[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ormer National Legal Adviser of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA), Rafiu Balogun has said that it is wrong for the Presidential candidate of the Presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar to describe the February 23, 2019 election as the worst in Nigeria’s history.
He insisted that the elections of February 23 were credible and fair, saying that the barrage of accolades coming from foreign observers and international communities had lent credence to the credibility of the poll.
Rafiu Balogun who was also chairman of Kwara State, advised Atiku to approach the court if he has genuine evidence of electoral infractions, even as he cautioned him against making incendiary comments acts that are capable of throwing the nation into chaos.
“For anyone to say that the last election was the worst in Nigeria’s history, that is not correct. “I think our leaders should be honest whenever they are reacting to issues.
“We have had elections in the past supervised by the PDP and we know how they all ended. Many of such elections were upturned by the tribunals.
“Even during the era of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who was a member of PDP, he publicly acknowledged that the election that brought him in was fraught with irregularities.
“So, how can Atiku tell us now that the last presidential election was the worst in Nigeria? Except Atiku and his party have other evidences. Let them bring it out and show it to the public.“We must give kudos to INEC in spite of the pockets of violence. Because there must be human errors, that does not mean that we should score INEC low.
“For me, I think they have tried their best to give us this election. INEC has been transparent enough.”
[dropcap]S[/dropcap]amsung has unveiled Galaxy Fold, a phone that opens into a tablet. The high-end smartphone features the world’s first 7.3-inch Infinity Flex Display, which folds into a compact device with a cover display. Galaxy Fold offers a powerful new way to multitask, watch videos, play games, and more.
The Galaxy Fold launched on Wednesday in San Francisco, also breaks new ground, with $1,980, as it cost price.
The South Korean tech giant, however, promises to give its users the best of both worlds with galaxy fold.
“Today, Samsung is writing the next chapter in mobile innovation history by changing what’s possible in a smartphone. Galaxy Fold introduces a completely new category that unlocks new capabilities never seen before with our Infinity Flex Display.” said DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics.
“We created Galaxy Fold for those that want to experience what a premium foldable device can do, beyond the limitations of a traditional smartphone.”
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Founder of the Divine Hand of God Ministries International, Abuja, Prophet Emmanuel Omale, says the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari is ordained by God.
Omale told newsmen on Saturday in Abuja that God gave victory to Buhari for the turn around of the country.
He urged all Nigerians to support the president in the interest of the nation. The cleric who revealed the re-election of Buhari in his prophecies for year 2019 on Dec. 31, 2018 advised Nigerians to stop questioning Buhari’s re-election.
Omale said that it was God that anointed Buhari to lead Nigeria at this time and to lead Nigeria for eight years.He said when God had anointed someone to be a leader or a President, no one could stop it.
“The world can hate him, the world can try to reject him but God has ordained him,” he said. Omale said that the second tenure of Buhari was a blessing in disguise for Nigerians as the nation would witness an unprecedented rapid development.
“The coming back of Buhari is going to be for the good of the people, the poor people are going to be able to eat three times a day. ”There will be improvement in electricity supply, we are going to have infrastructure development.
“God is going to use Buhari to build a new Nigeria, to lay a solid foundation, and my advice to Nigerians is that we should support Buhari and pray for him.
Omale also urged the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to accept the outcome of the election as the will of God. “He should just call Buhari so that they can work together for the progress of the country because of his love for Nigeria
“Nigerians love him so much, Christians love him, God loves him, so he should just call Buhari so that they can work together for the future of our country, because I know he has a good plan for this country,” he said.
Omale also advised the PDP and all other political parties that lost the election to start praying for Buhari to succeed.
He advised President Buhari to see himself as a father to the nation and the citizenry irrespective of political, religious affiliations or ethnicity backgrounds for the nation under his leadership to get to the promised land.
“Again I will tell him that he should open his arms, embrace and forgive everybody, because if the President considers carefully, he will observe the way his victory came, he will know that it is God that brought him back to the throne.“He should remember that though many were fighting him, God gave him victory. It is not money or people, ” he said.
Omale said that there was a mystery about Buhari and that people would soon see that it was God that made him President for the Peoples’ sake.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]head of next Saturday’s governorship election in Rivers State, Accord Party (AP) has teamed up with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to wrest power from Governor Nyesom Wike.
This is as the party rejected the candidature of Mr. Precious Baridoo as its gubernatorial candidate for March 9 governorship election, insisting that Dumo Lulu-Briggs remains its validly nominated candidate for the polls.
A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had on Thursday, ruled that Dumo Lulu-Briggs was not the duly nominated gubernatorial candidate of Accord Party (AP) in the state and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enlist Precious Baridoo as the authentic candidate.
The party promised to appeal a Federal High Court judgment that sacked Lulu-Briggs as its gubernatorial candidate. The National chairman of the party, Muhammad Lawal Nalado, while briefing journalists yesterday in Abuja, said the party never at any time submitted Baridoo as its candidate to INEC, adding that Baridoo never participated in the process of electing the party’s flag bearer and he did not pay for expression of interest.
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]r. Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former President, Nigeria Bar Association, in this interview, explains why he feels it is not necessary for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the defeated Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, to challenge the outcome of the February 23 election in court.
You have asked Alhaji Atiku Abubakar not to go to court to challenge the outcome of the just concluded presidential election. Could you be specific on this and the implications if he eventually goes to court?
Yes, I did say that, because I feel that going to court will not necessarily prove that the election was marred by massive irregularities. I feel that the stage Abubakar Atiku has attained now is a national one. And having garnered 12 million votes, I feel that, against all odds, the side of irregularities that came out of the election predicts more to the weak electoral processes that we have. I should advise that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar moves into the position of a statesman and leaves a legacy by assisting the civil society, the small parties and the PDP in reconstructing Nigeria on the question of a strong electoral system and the question of a strong legal system. There’s a lot Atiku can do even though he is not the President. At 74, 73 or 72 years of age, I feel that this should be his last chance. And more so, what will the petition’s outcome be? Petitions are based on two types of issues. One is the electoral malpractice. The other is tactical issue. From what I can see, the petition will be based on electoral malpractice. This is an extreme difficult thing to say. How do you prove that the votes in the South-East were reduced and who is responsible? INEC? APC? I would rather say Atiku should maintain the status quo of a statesman than descend into the arena of the court of law. The court of law is too small today. The national court is a bigger space that I personally feel Atiku should be favoured. And given the fact that it is not as strong as it should, I think Atiku should play a very strong role to build a political structure that will solve issues. Even the whole party, PDP, needs to reform, rebrand and reposition for 2023, so that a young vibrant President from the North or South or from anywhere in the country can be promoted. I think that should be Atiku’s legacy, and not to contest the outcome of the election in court.
Looking at the outcome of the presidential election generally, what does this portend for the country’s drive for true democracy?
It is a disaster for our great democracy because the election would have been based on ethnic voting, personal interest voting, and primordial voting. What happened was, contrary to expectations, President Muhammadu Buhari held his fanatical base in the North and that tells us that Atiku has no business in Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Taraba, Plateau and Benue states. But we just found out that in this case, essentially, there are two types of voters in the North. Those in the first group are Moslem fanatical voters who gave President Buhari over one million votes in Katsina, Kano. Even Plateau, Benue and Taraba were very close. So Atiku can see that the herdsmen issue has no role to play in the centre contrary to the opinion that it would be a big issue for Buhari. Though President Buhari held his ethnic base, Vice President Atiku held his own adopted ethnic base, southern states. He won in the South-South, the South-East and the votes were split in the South-West. The consequence of this is that Nigeria is a divided country. That we are not going to see a President out of Nigeria in the next four years who could come on the basis of grassroots. Neither could we see in the case of Kingsley Moghalu nor did others because it would not happen on a very narrow ethnic base. Nothing has not changed because Nigeria is as primordial and ethnic-based as never before. You can’t have any strong candidate to come out from such structure and that’s why I say Atiku can play a very strong role in reversing the outcome of 2019 presidential election. People can say that 2019 is the worst election since 1998 in terms of guidelines. We have gone back almost 20 years. So Atiku can understand that his legacy would not be that he filed a petition. His legacy would be what he did to rescue Nigeria from the problem we are dashing into. President Buhari is unpopular. Let me state it clearly, he is unpopular but he won the election, and that’s democracy. There are opinions that the President has not done well, but we have been proved wrong by the grassroots fanatical votes that say no, it didn’t matter. What mattered is that “we vote for him”. You can see that competence, skill and capacity did no hold in the outcome of this election. Given that INEC extended the election process and yet, there were skirmishes, logistic challenges and other things in the February 23 elections, how do you score INEC looking at the outcome of the whole process?
I score INEC very poor. I think in the states, INEC scores should now be put on INEC’s doors. President Buhari deliberately weakened the electoral process by refusing to sign the electoral amendment bill that contains the provision for electronic transmission of votes. Now, you need to understand what electronic transmission of votes means. In the basic process of voting today in Nigeria, especially manual that occurred on Saturday and the ones to come later, the reason is that there are five stages you pass: You go to your polling station, you vote, the results are collated, the relevant officer in that unit takes them to the ward collation centre. At the ward collation centre, the results are collated. Now, in the process of shifting the results from the polling unit to the ward, ‘mago-mago’ will happen, the numbers will change. Now, the process will continue to the local government collation centre where the local government collation officers will hand over the results to the state collation centre. From there, the state resident officer runs to Abuja and then announces the results that he has absolutely no idea where they came from. What happened in Abuja was a charade. Not one single collation officer could account for the nature of the results that were presented. And it is the same thing when they now hand it over to the INEC Chairman. He has no idea. He simply announces it. He does not know whether the results have been rigged, whether ballot boxes have been snatched.
The electronic voting is supposed to take care of all these. At the polling station, as soon as polling ends, the head of polling unit will announce the results and transmit them to the electronic board that is there for everybody to see. Now, the issue of logistics, the transport of one person from here to there would disappear. I think that President Buhari will take the substantial part of the blame in refusing to sign the new Act that would have introduced electronic voting system. And that is part of what I think Atiku can spend the rest of his time doing now. It was an international disgrace to see professors and vice chancellors fumbling. They could not even explain the results they brought. That’s why the Chairman of INEC was asking one of them whether he needed glasses to see what he was reading. Oh! Come on! In 2019? INEC was a disaster in my opinion. INEC’s poor performance was exacerbated by President Buhari and it was deliberate. And again, President Buhari refused to sign the electoral law which contains the electronic voting law, because it will eliminate probably some of these. So, all the issues being raised by Atiku in electronic voting clause would not have been there. The second thing that informs my decision advising Atiku not to go to court was that, we all know that President Buhari unlawfully crippled the Supreme Court which is the court that will hear the petition. It is not really on my part to say that Buhari deliberately scuttled the Supreme Court in order to benefit from any judgment that would be delivered in Atiku’s petition. I cannot say that I have evidence of that. I can’t prove it but, sometimes, there’s no smoke without fire. President Buhari weakened the electoral process, weakened the judiciary process in a situation of the results of the 2019 elections. These are some of the things that I thought Atiku would have given up his personal ambition to assist once and for all to make Nigeria work again. To make Nigeria work again is something one can do without necessarily being a President of Nigeria. So, in essence, the judiciary may not help to determine the true position of things if Atiku goes to court, especially going by the rumbles in this arm of government lately.
For the Supreme Court, when it comes to petition, you signed to do the right thing. I pray they do the right thing. Supreme Court is not a court you can easily influence because they sit in two panels, either in five or seven judges. So you cannot influence five judges or seven judges at the same time. I personally believe that in spite of what President Buhari did to weaken the Supreme Court, the apex court will deliver what they consider to be justice, and that’s my own personal belief having been in the system for 40 years. That does not remove the perception that President Buhari weakened the judiciary and electoral processes in order to benefit from election day. I have raised this as an issue before and it is something we cannot brush it aside. The truth is that we need to build strong institutions that will make Nigeria’s democracy grow. This election of 2019 hasn’t added to Nigeria’s democratic growth, rather we are in democratic regression. We have gone from pretending to be a democratic to a semi-autocratic state, where one person can destroy institutions and it is not challenged. Luckily, the President of the Senate fought back. Imagine if he didn’t fight back and he had to come to the CCT and he was given the same treatment that CJN Walter Onnoghen was given. What appears to play out in the last four years was President Buhari’s deliberate decisions to weaken great institutions, the judiciary, the police, security agencies, everything is weak and under his control. That is dangerous and he has benefited from the weak institutions. How do we build strong institutions is an issue Nigerians who are interested in democracy must confront now.
[dropcap]“I [/dropcap]call on the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to close ranks and work with the winner of the election in an objective and constructive manner so that democracy will continue to thrive in our country at this crucial period of renaissance.”
Ibrahim Babangida, former Military President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has urged Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to close ranks and work with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Babangida stated this in a statement he issued to congratulate Buhari on winning the presidential election.
Atiku had secured 11,262,978 votes and lost to Buhari, who polled 15,191,847 votes on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The statement reads: “The 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections have come and gone. These elections have produced a new president-elect and new elected members of the Senate and House of Representatives. I congratulate the Nigerian electorate who conducted themselves peacefully during the voting process; they were enthusiastic to exercise their democratic rights of electing candidates of their choice. Sadly, due to violence in some part of the country, lives were lost and I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to their families for the death of their loved ones.
“I wish to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR on his re-election to lead Nigeria in the next four years. I have observed that, the electioneering campaign was very strenuous and the contest very keen. That despite the turbulent terrain of politics, the President submitted and subjected himself to this process. Indeed is a clear testimony that he believes in the democratic process and ideals. The newly elected president should heal the wounds of the heated campaign exchanges by embracing those who contested alongside with him. The President must resist the temptation to see them as enemies; not even opponents, but fellow compatriots who merely disagreed with him on how best to move our country forward.
“Now that the President has won his re-election bid, he should confront with renewed vigour the most urgent problem confronting Nigeria: ‘insecurity of lives and property’. The Boko Haram insurgency remains a threat to many Nigerians particularly in the North East sub region, while the twin evils of kidnapping and armed robbery/armed banditry remain a major national menace. The president must pay priority attention to these security issues.
“The economy of the country must also occupy the president’s urgent attention. There is the need to be more creative in formulating policies that will improve the nation’s economy, create employment opportunities and give hope to our teaming youths. The President may wish to heed to the yearnings of reasonable Nigerians for restructuring and seek all constitutional means to devolve some powers presently exercised by the Federal Government to the other tiers of government.”
He commended other presidential candidates, making particular reference to Atiku, and urged him to endeavour to accept the result of the election.
“Let me commend and convey my admiration to the other contestants for the office of president. I was particularly impressed with the gallant and audacious spirit of the main challenger in the presidential race, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar GCON. I was not surprised that even though he lost the most exotic position of the land, his doggedness and pattern of support cut across ethnic, religious and regional lines that earned him the second position of the last Presidential election.
“I call on the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to close ranks and work with the winner of the election in an objective and constructive manner so that democracy will continue to thrive in our country at this crucial period of renaissance. I urge him also to endeavour and prevail on his admirers to eschew bitterness and violence. They must be prevailed upon to understand that politics is a game in which there must be only one winner. I pray that the Almighty Allah will continue to guide our democratic steps for peace and progress in our country.”
Comptroller Mohammed Uba Garba CAC, Seme Customs Command
[dropcap] T[/dropcap]he Customs Area Controller, CAC, Comptroller Mohammed Uba, of Seme Area Command of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS,disclosed to Grassroots Publishers that his command has arrested seven suspects in connection with smuggling within Seme border communities. He further revealed that the arrest was made possible through information patrol and the use of intelligence in their anti-smuggling drive within Seme, which is the busiest border in the sub-region.
The Command also recorded massive seizures of rice, sugar, vegetable oil, second-hand clothings, shoes and other items smuggled into the country illegally through Seme border, within just few weeks of operations.
Grassroots Publishers observed that the Customs warehouse was filled to the brim with seizures of rice and other items intercepted within a short period, even as seized vehicles used for means of conveyance in smuggling prohibited items were seen outside the warehouse.
Seized vehicles used for conveyance:
Responding to questions on the strategies used in making the mind boggling seizures within few weeks, the CAC said, “Our Enforcement Unit, headed by the Deputy Comptroller of Enforcement, DC Adhaunse, is working tirelessly to protect our economic environment at seme axis from influx of prohibited goods.”
He pointed out, “We are implementing the fiscal policies of the Federal Government. As such, we will seize any item that is banned and forfeit such item to government”.
Comptroller Uba explained, “In reality, the Customs and Excise Management Act, CEMA, gives Customs operatives the authority to patrol freely on land borders and Seme Command is not an exemption. So, we will continue to carry out our enforcement operations in accordance with the law”.
Comptroller Uba also spoke on the effectiveness of the Joint Border Post at Seme for information sharing among security officers of both countries, revealing that another Joint border post for Nigeria and Cameroon is in progress in Cross River State.
[dropcap]E[/dropcap]lectorate in Kwara State uncharacteristically reject Bukola Saraki, the Senate president, in his bid to return to the Senate thereby suggesting that the political empire which Olusola Saraki, his late father built, is now decimated.
IF anybody had predicted that Bukola Saraki, the Senate president, would not be among victors of 2019 elections in the build-up to the exercise, the person could have been probably be branded as a prophet of doom. But the outcome of the election appears to have vindicated the proponent of an imminent collapse of his political empire.
Saraki did not just lose his seat in the senate, but also lost the control of the state politically. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, his party, lost all the seats in the National Assembly to the All Progressives Congress, APC, including the presidential election. The defeat of the Senate president marks the end of a political era in the state and might possibly push him into political oblivion in the country.
Until now, Saraki seemed to have a knack for taking on political battles and winning most of them. He even fought the late Olusola Saraki, his father, and won. He fought Gbemisola Saraki, his sister and won. He fought the ruling APC and won. He fought the Presidency and won. He also sidestepped impeachment plots and emerged unscathed.
He is like a cat with nine lives. He lives a life of political brinkmanship. He loves the game and the game loves him. But the just concluded elections showed that Saraki could also surfer defeats.
Before the elections, there were signs that Saraki was losing his control of the state. After the APC won the by-election of the Isin/Irepodun/Ekiti/Oke-Ero federal constituency in the state in November 2018, it became more evident that he was no longer in control of the state.
In any case, the defeat of the Senate president has been attributed to political forces within and outside the state. It is also believed that the following factors made him to lose his grip on the state.
‘O to Ge’ Movement
For some years now, Kwara residents have been under the leadership of the Saraki family, a culture many refer to as the ‘Saraki dynasty’. Olusola, his late father, was known for installing governors in the state. He established the dynasty in 1964 when he meticulously warmed himself into the heart of Kwarans and earned himself the sobriquet, ‘Oloye.’
For almost five decades, he combed the political field and endeared the people to him due to his robust and participatory political sagacity. Oloye was a political enigma and he left a big shoe, which his son thought he could fill and continue from where his father had stopped. The dynasty has installed six governors since 1979, hundreds of lawmakers at the state and national levels, and chairmen of sixteen local governments.
In 2003, his son took over from Mohammed Lawal as governor of the state, an office he held for two terms. From there, he proceeded to the Senate from where he is said to have been calling the shots.
But as time went by, the people were said to have been “fed up” of the Saraki’s family influence and gradually, ‘O to ge!’ a popular movement began. Loosely translated as ‘enough is enough’, the movement was spearheaded by key political figures in Kwara including Abdulrahman AbdulRazak, APC governorship candidate in the state, with the help of prominent figures such as Lai Mohammed, the minister of Information and Culture.
Mohammed had lamented about the “Saraki dynasty.” The minister once said: “The main issues here have to do with how our state has been governed in the past 50 years, 40 of which have been dominated by a single family. What has happened to the commonwealth, which has been cornered by a single dynasty at the expense of the people?”
Buhari Factor
Another key factor that led to the ‘downfall’ of Saraki is the popularity of President Muhammadu Buhari. The president, it was gathered, is even more popular than Saraki in most parts of the state. Interestingly, the results of the presidential election figures showed that Buhari scored 308,984, to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, in the state despite Saraki being his (Abubakar) campaign director-general.
Offa Robbery
Although Offa is not part of his senatorial district, the robbery incident that rocked the town did a lot of damage to Saraki politically. On April 5, 2018, armed robbers attacked banks in Offa, Kwara State, killing 33 people, including pregnant women and 12 police officers. It later emerged that some of the suspects had links to Saraki and the Kwara State government. This created a major public image disaster for Saraki.
The tragedy shook Offa to his very roots and apparently tarnished the image of Saraki in the state, and this might have contributed in no little to cutting down his influence and hurting his political fortune.
While addressing a press conference in Lagos earlier this year, Ibrahim Oloriegbe, the senator-elect, had accused the Saraki family of not sharing in the “common heritage” of the people of the state. He promised to restore the state’s “lost values”.
“In the past 16 years, our society has been in the grip of people who do not share our common values and heritage. They are dealers whose concerns are at variance with the people’s aspirations. They are leaders with (an) inordinate appetite for wealth acquisition. They are political voyagers and power merchants. They don’t share our Islamic values and culture of leadership,” he said.
Despite the aforementioned factors against Saraki, his defeat was celebrated across the state with Mohammed, saying the defeat was a freedom for Kwara from a choking and pauperising political hegemony of a self-imposed dynasty. He stressed that never again would the people of Kwara be treated like slaves in their own land. “Enough is Enough – O To Ge!,” he said.
Mohammed advised that with the unprecedented victory the state should declare February 23, of every year as the Day of Liberation for Kwara State. “I want to ask the incoming Governor of our state to, immediately he is sworn in on 29 May 2019, to declare Feb. 23rd of every year as the Day of Liberation for Kwara State.”
On his part, Isa Aremu, the Labour Party governorship candidate in the state, said it was a joy to see a new dawn in the state. Aremu, who regretted that Kwara was ranked as 28 on the list of states by Gross Domestic Product, GDP, behind states like Imo, Edo, Oyo and Osun, adding that it was a tragedy that out of 10 Kwarans, seven are wallowing in poverty and penury due to bad leadership and undeserved political hegemony.
Likewise, Abu Ibrahim, the senator, representing Katsina South Senatorial District attributed Saraki’s defeat to selfishness. He said the Senate president’s defeat was a clear indication that the people had rejected him due to his craves to satisfy self above people’s interest.
According to him, the people have become wiser that is why they decided to vote him out. “I said we were going to retire Saraki and we have done it. We carried out enquiries at the grassroots and then continued to pray that he should lose.
“I want to congratulate the people of Kwara for demystifying Saraki. Saraki is very selfish. It is always Saraki first before others. He only cares about himself. The people only showed that they have become wiser,” he said.
On complaints by Saraki that there were irregularities in the election that led to his defeat, the lawmaker said “those were only the consolation of a defeated man.”
According to Ibrahim, Saraki’s defeat only shows he has lost grip of the people. “This shows that Saraki no longer has strength. If he feels there were manipulations, it clearly shows that he was always manipulating election results but now that he is weak he can longer manipulate. Wherever he went he was called ole (thief), even on social media.”
In the face of defeat, Saraki has been magnanimous enough to congratulate those that won during the elections in the state, wishing them the best of luck.
Will Saraki fight back to regain his leadership in the state or will he surrender to the will of the people? Only time will tell.
Comptroller Mohammed Uba Garba CAC, Seme Customs Command
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]omptroller Mohammed Uba Garba, who is at the helm of affairs at the Seme Customs Command is a man characterised by commitment, dedication, and team work in discharge of statutory responsibilities to achieve success geared towards moving the service to greater heights. He is a man known to have performed well in terms of revenue generation, anti-smuggling drive, legitimate trade facilitation and the security of the nation through the effective and efficient operations.
The Area Controller of Seme Border, Comptroller Mohammed Uba Graba in this exclusive interview discussed on the inter agency relationship in the Seme border area, the challenges faced by the Command, and the essence of the Joint Border Post aimed at reducing delay in clearance and enhancement of economic growth of both Nigeria and Benin Republic.
Excerpts:
Sir, we noticed you have moved from you office to this new office where you have other security agencies. What is the reason for this movement?
The reason behind the movement is that a new border has been built which is a new concept by European Union and managed by ECOWAS in order to enhance operation between Nigeria and Republic of Benin. All of us are now at the Joint Border Post called One-Stop Border. The meaning of this is one Entry, one Exit and one Control whereby all the security agencies carryout examination jointly. The aim of this is to reduce delay in clearance, integration, sharing of information and data between the two agencies of the two countries.
Recently, you revealed that scanners have been made available to the command by the European Union. Has this command started making use of the scanners?
Just like the Joint Border Post has been built by the European Union which I told you earlier on; of which there are over 80 of them all over Africa. Some are at planning or implementation stage. Seven of such Joint Border Post happens to be in West Africa as Nigeria has one Joint Border post. The Scanners as being brought requires certification from Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency for safety before the usage. So, we are waiting for them to give us clearance before the usage of the Scanner.
How significant and active has the anti-smuggling unit of this command been working?
Infact, the Seme Area Command is a combination of Revenue generating command and anti-smuggling operation command. In the anti-smuggling operations, it has been very radical, energetic and robust. During the last two press conferences we had, we made total seizures of about 30 trailers of rice, over 40 vehicles and we have been able to nab armed robbers that had robbed some people and we were able to recover about N8.5M which we handed over to Nigeria Police for investigation and prosecution. The outcome of such result will be made known to the press in due time. We also intercepted and arrested drugs smuggled into the country which we handed over to NDLEA in the spirit of inter-agency relationship. The case has been investigated and the suspect prosecuted and jailed for two years. We also embarked on sensitization and public enlightenment about the ill effects of smuggling. The border residents because of their age long relationship with their communities believe that such trading activities are normal and when they see customs officers trying to impose federal government policies against smuggling or any illegal trade, they tend to see customs officers as enemies and lunch attack on them. So for this reason, when I came in newly here I carried out a sensitization program, visited the Traditional Rulers, traders and other security agencies with a view to bring to their knowledge the ill effects of smuggling so that such problems of clash between the security agencies and the communities could be eliminated or reduced to barest minimum.
It is normal when people do not want to pay tax and when you want to impose government policies, it becomes a problem. It is only through education and enlightenment that such problem will be reduced. People should also know that Customs officers are working under instruction given to them and that is why everybody has to contribute in one way or another to promote and develop the economy.
There are still complains that Customs officers mount road blocks to extort money from passengers. Do you have any idea of this?
Let me explain the difference between a Check Point and a Patrol Base. A Check Point is an authorized place with a barrier whereby any vehicle coming will be flagged down to stop and even if the vehicle refuses to stop, the barrier will not allow you to go further. A Patrol Base is where you see Customs officers or officers of other security agencies sitting either on a bench or inside a vehicle quite unaffected by the move around them. They are only waiting for information about a particular movement of either person or vehicle; they will just come out and flag you down. They don’t stay there permanently. They move about because you might see them as you pass but on coming back you won’t see them again. This is the difference between a Check Point and a Patrol Base. That is what is operative on the road.
We heard that the Controller-General of Customs is advocating for the reduction in levy for cars. What do you have to say about this?
We have not received such communication from the Customs High Commands. It is only hear say. Until we receive official information on this, we cannot say or act on it. It is only a rumour.
Can you tell us the challenges faced by your command knowing fully well that the border is a place where we have different languages?
Well, international boundaries border regions are laboratories of assessment of any government. In the border regions, you find people having linkage by marriage or cultural relationship. So, they have been having that age long relationship. So when you come to impose rules and regulations, they see you as a problem to them and even lunch attack. But the best thing is to educate them. For instance, exportation of locally produced goods is free. You don’t pay tax instead the government will even give you 30% discount of the value of your export. Some of them are not aware of this. Another example is, assuming you want to produce local product that customs collects Excise Duty, customs gives you tax holiday for a period of one year so that you can also grow to support economic growth, development and bring about employment too.
How will you rate the performance of you command?
I am the person working. I am not supposed to rate my command. It is comparing our statistics with that of other commands or previous administrations of this command that will signify whether there is any improvement or not. So, I cannot access my performance.
What is your message to those people who have refused to desist from smuggling?
We will continue to advice and warn them. It is normal in any society to find people who are non conformist to the norms of the society. We cannot do away with them. It is just like in your home when after giving instruction; some will carry it out while some will not. You cannot throw them away rather you continue to re-orientate and integrate them. That is what we are doing to those who engage in smuggling. The essence is that we are armed, trained on arm handling. We cannot kill people because no matter how much revenue generate we generate, no matter how many seizures we record if human life is taken it is of no significance. So for that reason, we will continue to do our best to make sure we sensitize, we educate and enlighten the people on the ill effects of smuggling to avoid casualties.
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]noja was shot by a member of the five-man Customs patrol team while they were trying to allegedly extort N5,000 bribe from a group of travellers coming from Europe at the Sagamu end of the Lagos-Ore-Benin Expressway.
It was gathered that the victim was shot during an altercation between the officers of the Federal Operations Unit of e NCS, Ikeja, Lagos, and the travellers, who boarded an Iyare Motors’ passenger bus travelling to Benin City from Lagos.
A statement from the NCS Public Relations Officer, Joseph Attah, on Tuesday, said Onebamho would be questioned by the panel once fit to enable it conclude its investigation and recommend appropriate actions to be taken against the operatives.
According to the statement, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.) has directed a thorough
investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the incident with a view to ensuring that justice is served.
Attah stated, “Following the unfortunate incident of Sunday, February 17, 2019, at the Sagamu interchange involving
operatives of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’, which led to the death of a fellow citizen, Mr Godwin Onoja, the
Nigeria Customs Service has continued to maintain close contact with the bereaved family.
“We are pained by this sad development and share the grief of losing a fellow compatriot in a seemingly avoidable
circumstance. We will continue to take every necessary step to cushion the pain associated with losing a dear one.
“In line with this directive, the investigation panel headed by the Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘A’, ACG Kaycee Ekekezie,
has interrogated and detained four members of the patrol team.
“The panel could not immediately conclude the investigation because the actual officer, ASCI Destiny Onebamho, whose rifle accidentally discharged and killed Onoja, is presently receiving medical attention following the attack on him owing to the unfortunate incident. He will face the panel as soon as he is fit to do so to enable the panel conclude
investigation and recommend appropriate actions.”
Attah added that the ongoing investigation would be holistic and would involve looking at the weapon handling skills of the operatives and actions that must be taken by the service to prevent future occurrences.
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[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ormer National Legal Adviser of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA), Rafiu Balogun has said that it is wrong for the Presidential candidate of the Presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar to describe the February 23, 2019 election as the worst in Nigeria’s history.
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Grassroots Publishers observed that the Customs warehouse was filled to the brim with seizures of rice and other items intercepted within a short period, even as seized vehicles used for means of conveyance in smuggling prohibited items were seen outside the warehouse.
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]noja was shot by a member of the five-man Customs patrol team while they were trying to allegedly extort N5,000 bribe from a group of travellers coming from Europe at the Sagamu end of the Lagos-Ore-Benin Expressway.
