News

Atiku vs Buhari (2) -Opeyemi Agbaje

Published

6 years ago

November 7, 2018

admin

In the first part of this column, I characterized the 2015 election of Muhammadu Buhari as a historical error not supported by his antecedents in policy, administration, economic management, democratic norms and human rights or national ethos, but could only be understood or permitted against the context of then Goodluck Jonathan’s administrations weakness and naivety. I also described the Atiku Abubakar candidacy as complicated on account of his branding (particularly by former President Olusegun Obasanjo) as corrupt and his perception as a typical Nigerian politician.

There are two dimensions of the matter that I reserved for this second part-beyond the “irresponsibility” inherent in asking Buhari to continue his destruction of the Nigerian economy and polity beyond 2019, are there any benefits associated with an Atiku presidency on its own merits? And secondly, what of the ostensible alternatives to Buhari and Atiku? Could Nigerians vote for these others on offer?

It seems to me, and I think most objective observers of Nigerian politics that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is the only viable alternative to Buhari in the 2019 presidential elections. There are four major strengths of the Atiku candidacy and potentially presidency, to the Nigerian nation in contradistinction to his opponent-unlike Buhari, Atiku has played the role of uniter and consensus builder since his entry into Nigerian politics. Atiku came into Nigerian politics on the platform of his mentor, late General Shehu Musa Yar’adua’s Peoples Front (PF) which later became Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM). PF/PDM sought allies all over Nigeria and acquired the character of a pan-Nigerian movement with strong membership and support in the South-West, South-East, South-South, North-Central and all across the Northern States. No one could credibly accuse Atiku of playing an ethnic, religious (not to mention sectarian!) or regional card in his political practice since the early 1990s when he came into national reckoning as a presidential candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) of the Babangida transition. It was Atiku by stepping down for the late M. K. O Abiola who made Abiola’s presidential candidacy of the SDP possible and in effect his victory in the aborted June 12 1993 elections. He has since then cemented his image as a national and cosmopolitan politician with friends and allies all over the country.

Atiku is also very competent in policy, economy and administration. He is a well-known and successful businessman and employer who understands markets and economic management, as he proved as Vice President under Obasanjo. It was not co-incidence that the arrow-heads of the economic team of that era (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Oby Ezekwesili, Nasir El-Rufai, Chukwuma Soludo, Fola Adeola, Nuhu Ribadu etc.) were either recruited by or gravitated towards Abubakar who also facilitated the mostly successful privatisation and liberalisation agenda of the Obasanjo government. As a student of economic policy in Nigeria, I have observed that Atiku is one of the few politicians of that generation who can identify with free enterprise, investment, deregulation and liberalisation, and markets as core elements of economic policy and management.

Atiku has also become the only national contestant for the presidency who has anchored his aspiration on a firm undertaking to restructure Nigeria’s constitution along the lines of federalism. He has clearly thought through the issue and understands why federalism is imperative for economic growth, national unity and cohesion, and sustainable development in Nigeria. Another benefit of an Atiku candidacy or presidency is that it offers a much-need transitional figure who can be a bridge across Nigeria’s generational, regional, religious and ethnic divides. You can easily picture Nigerians of all ages, sexes, religions, regions and ethnic groups around Atiku, unlike his main opponent who has not been able to transcend his provincial and sectarian inclinations. As much as we need a transition of national leadership to a younger, more educated, less ethnically-focused and more urbane generation, Atiku strikes one as a figure who can bridge that transition and hopefully help identify and nurture that future leadership class. It does not hurt that Atiku Abubakar has the material resources and network of relationships to mount a strong, determined and effective challenge to the APC’s looming political hegemony! As I wrote in the previous part, he has already transformed a race that may have been written-off in favour of Buhari into a balanced and competitive contest. The point of all these is that there is some substantive merit in an AtikuAbubakar Presidency beyond “anyone but Buhari!”

Finally we must consider the case for considering the so-called alternatives-Omoyele Sowore, Fela Durotoye, Donald Duke, Oby Ezekwesili, Eunice Atuejide, Kingsley Muoghalu et al. I have thought long and hard on this issue…and I would have to conclude that there is no reasonable pathway to the presidency for any candidate other than Atiku or Buhari. None other has the platform, network, resources or organisation to mount a credible challenge against Buhari. In effect their strategic positioning would amount to a de facto undermining of the Atiku candidacy as well as implicit support for Buhari! In any event, many of the alternatives either bear some moral responsibility for the Buhari error of 2015, or lack the moral credibility to attack the PDP, which they either served happily under or benefitted tremendously from! In some notorious cases, both disqualifications apply!

Related Topics:atiku vs buhari opeyemi agbaje

Up Next

Leading By Example; Atiku Approves N33000 Minimum Wage For All His Workers

Don't Miss

Shooting Stars Woe; ‘hold the government responsible’ -Seyi Makinde

News

Panic As Governor’s Official Car Got Stolen

Published

3 months ago

September 11, 2024

admin

Confusion and fear was the order of the day at one of the Government houses in the Southwest some days ago when one of the official vehicles of the Governor, a bullet-proof jeep allegedly disappeared from the garage.

The SUV which is said to be one of the three bullet-proof vehicles being used for the Governor’s official assignment was discovered missing.

The Governor who was out of the country on a short, rest leave was claimed to have been disturbed when he was alerted.

Sources claimed it wasn’t the first time things would get missing at the Governor’s private residence.

‘There had been series of thefts, ranging from missing cash, phones and other expensive items, it’s usually swept under the carpet. Indiscipline is the order of the day here’, a source confirmed this to papermacheonline.

The State Governor, a quiet individual who is spending his second time in office was said to have been disturbed by the occurrence that he had to cut short his leave and return home. One of his closest aides was also kidnapped recently.

Business

Former First Bank Employee Accuses Oba Otudeko, Bisi Onasanya Of Massive Fraud

Published

4 months ago

August 27, 2024

admin

A former First Bank of Nigeria Limited employee, Adesuwa Ezenwa, has accused billionaire industrialist Oba Otudeko and former Managing Director Bisi Onasanya of massive fraud during Otudeko’s tenure as chairman of FBN Holdings Plc.

In court documents filed at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Ezenwa alleges that unsecured loans of approximately N12 billion were granted to a company in which Otudeko has significant investments, disguised as loans to Stallion Group of Companies.

Ezenwa, who was summarily dismissed in October 2016, is seeking redress for her termination and demanding N500 million in damages and N25 million in legal costs. She claims that she was made to bear the consequences of granting unsecured loan facilities worth billions of naira to companies linked to Otudeko and Onasanya, while her superiors who approved the credit were not penalized.

Ezenwa joined First Bank in 2002 and became a relationship manager in the corporate banking division in February 2016. She alleges that her superiors, including Abiodun Olatunji and Cecilia Majekodunmi, who worked closely with Onasanya, were involved in the fraudulent activities.

“As a relationship manager, I worked under the supervision and direction of my branch manager and group head and signed official correspondence only after they had approved and/or signed same. I had no independent authority in relation to the grant or disbursement of loans or other banking facilities,” Mrs Ezenwa said.

According to the claimant, she executed a large number of documents while she was still employed by First Bank, but only after approval by her bosses and on their direction.

She said she was summoned on 25 August 2015 to appear before a credit disciplinary committee reviewing facilities availed to a company known as Supply and Services Limited, a subsidiary of Royal Ceramics Group, one of the major customers of the bank.

The plaintiff said the committee could not determine whether she had a personal interest in any of the loans granted or whether she made any gain related to her duties. She said she was, however, blamed during proceedings for not whistleblowing on some of the deals endorsed by Mr Olatunji and Mrs Majekodunmi.

“The admonition was most unfair and unwarranted as I was in no position to whistleblow on my superiors … The persons to whom these reports would have been made were the very persons who were the perpetrators of the misdeeds,” she said.

A litany of allegations against Mr Otudeko

Mrs Ezenwa disclosed that unsecured loans of roughly N12 billion were availed, on one occasion, to a company in which Mr Otudeko has significant investment even though the facility was masked as loans granted to Stallion Group of Companies, which later spotted the false entry in its statement of account and complained.

In one case in 2012, she further alleged, an unsecured credit estimated at N2 billion was granted to Broadwaters Resources Company Nigeria Limited, which ended up being a conduit pipe used by Mrs Majekodunmi and Mr Onasanya to siphon monies from the bank. The claimant said the loan was never repaid.

“Out of the N12 billion camouflaged as lending to the Stallion Group, N8.21 billion was transferred through various accounts to a final destination account belonging to a company known as V-TECH LTD, which belongs to the chairman of FBN Holdings, Oba Otudeko, while the sum of N4.45 billion out of the same fictitious facility was transferred to Ontario Oil and Gas. The facility remains unpaid to date,” Mrs Ezenwa said in court fillings.

According to her, several similar loans were granted by Mr Olatunji and Mrs Majekodunmi, including to Supplies and Services Limited, which were “subsequently sublet and disbursed in smaller bits to several customers on more profitable terms to both officers.”

Swap Technologies and Telecomms Plc, Orbit Cargo, Netconstruct Nigeria Limited, and High-Performance Distributions Limited were among the companies named as beneficiaries of the loan disbursement.

Mrs Ezenwa disclosed that such loans could not have been granted without the involvement of the board of First Bank, considering that the amounts involved were huge and above the approval limits of the executive directors, the vice president and the managing director of the bank.

According to the complainant, her dismissal by the bank brought her into disrepute, threatening her chances of securing employment in reputable companies in future.

“The action of the defendant (First Bank) has consequently caused the claimant untold mental distress and is all the more damaging as the claimant is in her thirties and has simply been made a scapegoat for the malfeasance of some of the lapses of the management of the bank,” she said.

Among other demands, Mrs Ezenwa is urging the court to declare that there was no basis for the bank to dismiss her.

“She is being made a scapegoat for a lot of questionable transactions within the bank, which she is claiming innocent of,” Seyi Sowemimo, the claimant’s lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday. “So far, the trial has started. We have subpoenaed the EFCC, and we have subpoenaed the central bank to bring the audit reports of the bank,” Seyi Sowemimo, the claimant’s lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES.

The allegations have sparked a legal battle, with Ezenwa seeking justice for her dismissal and damages for the fraudulent activities she claims to have uncovered.

Business

“AMCON MD In Trouble Over Keystone Bank Acquisition By Father In-law”, Isa Funtua

Published

4 months ago

August 27, 2024

admin

Why Bank Customers Are Making Panic Withdrawals…

Following the controversy generated by the leading opposition party, the People’s Democratic party, PDP, over the alleged acquisition of Keystone bank and Etisalat by Alhaji Isa Funtua and the CEO of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered probe into the alleged fraud.

A highly placed source at the headquarters of the Economic and financial crimes Commission, EFCC yesterday told daybreak that the President was thoroughly embarrassed with the allegations linking him to the transactions.

According to the source, a discrete panel will be set up soon comprising of the Chairman of the EFCC, representative of the DSS, ICPC, federal ministry of Justice to look into the allegations.

The source further added that, both Isa Funtua, Ahmed Kuru, the governor of the central bank of Nigeria, CBN, Chief Godwin Emefiele and management Staff of the Keystone Bank and 9Mobile will be quizzed by the operatives of the EFCC for some interactions.

Recently, a mindboggling scandal broke out to public knowledge about how Keystone Bank and 9Mobile were acquired in controversial circumstances by the business interests of one Alhaji Isa Funtua, a close friend of President Muhammadu Buhari, via the instrumentality of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

The PDP challenged the federal government to come out clean on what could be a serious dent on its anti-corruption stance, there is indeed no smoke without fire.

The leading opposition party also confirmed fact that the son-in-law of Isa Funtua, Ahmed Kuru, is the current CEO of AMCON.

Before him, the previous CEO, Chike Obi, was a first-class gentleman and technocrat who was strangely removed from office before the expiration of his term and was replaced with Kuru, the son-in-law of Isa Funtua.

Now, let us get into the insider details of how Funtua bought Keystone Bank and 9Mobile in the most bizarre of dealings that circumvent the laws of the land. Keystone Bank was sold by the current CEO of AMCON to his father-in-law, Funtua, without any AMCON Board’s approval and with the active connivance of CBN and NDIC at a grossly undervalued price of 25 Billion Naira. To put things in context, let us recall that Enterprise Bank was sold for over 60 Billion Naira and Mainstreet Bank was sold for over 100 Billion Naira under the former CEO of AMCON.

Before the sale of Keystone Bank to Isa Funtua, all bad debts in the books of the Bank were taken over by AMCON. So, it was a clean Bank with all the Assets and no Liabilities that was sold to the Buyers.

The Executive Management of AMCON was coerced into approving the transaction and those who were willing to submit a much higher bid were disqualified under a most opaque, suspicious process that lacks all transparency. The process was just manipulated in favour of the father-in-law of the AMCON CEO.

The Corrupt Payment for Keystone Bank The most disgusting part of the entire sale of Keystone Bank is how the 25 Billion Naira sales price was paid to AMCON.

The Isa Funtua Team paid 5 Billion Naira to AMCON, and then the balance of 20 Billion Naira was later paid through the most criminal and corrupt approach ever perpetrated by AMCON in favour of the Buyer. What happened was that AMCON moved 20 Billion Naira of their own funds as a fixed deposit at GTBank to Heritage Bank. Heritage Bank then paid the 20 Billion Naira on behalf of the Funtua Group to AMCON. In other words, AMCON used their own funds as a collateral for a loan to the Funtua Group for 20 Billion Naira!

When the Funtua Group took over Keystone Bank, they went borrowing immediately at the Interbank Market for 20 Billion Naira to refund AMCON’s funds. This has left a hole in Keystone Bank’s Balance Sheet and makes the Bank one of the most undercapitalized Banks in the Country as at today. The evidence of this highly compromised acquisition process can be obtained from the current and former staff of AMCON, from NDIC, CBN and from the current staff of Keystone Bank itself.

Another suspicious acquisition scandal surrounding the Funtua Group is about the untidy way 9-Mobile, formerly known as Etisalat, was bought. It is Mr. Adrian Wood of Teleology Holdings, a very sound telecoms professional, who collaborated with the Funtua Group for the acquisition of 9-Mobile.

The problem with their bid was the lack of a qualified Operator to support the bid which was one of the minimum conditions of NCC. Adrian Wood alone was not a substitute for an Operator.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) gave several conditions that must be met by the Ultimate Buyer of 9-Mobile to ensure the protection of shareholders value, prevent loss of jobs, protect the telecoms industry from slipping into a crisis and ensure transparency and professionalism in the post-acquisition entity.
The conditions listed by NCC that must be met by the Buyer are Strong Telecoms Operating Experience, Strong Financial Capabilities, Strong Technical Knowledge and Strong Administrative Skills.
The first thing that happened once Teleology was announced as the preferred winner was that the Funtua Group edged Adrian Woods out of Management and turned him to an Insignificant Shareholder.

The second development was that the Funtua Group raided Keystone Bank again and forced the Bank to Pay 50 million Dollars as down payment for the acquisition of 9-Mobile.

The third issue was that Teleology Nigeria replaced Teleology Holdings to remove any influence of Adrian Woods from 9-Mobile totally. The fourth step taken the Funtua Group was to borrow 260 Million Dollars from African Exim Bank.

The fifth thing was to coerce NCC to approve the sale at all cost without meeting 90% of the conditions set up ab-initio by the NCC.

The sixth strange action of the Funtua Group was to force the board of NCC to approve the sale through the influence and pressure from the Presidency. And the seventh Funtua infraction was to use the influence of CBN to force the Banks to the table and waive their own conditions of sale of 9-Mobile to the Teleology Nigeria group.

Efforts to reach the acting Head media and publicity of Economic and financial crimes Commission,EFCC, Mr. Tony Orilade to confirmed the latest developments proved abortive as his lines were not connecting.