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Nigeria's anti-corruption group, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has debunked a media report claiming the group's Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, was indicted by the police over a ’forged’ email and phone tape.

 

On Tuesday, an online medium had reported that the HEDA Chairman was indicted of falsehood in the probe of an allegation that an e-mail and phone conversation attributed to Mohammed Bello Adoke, a former attorney-general of the federation, was forged.

Suraju Olanrewaju

Reacting in a statement on Wednesday, HEDA Executive Secretary, Suleiman Arigbabu, said the report by the news medium claiming that the police had indicted Suraju based on a 'report' by the IGP Monitoring Unit, was untrue.

 

HEDA said the reports might have been sponsored by a former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etiebet, and former Nigeria's Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke.
Recall that both had hired a lawyer to petition HEDA based on the group's widespread campaign and litigation aimed at bringing crime suspects to book at courts in Milan, Italy.

 

HEDA said the intention of the sponsors of the fake report was to distract attention from an investigation already receiving the attention of the IGP Monitoring Unit, the Interpol and Cybercrimes unit of the police.

 

HEDA said two journalists called Suraju to get his reaction to the purported police report and claimed to have received a certified true copy of same.

 

The group said Suraju declined to give any comment since he was unaware of such a report.

 

The statement from HEDA reads, “For an average discerning mind and professional reporter, it is basic reasoning to detect this report is fallacious, unprofessional, distractive and poorly concocted by its producers."

 

Arigbabu advised journalists to take up the fight against corruption as one of their core responsibilities.

 

HEDA said the Police IGP Monitoring Unit had invited Suraju, in his capacity as Chairman of HEDA Resource Centre on 27th March 2021, based on a petition by a lawyer, Kanu Agabi, on behalf of Bello Adoke (SAN). The petition was titled, “Forgery of Document for Unlawful Purposes of Interference with the Course of Justice”.

 

It said though the name of HEDA Resource Centre or Suraju was not mentioned in the petition, the invitation was received by the organization in good faith and as an opportunity to assist the police in its investigation. 

 

It said contrary to the claims of non-appearance as contained in the report, Suraju was officially invited and visited the IGP Monitoring Unit, and made statements six times between April 1st and today, with the last visit being Friday 27th August 2021. 

 

"On each of these occasions, he bore the cost of flights, taxis and hotels for his trip. The first visit, wherein Suraju was detained and eventually released on bail, is in the public domain.

 

"It is important, as a reminder to the public, that the subject of the petition was the forgery of an email in which Nigeria, as a sovereign state, was shortchanged to the tune of $1.1billion (one hundred and one billion US dollars). HEDA and its international partners have been involved in the advocacy for recovery of this money and prosecution of principal actors behind the heist," the group said.

 

The group said this advocacy had helped Nigeria recover $75m of this money. The processes for the recovery of the balance are subjects of judicial processes in both the United Kingdom and Italy. 

 

 "Every other fabrication of ‘cyberstalking, giving false information to mislead public officer, injurious falsehood and criminal defamation with intent to incite’ can only exist in the imagination of the purveyor of the fake report and their collaborators in and out of government,” Arigbabu said.

 

HEDA said its legal status could be confirmed through the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

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Nigeria's anti-corruption group, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has debunked a media report claiming the group's Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, was indicted by the police over a ’forged’ email and phone tape.

 

On Tuesday, an online medium had reported that the HEDA Chairman was indicted of falsehood in the probe of an allegation that an e-mail and phone conversation attributed to Mohammed Bello Adoke, a former attorney-general of the federation, was forged.

Suraju Olanrewaju

Reacting in a statement on Wednesday, HEDA Executive Secretary, Suleiman Arigbabu, said the report by the news medium claiming that the police had indicted Suraju based on a 'report' by the IGP Monitoring Unit, was untrue.

 

HEDA said the reports might have been sponsored by a former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etiebet, and former Nigeria's Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke.
Recall that both had hired a lawyer to petition HEDA based on the group's widespread campaign and litigation aimed at bringing crime suspects to book at courts in Milan, Italy.

 

HEDA said the intention of the sponsors of the fake report was to distract attention from an investigation already receiving the attention of the IGP Monitoring Unit, the Interpol and Cybercrimes unit of the police.

 

HEDA said two journalists called Suraju to get his reaction to the purported police report and claimed to have received a certified true copy of same.

 

The group said Suraju declined to give any comment since he was unaware of such a report.

 

The statement from HEDA reads, “For an average discerning mind and professional reporter, it is basic reasoning to detect this report is fallacious, unprofessional, distractive and poorly concocted by its producers."

 

Arigbabu advised journalists to take up the fight against corruption as one of their core responsibilities.

 

HEDA said the Police IGP Monitoring Unit had invited Suraju, in his capacity as Chairman of HEDA Resource Centre on 27th March 2021, based on a petition by a lawyer, Kanu Agabi, on behalf of Bello Adoke (SAN). The petition was titled, “Forgery of Document for Unlawful Purposes of Interference with the Course of Justice”.

 

It said though the name of HEDA Resource Centre or Suraju was not mentioned in the petition, the invitation was received by the organization in good faith and as an opportunity to assist the police in its investigation. 

 

It said contrary to the claims of non-appearance as contained in the report, Suraju was officially invited and visited the IGP Monitoring Unit, and made statements six times between April 1st and today, with the last visit being Friday 27th August 2021. 

 

"On each of these occasions, he bore the cost of flights, taxis and hotels for his trip. The first visit, wherein Suraju was detained and eventually released on bail, is in the public domain.

 

"It is important, as a reminder to the public, that the subject of the petition was the forgery of an email in which Nigeria, as a sovereign state, was shortchanged to the tune of $1.1billion (one hundred and one billion US dollars). HEDA and its international partners have been involved in the advocacy for recovery of this money and prosecution of principal actors behind the heist," the group said.

 

The group said this advocacy had helped Nigeria recover $75m of this money. The processes for the recovery of the balance are subjects of judicial processes in both the United Kingdom and Italy. 

 

 "Every other fabrication of ‘cyberstalking, giving false information to mislead public officer, injurious falsehood and criminal defamation with intent to incite’ can only exist in the imagination of the purveyor of the fake report and their collaborators in and out of government,” Arigbabu said.

 

HEDA said its legal status could be confirmed through the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

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"Restructuring Nigeria’’ is a quandary. There is no concord on the complexion or dimension which the re-engineering of Nigeria should take. There has been a cacophony of arguments, but one opinion which a good number of Nigerians hold is that the orbital states that make up the country should determine, manage and control their own resources. This is reasonable. 

 

It will be duplicitous to argue that the present complex is sustainable or rewarding. It is clearly not. We have been on this tenuous scaffolding for decades without measurable progress. Really, it makes no moral sense that the accruals from certain states are prodigalised among other states which seem not be making efforts to become financially viable. What this system has created is indolence and a predilection for sponging off the federal government. 

 

States naturally should be self-sustaining and competitive. What is the sense in creating states that end up sticking their proboscis deep into the national wealth bank, running it down with every gulp? This charade has effectuated stunted development across the board. While the productive states do not have enough for developmental projects and have to borrow in deficit, the beneficiaries of the ‘’papa-dash-me system’’ cannot drive themselves to growth. Both the giver and the taker are suspended in a loop of unrealised potential. 

Fredrick Nwabufo

States should be able to compete on the basis of innovation, education and productivity. No state in Nigeria – whether in the north or in the south – is economically unviable. But the current arrangement is sapping them of the needed oomph to drive their development. 

 

For example, Zamfara is the state with the highest gold deposit in Nigeria. This is in addition to other minerals which are in commercial quantity -- asbestos, columbite, chronite, iron ore, manganese, marble, lithium and tantalite. This alone is enough to make the north an affluent region. 

 

Other states in the north as well are rich in mineral resources. Adamawa has nentonite, gypsium, Kaolin and magnesite; Borno is blessed with bentonite, clay, diatomite, gypsium, hydro-carbon, kaolin and limestone; Kebbi is weathly in gold; Kaduna is endowed with amethyst, asbestos, clay, flosper, gemstone, gold, graphite, kaolin, hyanite, mica, rock crystal, ruby, sapphire, sihnite, superntinite, tentalime, topaz and tourmaline; and Kano is opulent in gassiterite, copper, gemstone, glass-sand, lead/zinc, pyrochinre and tantalite. 

 

As a matter of fact, it is an exertion of ignorance and bigotry to say the north brings nothing to the national till. The north is blessed with tremendous resources enough to be self-sustaining. But the defective system is also holding it down. Most of the mineral resources in the north are unquickened – because of the flawed structure. So, it is only logical to say, all are victims of the impaired set-up.

 

According to a report by Economic Confidential, a financial intelligence magazine, six states – Lagos, Rivers, Kaduna, Ogun, Oyo, and Anambra generated more internal revenues than 30 other states put together in 2020. The report says eight states are insolvent. 

 

The report says: ‘’Lagos remained steadfast in its number one position in IGR among the states with a total revenue generation of N418bn compared to FAA of N299bn which translate to 139% in the 12 months of 2020. It is followed by Rivers state which generated IGR of N117bn compared to its FAA of N198bn representing 58%; Ogun with N50bn compared to FAA of N88bn representing 57%; Kaduna State with N50bn compared to FAA of N124bn representing 40%; Oyo with IGR of N38bn compared to FAA of N127bn representing 29.7% and Anambra generated N28bn compared to FAA of N94bn representing 29.6%. The total internally-generated revenues of the six most viable states in 2020 at N695bn as computed by Economic Confidential was more than the entire IGR collected by the remaining 30 states put together which was less than N600bn.’’

 

Why should any state in Nigeria be in the red – when all of them have the latent capacitance to be economically fecund? It is lucid that the present complex discourages innovation and retard the development of the states. So, should there be a tilt towards economic independence by the states? I think so but within the bounds of the constitution. 

 

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, asserting the right of his state to collect Value Added Tax (VAT) did a derring-do no doubt. 

 

In August, a federal high court in Port Harcourt issued an order restraining the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from collecting VAT and Personal Income Tax (PIT) from the state, and directed the Rivers government to take charge of the process.

 

The epochal judgment compelled the FIRS to file a stay-of-execution application. But the court declined to grant the application. 

 

It is judicious that our laws are tested on matters of this character. Already some states like Lagos and Adamawa are mulling following the Rivers example. I believe this will only precipitate economic restructuring and push the states to be forward-thinking and innovative. 

 

However, there seems to be some politics to the Rivers’ feat. Wike’s politics has always been belligerent, caustic and brash. The governor, by his utterances on the case, appears to be foe-fighting. By making infantile statements like, ‘’Rivers VAT not for Abuja people’’, and threatening to seal off FIRS offices in the state, the governor is betraying his real intentions. This may not be about Rivers people, but about Wike’s personal agenda. 

 

I do not think any rational Nigerian will resist a process that will spur the development of the states, but Wike should desist from seeking ‘’restructuring’’ with a machete. 

 

By Fredrick ‘Mr OneNigeria’ Nwabufo

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @FredrickNwabufo

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