Nearly 99% of Kenya budget can't be properly accounted for: what about the rest of Africa

A good 98.8% of the money spent by Kenya’s ministries in the 2013/14 financial year could not clearly and lawfully be accounted for, a new audit report shows, a damning indictment on the state of public financial management in the country.

It comes just days after US President Barack Obama made a stirring speech at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, where he called for strong action to tame graft, saying “Nothing will unlock Africa’s economic potential more than ending the cancer of corruption.”

Corruption is not unique to Africa, Obama said, but “here in Africa, corruption drains billions of dollars from economies that can’t afford to lose billions of dollars - that’s money that could be used to create jobs and build hospitals and schools.”

The report from the office of Kenya’s Auditor-General makes for chilling reading, detailing massive irregular payments, unauthorised expenditures, diversion of funds, and in some cases, blatant plunder of public resources by government officials.

Out of a total expenditure of Ksh1 trillion ($10 billion) by government ministries, only 1.2%, or Ksh12.5 billion ($125 million) “was incurred lawfully and in an effective way”, the report says.

The auditor-general put a question mark on 60% of the expenditure, owing to unsupported payments, misallocation of funds, or inadequate disclosure of necessary details.

And for a further 38.5%, the report gave a clear “fail” grade as there were clear discrepancies in the books, such as a difference between the closing balance in one financial year and the opening balance in the next.

Although government spin doctors have been quick to rush to defend President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, arguing that a negative audit report does not necessarily mean the money was stolen, the discrepancies still put a definite damper on perceptions of corruption in the country.

Kenya’s rankings on Transparency International (TI)  Corruption Perceptions Index has slipped nine places between 2013 and 2014; and the latest report has quickly dimmed the afterglow from US President Barack Obama’s visit over the weekend.

Corruption Overview (Transparency International)

I headed an Army with no equipment - Alex Badeh

Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.)

The immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.), has said that the Army he headed was one with no equipment.

The former Chief of Defence Staff made the statement while delivering a valedictory speech at a pulling out parade organised in his honour at the Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja, on Thursday.

He said, “Permit me to also add here that the nation’s militaries are equipped and trained in peace time for the conflicts they expect to confront in the future. Unfortunately, that has not been our experience as a nation.

“Over the years, the military was neglected and under-equipped to ensure the survival of certain regimes, while other regimes, based on advice from some foreign nations, deliberately reduced the size of the military and underfunded it.”

“Accordingly, when faced with the crises in the North-East and other parts of the country, the military was overstretched and had to embark on emergency recruitments and trainings, which were not adequate to prepare troops for the kind of situation we found ourselves in.”

He also said some previous leaders took deliberate decisions to weaken the military just for the survival of their regimes.

Bedeh said that some of the regimes acceded to the demands of foreign countries to reduce the size of the military and deprived the nation’s defence forces of the requisite funding and size.

He lamented that such leaders accepted the advice of such foreign countries without considering the nation’s peculiar characteristics as a third world country, which lacked the advantages of modern technology to compensate for the costly reduction in size and strength.

The former defence chief said that it was high time the Federal Government embarked on a comprehensive review of the nation’s military structure with respect to its size, capacity and the equipment that should be at its disposal to carry out its responsibility of defending the country.

Microsoft unit fires 85% of Nigerian workers

Microsoft on Thursday sacked 34 (85 percent) of the 40 employees in the Nigerian office of its phone division.

The sacking came 24 hours after the company’s latest Windows 10 was made available in Nigeria and 189 other countries.

Although, Windows 10 is now available as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems or with new personal computers and tablets, industry experts said it would leave about 15 million Nigerian payments cards prone to hacking.

Employees at the Nigerian office were silent on the matter, but a source said that the downsizing was part of the global decision of Microsoft to streamline its phone division.

The source said the sacking was in line with the massive layoff of workers “sweeping through the global offices of Microsoft’s phone division.”

The Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft, Satya Nadella, had said in a memo to all Nigerian employees in late June that the company needed to make some “tough choices” in areas that were not working.

The memo had stated that 7,800 jobs would be cut from the mobile division working on Windows Phone hardware.

The e-mail from Nadella to all employees, which was made available to the media, reads, “We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem, including our first-party device family.”

“In the near-term, we’ll run a more effective and focused phone portfolio, while retaining capability for long-term reinvention in mobility.

“Microsoft was committed to our first-party devices, including phones, but needed to focus its phone efforts in the near term.”

According to him, the company will also write off $7.6bn from the acquisition of Nokia, despite the company only paying $7.2bn for the company in 2014.

“The future prospects for the phone hardware segment were below original expectations due to the new plans,” he added.

Nadella said that the news would “surely leave an unclear future for Windows Phone.”

Although he said that in the near future, the company would run a “more effective” phone portfolio, he added, “But that doesn’t exactly throw the company’s weight behind the platform.”

Nadella said that the move would not give partners reassurance that the platform was a good choice to build new hardware or apps for the future.

“Microsoft is also pushing ahead to release Lumia flagships this year and is still actively developing Windows 10 mobile,” he added.

South-East Reps grumble over exclusion

Yakubu Dogara (Speaker of the House of Representative)

The two All Progressives Congress members of the House of Representatives from the South-East geopolitical zone on Tuesday grumbled over their alleged exclusion from the House leadership positions by the party caucus.

The South-East Reps rejected the argument that they were first-timers hence not qualified to hold principal office in the lower federal chamber.

They argued that the Senate Minority Leader, ex-Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, was also a fresh member of the upper chamber.

One of the South-East Reps, Chuka Okafor, who had been initially nominated by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, at the height of the leadership crisis in the House to serve as the Deputy Whip spoke on Thursday on behalf of the zone.

Okafor said, “You may recall that the South-East APC had nominated me for the post of deputy majority whip, a nomination that was duly accepted by the presiding officers of the House.

“As you already know, the final position is that the South-East is the only zone that is excluded from the leadership caucus, while one zone has two plum positions. On principle, I accept the outcome of that session in good faith and sincerely congratulate the new leadership of the House as presently constituted.”

He urged the national leadership of the party to stop placing the South-East on the fringes in the scheme of things, adding that as far as the Nigerian project was concerned, every region must count, if things are to go right.

He said, “If indeed our ideology of leadership involves, even in the minutest way, the integration of every section of our country, Nigeria, then our pontificating on Federal Character should go beyond lip service and rhetoric to practical embrace of every section of the country in the spirit of the change which we have promised.”

“A number of persons hold the erroneous view that the APC did not have a good outing in the South-East but every sincere Nigerian that understands the politics of the region can attest to the fact that the party in the South-East fought against stupendous odds and the statistics are there to prove it. It is needless to mention that the region has been a stronghold of the PDP since 1999. In the last election, PDP in the South-East states merely managed a paltry average that was less than half a million votes due to the efforts of APC faithful in the region.”

“In that election, APC in the South-East exhibited the highest level of courage, doggedness and fierce loyalty to the party; in most cases to the point of risking their lives.”

The complaint from the South-East lawmakers came even as Dogara and his erstwhile “enemy”, now the Majority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, said at the end of the APC caucus meeting midnight Wednesday that the leadership crisis in the party had been “buried for good.”

Dogara and Gbajabiamila had emerged from the APC caucus meeting smiling and holding hands.

The meeting, which was called by Gbajabiamila, was the first after the speaker conceded to the Lagos lawmaker’s nomination by the leadership of the party as the House leader on Tuesday.

“You can see that all is now well. We are a family and we are better now,” Dogara also said.

On his part, Gbajabiamila, who was full of smiles, admitted that “APC has come out of the crisis, better and stronger.”

Cameroon turns festive on Buhari's Visit

Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, was in festive mood yesterday after President Muhammadu Buhari and his entourage arrived at the VIP Wing of the nation’s international airport at 10:50am for a two-day working visit.

He was received by President Paul Biya.

From the airport to his hotel room  which is about 25 minutes’ drive –  Cameroonians and Nigerians thronged the road to welcome the Nigerian delegation.

Shops and buildings by the roadside were shut.

Snipers were strategically positioned on top of high-rise buildings by the roadside.

The two nations’ flags and banners were hung on the two sides of the road.

After the exchange of pleasantries at the Cameroonian State House called “Unity Palace”, the two leaders held a closed-door meeting.

Besides security issues and Boko Haram threats, they also discussed bilateral relations between the two countries.

But after the meeting, Buhari declared that Nigeria as an abiding nation had to live with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, which ceded the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.

He spoke during an interactive session with Nigerians residing in Cameroon.

Some of them complained that they were being treated as foreigners in Cameroon since the ICJ’s ruling.

“Since Nigeria allowed the case to go to court and we lost, we have to abide by it,” Buhari said.

He assured the four million Nigerians residing in Cameroon of his commitment to look after their welfare and safety.

His words: “Fellow compatriots, permit me to say, as I have done during my inauguration on May 29, 2015, I am committed towards bringing positive change to Nigeria and I will do everything possible to achieve that.  Despite the numerous challenges confronting us, the future of our country is very bright.

“You all know very well that your fellow Nigerians are resilient, hardworking and patriotic. These qualities have always seen us through our most difficult national challenges and they will do so now.

“However, this government’s job is to see that we unite and work together for the common good of our country.

“The recent economic downturn occasioned by the fall in oil prices at the global market, which drastically affects our national revenue, is a serious cause for concern to us.”

He said adequate measures would be put in place to minimise the shock of the downturn on the economy through diversification.

Buhari added that his administration would “fight corruption before it kills Nigeria”.

The President assured that the security challenges confronting Nigeria would soon be a thing of the past.

He advised the gathering to be patient and vigilant to ensure that youths were not misguided into joining terrorist groups.

“We must also support our gallant security and military personnel as they fight to defend our country,” he said.

Stressing that “Nigeria’s relation with Cameroon is one of the closest in the sub-region”, he said that the Federal Government “places prime importance on the political, socio-economic and security cooperation between the two countries”.

The President responded  to questions and comments from the citizens at the gathering.

Fuel Subsidies Must be Removed at All Cost – says Rewane

Mr. Bismark Rewane

The Chief Executive of Financial Derivatives Company, Mr. Bismark Rewane, yesterday said the federal government would have to remove both petrol and exchange rate subsidies if it must get the economy back on the right track.

He maintained that subsidies are distortionary and breed corruption in the system, adding that undue pressure on the local currency would disappear with fuel subsidy removal.

Rewane, who also affirmed that the country has a currency crisis, further argued that the exchange rate should be allowed to depreciate to find its real value, stressing that based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), the naira was technically undervalued in the interbank market and overvalued in the informal or parallel market.

Speaking at the opening of the 20th annual Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors, themed: “The Impact of Crude Oil Prices on External Reserves and Exchange Management in Nigeria”, holding in Calabar, Cross River State, Rewane also said the recent controls on consumption patterns occasioned by restrictions of forex on selected items by the CBN might not produce the needed results; after all, stressing that “the way to do business in the 21st century is to be competitive.”

Nevertheless, he said not removing fuel subsidies would only make the policy adjustment more painful, as fuel subsidy alone account for 30 per cent of the country’s import bill and form major sources of leakages in the system.

He also said if he were the CBN governor, he would rather quit should fiscal policy run contrary to what he expects it to be.

“The truth is that refineries were producing before subsidies were introduced. Subsidies are a gap between the price and the cost. Even if you produce at the refineries and you are selling at below the cost of production, then you create a subsidy."

“Subsidies are distortionary: first of all, get rid of the system so it doesn't breed corruption and if there are no subsidies, with the price of oil today at $52 per barrel, this means that you might actually find that the price of petrol may be lower than what it is today."

“So there’s no question – and let us separate the issues – the subsidy is a number; the subsidy system is a system that breeds corruption, get rid of the subsidy system and then the number will be an efficient number,” he said.
According to him, “The truth is that if the currency is mispriced for any reason, then we have to address that reason why it is mispriced. So if that is done because of a fiscal crisis that we have, the fiscal crisis is not because of the currency, the fiscal price is because our revenues have dropped.”

“And if our revenues have dropped, you either cut down expenditure or you stimulate the economy with borrowings and other things and now jumpstart the economy."

“Almost all oil exporting or commodities producing countries are facing the same issues and how you deal with it depends on how courageous you are to deal with the problem and the timing."

“So I submit that our fiscal issues include subsidies, spending, fiscal recklessness and corruption. If you deal with all these, the monetary suitability will follow to reinforce the fiscal policies that you have adopted.”

On his opinion on the recent policy excluding some items from accessing the official forex market, Rewane said: “Fiscal policy is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance and restricting the consumption or production of goods is a 19th century way of doing business; the way to do business in the 21st century is to be competitive.

“If the price is competitive, people would buy it and if the price is not competitive, they will smuggle it. In any case, when they want to hit it, they will hit it."

“So I believe that if there’s an efficient price of the currency, if there’s efficient price of factors of production, then you’ll find that you’ll not need to administer or control people’s production and consumption – people will produce and consume those things which they think is in their own best economic interest.”

Ife Chiefs Insist Ooni is ‘Alive’

Modernity characterised by the social media and citizen journalism clashed with Nigerian tradition, when the Royal Traditional Council of Ile-Ife categorically denied news reports of the death of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, adding that the paramount Yoruba traditional ruler was “alive and well”, and preparing for his son’s wedding this weekend.

Despite the denial, disbelieving residents of Ife and its environs thronged the Oba’s palace, which was shut to the public, to sympathise with the traditional council and his family, even as his first son, Prince Adetokunbo (Tokunbo) Sijuwade, arrived London onboard a British Airways flight yesterday morning.

Tokunbo had departed Lagos Tuesday night the minute he got word of his father’s “condition”.

He joined other members of the family comprising Olori Mori Sijawade, the Ooni’s most senior wife; Olori Odun Sijuwade; Olori Ladun Sijuwade; Erelu Abiola Dosunmu, who had a daughter – Oyinade Ademide – for the Ooni; and his nephew Prince Rasak Adewole.

Other children from across the world and Nigeria, as well as close family members had also all converged in London yesterday.

Upon his arrival, Tokunbo, as it was gathered took full charge of the situation in London, and all members of the family were said to have deferred to him as the their new head.

However, addressing journalists in the House of Chiefs located within the premises of Ile-Oodua Palace of the Ooni, the Lowa of Ife, Oba Joseph Ijaodola, said the reports in the media that the monarch had died in a London hospital from an undisclosed ailment was untrue.

Also speaking, the Secretary, Royal Traditional Council of Ife, the Ladin of Ife, High Chief Adetoye Odewole, said the Ooni was “hale and hearty” and even spoke to the chiefs on the phone a few hours earlier.

He said that those behind the death story were enemies of Ife, adding: “As I speak with you, chiefs have not heard anything like that. This is not the first time such a rumour will be carried about our father.

“They did it in 1984, also in 2004 and now, these people are coming up with another rumour. Oba Sijuade remains in a sound state of health.”

Commenting in a similar vein, Chairman of Ife Development Board, Prof. Muib Opeloye, said Ife as a town with rich tradition has its way of managing its affairs.

Opeloye maintained that the Ooni was preparing for his son’s wedding and urged the public not to panic.

Despite their assurances to the public, the entrance of the Ooni’s palace was firmly shut to visitors and only newsmen, chiefs and relations of Oba Sijuade were allowed into the premises.

Many indigenes and residents of Ife had converged on the palace but were prevented from entering by the palace guards.

Yar’Adua Regrettably Reversed Sale of Refineries - Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday expressed regrets over the sale of two of the nation’s oil refineries, which was concluded before he exited office in 2007, but was reversed by his successor, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua because he succumbed to pressure.

Obasanjo said this in an interview on Channels Television yesterday.

The former president said business mogul, Aliko Dangote, leading a consortium of investors, had paid $750 million for two of the refineries, as the federal government considered it difficult managing the plants at the time.
He explained that instead of Yar’Adua consolidating on the sale so that the investors could revamp the refineries, his successor succumbed to pressure and reversed their sale.

Obasanjo recalled that not only did his successor cancel the sale, he also refunded the $750 million paid by Dangote and other investors.

“The refineries are old and Dangote and some investors paid $750 million for two of the refineries. My successor came to office and reversed the sale. He even refunded the money they paid.

“So I went to him and asked him why he did this. He said it was because of pressure. So I wondered if the pressure by some people was more important than the interest of the whole nation,” he elaborated during the interview.

Obasanjo expressed regrets that Nigeria will hardly be able to sell the refineries for more than $250 million today because they are obsolete.

He pointed out that most people lacked foresight on the decisions taken by those before them before reversing those decisions, adding that most leaders succumb to sentiments instead of informed insight.

The former President's interview came on the heels of a statement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) confirming the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries after a phased rehabilitation over nine months conducted by its in-house engineers and technicians.

The corporation said yesterday that both plants had commenced preliminary production of petroleum products after successful test-runs, adding that while the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) was ramping up its operation to about 60 per cent of its 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity, the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company’s (WRPC) was projected to hit 80 per cent of its installed 125,000bpd capacity

The corporation’s spokesman Ohi Alegbe said in the statement that the Port Harcourt refinery was projected to boost the nation’s local refining capacity with a product yield of five million litres of petrol per day while Warri refinery would contribute 3.5 million litres daily of petrol to local refining capacity. 

Providing insight into the rehabilitation exercise, NNPC said that it had to adopt the phased rehabilitation strategy after the Original Refinery Builders (ORB) who were initially contacted for the project came up with unfavourable terms.

“Though a decision was taken in 2011 to rehabilitate all the refineries using the ORB of each of the refineries, we were compelled to switch strategy after the ORBs declined participation and nominated some partners in their stead who came up with outrageously unfavourable terms.”

Alegbe stated that the nominated partners, as sole-bidders, came up with humongous price offers after two years of thorough and exhaustive scope of work definition and price negotiations.

“The proxies were also unwilling to provide post rehabilitation performance guarantees.”

“The phased rehabilitation strategy, which entailed phased and simultaneous rehabilitation of all the refineries using in-house and locally available resources in line with the spirit and letter of the Nigerian Content Law, also involved the use of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) representatives to effect major equipment overhaul and rehabilitation,” he said.

NFF, Keshi must avoid legal tussle - Onigbinde, Disu

Former Nigeria coaches, Adegboye Onigbinde and Tunde Disu, have advised the Nigeria Football Federation and erstwhile Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, to resolve their differences amicably and avoid going to court.

Keshi has written to the NFF, seeking an apology and N1bn damages for defamation of character after he was sacked by the football body on July 5.

In separate telephone interviews, Onigbinde and Disu agreed the impeding legal battle might distract the NFF and consequently affect the performance of the Super Eagles.

Onigbinde said, “This is an issue between Keshi and his former employers; it naturally should have nothing to do with our football. Going to court will not stop our football. But it is advisable they avoid such confrontation for the good of the game."

“I would have been in a good position to determine who might be right or wrong in their matter if I knew the content of their contract. If the contract had a clause that Keshi should not apply for another job while he was employed, and he signed it, then he must have signed himself into slavery."

“I’m not sure I understand what it means when the NFF and Keshi disagree on which players to invite to the Super Eagles. When I was the coach of the team, back in 1984, I didn’t have the luxury of calling on overseas-based players. We didn’t have many of them in that period except Andrew Atuegbu, who came from the USA."

“I used home-based players mostly in my matches even in 2002; that was how players like Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide and a few others came into the national team. But things have changed now, and Keshi might not know that such a clause was included in his contract."

“But if the dispute really gets out of hand between the two parties, blame the administrators for not managing the issue properly.”

Disu also agreed that the NFF did not manage the crisis well, noting that the football body was too hasty in dismissing Keshi.

“The NFF could have adopted other ways of dealing with him if they were certain he actually breached the contract,” Disu said.

“FIFA doesn’t want anyone in the football family going to the ordinary court; every case must be treated at the Court of Arbitration for Sports. But I don’t expect them to go as far as that; I will advise them to resolve everything without the impending legal battle.

“I believe what Keshi wants is to regain his respect after the NFF dismissed him in a rather unceremonious manner. I’ll expect the Director-General of the National Sports Commission to wade into the matter before it further degenerates into an embarrassment for everyone."

“If it continues this way, it will become a distraction to the NFF and it will affect the national teams in one way or another.”

EFCC interrogates Saraki’s wife for six hours

Toyin Saraki

Wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s office in Abuja on Tuesday with a plethora of supporters who are lawmakers.

Mrs. Saraki was invited alongside Zainab Dankingari, the wife of a former governor of Kebbi State and daughter of the late president, Umaru Yar’Adua.

Mrs. Saraki arrived at the EFCC office by 12:36 pm and was taken into the Economic Governance Unit of the commission for interrogation and left the commission’s Idiagbon House headquarters, at Wuse 2, Abuja by 6.15pm.

Mrs. Saraki was accompanied to the EFCC headquarters by some senators, over 20 members of the House of Representatives and members of the Kwara State House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmad.

Some of the senators who visited the EFCC headquarters in solidarity with her are Senators Isah Sani, Dino Melaye, Abdul Abubakar, Binta Goje, Abdulahi Sabi, and Peter Nwaoboshi.

But some of the members of the National Assembly left after waiting for two hours, while others were at the commission until her release by 6:15pm.

She is expected to be at the commission to respond to questions for the second day on Wednesday.

However, the commission could not carry out the planned interrogation of Mrs. Zainab Dakingari. Although she honoured the commission’s invitation, the operatives had to postpone her interrogation to Wednesday on health grounds.

She arrived at the commission by 3pm and was allowed to go before 4pm.

The commission had invited both women to appear before it on July 22, 2015.

It was stated that while Saraki was invited to respond to questions about contracts executed in Kwara State when her husband, Senator Bukola Saraki, was Governor from 2003 to 2011, Dakingari was needed in relation to how N2bn belonging to Kebbi State was spent.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Saraki, has said that she would cooperate with any lawful inquiry in consonance with the ethos of democratic governance and expected the EFCC to carry out its responsibility with observance to the global practices of fairness, impartiality and transparency.

She said that she had ensured adherence to the stipulations of the law and observed international best standards in all her operations.

US gave Buhari names of oil thieves-A source revealed

The United States of America has handed over the names of Nigerian oil thieves to President Muhammadu Buhari, a member of the President’s entourage during last week’s visit to the US revealed.

“I can tell you that the President already has the list of names of the people engaging in the stealing of Nigeria’s oil. The list, when released by the President, will shock Nigerians. But let’s wait and see first,” the source said.

The source said Buhari was taken aback when he saw the names on the list and that the list given to the President by the US might compel him to probe the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The source said the US gave Buhari two separate lists, one listing the names of top government officials who have been stealing the country’s oil, using their high offices to perpetrate the stealing; and the other containing the names of illegal oil bunkerers.

The President had said last week that some ministers in the cabinet of Jonathan were stealing as much as 250,000 barrels of Nigeria’s crude daily.

President Buhari had vowed that those whose names appeared on the list would not go scot-free.

The source said the President was already tinkering with the idea of constituting a panel to investigate those on the list with a view to arriving at how to deal with them based on the findings of the committee.

However, it was gathered that, unlike the usual probe panels, the President would likely set up a special security team to handle the probe.

It was learnt that the names on the list of oil thieves are a mixture of highly placed government officials, and retired and serving military officers.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress said on Tuesday that it supported the probe of the Jonathan administration by Buhari in the light of mind-boggling corruption that had been uncovered by the Federal Government.

“Some people have insinuated that the Buhari administration should ignore the massive looting of our patrimony and move on. We say no responsible government can afford to do that, because it will amount to endorsing corruption and impunity,’’ the party said in a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

The APC said billions of dollars had been skimmed off by “pathologically-corrupt public officials” in the oil sector alone, wondering how the government of the day could meet its obligations to the citizens if it refused to recover the huge funds taken away by thieving officials

Mohammed’s statement read, ‘‘It is an irony that those who are suggesting that the Buhari administration should turn a blind eye to the incomprehensible looting are the same ones accusing the government of not doing anything.”

“It is even a cruel irony that the same party that presided over what is fast emerging as the worst governance in the history of our country is the same one that is daily bad-mouthing an administration that is cleaning up its mess.”

Gbajabiamila made the House Leader

Party supremacy advocates yesterday carried the day, with Femi Gbajabiamila becoming the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.

The sharing of offices in the House had been contentious. It all ended peacefully as Speaker Yakubu Dogara announced Gbajabiamila the Majority Leader in deference to President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Dogara, by accepting the party’s list, opted for peace than a prolonged crisis in the House. But, instead of riding his colleagues roughshod, Dogara allowed the caucuses of the APC to have input in the choice of principal officers.

Six factors accounted for the resolution of the crisis in the House, it was learnt.

A member of the House listed the factors as follows:

• the Buhari 20-minute intervention on Monday night;
• follow-up intervention by the party leadership after the session with Buhari;
• Dogara’s design of a consensus formula;
• the need to compensate Gbajabiamila for his role as opposition leader in the House for eight years and in  making APC a reality;
• Reps were crisis-weary; and
• the need to save the nation’s democracy because the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was trying to capitalise on the crisis to derail Buhari’s administration.

A source said: “Dogara and APC members were moved by Buhari’s 20-minute appeal. We saw a President who was wearied that we were not united and Dogara seized the moment. He abandoned all prejudices to put the nation and the survival of APC first.

“I think Dogara has tremendous respect for Buhari and he decided to be his own man to defer to the President and APC. He kept on asking, without the party, would I have been here? What is so difficult that we cannot resolve?

“That meeting at the Presidential Villa changed the mood of the warring factions in the House.”

It was also gathered that Dogara was moved by the APC Chairman John Odidie-Oyegun and APC Follow-up Committee. He could not fathom why the elderly ones were begging him, it was learnt.

Obama speaks for term limits

Barack Obama delivers a speech at the African Union Headquarters inAddis Ababa on July 28, 2015

The United States President, Barack Obama Tuesday urged leaders to observe constitutional limits and to allow a regeneration of leadership when their term is over, in an historic address to the African Union.

“When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office, it risks instability and strife, as we’ve seen in Burundi,” Obama said, likening this to changing the rules midstream in a game.

“The law’s the law – no one person’s above the law,” he said, and alluded to the fact that he would step down at the end of his current term, even if he felt he still had more to offer  the American electorate.

“But if a leader thinks they’re the only person who can hold their nation together, then that leader has failed to truly build their country.”

He even had time for half-jests: “I don’t understand why people want to stay so long, especially when they have so much money,” he said in Addis Ababa, as he faulted the  president’s-for-life outlook.

In a wide-ranging speech, Obama said the United States stood with Africa to defeat terrorism and end conflict, warning that the continent’s progress will “depend on security and peace”.

 “As Africa stands against terror and conflict, I want you to know the United States stands with you,” he said, highlighting threats ranging from Somalia’s Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram in Nigeria, insurgents in Mali and Tunisia, and the Uganda-led Lord’s Resistance Army rebels in central Africa.

Obama said the United States was backing AU military efforts and saluting the “brave African peacekeepers” battling militants.

“From Somalia and Nigeria, to Mali and Tunisia, terrorists continue to target innocent civilians,” he said.

“Many of these groups claim the banner of religion, but hundreds of millions of African Muslims know that Islam means peace. We must call groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIL (Islamic State), Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, we must call them what they are -— murderers.”

Bukola Saraki tells Senators to face legislative duties

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has enjoined his fellow lawmakers to put bickering for leadership positions behind them and face legislative duties squarely.

In his welcome address at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday, Saraki reminded the senators that the main reason why Nigerians elected them was to deliver on their mandate and not to struggle for positions on the floor.

Acknowledging the enormity of the hydra-headed challenges facing the country, Saraki charged his colleagues on the urgent need to address these challenges.

According to him, the corporate destiny of the people had been adversely altered and needed urgent solutions, which he said, were within reach.

Saraki said, “Distinguished colleagues, we have our work cut out for us, we cannot afford to frolic. Nigerians did not give us our mandate to come and pursue leadership, their mandate was for us to pursue governance and bring solutions to their burning issues."

“It is time we remind ourselves of the solemn promise to deliver to our people real change. Leadership is secondary to our primary responsibility of good governance."

“As Senate President, you have given me responsibility to ensure that our primary responsibility is placed on the table not under the table. Nigerians did not put their lives on the line for politics but for the delivery of good governance."

“My distinguished colleagues, the Job of changing our corporate destiny starts today. Though the challenges are huge, they are not insurmountable."

“Let these challenges inspire us as leaders to show courage, statesmanship and valour. We have taken the right first steps out, we must now set out at dawn. We do not have all the time, indeed our clock is ticking."

“Distinguished colleagues, it is time, let’s get started and deliver meaningful change to our people.”

Obama lectures Kenyan president on gay rights

President Barack Obama on Saturday lectured Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta about his country's gay rights record.

"When you start treating people differently not because of any harm they are doing to anybody, but because they are different, that's the path whereby freedoms begin to erode," Obama said at a joint press conference with the Kenyan leader in Nairobi. "And bad things happen."

Under Kenyan law, sexual activity between men is illegal and punishable with a maximum imprisonment of 14 years. Many Kenyan leaders had encouraged Obama not to discuss gay rights on his first trip to the country as President.

But Obama equated legalized discrimination of gays to legalized racism in America.

"And when a government gets in a habit of people treating people differently, those habits can spread," Obama continued. "As an African-American, I am painfully aware of what happens when people are treated differently under the law."

Kenyatta, however, said that while the U.S. and Kenya share many common values and goals, gay rights is not one of them.

"The fact of the matter is Kenya and the U.S. share so many values: common love for democracy, entrepreneurship, value for families -- these are some things that we share," Kenyatta said. "But there are some things that we must admit we don't share. Our culture, our societies don't accept."

"It is very difficult for us to be able to impose on people that which they themselves do not accept," Kenyatta continued. "This is why I repeatedly say for Kenyans today the (gay rights issue) is generally a non-issue. We want to focus on other areas."

After that comment, a small amount of applause was heard, presumably from some of the audience attending.