Sunday 20 December 2015

CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC COMPLAINTS COMMISSION, NIGERIA

http://www.bribenigeria.com/


CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC COMPLAINTS COMMISSION, NIGERIA



Public Complaints Commission is the only Federal institution saddled with the responsibility of fighting social and administrative injustice in Nigeria. It is in this regard, and in line with the on-going anti-corruption war that we seek your intervention and investigation into the gross corrupt practices, misconduct and ill-treatment of staff of PUBLIC COMPLAINTS COMMISSION (THE NIGERIA OMBUDSMAN). It is sad and regrettable to note that, an institution like the NIGERIAN OMBUDSMAN have been politicised and subjugated under the supervision of National Assembly and some law makers under the Committee on Public Petitions who turned the Commission to their personal means of self enrichment and theft of the Commission’s annual budgetary funds especially that of 2014. THIS IS TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE COMMON MAN IN NIGERIA!!! (Those the Commission stands to protect).
Please we crave your indulgence to take drastic revolution, reforms and complete restructuring of Nigeria OMBUDSMAN so as to restore the dignity and sanity of the Commission to fight corruption in civil service and protect the ordinary Nigerians from administrative social/injustice as well as conflict resolution in civil manners. At this point, we bring to your knowledge the following corrupt practices and misconducts in PUBLIC COMPLAINTS COMMISSION below:
Non-provision of infrastructures, office stationeries, poor record keeping in Investigation registry, dilapidated furnitures, no vehicles for INVESTIGATION OFFICERS to go out on investigation. Staff buses are fuelled, serviced and maintained by staff instead of the management that have refused to provide funds allocated for this purpose. Note that Investigation vehicles in the Commission have not hit the road for about 8 months now while they are being used for personal use, resulting to stalled investigation activities. And also non-provision of power Generator for staff to function and carry out their duties etc. All these have affected the moral of the staff and have far reaching effects on them, and in most cases, staff are subjected to carry out their duties through personal efforts and finances. These have seriously affected the number of cases received and resolved in the Commission. And therefore lots of complainants/Ordinary Nigerians are suffering in vain as a result of poor staff performance and inefficiency of the Commission.
Late coming and nonchalant attitude of staff to work; workers resume office at their convenience and leave at will even when complainants awaits their attention and this stampedes investigation and administrative processes. And also, poor dressing attitude is highly prevalent among staff of the Commission.
Non-enrolment into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPS), this act is deliberate to cover and protect GHOST workers Salaries that the Principal Management Officers earn fraudulently on monthly basis. Also former staff of the Commission still has their names on the Payroll till date and this has resulted in multiple nominal roll in Commission with false grade level and steps. Information gathered from the Commission has revealed that a payroll exist which indicate that a GL 8 officer earns N122, 000.00, while in reality a GL 8 officer earn a meagre N63,000.00. As a result of the above, the Management staff of the Commission has deliberately refused to enrol the staff in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPS). Also in 2014 the Federal National Assembly demanded for our nominal roll to harmonise our salaries with that of the National Assembly Service Commission but our management refused because of the frauds and multiple false nominal rolls.
Misappropriation of funds: The Commission’s funds are misappropriated and diverted by the management. Even the workers salaries are sometime embezzled up to the point
that they were paid only 80% of April salary and 61% of July 2015 salaries respectively because July allocation was diverted and used by the management. Also, 50% salary was paid for the month of September. For record purpose The Public Complaints Commission is the only Federal Government agency that short paid its workers salaries.
The Management diverted and embezzled over N500, 000.000.00 (Five Hundred Million Naira) of Public Complaints Commission into personal use in February, 2015. This fund was part of the funds freezed and returned to the Federation account last year December 2014 because it was claimed that we didn’t use it and considered excess funds. From information gathered at the head quarters it was revealed that the money was meant for several staff claims but management deliberately delayed in disbursing these allowances for selfish and frivolous reasons to loot staff funds. The Management had gone back to Ministry of Finance to recover this fund in January 2015 and after series of meetings they were able to convince Dr.Ngozi Ikonjo-Iweala (former Minister of Finance) and recovered all the funds, but nobody can account for Administrative injustice and selective favoritism: The injustice ranges from non remittance of pension funds to the Pension funds administrators for over 5 years, short-payment of salaries, non-payment of promotion arrears, non-payment of 1st 28th Days Allowance, non-payment of repatriation allowance to retirees, absence of staff welfare, extreme delays in payments of staff salaries, absence of staff training and re-training, absence of inductions for new staff.
In view of the above, it is pertinent for President Muhammadu Buhari to beam his anti-corruption searchlight on Public Complaints Commission in reference to APC’sManifesto and President Muhammadu Buhari’s personal stand on Corruption and injustice (seehttp://www.peoplesdailyng.com/only-apc-will-end-corruption-not-jonathan-oyegun/)
(“The use of the ombudsman institution will be reviewed and streamlined for efficiency and to meet public expectation.  The enforcement of contracts shall be a national article of faith. A framework for the encouragement and protection of whistle blowers shall be institutionalized”) to help restore our lost glory to the days of Maitama Sule the first Federal Commissioner of Public Complaints Commission in 1975. It is painful to note that the Ombudsman is the only Commission that has 37 Commissioners who are political appointees and do not work for the interest of the Commission or even adhere to its mandate. Instead they have milked the Commission dry and stole our funds meant for staff development and proficient Ombudsman services in Nigeria. For sanity to return and to cut cost of governance, the 37 state Commissioners must be eliminated, The Management should be probed and anyone found wanting should be prosecuted accordingly.
When the Pubic Complaints Commission is finally sanitized, the Common man will be at peace with the government and our justice will be restored to our administrative/social system. The on-going restructuring/reforms and anti-corruption campaign should not just be limited to Revenue generating institutions like FIRS, NNPC, CUSTOMS, and NPA etc. but to a silent but very important institution like the Nigerian Ombudsman. Absence of justice is absence of peace and absence of peace is chaos.
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied, ACT NOW, NOT LATER.

Friday 18 December 2015

President Obama holds year-end news conference

Shell to face Nigeria oil spill lawsuit

BBC

From the section
Niger DeltaImage copyrightGetty Images
Image captionShell has been blamed for oil spills in the Niger Delta.
A Dutch judge has ruled that a court in the Netherlands should hear a case against Royal Dutch Shell brought by four Nigerian farmers.
The farmers and fishermen want Shell to clean up oil spills in four villages in the Niger Delta and pay compensation.
The latest ruling overturns a decision that was made two years ago by a lower court.
The oil giant said it was disappointed with decision made by appeals court judge Hans van der Klooster.
He ruled that Dutch courts had jurisdiction in the case against Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary.
The court in The Hague will hear the case in March to determine whether Shell is responsible for the Nigerian spills.
In January 2013, a lower court rejected the farmers' case, saying that Shell could not be held responsible for the pollution in the impoverished region.
However, judges had ruled that Shell's Nigerian subsidiary was partly responsible and ordered it to pay compensation in one claim, but not in the three other claims.
On Friday, Mr van der Klooster agreed with the Nigerian farmers' appeal.
"All appeals by Shell are rejected," he said.
Judge Hans van der KloosterImage copyrightGetty Images
Image captionJudge Hans van der Klooster of the appeals court in The Hague
The judge also ordered the company to hand over documents that could show its failure to properly maintain oil pipelines and prevent sabotage.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and the world's 13th largest, pumping out more than 2.4 million barrels a day.
Shell's Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, said: "We believe allegations concerning Nigerian plaintiffs in dispute with a Nigerian company, over issues which took place within Nigeria, should be heard in Nigeria."
Shell has always blamed the leakages on sabotage, which under Nigerian law would mean it did not have to pay compensation.
The Dutch court said on Friday it could not be assumed that the oil leaks were caused by sabotage.
Friends of the Earth Netherlands, which has helped the farmers bring their legal action, said: "The ruling is unique and can pave the way for victims of environmental pollution and human rights abuses worldwide to turn to the Netherlands for legal redress when a Dutch company is involved."
Shares in Shell rose 1%, or 14p, to £14.64 in London in late trading.

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Saturday 24 October 2015

Can Nigeria's president defeat oil industry corruption?

BBC

  • 21 October 2015
  •  
  • From the sectionAfrica
In this 29 May 2015 photo, Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, salutes his supporters during his inauguration in Abuja, NigeriaImage copyrightAP
Image captionPresident Buhari has held key positions in the oil industry in the past
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari took power promising to tackle the "mind-boggling" level of corruption in his country's oil industry. But can he succeed?
Although oil is said to account for 75% of the Nigerian economy, no-one knows how much the country actually produces or refines because hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil are stolen every day, at each level of the supply chain.
President Buhari has taken personal control of the oil ministry and split the state-owned NNPC oil company into two entities in a move aimed at reducing corruption.
Four experts talk to the BBC World Service Inquiry programme about the challenge he faces.

Kolawole Banwo: Oil theft 'at industrial scale'

Kolawole Banwo is a senior programme officer at Nigeria's Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre.
"We do not have an independent metering facility to measure the quantity of oil that is extracted.
"We are not able to know the figures, [but] as at 2014, Nigeria could have been losing 300,000 barrels a day; about $12bn (£8bn) annually. That's a sizeable part of our budget.
"We can hardly afford to pay basic salaries and fund our budget because oil is being stolen. Considering we have the highest number of out-of-school children all over the world; the highest risk of maternal mortality; decaying infrastructure, and about 60% of our population live in poverty, it's very shocking indeed.
"Some of these pipelines were built in the 60s and 70s, so they are not strong. They are on the surface, they are rusted.
A woman walks along an oil pipeline in Warri, NigeriaImage copyrightAP
Image captionMuch of Nigeria's oil infrastructure is ageing and exposed
"Breaking through them is not difficult. In the dead of night in deep creeks where it's difficult to have proper security, they are able to siphon the crude into smaller boats and ships with drums and barrels to convey it further into the forest in the coastal waters where they already have refineries.
"You have smaller vessels that actually get these things to bigger vessels that can go on the high seas. That is very sophisticated and can only happen when you have high-powered individuals who can afford a crew and have the connection to a buyer.
"You need some form of high-powered conspiracy to do that. We call it oil theft at industrial scale.
"The very volatile nature of the Niger Delta came from an area of militancy and effort has still been made to pacify the population and not to exact too much force. But there are many who may benefit from the outputs and so give cover to these people because in the end their interest is tied to it."

Dauda Garuba: People need to benefit from oil revenues

Dauda Garuba is Nigeria officer at the Natural Resource Governance Institute.
"If oil is the cash cow of Nigeria, nothing will be too much a price to get the situation right.
Illegal oil is ferried to market in the Niger Delta in April 2013Image copyrightGetty Images
Image captionSome of the estimated 300,000 barrels of oil which are thought to be stolen every day in Nigeria
"We need to have a multi-face meter that measures the quantity of oil at the level of the well head, at the level of the flow station, and at the level of export terminals.
"People have an 'I don't care' attitude to what is happening, because if the oil is taken by the community or by thieves, it doesn't matter to them, because nothing comes to them in terms of development.
"They don't get anything for the oil that is taken from their territories. To get oil theft addressed, one of the things we might consider is getting the community involved.
"Over the years, the refineries have not been maintained. And a lot of persons have gotten rich through corruption on the basis of this."

Idayat Hassan: Corruption in Nigeria is endemic

Idayat Hassan is director of the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja.
"Corruption in the Nigerian context is endemic, because it permeates all stratas of the society. You can find corruption everywhere you actually dig into in the daily life activities of Nigerians.
"When building hospitals and schools it's the norm that contractors in Nigeria get contracts, and then either don't implement them all, or they do what we call 'contract splitting', so people split the money and go away, and the hospital or school doesn't get built at all.
"Who are the key players in the oil industry? Most of them are also involved in other parts of the economy. So you find somebody is actually in oil, but is also in banking, at the same time he's in manufacturing, he is in various parts of the economy of Nigeria.
Diezani Alison-Madueke in 2010 photoImage copyrightAFP
Image captionFormer Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was recently arrested for corruption
"There is also a linkage to politics, because if they are not in active politics, don't forget that they are the financiers of the politicians.
"It's a very, very difficult task, really, for President Buhari. He will also have to take on people that are part of his political party, really.
"Most of the people that have been accused of corruption are normally let off. So, for instance, there are charges filed against somebody for stealing 10 billion Naira (US$100m, £65m) - a mindboggling amount. At the end of the case, after five years, this accused person is let off the hook because there is corruption in the judicial sector. One way or another, justice is not dispensed.
"It will actually be impossible for President Buhari to do this. Saying he will end corruption itself is a mirage.
"It's a long, long-term initiative. It's collectively Nigerians who will have to deal with the issue of corruption, or else we may all end up disappointed together."

Mansur Liman: Buhari could be the man to solve this

Mansur Liman is the head of the BBC Hausa service.
"I think he's in a very good position to tackle what is happening. People who remember him as the head of state of Nigeria when he toppled a civilian government in the 1980s remember him as someone who didn't tolerate any nonsense.
Fela Kuti performing in 1986Image copyrightAP
Image captionMusician Fela Kuti, arrested in 1984, was one of Muhammadu Buhari's most high-profile targets
"It was a dictatorship. He arrested many politicians that were accused of corruption and locked them up without any trial. The musician Fela Kuti was arrested for criticising the military government.
"He introduced something called 'War Against Indiscipline'. People did not queue in Nigeria; Buhari made it law to queue because that is the proper thing to do - first come, first served.
"The popular support that he enjoys at this moment was because of what he did as the military then. If Nigerians are looking for someone who is ready and willing and has the capacity to fight corruption, I think the name of Buhari will be top.
"I think it's the way he conducts himself, the way he insulates himself from all the corruption that's been taking place in the country. He declared his own assets recently and you could see he had about 30 million Naira (US$145,000, £94,000) in his own bank account.
"This is not a lot of money in the Nigerian context: there are many people who have held posts that are much lower than he has held and who have much more money.
"When he was elected as the president, there were many rich people who were trying to get an audience with him - carrying lots of things to his house. And he turned them back. This is the kind of person that you're talking about."
The Inquiry is broadcast on the BBC World Service on Tuesdays from 12:05 GMT/13:05 BST. Listen online or download the podcast.

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