Pllb-I
nevvs Bclu:!4' jng of wi c
lands', an in polic Ilet FQO
MAIOUDS
T
HE
Util
Police
State
lommand
has d(tailled Mr. Nnaefenwa Lu:ky, in conneetioll wi.b the beheading o· his wife,
"""-
Our
a1rnJPQndent
gathered that the headless remains of Bose. 40, who was suspected to have been killed for ritual oJurposes, were ~red In the bush by her I uslald who had asked her to I ring food 10 him. It was gatbl£'eC. that the dece.1.S'ed.. who \ad four children, had pre JOred the food as ioslmcttd by ber
JULYS. 2012
AGF, miniStry can't account for N2.8bn toll revenue
m
·Senate declared it missing since 2008 ~
un<erl>inl)' ill the Ministry of Works and the OffiQ'! of tlle Accountanl General
of the Federation !)\ow the whereabouts of N2.8bn loU gate J"e\.'ellue collected between 1999 and 2003111e amouol was declared -missing- in June 2008 by L1leSenn leAdhocCommit~
~=:: Senator Heineken l'he committee was mandated by the Senate 10 investigate the management of funds in the nation's transport sector bet-.YeCn 1999 and 2003 before the ton gales were dismantled. lbe former Geneml of Ule
TR\NSP \Rl~ ~l'\ Mr. Ibrnhim DankwamlJo, had while appearing before the adboc COtnmlttee said N4-7bn was gcner.:lted from toll coUettions wiUun Ule four year period Howewer, helllKistllted Uml only Nl.9bn of ~ revenue was paid into LIw nation's """,",,The fomrer AGF had assured the conUllittee thai his office would set up a panel 10 find oul WMI huppem:d to the N2.8bo and report back to the Senate. But it was lromt lhnt DankamJ:o n~r did before he vacated offtce to become the of Gombe
State. When asked about U.e whereabouts or the J"e\.1!r\Ue, the incumbent AttountnntGeneral of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Otunla, tokl SUNDAY PUNCH that an ofTtcia] letter shouJd be written 10 that effect. In compliance witll his request a letterdntedJanuruy 30,2012 wassenl to him. The letter reads, ''In June 2008, )'OUr I>redeces:sor. Mr. Ibrahim Dakwambo appeared before the Sen.1te Adboc. committee, which inwstigBtedthemanagement of funds in the transpOrt sector, '7he committee, which was headed by Senator
Heineken Lokpobiri, was told by Dakwambo that N4-7bo was geoeraled from toU collections between 1999 and 2003 before the toll gates were clism:mLled -Instructively, he stated Utal only NL9bn was paid into glM!rTl.ment's treasul)'. "Since government is a continulUn, and the issue in'lQh'Cd is of public interest, "'e therefore, request your office to avaitus of report of findings on the said N2.8bo, or what the AGF did on the ma tter. "We will appreciate supportive dOC\ll1lents to validateanyciaim: The teller wns wrillen in comptiancewiththeFreedom
husband and wu on the
of Information Act. At the instance of the
fanner Chief Press .secretary to the Office of the AGF, Mr. Hasan Dodo, the letter was sent to the Administration Department of the OAGF headed by Mrs. Grace Papka on January 31, and was duly acknowledged II was then referred to the Director, Funds headed by Mr. Baba)'o Shehu on Febnwy2, 2012; from where it further 11lO\Ied to the Office o f the Director, Revenue and Im'E'Sl.ment headed by Mr. Mohammed Dikwa on Febnwy7. 20l2. 8ul since Febnwy 7. lID official response had been receh-ed from the OAGF despite repeated visits to the agency by our correspondent. The OAGF claimed that its Revenue Departmenl had sent a leiter to the Ministry of Works requesting details of the N2.8bn.
way to tlH! rann t( gwe it to ltim when she W3J attacked and decapital~ J) yet to be identified perso 103. Residents loki jl1umalist:s who visited t..le Ires that
"""""-
Bose's at!ad ers
of the letter at the Ministty
The IctIH reportOOIy forwarded. in April and as of the time of filling this report, no response had been
Efforts 10 \wiry the status
ie\'ered
her bead and neclt chopped olI ber arms I'nd cut some flesh from her bullocks.. This di3co'1 ry )hriously made some res dl 'nts of the town to belie\ ~ I hat the deceased ~';tS ollld. red for
of Works on Friday were nol
successful as mOist ministry
rituals.. 'The CbairltLlO c r Urhobo commllnity i 1 lnmokoEkiti,
Chir f
Okorefe. tok
Samuel ~ .umalists
that he was 10 d II La Bose's husband callie It town 10 call fur hlp alter !.he murder. Okorefl' sal i the decease<fs b JSb Uld told the people iliat lo( found his wifealollg the >ush path where she wac be leaded. TIle communi! 'J leader stated that he .nt! some other people fell uted the case at the polil e station in the town an I 10 the Alara of Aramok4 Oba Olu Ade}-cmi. He added tbLt L1le police had leposited Bose's remains II the Aramoko Genera.i Hospital mortuary. The Police Public Relations Offi~ m the stale, Mr. Victor ahayerni, told SUNDA Y P VCH thai il was loo early t cooclude that Lucky killed, Ii!; wife. The PRO sai~ -We are aware of the Illegation
against the hus and The man is still wi I us hut we don't w.:J.nt t(. jump into ronclusio~ He told us that he aJ; his wife 10 bring food I, h im on the farm and ~t 'Ie later
~!!~~V~~lt~~~~~~~ actually happenec. nnlil we are thl'Ol.'gb with our i1n'estigatiollS -
• L·R: Arnbaundorfor 1\IHca, In tV'uuliomd Irutirnlefor1)vpicol Agriculrurqformer P'refldent Olusegurt Obusmuo; /UI'lller NusarouJO Slate Gouernor. Abdu'ahi A.damu and n Plant Pathologisf, Dr Ronaji( BandyoJHldhyay. during Ill .. uis i, of IlTA. Ambassador 10 (hI! illll'titutl! in lbadlUl ... a ll Friday, Photo: NAN
ACN IlleIllbers defect to PDP in Lagos olIT 2,000 members of the 'on Congress of Nig.cria in Lagos, led by Mr. Abdulkareem RaJiu. a former security aide to Governor Babatllnde Fashola, on Saturdny defected to the Peoples Democrntic Party. Rafiu told PDP bigwigs and party faithful, who were at the state party secretariat in lkeja. to receive the defectors said the ACN bad not Ii~·ed up to exp<..'Ctation. MI believe tl.e PDP is the party lItal would bring back the dream lagos.- Raliu said The NellJs Agency of Nigeria reports that on hand to receive the defectors were former PDP National Deputy Ch oirmon, SOU!lI-We.st, Chief Olabode George, former governor of Ekiti, Mr Segull Oni, and former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope. Addressiog the deft!d.OOi and party members at Ule event, George said a PDPled administration would
A,;
ligh,· hesUd. ne'o~r
disappoint tile people
.''''WI
am delighted UJ8t many people in the ranks of the ACN are now seeing L1le
Oni, who also spoke at tlte e'o'Cllt, informed Ute gathering that by 20J.S, the PDP would fonn the g!)\o-cmment in Lagos State. He called for unity among
~lines oUJ.\\-El.l.OKJ'I
XPER1'S
in Ule Nigerian Dviation industJy ha\'e said it would be difficult for oirlines operating in the connlry to consolidate their operntors through mergers because airline operators are not willing to embrace the idea.
E
~torecent~tions
thai most airlines in tlle ClOunlly are insol\'Cllt and heavily indebted to the tune or $sbn, Ute Federal Go..'eTIlment is reportedly considering a policy that will compel the operators to ClOnsolidate their operations through ~JS. E\'ellts foUowmg the June 3 Dana Air plane crash al Iju-lshaga. Lagos. had highlighted the poor financiaJ health of Nigerian airlines as a major reason for inadequale safety measures. wbich led to the Joss or over
the pany members. Earlier in a welcome address, UlE' stale cbaimJan of tbe party, Chief Tunji Sbelle, urged the members to join hands 10 move the PDP forward.
officials claimed ignorance of themaUer. At Ule OAGF, the new information manager, Mr t't1arles Nwodo, declined to comment on the issue, while his counterpart at the Ministry of Works whose name was simply given as Mr. TIleodore. was said to be indisposed. Section 15 (sbJ of the Freedom of buonnation Act stipulates a period of 30 days for an FOr request 10 be
p-
TIle Attomey-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Moh8J'lllJll'd Adake, had at a forum said the Act entrusted in his ofTx-.e the responsibiJity or ensuring compliance by ministries and agencies or government.
reluctant to lDerge -Experts
600 lives;n airtrnshes in the last 12 years. Accordillg to the convener of Congress of Aviation Unions and Proressional Associations, Engr_ Sheri Kynri, the airlines are not likely 10 accept the rneIl.ef plan because they prefer to operate alone. -Apart from the cuJlutal foctor whiclt has to do with the fact that these: airlines are individualistic, it would be difficult for the airlines 10 accept 10 merge. We don 't know if their financiers "ill be willing to merge. If airline A has two aircrnft it boughl and airline B has fivt! airernft it leased, haw rue they going to merge? - What professionals iu tile ilKiustry have been asking for is a national carrier. DOt the type that woukl be owned by g!)\o'efDment,. but thetypethat people can go to the Nigerian
Stock Exchange and buy its shares, - he said. He added thaI the insolvency of Nigerian airlines was nol dlle to lack of profitability, but a result of diversion o r profits by the airline owners to other vt:Jltures. wit's not tIlat tIlCSC airlines are not making money. Many of them take more than half of what they rake in as profit to other businesses, rather than using it 10 maintain their neel and operntiollS. "If Nigeria Civil Aviation AuUIOrity was monitoring the airlines wcll. it should ha\'e found out how DlUch tilE')' use for training and how much they invest in maintelllllltt," he said Similarly. fonner Presidenl of the Nigerian Cabin Crew &sociation. Olwnide Ohanayo,saidNiger1l1airlines would only consider mergers
as a lasl resort if gO\tiTlmenl raises the stakes. -in some parts of the world what obtains is voluntruy merger; airlines come together on Uleir own to beoome more competitive. in some places, there is regulatory merger wben pwomenl v..'OUkl bring oul a policy thai wollid compel airlines to merge. 11mt is what we have beeri clamouring for. Ollna has done it. lndonesia bas dOIK it, but in Nigeria what you see is individual airlines insisting on struggling on their own,he saKI.. Ohanayo, however, advised that a safety audit should be conducted to see the airlines that would slln-i\'t~ before the merger plan is implemented because bringing all the airlines under one national carrier could st:ifle competition.