NEWS
Anxiety: House C’tee Orders Tinubu’s Appointees’ Arrest
Total disregard of the House of Representatives by the highly placed, including key figures in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has moved the hand of the House’s Committee on Public Petition to order their arrest.
The committee passed the resolution on Tuesday, by adopting a motion by Hon Fred Agbedi (PDP-Bayelsa) at the committee’s hearing in Abuja.
The warrant of the arrest was issued against some top appointees of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, mostly Chief Executives of Federal Government Agencies and Departments as well as CEO of top oil majors.
Prominent among the 19 functionaries of the Federal Government listed for refusing to honour the committee’s invitation are the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, and the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Oluwatoyin Madein.
According to Hon Agbedi, the arrest warrant became inevitable following the attitude of the invitees.
He maintained that the legislators’ duties were time-sensitive and the CEOs having been invited four times and neglecting to honour the invitation, left the committee with no other choice.
The warrant of arrest meant that the CEOs would be brought before the committee by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) after due diligence by the Speaker, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas.
Committee Chairman, Hon Michael Irom (APC-Cross River) said that the IGP should ensure the CEOs were brought before the committee on December 14.
The petitioner, Fidelis Uzowanem, had said the petition was anchored on the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) report of 2021.
According to him, the report was a summary of the transactions in the oil and gas industry for 2021 which NEITI put together could be challenged.
In his words, “We took up the challenge to examine the report and discovered that what NEITI put together as a report is only consolidation of fraud that has been going on in the oil and gas industry.
“It dates back to 2016 because we 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 sync with some oil companies where some companies that did not produce crude were paid cash core, an amount paid for crude oil production.”
Uzowanem also pointed out that the cash core payment was being used as a conduit to defraud Nigeria, by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in concert with oil majors.
“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 was 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 188milliom dollars but none of it was reported by NEITI,” he pointed out.
Some others affected by the warrant of arrest are, the Chief Executive Officer, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), that of Ethiop Eastern Exploration and Production Company Ltd, as well as the CEO of the Western Africa Exploration and Production.
The House of Representatives has moved to investigate the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer programme following complaints of delayed and unpaid disbursements to beneficiaries.
Leading the motion, Honourable Abass Adigun reminded the House that in August 2024, nominees were informed they would receive N50,000 each for three months.
However, while some beneficiaries received their payments much later than expected, others have not been paid at all.
READ MORE: FG Set To Roll Out Cash Transfers For 20m Vulnerable Nigerians
He noted that the National Cash Transfer Office has not responded to inquiries regarding these outstanding payments.
The programme, which was first introduced during President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration under the National Social Investment Programme, was suspended by President Bola Tinubu in January due to allegations of corruption.
However, the government announced its resumption in February, expanding it to cover 12 million more households.
With this probe, lawmakers aim to address the lack of transparency surrounding the disbursement process and ensure that the intended beneficiaries receive their payments.
President Bola Tinubu has officially sworn in Vice Admiral Ibok-Étè Ibas (retd.) as the sole administrator of Rivers State following the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the state House of Assembly.
The brief swearing-in ceremony took place at the State House in Abuja at approximately 3:00 PM, with top government officials present, including Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Attorney General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and Principal Secretary to the President Hakeem Muri-Okunola.
READ ALSO: Tinubu Appoints Vice Admiral Ibas As Rivers Administrator
Ibas, who previously served as Chief of Naval Staff from 2015 to 2021, arrived at the Presidential Villa around 12:48 PM before taking the oath of office.
The swearing-in followed President Tinubu’s Tuesday night announcement declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State.
In a national address, Tinubu justified the move, citing governance paralysis caused by political conflict, constitutional violations, and security threats.
The crisis in the state has been fueled by a bitter rivalry between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
“In the circumstance, having soberly reflected on and evaluated the political situation in Rivers State, the Governor and Deputy Governor of Rivers State have failed to make a request to me as President to issue this proclamation as required by Section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“It has become inevitably compelling for me to invoke the provision of Section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State with effect from today, March 18, 2025, and I so do,” Tinubu declared.
With the state’s elected leadership suspended for an initial six-month period, Vice Admiral Ibas has been tasked with managing state affairs.
Tinubu assured that while the executive and legislative arms are affected by the suspension, the judiciary will continue to operate as usual.
“By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months,” Tinubu stated.
“In the meantime, I hereby nominate Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (retd.) as Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state in the interest of the good people of Rivers State. For the avoidance of doubt, this declaration does not affect the judicial arm of Rivers State, which shall continue to function in accordance with their constitutional mandate.”
The Senate has postponed discussions on the approval of a state of emergency in Rivers State until 3 p.m., offering little explanation for the delay.
The motion, put forward by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, was originally scheduled for debate and voting during the morning session but was unexpectedly set aside.
The proposal comes in response to the worsening political crisis in Rivers, which has disrupted governance and raised security concerns.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: House of Reps In Chaos Over Rivers Emergency Rule
The motion highlights the growing threats posed by militants and reports of vandalism targeting oil pipelines.
“There is a clear and present danger in Rivers State as some militants have threatened fire and brimstone, with security reports confirming disturbing incidents of vandalization of oil pipelines,” the motion states.
“There is a need to provide adequate and extraordinary measures to restore good governance, peace, order, and security in Rivers State.”
To approve the emergency rule, the Senate must secure a two-thirds majority—at least 73 votes out of 109.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had declared the emergency on Tuesday in a national address, citing the prolonged crisis in the state.
His proclamation suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the entire House of Assembly for six months.
In their place, the president appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas as the administrator to oversee the state’s affairs.
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