Rather than be the mother of all sectors, the Agric industry seems to follow the shady trails of other MDAs observed in the open treasury portal. Featuring duplicated expenditure worth over ₦3bn, it also contravened legislation. In other news, Lai Mohammed once again lied.
₦3.08bn
Our supposed hope for a brighter future, the Agriculture Sector, is now a forefront for funny business. According to a Premium Times investigation, 42 staff members of the ministry of agriculture received ₦3.08 billion into their private accounts. The Open Treasury Portal captured these payments last year, featuring mostly duplicated transactions. Not to mention payment of government money into a private account contravenes chapter 7, section 713 of Nigeria’s civil service financial regulation. This section states that any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with a fraudulent intention. Interestingly, Babatunde Fashola is in the spotlight for similar dealings.
₦14 billion
Stolen, no, misplaced funds are now the order of the day. Through illegal payments to fake pensioners and non-existing contracts, the former chairperson of Pension Reform Task Force Team (PRTFT), Abdulrasheed Maina stole about ₦14 billion during his tenure. Mr Maina is currently undergoing trial in absentia as he is on the run and failed to attend court proceedings since September 29. And now faces 12-counts of operating fictitious bank accounts, corruption and money laundering. The witness, Rouqayah Ibrahim, an investigator with EFCC, disclosed on Wednesday that there were 66 bank accounts used to commit this fraudulent act. A former Head of Service, Stephen Oronasaye, also allegedly aided Mr Maina in stealing the funds. After the hearing on Wednesday, the court adjourned the case for December 3.
1m Voters
Owing to some provisions of Nigeria’s electoral law, well over one million eligible voters cannot vote. Because this law stipulates voters can only vote where they registered, it automatically exempts INEC staff, journalists and other workers who deployed for election duties. Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairmanship nominee of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) disclosed this on Thursday at his confirmation hearing. He stressed that until that the commission amended the law to allow voters to cast a vote wherever they are, voting inclusion will be far from sight.
₦5 million
When faced with a lawsuit, minister of information, Lai Mohammed changes his tune on announcing a hate speech fine of ₦5 million. This all goes back to August when the minister made known an amendment of Nigeria’s broadcasting code in Lagos whereby the hate speech fine changed from ₦500,000 to ₦5 million. Thereafter, Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer, challenged the fine through Nigeria Info FM. In response, the government fined the radio station for alleged hate speech. However, following a lawsuit at a federal high court in Lagos, a counter-affidavit response from the minister states that despite video evidence, he never announced an increment.
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