SARAKI: Has The End Come For A Corrupt Dynasty?

Politics in Kwara State has been under the control of Saraki family for years. It is normal for a politician's son, wife, brother or other kinsman to run for the same or other government office. This is known as political dynasty. In political science, the equivalent is oligarchy.

In 1979, Dr. Olusola Saraki, father of Senator Bukola Saraki, was elected Senator in the Second Republic and became Senate leader. In 1983, he was re-elected into the Senate on National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform. In the 1980s, Olusola Saraki founded Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria (SGBN) an offshoot of the Societe Generale Bank of France. Based on 2013 data, SGB is France's third largest bank by total assets and the sixth largest in Europe. Founded in 1864, SGB France is one of the oldest banks in France.

Once his political tentacles were firmly entrenched in Kwara and in the Senate, Olusola Saraki wasted no time to launch the Saraki family corruption dynasty.

As the powerful and influential national vice-chairman and Kwara State chairman of NPN, he became the kingmaker in Kwara politics and decide who gets what.

With his political connections and the SGBN in his kit, the elder Saraki got better in the corruption business. The entire Saraki family was baptized with catechism of corruption, anointed with extreme shamelessness and greed. The family became polluted and degenerated. Corruption was the glue that kept the Saraki dynasty together. The family became a center of licentiousness and depravity of corruption and influence peddling.

The SGBN became the nominally powerful institution that fostered official and family corruption. Members of the family clan – Bukola Saraki, Gbemisola Saraki, and Toyin Saraki – were instrumental in the demise of the SGBN. They are well known for their legendary reputation for financial as well as political corruption.

To the Sarakis, honesty in business doesn't matter. Efficiency doesn't matter. Progressive vision doesn't matter. Corruption, greed, and power matter. Olusola Saraki and other directors of SGBN crippled SGBN. Nuhu Ribadu, former EFCC chairman and his team were to launch an investigation and arraign Saraki and nine others – Robert Mbonu, Hafiz Bakare, Toyin Idowu, G.A. Oyenola, Yinka Fagbemi, Kennedy Izuagbe, Dele Iluyomade, Noah Olopoenia, and Lana Haastrup as accused persons.

Ribadu intended to prosecute Bukola Saraki but could not because he enjoys the immunity clause bestowed on serving governors by the Nigerian Constitution. The trial of Olusola Saraki and other accomplices would have commenced pending the expiration of his son's term as governor, but because Bukola Saraki was a member of President Umaru Yar'Adua's kitchen cabinet, the suit got buried and Ribadu was disgraced and forced out of EFCC.

Bukola Saraki was elected Kwara Governor in 2003. He replaced his father's former political godson, Mohammed Lawal. It was under his watch as the vice-chairman of SGBN when the bank collapsed. Ten months into his tenure as governor, the House of Reps summoned the then Central Bank Governor Joseph Sanusi to explain how SGBN overdrew its capital base by N1 billion.

While SGBN was in financial distress, on November 29, 2001, Bukola Saraki bought a mansion in London for four million, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. The house with title number NGL 805616, located on 70 Bourne Street, London SW1W8JW, is not far from Buckingham Palace road. The three-story edifice has been described as “a house worthy of a king.”

On March 20, 2003 NDLEA and EFCC were drafted to investigate some allegations of fraud at SGBN perpetrated by Saraki family. Olusola Saraki, his wife Florence, son Bukola and daughter Gbemisola and other shareholders were accused of money laundering. They were accused of using depositors funds to buy shares in the ailing SGBN contrary to the Banking and other Financial Institutions Acts (BOFIA). The presidency intervened and the case never saw the light of day. By early 2004, the bank and its top management were accused of defrauding the bank of N37 billion .

Barely two months after Bukola Saraki and his criminal gang in the Senate forged Senate Standing Order that got him elected as the Senate President, his wife, Toyin was invited by EFCC. Toyin Saraki scheduled to appear at the commission's headquarters in Abuja July 28, is wanted in relation to “questionable inflow of funds into companies where she has interest.”

The question on every lip of right thinking Nigerians should be: “How could Bukola Saraki from the well known corruption dynasty got away with many murders so many times without being caught, prosecuted, and punished? How could he have spearheaded the forgery of the Senate Standing Order and installed himself Senate President? Is the Senate the den of robbers, Zombies and Bozos?

With Buhari in Aso Rock, the chickens are coming home to roost. Until now, the Sarakis – a byword for corruption – seemed unassailable despite their conspicuous greed and soaring ill gotten wealth. There is no question that the Sarakis are outright thieves and that the dynasty has a series of reoccurring scandals. After flourishing for decades, with the possibility of Toyin Saraki being convicted for money laundering and Bukola Saraki going to jail for forgery of the Senate Standing Order, certainly, this is the beginning of the end of the Saraki corruption dynasty.

Billions of Naira were swindled by the Sarakis from Nigerian depositors and from the general public. Like many complicated systems, the Saraki corruption dynasty grew brittle and inflexible. It could not adjust to new realities. Addicted greed, out sized fraud, outlandish personality, pride, unrestrained appetite for graft and corruption and power will ultimately eclipse the dynasty sooner than expected.

Corruption patterns in Nigeria have become more complex, sophisticated, and deep-rooted. One case leads to another. But it might also reflect the resistance from those who have benefited from the existing system and face losing everything.

The anxiously awaited police report on the forgery of the Senate Standing Order has been submitted to President Buhari. The police report confirmed that Standing Rules used to elect Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu on June 9, 2015 were forged. The culprits in the Senategate scandal – David Mark, Saraki, Ekweremadu, Victor Ndoma-Egba, Ita Enang and the National Assembly clerk Salisu Maikasuwa – must be prosecuted without delay. They should receive the maximum jail sentence for the crime to serve as deterrence to other lawbreakers operating as lawmakers in the National Assembly.

We have no doubt that the Buhari administration is genuinely concerned about the challenge that corruption poses to its credibility and the country's ability to function. Corruption entrenches and widens economic inequality. It disproportionately affects the poor. Watching a parade of officials like Dasuki, Saraki, Yar'Adua, etc., being shamed offers at the least a sense of vengeance, at best a hope of future justice.

We love to see corrupt officials being brought down. But the system that makes corruption possible remains unaffected by the crackdown. We need powerful investigators something that would be anathema to Nigerians. We need a strong court system with judges that money cannot buy. We need to prune and purge corrupt judges who are allies of the criminals. We need efficient and professional state and local government police charged with the 21st century community policing in terms of crime prevention, detection, and prosecution.

Let's have the first casualties of war on corruption!

by Bayo Oluwasanmi

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If Buhari is sincere in his fight against corruption, let him probe Amaechi’s government - Wike

Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike says if President Buhari was really serious about his fight against corruption, he must start by probing the administration of former Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi. The governor gave the charge in a statement released and signed by his special adviser on media and publicity Opunabo Inko-Tariah today July 26th. The governor added that an appointment of Rotimi Amaechi by Buhari will be an endorsement of corruption ..

“If Buhari is sincere in his fight against corruption, let him probe the Amaechi’s government and he will discover that there cannot be a government official that is more corrupt than Amaechi. From the genesis to revelation of his government, Amaechi’s fiscal recklessness and dictatorial policies and approaches are responsible for the financial woes of the state that should ordinarily be buoyant. A man like Amaechi must not be allowed to flaunt the fruits of his crime with impunity. He has to account for the monthly allocations he received in 8 years and the IGRs for the same period. He spirited so much out of the system with little or nothing to show for it.

The appointment of Amaechi by Buhari will be an endorsement of corruption by Buhari. If there are no skeletons in his cupboard, why try to frustrate the Hon Justice Omereji’s commission of inquiry? This obviates the need for further evidence that his hands are dirty. After all, he started and ended his reign with the late Justice Kayode Esho’s panel and the Prof Odinkalu’s commission of inquiry respectively -not to talk of that headed by Justice B A Georgewill. Do unto others, what you want others to do unto you’, our Lord Jesus admonished my brother Knight, Amaechi.

The attempt to stop the Hon Justice Omereji’s Commission of Inquiry from investigating his government is not only risible but shameful and highly provocative. It is ironical that the same man who sealed the judiciary for close to two years and turned lawyers into taxi drivers and artisans will now have the gumption to approach the same courts he desecrated for justice. If his successor had followed his footsteps, which court would he have approached to seek redress? How will he appear before those he almost turned into beggars? As a result of his callous and insensitive actions, most lawyers had broken homes as they could not sustain their families. Some even lost their loved ones in hospitals for lack of money to buy needed drugs.”.

Shark kills diver while daughter watches in horror

A large shark attacked and killed a man who was diving with his daughter off the coast of Maria Island in Tasmania, Australia. The man, who was in his late 40s and his daughter, who is in her 20s, were diving for scallops from a small dinghy Saturday morning when the fatal attack took place, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The woman had returned to the boat while her father continued to collect scallops underwater, David Wiss, an inspector with the Tasmania police, told reporters during a press conference.

"His daughter became worried and went down and checked on her father when]she saw a very large shark, she saw her father being attacked by the shark," Wiss said.

The woman resurfaced from an estimated depth of 39 feet and set off a flare to alert other boaters in the area, who came to help.

"They pulled up the man using the air hose that he was attached to," Wiss told reporters, "but unfortunately he was fatally injured."

The victim's daughter was "deeply traumatized," according to Wiss, and could only describe the shark as "large."

Witnesses reported sightings of a 15-foot great white shark in the area on Friday, a Maria Island senior ranger told The Examiner.

Sharks are not common in those waters, said John Hammond, president of the Scallop Fishermen's Association of Tasmania, which regulates scallop fishing in the area. Other divers were also in the water at the time of the attack, he said.

"It is really shallow, sheltered water," Hammond. "It used to be traditional scallop ground... It is an absolute tragedy."

Tasmanian senator Peter Whish-Wilson said that the event was a "terrible tragedy," but asked the public to stay calm.

"There have only been five fatal shark attacks in Tasmania since convict times," Whish-Wilson said. “Over time people will be calling for sharks to be killed. While it’s tragic news, we want to keep a couple of things in perspective.”

The Guardian

Photos: President Obama arrives Ethiopia

US President Barack Obama left Kenya today and proceeded to Ethiopia for the last lap of his visit to Africa. He was received at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Like Kenya, President Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country. More photos after the cut...

‘APC Government: So Far, No Direction’ - PDP

Below is the full text of a press conference addressed by PDP national secretary, Oliseh Metuh today July 26th. PDP alleges that the APC government has had no direction since they assumed power 

Gentlemen of the press, we have once again called you up to address a number of very important issues constituting a threat to our democracy, the general health of our nation and our welfare as citizens under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.

Last Thursday, our dear President, President Muhammadu Buhari returned from his much-publicised visit to the United States of America.

A visit which has proven to be anything but successful, yet another miscarried cosmetic intervention to hide government’s inefficiency and inability to face the real business of governance.

As a responsible political party, committed to peace and the stability of our dear nation, the PDP restrained itself from embarrassing the President by not raising, while he was in the States, issues of harassment of citizens, interferences in the activities of the National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), total disregard for tenets of democracy, resort to sole administratorship as well as other violations which have become the order of the day in Nigeria since the inauguration of his administration.

Rather, we remained calm, while hoping and praying that the visit would afford our President and his party leaders reasonable tutorials on the respect and application of the tenets of democracy and fundamental rights of citizens under the rule of law.

This is in addition to the fact that as patriotic citizens, we looked forward for gains especially given our restated support for any action or policy by the Federal Government aimed at stamping out corruption, ending insurgency and promoting economic growth, which formed parts of the publicised agenda for the visit.

However, now that the visit has come and gone, our fear is that nothing whatsoever has been learnt or gained. What we continue to receive as a nation have been embarrassing disagreements, accusations and counter accusations, blames and denials on very important issues due to lack of tact and skill in the management of state matters by the APC-led administration.

It is disheartening that rather than secure any sort of tangible gain for the fight against terrorism, which has lost steam under the APC watch, with insurgents, who were pushed to the verge of surrender by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, now surging back and spreading into the country, we get nothing but exchanges and disagreements between the Presidency and their American hosts. This is not only embarrassing but also worrisome indication of crass ineptitude in the handling of international affairs on the part of the present administration.

We urge the APC-led administration to settle down, put its acts together and get determined, without further excuse, to face the fight against insurgency with every sense of seriousness especially given President Buhari’s promise in his April 2, 2015 CNN interview to end the scourge two months after his inauguration, which is by the end of this month.

Also, while Nigerians awaited for reassuring words to promote our democracy and unity as a nation, they were shocked as they watched President Buhari unfold to the world his decision to administer the country on the basis of the voting pattern in the last general elections rather than on equity as stipulated by the constitution and his oaths of office as the President of Nigeria.

President Buhari told a stunned audience in the US that “constituencies that gave me 97 percent cannot in all honesty be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me 5 percent”, signifying that his government will be discriminatory.

Never in the history of our nation has a president made such a divisive and vindictive declaration. Never in the history of Nigeria has a President made such tendentious, biased and partisan statement, a blade on the chord of unity of his own country and people.

President Buhari as a respected leader and the father of the nation whose “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody’ inaugural speech brought great hope to Nigerians, must therefore note the enormous damage and danger his recent partisan declaration brings to the polity.

We demand that the President come clear on this matter. Would this form the basis of government appointments rather than adherence to merit and the principle of federal character as enshrined in the constitution? Would this be a basis for termination of appointments, promotions and key policies in the service circle?

Would it form the basis for distribution of infrastructural development projects and other essential interventions rather than the principle of equity and equality of federating units as stipulated by the constitution? Is this a deliberate policy by the APC or his personal stance? Are we expecting the same discriminatory policy from APC state governors?

May we remind President Buhari that his declaration to run a discriminatory government is in clear violation of his oath of office as President wherein he publicly swore “that in all circumstances, I will do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will; …”

Our fear however is that the President’s stance has further divided the people along sectional and religious lines and may trigger a return of quest for ethnic and sectional self-determination. The burden therefore lies squarely on him to moderate the political ambiance in the nation and do the needful in reassuring all sections of the nation of his commitment to be fair and just, in keeping with the oaths and demands of the highly respected office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Similarly, the business community in Nigeria and indeed across the world noted with utter dismay the disgraceful treatment meted out on some Nigerian bankers and captains of industries by President Buhari during his US visit.

Whereas the President has the right to decide who makes his entourage on such an important official visit, which visibly excluded National Assembly leaders, economic experts and had no woman, the manner with which he shamed and walked out Nigerians businessmen sends very wrong signal to international investors and poses great threats to inflow of direct foreign investment into our country. These Nigerian businessmen were rejected by their President only for them to be valued by other Presidents of African nations who led them into a meeting with President Barrack Obama in their own countries on account of their investments in those nations.

Whilst we reserve our comments on the numerous blunders and gaffes in the presentation of ideas, we note the embarrassment caused by the absence of an economic team for healthy and informed discussion at the meeting with officials of the US government.

Whereas President Obama came to the meeting with a formidable team of experts and key federal officials, our President had three APC governors with questionable performance and who owe salaries and billion of naira in debts, thereby robbing our nation the benefits and gains of the discussions.

Furthermore, since the President has insisted on running his government as a sole administrator, making important decisions on national affairs without recourse to relevant statutory arms and organs of government, we are compelled to demand that this administration come out clear on its expenses since assumption of office in May in keeping with its much harped stance on transparency.

We make this demand because since the APC took office, the nation’s financial system in the absence of statutory functionaries has been enmeshed in confusion, controversy and fertile atmosphere for financial sleazes.

Recall that when it assumed office, this administration raised the issue of empty treasury only for the nation to learn few days later from the Accountant General of the Federation that about $2.1 billion was left in the Excess Crude Account (ECA). When the PDP demanded credit for the ECA savings, the nation was suddenly made aware of huge sums from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas dividends from which the APC-led Federal Government announced financial bailout for states.

It is interesting to note that whereas the Presidency has gone ahead to unilaterally deplete the funds without recourse to appropriate statutory arms of government, state governors are on air announcing that they have not received any form of bailout whatsoever from the center, raising serious questions on the handling of national resources.

This is more so as we have information that the Presidency acting alone, has gone into discussions with the World Bank for a loan of $2.1 billion for purposes unknown to Nigerians. What is the loan for? What are the terms and who are those working the papers? Who are the people to decide on how the money will be spent? Is it true that the $2.1 billion loan is meant to pay back huge contributions for the APC Presidential campaign expenses? If truly this government is transparent, it should come out clear on this loan as well as publicize details of its expenditure in the last two months.

We are worried that the ineptitude, avoidable inactivity, lack of policy direction and absence of ministers to coordinate government affairs have left the nation’s economy sour with continued slide in the naira which has fallen from under N200 to the dollar in May to an all time low of N240, in addition to the excruciating loss in the capital market which has lost over N1.1 trillion in the last two months.

With the recent display of insensitivity in deciding that ministers would be appointed in September, a reneging on the earlier promise to unfold a cabinet two weeks after inauguration, Nigerians should brace up for more economic loses ahead, a development which spells doom for the gains earlier achieved by the PDP administration in growing our economy to the biggest in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world.

Indeed, Nigerians are no longer in doubt that they have been scammed with long list of empty promises. This government has failed to articulate any policy direction in any sector. What we see is a smart attempt at cosmetic governance, loud propaganda and artful move to appropriate the achievements made by the PDP-led administration; such as the effort in ending polio, the improvement in power supply which is a dividend from numerous investments by the previous administrations, the return of the railways among others.

The only achievements and change brought by the APC government are the curbing of the fundamental human rights of citizens; engaging in selective application of war against corruption, interfering in the activities of the National Assembly and eroding the independence of INEC. The order of the day has become the crass victimization and harassment of officials of the immediate past administration.

The recent organized public humiliation of the immediate-past First Lady and wife of the former President, Dame Patience Jonathan at the Port Harcourt airport where she was refused access to the protocol longue based on ‘order from Abuja’ is a particular case in point. We stress this case because when the immediate past President was in power, all former Presidents and their spouses had unhindered access to the protocol longue.

While we note that this development has been widely condemned by Nigerians, we ask if the former President erred in conceding defeat. Is the Federal Government by any means encouraging a sit-tight attitude by government officials?

Moreover, we have been watching with keen interest the unfolding scenario in INEC where the Presidency has been making every effort to rewrite the constitution and the law with the singular aim to perpetuate Mrs. Amina Zakari as Chairman in spite of her relationship and closeness to key APC leaders. We are also aware of the position of the law and that Mrs. Zakari’s tenure as a member of the commission elapsed on July 21, 2015.

We restate that as long as Mrs. Zakari remains in the commission, it should not be considered as independent and we will not accept any attempt to manipulate the results of the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa, which are known PDP strongholds.

Finally, we state in clear terms that for the APC, it is a matter of so far, bad change. So far, bad change that the government has failed to articulate any clear policy direction with attendant avoidable confusion and economic downturn; so far, bad change that our dear nation is gradually sliding into a banana republic were the fundamental rights of the citizens are being trampled upon and where security agencies have become compromised instruments of oppression in the hands of the ruling party.

So far, bad change that INEC has now lost its independence and the respect it commanded among electoral stakeholders for fact of nepotism in appointment of its Chairman; so far, bad change that the National Assembly, the very citadel of our democracy has fallen under siege by a government which seeks to appropriate its leadership and erode its constitutional independence.

So far, bad change that the government has reneged on many of its promises to the people and now seeks to hoodwink them with lies, propaganda and governance orchestrations. So far, bad change that the people now have to live with the reality that the government had no intention of providing monthly N5, 000 stipend, allowances to the discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members, free meals for school children, 100 million jobs, additional 4 million new homes, and bringing the naira to the same value with the dollar among other promises for which they were voted for.

As a responsible political party that has sustained democracy in the last 16 years, we are in good position to understand the growing frustration and agitation among the people. However, we appreciate the sense of calm by the citizens especially bearing in mind that this confusion called the APC will end in the next four years.

Signed:

Chief Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary

Stephen Keshi demands N1billion compensation from NFF

Sacked Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi is demanding N1billion compensation from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for defaming him. According to Vanguard, Keshi has dragged the NFF to court for “wrongful dismissal and defamation”. A top source told said

“Keshi’s lawyers have demanded for a billion Naira from the NFF as compensation for defaming their client.”

A letter from Keshi's lawyers was sent to NFF on Friday July 24th. Keshi was sacked by the NFF on July 5 just four months after he'd signed a new two-year contract to coach the Super Eagles.

Bobbi Kristina Brown dies

 Bobbi Kristina Brown has died aged 22 - six months after she was found unconscious in a bathtub.

 

The aspiring singer was rushed to hospital and placed in a medically-induced coma on January 31 after she was discovered face-down in the water-filled tub at her townhouse in Roswell, Georgia.

She passed away, surrounded by her family, at the hospice on Sunday - just 3 years after her famous mother, singer Whitney Houston, died aged 48 in a bathtub at a hotel in Beverly Hills.

Officials are planning to treat the death of Bobbi Kristina, who was found in the tub with bruises on her face and body, swollen lips and a missing tooth, as a murder investigation.
 

The person of interest in the case will reportedly be her boyfriend, Nick Gordon.
 

The Houston family said on Sunday night that Bobbi Kristina 'is finally at peace in the arms of God.' 

In a statement via a representative, they said: 'Bobbi Kristina Brown passed away July, 26 2015, surrounded by her family. She is finally at peace in the arms of God. We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months.' 

May her soul rest in peace...Amen!