Sen.Omisore :Right or Wrong

l don't know why  my name sake Chief Femi Fani Kayode would condemn Sen.Omisore decision to team up with APC.Years ago  Gov.Fasoye left PDP to another party and there was a time Chief Femi Fani Kayode was a devouted Buharism and called Jonathan all kind of names.Nigerian politicians are the same  .I hope the parties will keep on learning, internal democracy is  the fundamental to the growth of democracy ,unfortunately is lacking both in APC and PDP, that is why a politician will wake up as a PDP member,take a lunch as a APC and dinner as member of APGA or LP.Inall these the masses  suffer....Femi.Aduwo

Sen.Omisore Right or Wrong

l don't know why  my name sake Chief Femi Fani Kayode should condemn Sen.Omisore decision to team up with APC.Years ago  Gov.Fasoye left PDP to another party and there was a time Chief Femi Fani Kayode was a devouted Buharism and called Jonathan all kind of names.Nigerian politicians are the same .I hope the parties will keep on learning internal democracy is fundamental to growth of democracy ,unfortunately is lacking both in APC and PDP, that is why a politician will wake up as a PDP member,take lunch as a APC and dinner as member of APGA or LP.In all these the masses  suffer....Femi.Aduwo

Why Didn’t You Withdraw Policemen From Aregbesola?' - PDP Asks IGP

Voxnews OP/ OSA

The Peoples Democratic Party has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to explain to Nigerians why he failed to withdraw policemen attached to the Governor of Osun State, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, like he did to the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, before the conduct of the Ekiti governorship election.

The party said that the conduct of the police under Idris had shown him to be a partial police boss who was merely interested in the ruling party.


The National Chaairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, who said this in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Friday, recalled that the IGP ordered that all policemen attached to Fayose be withdrawn before the governorship election which held on July 14, 2018.

He also asked Nigerians to remember that the police boss equally withdrew the policemen attached to the Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, before the Anambra governorship election "in order to make him vulnerable just because he is not a member of the APC."


Secondus said the police had claimed that the action in the two instances was to allow for the neutrality of the police in the conduct of the election.

He, therefore, wondered why the same thing had not been replicated in Osun State, saying the action of the police had confirmed the position of the PDP that it was a ploy to facilitate the rigging of the election against the PDP in Ekiti State.


He said, "By now, we thought that the IGP would have replaced all the policemen attached to Governor Aregbesola and the State Government House at Osogbo with new ones as he did in Ekiti State.

"Recall that the police also took away the security detail attached to Fayose. He was prone to attacks and all that. But what has happened to the policemen attached to Governor Aregbesola? Nothing. Instead of them being replaced, they have been fortified with policemen from Lagos State and neighbouring friendly states in order to manipulate the outcome of the election.

"It is unfortunate that we have a police force that has become an arm of the ruling party; a police force that is not serving the interest of all Nigerians but a clique.

Iwu Faults INEC on Osun, Says

Guidelines Do not Apply to Governorship 

A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral  Commission,  Professor Maurice Iwu has faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission's decision to reschedule part of the Osun State governorahip election due to cancellation of some votes.

In a statement, Iwu who said that he invented the inconclusive elections outcomes, particularly where elections did not hold for one reason or the other, said he latter discovered that the proposal violated provisions of the consrirurion and was forced to drop it.

He said: "Actually, during the review of INEC's Elections' Manual, my committee and I as the Chair, invented the inconclusive elections outcomes, particularly where elections did not hold for one reason or the other.

"However, we the initiators of the inconclusive elections realised that our proposal was against the provisions of the 1999 Constitution ( as Amended ), particularly the presidential and the governorship elections and returns.

"Our proposals could be applied only in Senatorial, Federal House of Representatives, and State Assembly elections and returns, for which the Constitution did not specify how these returns should be made.

"In this, what is required by the constitution is that the 'first past the post' and/or that the candidate must have the polled majority of the votes cast.

"Secondly, that the candidate in addition to it, must obtain 25 per cent of the total votes cast in two-third of the LGAs of the state in question or of the states incase of presidential election.

"The electoral act or INEC guide lines cannot supersede the constitutional provisions for that purpose.

"As the Constitution has clearly spelt out the manner and how a return should be made in the cases of governorship or presidential elect ion returns.

Now that the abuse of this tool is becoming obvious, the beneficiaries of this anomaly have refused to listen or adjust accordingly."

HELP,HELP,A COMPROMISED INEC IS MURDERING NIGERIA'S HARD EARNED DEMOCRACY.

BY CHIEF MIKE OZEKHOME,SAN,OFR,FCIArb,Ph.D

The announcement by INEC,that the Osun state election conducted on Saturday,22nd September2018,was inconclusive and the fixing of 27th of September for a so called rerun,is a dangerous subversion and travesty of the electoral process,a blow to our hard earned constitutional democracy and an ominous sign of the farce to expect in 2019-subversion of the people's will.INEC has earned for itself the inglorious reputation of holding inconclusive elections (Kogi,Bayelsa,et al);and working in cahoot with the ruling APC party,always eager to do its dirty electoral bidding,to commit daylight robbery of votes.This they have just done to Adeleke's votes to defeat the will and legitimate franchise of the good people of Osun state.I wholly condemn this ludicrous mockery of our electoral process and constitutionalism.There is no basis whatsoever,whether in law,constitutionalism,or morality,to have declared the election inconclusive.The Constitution of Nigeria and the Electoral Act ONLY  recognise LAWFUL AND VALID VOTES in declaring a candidate winner of an election.This presupposes that some votes would be unlawful and invalid.Consequently,where votes are cancelled or invalidated for any reason howsoever,including for being invalid and unlawful,such votes are immediately and automatically cancelled,deducted and consigned to the dustbin of history.In any case,it was not wholesale results in the election that were voided and cancelled.Only votes that INEC had adjudged illegitimate due to irregularities were voided and cancelled.This cancellation and voidance of illegitimate votes effected all the political parties,not just APC and PDP,but especially Omisore's SDP,whose two strongest fortes in Ife axis were badly effected.Such voided votes are ignored and unreckoned with,for they are a non sequitur.They are as dead as dodo.Having failed to viciously intimidate and rig the elections as they did in Ekiti State,due to the people's courageous resistance,the APC has now used its electoral arm,INEC,to do the unthinkable,that which is clearly illegal,unconstitutional,immoral and a brazen assault on our sensibilities and constitutional democracy.

Section 179(2)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (the grundnorm and supreme law of the land ),is crystal clear and unambiguous that Adeleke and PDP have won and met the electoral requirements to be formally  declared winners of the Osun state election.It provides:

"A candidate for an election to the office of a governor of a state shall be deemed to have been duly elected where,there being two or more candidates-(a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election;and 

(b) he has not less than one-quarter of all the votes cast in each of least two-thirds of all the local government areas in the state". Adeleke satisfied this provision.

In Osunbor v Oshiomhole (2007) 18 NWLR(part 1065) 32,cancelled votes had been counted and added to PDP/Osunbor's scores.The courts,up to the Supreme Court,held that when votes are cancelled,they are not reckoned with in determining the outcome of such an election.The courts thereafter deducted the invalidated votes and this gave victory to Oshiomhole in the hotly contested election.To avoid disenfranchisement of eligible voters,only votes in areas where election did not hold at all are considered for  the purpose of calculating total votes.Some people may argue,ignorantly,in my humble opinion,that section 69 of the Electoral Act or other guidelines issued by INEC justify this electoral perversion.I will quickly remind such people that those provisions or guidelines are subject to the overriding authority of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution,which is supreme.The Constitution is the Kabiyesi,Eze and Emir,in the hierarchy of Nigerian laws.All others are like Bales and Chiefs,that must bow before this king.The provisions of the Constitution therefore  clearly override the provisions of the Electoral Act and any guidelines issued by INEC,by virtue of sections 1() and 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution.They are  consequently null and void to the extent of the inconsistency.See the celebrated case of Nyesom Wike v Dakuku Petersude (2016) 7 NWLR (part 1512) 574.It is clear to me that INEC 's decision is more of a political hubris than one anchored on solid laws,whether the Constitution,or Electoral Act.

Collation of all the results in Osun had already been done by INEC in accordance with section 27(1)(a)(v)) and (c) of the Electoral Act, 2010,as altered.The state collation was completed under section 27(d) and the results   ought to have declared Adeleke the winner under section 27(f),having polled 256,219 majority votes to beat APC's candidate who scored 255,309 votes.The provisions of section 69 of the Electoral Act(which in any case,is inferior to section 179(2)) of the Constitution,were thus amply satisfied.The constitutional,legal and moral profanity that INEC has thus engaged by ordering a repeat election is to invalidate the people's valid and legitimate votes,in strange preference for legally voided illegitimate votes that no longer mattered or counted.TheReturning Officer's duty was simply to announce the winner,having declared all the results,and not to usurp the role of the Election Petition Tribunal,by altering the texture and tenor of the outcome,through its order for a rerun.What happens to the legitimate votes of the other candidates who will not participate in the rerun and their electors' will,one may ask? 

By the way,why is INEC changing the goal posts and revising history because APC was roundly defeated in the election? Recall that during the Kogi state bye elections of August,2018,over 19 000 votes were cancelled and voidedThis tremendously outstripped the 12,000 votes difference between the two leading candidates.Yet,in Osun state,only 3,498 votes were cancelled in Orolu,Ife South,Ife North and Osogbo LGAs.How can that affect the humongous votes ganered by Adeleke? PDP and Adeleke should immediately head for the courts to seek an order of mandamus,compelling INEC to declare him winner.Alternatively, he can approach the Election Petition Tribunal with all the votes cast,urging it to declare him winner.He has won his people's hearts with his performance in the Senate and mesmerising dance steps of a teenager. INEC,I beg of you,don't kill our hard earned constitutional democracy on the alter of corruption and official comprise of the ruling party.

WHY BUHARI WILL NOT CONTEST IN THE 2019 ELECTION. HE HAS NO CERTIFICATE AS REQUIRED.

WHY BUHARI WILL NOT CONTEST IN THE 2019 ELECTION. HE HAS NO CERTIFICATE AS REQUIRED. 

To drive A Dangote Trailer, one is required to have an OND, HND or BSc Certificates, but Buhari want to re-contest for the Nigerian President's seat with No WAEC Certificate (as he dropped out of school).

On this day, Sept 20, 2018, I Chidi Cali want re-state again that Buhari has NO VERIFIABLE CERTIFICATE anywhere in the world to present to INEC as a Presidential candidate in the 2019 election.

WAEC/CAMBRIDGE GCE: - Buhari did not sit for the Cambridge examination in 1961 as his names (Muhammadu, Mohammed or Mohamed Buhari) is not in the UK Examination body's List of candidates names from 1960-1962. His name(s) is also NOT in WAEC candidates names in both Ghana and Nigeria Offices from 1960-1962. Any attempt by Buhari or his agents to present any document to INEC representing WACE or GCE certificate may constitute an Offence. 

CERTIFICATE/ARMY RECRUITMENT: - Buhari presented no certificate to the Nigerian Army in 1961 when he joined them, as he has none. The only paperwork came from his school principal, stating that, "I consider that he (Buhari) will pass west African school certificate, with credit in English, Maths and three other subjects". This letter is self-explanatory. You cannot pass an examination you never sit.

NIGERIA DEFENCE ACADEMY (NDA): - Buhari did not attend the NDA as claimed. He attended Royal Military Forces Training College (RMFTC) for months (End of 1961 to the beginning of 1962) for normal Army recruitment and physical fitness training. This is not a certification programme. RMFTC was renamed NDA (established on the 5th of February 1964), and regular courses were introduced thereon. 

UK MILITARY TRAINING: Buhari attended the Aldershot based, Mons Officer Cadet School. No Certificate was issued to Buhari, as he passed no examination for the short period he was in the UK in 1963. Cadet School information collaborates this.

DEFENCE SERVICE STAFF COLLEGE, WILLINGTON, INDIA: - As usual, Buhari attended the staff college and did not sit for their examinations. The Defence Services Staff College, Willington does not issue a certificate of attendance to its attendee in 1974.  

US WAR COLLEGE: - Buhari left this College in 1980. He has in his Wikipedia page that he was offered a Master Degree in the same college in 1980. 

Chidi Cali and loads of Nigerians wrote to the US War college in 2014 and 2015 and they confirmed that they started their Master program in 2000 and there is no way Buhari should have gotten a Masters degree in that college in 1980. Again, no certificate was issued to him. 

President Buhari has no certificate to submit with his application to the INEC as required by the Nigerian constitution and the electoral act. 

THEREFORE, IN 2019, BUHARI WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTEST THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AS HE DOES NOT MEET THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT TO BE A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. THIS IS NOT 2003, 2007, 2011 OR 2015, AS THE LAW MUST BE FOLLOWED TO THE LATER.

It took APC and their Agents three weeks to go to court to force WAEC to publish Sen Adeleke's Results, nothing STOPS Nigerians NOW to go to the Nearest court to make the same request. Legal processes should be activated to stop INEC from accepting Buhari's application that is not supported with the Minimum Academic requirement.  - Chidi Cali

© Chidi Cali

Buhari :intellectual Capability

*By Dele Sobowale*

Nobody expected Buhari to provide intellectual leadership as President. Even as one of his most ardent supporters in 2011 and 2015, it was clear to me that he was not equipped for that role. The emergence of Professor, SAN, Yemi Osinbajo as Vice President gave us hope that some mental rigour will be introduced into policy making and public pronouncements by top Buhari government officials. But "what does corrupting time not diminish..?" (Horace 65-8BC). Our formally erudite scholar in three years has chosen to descend to the level of his boss – who we know has only a disputed School Certificate to his credit. ADVERTISING The Buhari/Osinbajo administration is now thirty-nine months old. And, instead of going about telling Nigerians about solid accomplishments, the two have substituted blaming previous regimes for claiming credit for demonstrable results. That is bad enough. They have both laced all their utterances with deliberate half-truths and even absolute falsehoods. Apparently, decline in scholarship at the Law School started much earlier than we thought. Of the two, Osinbajo is the more baffling. A man under 65 should not be suffering from the forgetfulness which is the prerogative of those on the way to the graveyard – like most people above 70. But, VP exhibits all the signs of ageing early and that is not good for Nigeria. A future President should rise above pettiness. Former military head of state, General Ibrahim Babangida A few weeks ago, Osinbajo characteristically took a wide swing at all the previous governments in Nigeria – especially the Obasanjo/YarÁdua regime, the IBB/Abacha junta and Jonathan's government. Just as has become his second nature now (or was he always like this?), he left out the Buhari/Idiagbon Gestapo, 1984-1985. Liars start by adopting selective recall of events. We know that.   To begin with Osinbajo was just a little over 21 when the Obasanjo/YarÁdua government handed over to civilians. Buhari was a part of that regime from 1976. The VP should ask his boss if he served a worthless government as Minister of Petroleum Resources. He should also ask Buhari what was the major achievement of his government in 1984-5 – other than signing draconian decrees into law. Those who live in glass houses should not be hauling bricks at those outside. "The ninety-ninth metre is still halfway there in a hundred metre race."Japanese Proverb. However, of all those the VP assailed, the one that merits defence in comparison with Buhari was Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB – the man most of us love to hate. Perhaps it is because Osinbajo thought that nobody will rise to the man's defence that he picked on him. It was a mistake – as will be demonstrated shortly. The fact is IBB made a last metre error on June 12, 1993. If he had handed over to Chief M.K.O Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the Presidential election, he would be a hero today and not a villain. From the standpoint of comprehensive economic, political and social reform IBB's eight years in office remains the best of all time. To begin with, he had world-class Ministers and Special Advisers and he took on many challenges with courage and vigour. Compared to his cabinet which included Professor Jubril Aminu, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Prince Bola Ajibola, SAN, Chuks Okongwu, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, KIK, Professor Gambari , Major-General Mamman Kontagora etc, the amateurs serving Buhari now cannot possibly hold a candle. Since Osinbajo has raised the question about legacies let me use three of those eminent Nigerians who worked with IBB to set the record straight – Kalu Idika Kalu , Ajibola and Kontagora. KIK was the father of the Value Added Tax, VAT, and I was one of his disciples when the proposal was made. KIK fought in the government, I did battle in the media. We won. It was as unpopular as anything ever advanced in a country where people were allergic to paying taxes. But, KIK was a World Bank economist and as an economist myself, I knew that Nigeria could not continue to live on oil money. Even the man who was chosen as the first Director-General, DG, of VAT, one Mr Sukogi, in an interview with me at Abuja doubted if VAT would ever yield N5 billion to the Federation Account. He laughed when I told him it will generate over N100 billion per annum eventually. Today, VAT delivers over N100 billion in some months to Buhari's government. That is close to N1.2 trillion this year alone. That economic legacy alone places IBB heads and shoulders above his current detractors. Add to that the deregulation of the banking sector which gave rise to more banks and financial institutions; NEXIM, private airlines and DHL, private television and radio, etc. No need to list all of them seriatim. Prince Bola Ajibola left IBB's government to serve as Justice of the World Court. That tells you all you need to know about the quality of the man. Nobody will ever invite Malami to serve as Clerk of that Court, That is also enough for you to know the sort of incompetents toying with our lives. When the mind turns to infrastructure, any honest observer of Babangida's regime must surely remember Major-General Maman Kontagora, the Minister of Works, who completed more structures than any Minister before or after him.   He faced the enormous challenge of carving a Federal Capital out of the wilderness of the FCT while at the same time overseeing construction in other parts of the country. One of his greatest legacies was supervision of the completion of the Third Mainland Bridge which was started by the Shagari administration before it was booted out by Buhari and co. Buhari not only ignored it, he even ordered the monorail started by the civilian government of Governor Jakande stopped and thus set back the development of Lagos State for decades. What can one expect of a School Certificate holder? IBB saw the future and completed the bridge which had librated Lagos commuters from fate worse than death. Just think of the chaos Lagos experienced when the Third bridge was closed for three days last month and you must pray for IBB.   Kontagora accomplished in three years more than our own "Omo Eko" will accomplish under Buhari even if given eternity. It is not Fashola's fault. He works for a leader who should join others in Old Peoples Home and who takes forever to decide obvious things.   The next time Osinbajo finds himself on the Third Mainland Bridge, he should find a convenient place to park his car and kiss any part of the bridge; then offer a prayer to IBB. He and his boss might never leave such a legacy. Like most Nigerians, I blame the former Military President for June 12. But, unlike others, as an economist, I also commend him for his efforts on several revolutionary initiatives which still impact our lives today. One day a balanced review of IBB's era will be written but undeniably IBB was a builder; Buhari has been destroying what others built without replacing them with his own legacies.

Competing in Africa: China, the European Union, and the United States

 Joel Wiegert  Senior Advisor,CDDI 

Given recent developments in the global economy, especially Brexit and the Trump administration's "America First" policy, it is worth assessing how Africa's three largest commercial partners—China, the European Union, and the United States—are likely to impact the region in the near future as it relates to trade and investment trends.

China – Leaping ahead

The China-in-Africa story may be increasingly familiar, but its complexity cannot be overstated. As China's domestic growth began to surge at the end of the last century, demand for natural resources and job creation forced China to look for markets abroad. Africa was a willing partner, due to its abundance of commodities and need for infrastructure development.

China's role on the African continent has been defined by the financing of more than 3,000, largely critical, infrastructure projects, according to the AidData Project. China has extended more than $86 billion in commercial loans to African governments and state-owned entities between 2000 and 2014, an average of about $6 billion a year. In 2015, at the sixth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), President Xi Jinping pledged $60 billion in commercial loans to the region, which would increase lending to at least $20 billion a year if that pledge is fulfilled.

As a result, China has become the region's largest creditor, accounting for 14 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's total debt stock, according to Foresight Africa 2018. In Kenya, for example, the volume of Chinese loans to the government is six times larger than that of France, the country's second-largest creditor. The FOCAC that will be held in Beijing later this year is likely to continue this trend of extending commercial loans for infrastructure projects.

While China's level of foreign direct investment (FDI) is relatively low, accounting for just over 5 percent of total FDIinflows into the region in 2015, two-way trade has grown 40 times over the last 20 years and now exceeds $200 billion. More recently, there has been a surge in Chinese private investment combined with a continued, but more limited, state engagement. A 2017 McKinsey study reports that there are more than 10,000 Chinese-owned firms operating in Africa today, about a third of whom are involved in manufacturing. Notably, French academic Tierry Pairault points out that the overwhelming majority of these enterprises are small and micro businesses. McKinsey also reports that Chinese investment in Africa increasingly contributes to job creation, skills development, and the transfer of new technologies, practices more generally associated with Western business norms.

As China works to implement the Belt and Road Initiative, the largest public works program ever, the issue of China's commercial loans and the subsequent debt incurred by African governments is likely to increase as a public policy concern. There is room to limit the negative consequences of these loans: China should consider transitioning toward a blended financing model, based on Western and Chinese sources of financing, for its support of Africa's much-needed infrastructure projects. In addition, Africa would benefit if China were to more actively open tenders to international competition as opposed to tying commercial loans to the exclusive use of Chinese companies and materials on terms that are often opaque. A larger portion of grants, as opposed to a singular reliance on commercial loans, even at concessional rates, would be in Africa's interest.

The European Union – Building on historical advantages

While the history of colonialism continues to haunt the Europeans—see the viral video of President Akufo-Addo declaring his intent to free Ghana from aid while sharing a stage with French President Macron—when it comes to doing business, language, local knowledge, and historical connections matter.

The launch of the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership and the first-ever summit between the 27 members of the EU and the 54 nations of Africa in 2007 seem to have hit a reset of sorts in the two regions' relationship. Indeed, over the last decade, the EU has worked, with a large degree of success, to transition to a partnership model based on reciprocal trade. The fifth EU-Africa Summit took place in Abidjan in 2017 against a background in which two-way trade exceeds $300 billion. In association with the summit, the EU pledged  to mobilize more than $54 billion in "sustainable" investment for Africa by 2020.

The EU is shoring up its commercial position in Africa through a web of free trade agreements, or Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), which Brussels is negotiating or has concluded with 40 African nations in sub-Saharan Africa. The EPAs provide European companies with preferential access to markets across the region and will liberalize about 80 percent of imports over 20 years. Progress on concluding the EPAs is not without its challenges. Not surprisingly, Nigeria contends that an EPA undermines its industrialization strategies, and Brexit detracts from the EU ability's to negotiate as a common market.

A comprehensive EU trade strategy combined with a private sector that has historic ties to local markets sets the stage for continued growth and influence by European firms in the African market. In addition, the EU is well positioned to share lessons learned from its decades of experience with regional economic integration as, especially as the Continental Free Trade Agreement was signed by most African Union members in Kigali on March 21.

The United States – Global brands, lagging support

Since 2000, U.S.-African commercial relations have been based on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a non-reciprocal trade agreement that grants about 40 countries duty-free access for approximately 6,400 products to the U.S.

AGOA has had a mixed legacy, given its goal of growing Africa's export markets rather than building two-way trade and investment partnerships. AGOA has helped integrate trade and investment into the U.S.-Africa policy dialogue and led to the creation of more than a million jobs, directly and indirectly, on the continent. However, only approximately 300 of the available product lines are utilized and a relatively small number of countries—principally South Africa, Lesotho, Kenya, Mauritius, and Ethiopia—have taken advantage of AGOA to establish a significant volume of non-oil exports to the U.S. At the same time, the EU's assertive free trade strategy and China's surge in trade and commercial loans have left the U.S. in need of a new commercial strategy.

In fact, the U.S. commercial engagement in Africa is waning: Over the last five years, U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africahave averaged $19 billion. Two-way trade has fallen from a high of $100 billion in 2008 to $39 billion in 2017, largely due to U.S. energy self-sufficiency.

Another Buhari’s Minister Busted For Skipping NYSC

 

20th September 2018

Another minister serving in President Muhammadu Buhari's cabinet has been found to have skipped the mandatory national youth service scheme, an offence that may see him lose his position and earn him jail term.

The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, failed to participate in the NYSC scheme despite graduating from the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) at age 25, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report.

The revelation about Mr. Shittu, who is currently angling to become Oyo State governor, is coming to light about a week after Kemi Adeosun was compelled to step down from her post as Nigeria's finance minister after this medium reported that she skipped national service and then procured a fake exemption certificate to cover her tracks.

Months of discreet checks at the NYSC headquarters showed that the communications minister did not present himself for service after graduation and is yet to do so till date.

Contacted Tuesday, Mr. Shittu admitted that he did not serve but claimed he thought his first political post after graduation could suffice as national service, a claim lawyers and NYSC insiders consider as ludicrous and untenable.

Skipping the compulsory national service is an offence under the NYSC law, punishable with up to 12 months imprisonment.

Employers are mandated by law to always request NYSC certificate of national service from employees as part of the conditions for hiring.

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Mr Shittu, born on March 23, 1953, studied law at Ife, graduating in 1978. He proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, qualifying as a lawyer in 1979.

Having earned a bachelors degree at the age of 25, Section 2 of the NYSC Act expects Mr Shittu to have participated in the year-long national service.

The Minister speaks

Section 2 (1) of the NYSC Act mandates all Nigerians who earn degrees or higher national diplomas from tertiary institutions in Nigerian and abroad (effective 1972/73 session) to participate in the scheme.

 The Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, [Photo credit: THISDAYLIVE]

Those exempted by the law are those who graduated after their 30th birthday, persons with national honours and individuals who serve in the military and intelligence organisations.

Rather than enlist in the national service, Mr Shittu went into politics after graduation, and was, in 1979, elected member of the Oyo State House of Assembly.

The minister said he believed that having been elected lawmaker, he needed not participate in the national service.

He said he deliberatively skipped the NYSC scheme because he was convinced that his membership of the state assembly was itself a "service".

"The constitution provides for the qualification needed for state assembly members, NYSC is not there," Mr. Shittu said. "I didn't need it to become a member of the state assembly, and that is already a service," he said.

Mr Shittu disagreed with our reporter who laboured to explain to him that the NYSC Act makes participation in the scheme mandatory for all graduates like him and that election or appointment to political office does not qualify as a basis for exemption.

What the Law Says

Mr Shittu's argument does not appear convincing when placed against the letters of the NYSC law.

 NYSC Headquarters

Section 2, subsection 1 of the Act makes it obligatory for "every Nigerian" who graduate at the end of academic year 1972-73 and subsequent years, "to make himself available for service for a continuous period of one year from the date specified in the call-up instrument served upon him".

Subsection 2 of the same section enumerated instances of exemption from the national service, which did not include holding political office, as Mr Shittu claimed.

The four categories of individuals exempted from the national service, according to the NYSC law, are those who graduated above the age of thirty, and those who have served in the armed forces or the Nigeria Police for a period of more than nine months.

The third category covers staff of four security organisations, namely the Nigerian Security Organisation, the State Security Service, the National Intelligence Agency and the Defence Intelligence Service.

Exemption status is also conferred on individuals who bagged national honours before graduation.

Illegalities?

Despite not possessing certificate of national service, Mr Shittu went on from being a state lawmaker, to occupying important government positions, including his current post as minister.

Mr Shittu is a former attorney general and commissioner for justice in his native Oyo State. He also served as member of the Oyo State Judicial Service Commission from 2004 to 2007.

In 2005, he was nominated minister by President Buhari, and later assigned the communications portfolio upon legislative screening.

It is not clear how he scaled screenings by the Oyo State House of Assembly, the SSS, and the National Assembly, who are all expected to screen commissioner and ministerial nominees before their appointment.

Mr Shittu is now aspiring for governorship of Oyo State.

Section 12 of the NYSC Act mandates all employers to demand the national service certificate of prospective employees before hiring.

Section 12 of the Act reads:

"For the purposes of employment anywhere in the Federation and before employment, it shall be the duty of every prospective employer to demand and obtained from any person who claims to have obtained his first degree at the end of the academic year 1973-74 or, as the case may be, at the end of any subsequent academic year the following:-

a. a copy of the Certificate of National Service of such person issued pursuant to section 11 of this Decree

b. a copy of any exemption certificate issued to such person pursuant to section 17 of this Decree

c. such other particulars relevant there to as may be prescribed by or under this Decree."

Section 13 of the Act also criminalises skipping the national service as it prescribes 12 months imprisonment or fine of N2,000 or both, for such offenders.

Lawyers speak

Lawyers who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said the minister is in the breach of the NYSC law for skipping the national service.

"His membership of the state assembly is not the same as national service," said Huwaila Mohammed, a Kano-based practitioner. "He needs to serve, because the section of the law dealing with exemption did not include political office holders like him."

Another lawyer, Abdul Mahmud, agreed with Ms Mohammed's position, saying the minister "is a dodger who is in breach of the law".

He said by the provision of Section 12 of the NYSC Act, Mr Shittu ought to have presented his certificate of national service before he was cleared as minister.

"The provision is clear," Mr. Mahmud said. "It says (you must serve) before you get any job in the federation."

Mr Mahmud, who chairs the Abuja-based pressure group, Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL), said Mr Shittu's "case is worse than that of Kemi Adeosun because he deliberately refused to serve".

 Former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun (Photo Credit: adelove.com)

"If we assume as a member of the Oyo House he (Mr Shittu) served, did it not defeat objective 4 (b) stated in Section 1 (4) (b) of the NYSC Act? Members serve in states other than their own," he said.

The lawyer said Mr Shittu should be arrested immediately by the police and made to face the law.

All positions he has held are illegal and he should return all monies he earned from those posts to government coffers

KEMI ADEOSUN: THE SAGA OF THE DOG AND A BAD NAME by Tope Popoola

KEMI ADEOSUN: THE SAGA OF THE DOG AND A BAD NAME by Tope Popoola

I have no NYSC Discharge certificate. Yes, you read that right. And I graduated long before I was thirty. Before you reach out for your whistle or recommend me for trial, hold your peace. I served. I was originally posted to Bauchi state but later redeployed to the then University of Ife in the old Oyo state because Prof. Wole Soyinka requested for my services. Through no fault of mine, I was never issued a discharge certificate. I wrote several letters to NYSC and paid follow-up visits but nobody knew what happened to my certificate between Bauchi and Ibadan. All I got was a letter of attestation to confirm that I actually served! That is almost forty years ago! I still carry the crumpled piece of paper around!

In 2007, I applied for the renewal of my Driver's License. For close to two years, I was paying visits to the Oyo State Secretariat office of FRSC for photo capture without success. In all that period, all I had was the duplicate of the form I filled to show proof that I had actually applied for a renewal. The story throughout the period was either no light to operate the generator or when there was light, the relevant officer was not on seat. But I knew that my dilemma was because I refused to play ball by going through a third party, tout or FRSC official.

In 2009, I relocated to Lagos. One of the first things I did was to go to the headquarters of the Local Government in Agege where I lived to see if I could process the renewal there. I went through all the required processes and eventually got my "license". Or did I? Three years later when I needed to do a renewal, I went to the FRSC office in Ekiti where I moved to in 2012. Shock of my life; I was told that the license I was holding which had all the watermarks and imprint of an authentic license was FAKE!!! The system had NO RECORD of it! Yet, I did not obtain it through a third party. So, through no fault of mine, I who obtained my first Driver's License in 1982, was now being treated as a fresh applicant for a license in 2012, thirty years later! In the period that I used that license, I would have boldly tendered it to any officer of the law on demand, not knowing that it could have landed me in trouble!

Sometime in 2009, I got a car. The former owner, a respectable member of the society, took the pains to complete its registration in my name and sent me the documents. Upon expiration of the particulars, as is my custom, I PERSONALLY went to the Licensing office in Lagos to renew them. To my utter chagrin, it turned out that the documents I was carrying were fake, even though the person who gave me the car, being a person of integrity had processed the papers through what he believed to be legitimate channels! He was scandalized upon hearing what happened. But we had to go through the process afresh to legitimize ownership. Had I had an issue with the law before then, the car could have been impounded!

When the IG of police issued the directive on permit for tinted windows, I took my car to the Police Headquarters in Ado-Ekiti to process the application. A few months before then, I changed from the old number plate to a new one. So I went with the "valid" documents. To my utter amazement, when the officer keyed in my car details with the new number, it said that my number had not been allocated to any vehicle, meaning that I was technically driving a car with a fake plate number! But for the goodwill I enjoy in the society, my car would have been impounded as a stolen vehicle while I could have been arrested as a receiver of stolen goods. The officer explained to me why. It turned out that my insurance certificate was not genuine and so was not captured in the system. Yet, I remember telling them at the Licensing office that I wanted a genuine certificate with a reputable insurance company when they offered me options that could have meant paying half the statutory amount to get a certificate. I insisted on paying FULL VALUE and still got a fake certificate in the name of a registered insurance company! In rage, I immediately headed for the licensing office. The supervising officer apologized but of course, no one was willing to take responsibility for the gaffe. I had to pay again for another certificate but this time around, I practically stood on their neck until I was shown proof that the details were captured in the FRSC system that would interface with their own transactions. Thereafter, I went back to the Police Headquarters to process my permit and with one click, the officer was able to access my information. Yet, not once in all of the narratives above did I patronize touts or a third party/agent! I went to those offices personally because I wanted to do what I believed to be right!

I am sure many of you reading this may not even know that it is possible that the Customs Papers or other documentation of your vehicles may not be genuine even though you were charged full value and perhaps more for their processing! Imagine the shock that would envelope you when, on a routine stop and search by any of Customs, Police or FRSC, you are pointedly told that the documents you so confidently threw at them on demand were fake! Assume that they follow due process and charge you to court. You are either made to pay a fine or sent to jail for forgery. Even if it is only for a week, you have become an ex-convict, unfit to hold public office for life except by a judicial pardon. For no fault of yours, you become persona non grata, an institutional untouchable! This is the precarious situation that pervasive institutional corruption exposes ALL of us to!

That is the kind of experience I am sure Kemi Adeosun, immediate past Finance Minister must have fallen victim to.

When the story of the 'forged' NYSC Exemption Certificate first broke, I, like many people, was totally flabbergasted and outraged that someone of her caliber would ever do such a thing. But I felt a restraint in me and so did not immediately make any comment because I felt that to do so would be highly prejudicial. My position was further justified when NYSC issued a public statement to the effect that Kemi actually applied for an exemption certificate. I am glad I obeyed my instincts.

Reading the context and content of her resignation letter, I felt sorry for Kemi, an unwitting victim of a system rigged for incompetence and wired to serve the greed of some miscreants who ensure that the system never experiences seamless operations.

Anyone listening to Kemi speak would know that she did not grow up here in Nigeria. That much she confirmed in her letter. She had her first Nigerian passport at the age of 34! What this means is that as at 22 when she graduated, she was technically NOT a bona fide Nigerian citizen! She was BRITISH! I am not a lawyer and hold no brief for her but if she technically did not become a Nigerian citizen until 34, should the law on compulsory service for anyone under 30 have been retroactively applied? I would like to believe that this was the basis of her applying for an exemption!

A few questions emerge here:

1. If indeed, Kemi applied for an exemption as confirmed by NYSC, how long does it take for NYSC to give a response, positive or negative to such a request? If she hadn't, I would have been worried. But she did! Kemi served as Commissioner for Finance in Ogun State for FOUR years and another THREE as Minister at the Federal level and yet, no official response to her request! I can identify with that. NYSC NEVER replied any of my enquiries on the whereabouts of my Discharge Certificate almost forty years ago till today!

2. Could a staff of NYSC have scammed Kemi, taking advantage of her naivety, to produce and present the forged certificate to her, purporting it to be the response of the NYSC to her request, a possible reason why she did not bother to pursue the matter further with NYSC?

3. Did Kemi, not having lived or operated in Nigeria before she was headhunted by Governor Ibikunle Amosun, have a way of knowing what an authentic exemption certificate looks like for her to discern that the one she got was fake? I have lived in Nigeria all my life, used several cars, renewed several driver's licenses over a 36-year period, yet, I was scammed by officials of the relevant agencies!

4. Was it out of place for Kemi to have relied on the certificate she was given, especially when there was no subsequent communication from NYSC granting or refusing her exemption?

5. Is the NYSC not complicit in the entire process? If you ask me, I think that the NYSC is the real culprit here! That body has a case to answer!

6. Would Kemi, with her pedigree and her exposure, have deliberately committed a fraud over an exemption certificate? I doubt it. She never claimed that she served. Her claim was that she sought an exemption. NYSC confirmed that much.

7. Why the special focus on Kemi? Why did the story break just shortly after her tiff with the Senate as well as NNPC and its opaque operations? It reminds one very rudely of Lamido Sanusi's travails. He was hailed as the whiz kid of Nigerian banking until he started prying into NNPC issues! He was promptly pilloried and sacrificed. Ditto Nuhu Ribadu, czar of anti-corruption, poster boy of institutional probity, until he started trying to fish in 'sacred' waters! Coincidence? A Presidential aide, Okoi Obono-Obla has allegedly had his Secondary School Leaving Certificate repudiated by WAEC. He continues to be on the roll of Nigerian lawyers and a presidential Special Adviser. It has not generated the same hoopla as Kemi's case has. Yet, thankfully, none of Kemi's academic credentials is suspect.

8. If indeed Kemi carried a British passport until the age of 34, would it then be right to technically refer to her as a Nigerian until that time when she chose dual citizenship by obtaining a Nigerian passport? Lawyers can help me out here. I want to be educated.

Until I have reason to be otherwise convinced, going by my experiences shared in the first and second parts of this write-up, I believe that Kemi Adeosun, like many other Nigerians, including possibly YOU reading this, was just a pawn in a chess game where the Grand Masters have learnt to prey on the intelligence of a people who hardly interrogate issues beyond hype and hoopla, even when they themselves are also mere pawns.

It is Kemi today. She is the dog being called a bad name. Technically, she has just been hanged. Perhaps she is culpable and is stewing in her own juice. Maybe she was just a victim of her own "ajebutter" naivety. It may be YOU tomorrow. Did you say it cannot happen to you?

Maybe. But before you make that boast, go into your own records and those of your children if they were issued in Nigeria before the chess players do so for you. Every single one of them. Birth certificate. Primary School Leaving Certificate. Secondary school. University. NYSC Discharge Certificate. Marriage certificate. Driver's License. Vehicle particulars. Land purchase documents. Property documents. Certificate of Occupancy. Import Duty certificates. Tax records. Verify that they are all genuine. Maybe then, you can join those who pillory Kemi Adeosun.

If you are not able to do that and you are currently throwing stones at Kemi, watch your back. Just do not venture into public office. Keep throwing your stones by the sidelines. Otherwise, on the day the wind blows to expose the behind of your own fowl, get ready for arrows and javelins to be hurled in your direction while you wonder what on earth happened!!!

Kemi Adeosun leaves Nigerian public service space with her head held high. She has my respect for honorably resigning, one of the very few public officials to ever do so instead of being kicked out with ignominy, a sacrificial lamb on the altar of our collective systemic dysfunctionality which should have engaged our attention instead of the largely shallow-minded nitpicking that attended this whole saga. To those who may be clinking glasses tonight at her resignation, your victory is phyrric! You may be the next lamb!

Today, Kemi returned to Britain, the first place she knew as home, signposting to foreign-born Nigerian diasporans who would like to return home to serve their fatherland that this is a land that eats up its good inhabitants. 

Again, our loss becomes their own gain! Very sad!