..Following their alleged refusal to appear, four times when invited

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petition has issued a warrant of arrest on the Central Bank Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, the Accountant General of the Federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, and 17 others for refusing to appear before it to answer questions on their operations.

This followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Fred Agbedi (PDP-Bayelsa) at the committee’s hearing on Tuesday.

Moving the motion, Agbedi said that the arrest warrant had become inevitable following the attitude of the invitees.

He said that the parliament worked with time and the CEOs had been invited four times but failed to respond.

He said that the CEOs should be brought to appear before the committee by the Inspector General of Police through a warrant of arrest after due diligence by the Speaker, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas.

In his ruling, the Chairman of the committee, Rep. Micheal Irom (APC-Cross River)  said that the I-G should ensure the CEOs were brought before the committee on Dec. 14.

Earlier, the petitioner, Mr Fidelis Uzowanem, said that the petition was anchored on the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) report of 2021.

He said that the report was a summary of the transactions in the oil and gas industry for 2021 which NEITI could to be challenged.

“We took up the challenge to examine the report and discovered that what NEITI put together is a report is only a consolidation of fraud that has been going on in the oil and gas industry.

“It dates back to 2016 because was have been following and we put up a petition to this committee to examine what has happened.

“The 2024 budget of 27.5 trillion that has been proposed can be confidently be funded from the recoverable amount that we identified in the NEITI report.

“It is basically a concealment of illegal transactions that took place in NNPCL, they have been in the sink with some oil companies where some companies that did not produce crude were paid cash call, an amount paid for crude oil production,” he said.
He added: “We also found that the cash core payment was used as a channel for laundering funds by NNPCL and we found out that NEITI was able to conceal it in its report.

“In 2021 NEITI reported that Total Exploration and Production Nigeria-Ltd was paid 168 million dollars but examination of submission by the company shows that it received 292 million dollars.

“In other words, 124 million dollars were laundered by NNPCL through Total because monies that have been officially paid to Total could not have been concealed if it were not meant for fraudulent purposes.

“Also for Chevron, the dollar payment NEITI puts forward in its report was 76 million dollars but document emanating from Chevron showed that they received as much as 267 million dollars.”

“In other words, 191 million was laundered under the cover of Chevron and NEITI concealed that; also, Nigeria Agip Company received 188 million dollars but none of it was reported by NEITI”.

Some of those to be arrested were the Chief Executive Officer of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), that of Ethiop Eastern Exploration and Production Company Ltd, as well as the CEO of Western Africa Exploration and Production.

…Says ‘We have decimated cases of kidnapping and clashes in our towns and farms‘

The Agbekoya Society of Nigeria, a Yoruba farmers and hunters association, says it has about 4,000 personnel providing security for farmers in the Southwest.

The Aare (President-General) of Agbekoya worldwide, Chief Kamorudeen Okikiola, disclosed this at a news conference to unveil activities for the 85th Anniversary celebration of the society in Lagos on Wednesday.

The Southwest governors, the Oni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and other Yoruba leaders and farmers, will attend the anniversary scheduled to hold on Nov. 26.

“Today, Agbekoya is still leading as the biggest farmers’ association in Nigeria since 1938 and we will continue to provide security for our farmers.

“Agbekoya has done a lot for farmers and this has helped in feeding the nation. We have tried our best to eradicate anything that can make our farmers run away from farms.

*Chief Kamorudeen Okikiola, the Aare Agbekoya Worldwide (3rd Left) and other leaders of the society at a news conference on Wednesday in Lagos.

“Security in farms is relatively good now. We have done a lot in protecting farmers and their farms. We have put up several measures to ensure security for farmers,” he said.

Okikiola said being an association comprising farmers and hunters, it had its executive council and security wing in all towns in Yoruba land.

The Aare added: “We have decimated cases of kidnapping and clashes in our towns and farms. If you see any, they are very few.

“This is because our security arm swing into action in case of any hitch anywhere. We have about 4000 security personnel for farmers’ protection in southwest alone.”

According to him, the situation that forced many people to vacate farms for city because of insecurity has been decimated.

Okikiola said that Agbekoya had been very useful to conventional security outfits like Police to undertake certain difficult jobs that required going into forests to track down criminals.

“We don’t run away from creation of God. We are ready to challenge any battle that want to confront farmers in the southwest,” he said.

On the society’s achievements, Okikiola said that his leadership had grown Agbekoya membership from 49 members to 4.3 million members.

Commending a former minister of agriculture, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina for his efforts toward rebuilding the agbekoya society, Okikiola said the now President, the African Development Bank, believed in the society to achieve agricultural goals.

According to him, the society has not also relented efforts in training, educating and empowering farmers in partnership with local and foreign agencies and institutions as well as governments.

On the anniversary, Okikiola said the Ooni of Ife would be the Royal Father of the Day; the Olowu of Kuta, Oba Hameed Oyelude (Tegbosun III) Chairman and Chief Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, the Iyaloja General of Nigeria, as Mother of the Day.

He added that Aare Onikoyi of Yorubaland, Otunba Tomori Williams, would be the Chief Launcher with Iyalaje of Oodua, Princess Toyin Kolade among other eminent Yoruba leaders and farmers in attendance.

Okikiola said  the society would be celebrating  85 years of agricultural excellence and his 25 years as its  President-General.

“Since our inception in 1938, Agbekoya society of Nigeria, has stood as a guardian of agricultural interests, ensuring security and prosperity of our farming community.

“The 85th-anniversary celebration is a testament to our enduring commitment to the welfare of farmers and the sustainable development of agriculture,” he said.

Highlighting activities for the event, he said there would be a grand opening ceremony, exhibition/showcase of the evolution of agricultural practices and cutting-edge technologies.

He said there would also be a cultural extravaganza to explore the rich cultural heritage of the  agricultural community as well as performances, displays, and presentations.

Okikiola said pioneers of Agbekoya would be honoured to pay tribute to the visionaries and leaders who played pivotal roles in the success and growth of the society over the past 85 years.

According to him, there will also be an interactive forum which will engage stakeholders in discussions on the future of agriculture, sustainable practices, and the role of security in ensuring a thriving farming community.

He said the anniversary would reinforce the collective strength of agricultural sustainability for the good of the nation.

Okikiola said the society was dedicated to fostering a secure environment for farmers and ensuring the prosperity of agriculture through vigilant protection and advocacy.

The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) says it plans to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal which upturned the victory of Gov. Kabir Yusuf of Kano State at the Supreme Court.

Alhaji Abba Ali, the NNPP acting National Chairman, said this at a news conference on Saturday in Abuja.

Ali said that the judgment was a miscarriage of justice saying that Yusuf was given a popular mandate by the people of Kano State.

He said the party had already briefed its lawyers on the issue.

“Believing in the credibility of the judiciary and its ability to correct any error of judgment by the lower court, our party approached the Court of Appeal and prayed the appellate court to set aside the unjust ruling of the lower court.

“To our greatest shock and consternation, the Court of Appeal on Friday, Nov. 17 delivered a convoluted judgment that was anchored around their erroneous belief that Yusuf was not a member of the NNPP,” he said.

Ali said that to claim that Yusuf was not a member of the NNPP at the time of the 2023 general election, was mischief.
He wondered how Yusuf could have been successfully nominated on the INEC portal if his name was not submitted with the NNPP membership card.

“For our party, and we are sure for INEC as well, the issue of membership of candidates is a non-issue since the system of nomination is designed by INEC in such a way that only registered members can be nominated and uploaded onto the portal.

“It is therefore unbelievable that the Appeal Court would refuse to look at the merit of our party’s appeal and cling to the erroneous issue of membership that has already been settled severally by both the Appeal and Supreme Courts.

“We are therefore informing all members of the NNPP and indeed all Nigerians that our party has already briefed our lawyers to appeal this injustice at the Supreme Court.

“We believe that the Supreme Court will correct the errors of the tribunal and the Appeal Court and restore the mandate of the good people of Kano State by re-affirming Alhaji Yusuf as the duly elected Governor of Kano State,” he said.

Ali called on the judiciary to live up to its calling as the temple of justice and the last hope of the common man.

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