptions, misconceptions, and prejudices against the NPF for de-escalation of the conflict and restoration of trust and friendliness between the two agencies “

He assured the Staff that he is totally concerned not only about their wealth but also their health and the reason a sick bay is already established.

He noted that he was not oblivious to the fact that he inherited a lot of liabilities of the Commission in terms of “allowances owed to personnel for different duties performed; ranging from election duties, duty tour allowances to first twenty-eight days; it has always been my belief that workers deserve their wages and there is dignity in labour” According to him ” no wonder, in various leadership positions I have held in life, I always classify the welfare and comfort of people working with me as a top priority “

” I did not waste time in deploying my contacts and reaching at ensuring that these allowances are extinguished in no distant time. Although no funds have been released to this effect as of today, I am hopeful that in no distant time, we will receive a positive response”

Dr Arase appealed for patience as according to him ” I am also losing sleep over the liabilities, and I will not rest on my oars until the liabilities are totally defrayed”.

Speaking on repositioning the Commission for optimal functionality in delivering on its mandate, the PSC Chairman said he fully understood that the staff must be regularly trained and retrained on the rudiments of oversight functions. “On this note, I reached out and held meetings with UN agencies, Embassies, Civil Society Organisations, and other government organizations requesting training assistance and collaborative support towards capacity building of the staff of the Commission. “A little progress has been made as some Directors were trained virtually in the University of Pretoria, South Africa on oversight Course. Some others will be going to NIPPS, Jos, and Lagos within this month for different courses”.

Dr. Arase also spoke at a National workshop to re-launch the Commission to the world and emphasize “our presence as a critical agency of Government in Nigeria’s security architecture.

He added that the newly established Compliance Monitoring Unit (CMU) “of which some staff of the Commission are already undergoing training on the management of the technical platform, will be launched” after which a management retreat with Police leadership will hold followed by Zonal retreats and other forms of engagements with stakeholders aimed at sensitizing the populace about the Commission’s existence and responsibilities.

He announced that the Town Hall Meetings will be regular and held quarterly to bridge any form of communication gap in the administration of the Commission.

The Maiduguri Zonal Commander of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, ACE I Oshodi Johnson on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, called on security agencies and the judiciary to join hands with the EFCC for a more robust collaboration in the fight against corruption.

Johnson made the plea during a visit to the Commissioner of Police; Commandants of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency; the Director, State Security Service and the Chief Judge, all in Damaturu, Yobe State.

At the Police Command Headquarters, Johnson said, “I am here to register my presence and to seek for more collaboration and synergy in the fight against corruption in Yobe State”.

At the NDLEA, he called on the Commandant, CN Abdulaziz Kayode Ogungboye to sustain the tempo in the fight against drug abuse and ensure the quick transfer of internet fraud suspects arrested by the Agency to the EFCC.

In his remark, the Commandant of NDLEA, CN Ogungboye, assured of more synergy with  the EFCC. The Commissioner of Police, Yobe State, Garba Ahmed also assured the Commission of a stronger collaboration; while the Commandant, NSCDC, Adamu Idris assured Johnson of a better working relationship with the Commission.

By Bolaji Gbadamosi

Aggrieved voices in the capital market have accused the Lamido Yuguda-led Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of illegally withholding over N12 billion in investor funds in its care for years.

By law, the SEC is the capital market regulatory authority whose core functions include ensuring prompt payment of shareholders funds and instilling investors confidence in the market.

In April, while speaking in Abuja on the outcome of the first quarter Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting, Laimdo Yuguda, SEC’s director-general, had assured investors that the interest of shareholders would be protected during all transactions in the capital market.

He noted that protecting the interests of both majority and minority shareholders was the primary responsibility of the commission.

“Protection of investors is the central mandate of the commission and when the commission protects investors; we do not discriminate between minority and majority shareholders,” he had explained.

But recent revelations from shareholders and operators in the capital market about their ugly experiences are a stark contrast to the assurances.

The regulator under Yuguda’s watch is now being dragged for violating corporate governance, ethics and accountability codes, the same rules it should be upholding in the capital market.

Investigations by THECONSCIENCEng, a Nigerian online news platform, revealed that SEC has refused to pay shareholders of Dangote Flour Mills their accrued funds for over two years, citing countless administrative bottlenecks.

This is just as the affected shareholders had made several entreaties and appeals to the commission in order to get paid.

An aggrieved operator in the Nigerian capital market, who asked not to be named, described the difficulties experienced by shareholders of the former Dangote Flour Mills in the hand of the commission as unnecessary.

“In 2019, Dangote Flour Mills was acquired by Crown Flour Mills and under the terms of the acquisition, shareholders were to be paid the sum of N24 for every share of Dangote Flour Mills held,” the representative said.

“Under the terms of the scheme of arrangements of the acquisition the registrars, EDC Registrars Limited, was to pay the shareholders ab initio, and with a clause that all uncollected monies by shareholders should be transferred to the national investors protection funds by the registrars.

“The national investors protection funds was established by SEC in 2017 and they are to manage the monies.

“Since 2021, however, when the unclaimed money was transferred by EDC to SEC, shareholders who held shares of Dangote Flour Mills, have had excruciating difficulties in getting paid by SEC from the national investors protection funds.

“Many have written series of letters and made calls to registrar and SEC but all to no avail despite several assurances.”

He pleaded that hapless and innocent investors be paid all payments due to them.

“By its positioning, SEC should be the one offering succour and confidence to investors not the other way round,” he said.

“But where’s the protection from SEC when two years after collecting investors money, it has refused to release it? This is not a case of ponzi scheme victims paying for naivety, but a case of a regulator who should spearhead corporate governance and accountability.

“The SEC is wilfully denying people what is rightfully theirs. We have suffered in silence for two years and we hope to get succour very urgently.”

Multiple documents, including scheme of arrangement of contracts that backed up the aggrieved operators’ and shareholders’ claims, were sighted by TheConscience.

A section of one of the documents tagged ‘Plan for Untraceable Holders’, which binds all concerned parties together, states:

“Where scheme shareholders entitled to unclaimed monies remain untraceable twenty-four (24) months after the effective date, the registrar shall transfer all such unclaimed monies to the National Investors Protection Fund in accordance with the directive of the SEC.”

Few weeks ago, several media reports revealed that the commission has not audited its financial statements since 2014, a claim the commission later dismissed.

On July 26, TheConscience sent an email to SEC for comments on the matter, but it has not been responded to as of press time.

Bolaji Gbadamosi is the publisher of THECONSCIENCEng, and the National Vice-President, Nigeria Guild of Investigative Journalists.