INDONESIA EXECUTES DRUG SMUGGLERS BY FIRING SQUAD.

Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Okwudili Oyatanze, Raheem Agbaje Salami [aka] Jamiu Owolabi Abashin and Martin Anderson are four Nigerians executed in Indonesia with 4 others for drug trafficking. Indonesia has executed eight out of nine drug convicts by firing squad despite last-ditch appeals by Australia's foreign minister for a stay of execution so that claims of corruption during the trials of two Australian prisoners could be investigated. The executions were carried out after midnight at exactly 17:30 GMT at Besi prison on Nusakambangan Island on Tuesday, after the inmates were given 72-hours notice. Over the weekend, authorities had asked the nine convicts, which included two Australians, four Nigerian men, one man each from Brazil and Indonesia and a Filipino woman for their last wishes. However, the execution of the Filipina, Mary Jane Veloso, was spared at the last minute when someone suspected of recruiting her surrendered to police in the Philippines. The attorney general's spokesman told the Reuters news agency late on Tuesday. "The execution of Mary Jane Veloso has been postponed because there was a request from the Philippine president related to a perpetrator suspected of human trafficking who surrendered herself in the Philippines," Tony Spontana, spokesman for the attorney general said. "Mary Jane has been asked to testify." Earlier, Filipino migrants had rallied in Hong Kong on behalf of Velose, a 30yr old mother of two whose supporters said was tricked into carrying a suitcase loaded with heroin. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen, reporting from Cilacap in Indonesia, said while there was an outpouring of joy among Filipinos that Velose had been spared, there would be a different reaction from Australia after Jakarta rejected last ditch pleas for clemency. "The executions could cause a diplomatic fallout between Australia and Indonesia similar to earlier this year when the Netherlands and Brazil recalled their ambassadors after their nationals were killed," she said. Australia had mounted a sustained campaign to save its citizens, who have been on death row for almost a decade. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were the Australian ring-leaders of the so-called "Bali Nine" heroin trafficking group who were arrested at the main airport on the holiday island in April 2005 for trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin to Australia. The seven other members of the Bali Nine, all Australians, were jailed in Indonesia and did not face the death penalty. The families of the Australian convicts had paid an anguished final visit to their loved ones earlier on Tuesday, wailing in grief as ambulances carrying empty white coffins arrived at the prison. Julie Bishop, Australia's foreign minister, told media earlier in the day that she had asked for a stay in their executions, saying allegations in the Australian media that their judges had requested money to commute the death sentences were "very serious". Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that such concerns should have been conveyed a decade ago when the case went through the courts. A former lawyer of the prisoners, Muhammad Rifan, told Australia's Fairfax Media on Monday that Indonesian judges had requested more than $100,000 in return for prison terms of less than 20 years. But Rifan said the judges later told him they had been ordered by senior legal and government members in Jakarta to impose a death penalty, so the deal fell through. Among the condemned on Tuesday was Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, who had been diagnosed by Indonesian medics with schizophrenia. Gularte, 42, was arrested in 2004 at a Jakarta airport after trying to enter the country with 6kg of cocaine hidden in a surfboard. The four Nigerians include; Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Nwolise is a 49-year-old Nigerian who was found guilty in September 2004 of trafficking 1.18 kilos of heroin through Sukarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta in 2002. His clemency appeal was rejected in February this year. The previous month, Indonesia’s national narcotics body said he was running a drugs ring in jail, according to Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). He was also sentenced to death in 2005. Okwudili Oyatanze 45yrs old, was sentenced to death for trafficking heroin, also through Sukarno-Hatta airport in 2001. Raheem Agbaje Salami. The NDLEA said Salami appears to be Nigerian but holds a Spanish passport and is thought to be also known by the name Jamiu Owolabi Abashin. He entered Indonesia using a Spanish passport under the name Raheem Agbaje Salami. He was caught with five kilos of heroin inside a suitcase at the airport in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, on September 2, 1998 and was sentenced to life imprisonment the following year. That was reduced by the high court to 20 years but he was later given the death sentence by the supreme court. Martin Anderson. There is some confusion about Anderson’s nationality. A spokesman for Indonesia’s attorney-general said he is Nigerian but Nigeria’s NDLEA said he is a Ghanaian citizen who was born in London in 1964. He was arrested in Jakarta in 2003 and sentenced to death. His clemency appeal was rejected earlier this year. Amnesty International condemned the executions saying they showed a "complete disregard for due process and human rights safeguards." "Some of the prisoners were reportedly not provided access to competent lawyers or interpreters during their arrest and initial trial, in violation of their right to a fair trial which is recognized under international and national law," Rupert Abbott, Amnesty's Research Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific said. "Gularte, had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and international law clearly prohibits the use of the death penalty against those with mental disabilities," Abbott added. Fourteen people have now been put to death in Indonesia this year, and the government has announced plans for further executions this year.

PRESIDENT-ELECT; GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI (RTD) MOVED TO DEFENCE HOUSE ABUJA.

The President-Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has relocated to the Defence House in the Maitama area of Abuja metropolis where he now operates temporarily. Buhari, who returned to Abuja from Kaduna on Monday to hold talks with Ivorian President Alassane Quattara at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, has been receiving guests at the Defence House since Tuesday. He spent the better part of Tuesday and Wednesday receiving guests at the Defence House located opposite the Legacy House which serves as the campaign headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party. A horde of security operatives were seen on guard while visitors were properly screened before being allowed into the premises. It was also observed that the building was wearing a new look, a clear indication that it was only recently renovated. Buhari, who was declared winner of the 2015 presidential election, was operating from his private residence in the Asokoro area of Abuja before leaving the FCT for Daura where he took part in the Governorship and House of Assembly elections. He spent an extra one week in Daura receiving guests, both local and foreign before leaving for Kaduna where he received another set of guests including former President Olusegun Obasanjo. On Tuesday, the President-elect played host to the ECOWAS chairman and President of Ghana, John Mahama at the Defence House before leaving for his campaign headquarters where he received a delegation from Kogi and Kwara States. The Spokesman of the All Progressive Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Mallam Garba Shehu said that the Defence House has been made available to the President-elect for his official engagements. “Yes, the Defence House was handed over a few days ago after its renovation,” Shehu said in a text message when asked if the Defence House is now the operational base of the President elect.

TIM FLACK, THE SPOKESPERSON FOR SOUTH AFRICAN DEFENCE FORCE UNION HAS LAID CHARGES OF HATE SPEACH AGAINST KING GOODWILL ZWELITHINI FOR HIS REMARKS ABOUT FOREIGNERS.

During the apartheid era in South Africa, Nigeria was one of the foremost supporters of Black South African liberation movements, including the African National Congress (ANC); the Nigerian government issued more than 300 passports to South Africans seeking to travel abroad. In 1977, Sonny Okosun, a Nigerian musician, wrote a hit song "Fire in Soweto" to commemorate the 1976 Soweto uprising against white-rule in South Africa. Following the end of apartheid in 1994, South African businesses sought for professionals to immigrate, and a large number of Nigerians did so. It is estimated that there were 24,000 Nigerians living in South Africa in 2011. The increasing competition between the two countries for positions at multilateral organizations is also thought to have worsened the relations. Nigeria acted against South Africa to replace the incumbent Jean Ping, who Nigeria supports, with South African Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the powerful position of the African Union Chairperson (AU). The relations further deteriorated when South Africa backed incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo for control of Côte d’Ivoire in 2011. However after Dlamini-Zuma won the election Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru stated that although, Nigeria supported Jean Ping for the position of AU chairperson in "a position which was principled along with our ECOWAS members and we stood by it. But as usual, people can insinuate that once Nigeria was not in the camp of South Africa, it means that Nigeria is against South Africa. "We are not against South Africa". Ambassador Ashiru said. HUMAN RIGHTS CRITICISM. The Mandela-led ANC had been seeking to help resolve the political crisis in Nigeria since 1993 following the annulment of the Nigerian elections in June 1993. In June 1994 Nigeria's military ruler, General Sani Abacha arrested and sentenced for execution 40 political opponents including former Nigerian head of state Olusegun Obasanjo as well as Chief Moshood Abiola. Mandela sent Archbishop Desmond Tutu and then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on successive missions to Nigeria to lobby for the release of Obasanjo, Abiola and nine others. Right up until the Commonwealth Summit in 1995 Mandela was misled by Abacha into believing that there would be a stay off-execution. However, one of South Africa's first experiments with quiet diplomacy failed when in November 1995, General Abacha moved ahead with the execution of the nine Ogoni leaders including Ken Saro-Wiwa. After which South African president Mandela then publicly criticized General Abacha for human rights abuses and personally pushed for a two-year suspension of Nigeria's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Mandela also criticized Royal Dutch Shell for going ahead with a US$4 billion gas project in Nigeria despite its unpopularity within Nigeria and the rest of the world. This led to South Africa being isolated in Africa amid accusations that it was: “anipulated" into taking up an anti-Nigerian position by "the forces of British and American imperialism". Within a month South Africa started back tracking in an attempt to patch up its relationship with other African nations; and in an attempt to regain regional prestige amongst other African governments at the expense of its international prestige. On 29 March 1995, Professor Wole Soyinka, leader of an exiled Nigerian democratic movement, attempted to hold a conference in South Africa. The South African government responded by refusing to grant any Visas to Nigerian democrats for six weeks prior to the conference. South Africa's ruling political party, the ANC, called for the conference to be cancelled. The Nigerian debacle forced South Africa into a new foreign policy approach. Leading the country to abandon a 'go it alone' policy and into a policy that sought to build partnerships with fellow African states through regional and continental bodies. It also made South Africa reluctant to engage in any confrontation with any other African states. VISA RESTRICTION AND EXPULSIONS. Relations between the two countries were damaged in 2012 when 125 Nigerian travellers to South Africa were expelled due to not having valid Yellow Fever Certificates. In retaliation Nigeria expelled 56 South African business men. This prompted the two countries to enter into discussions around easing travel and Visa restrictions between the two countries as a means of enhancing bilateral relations and trade. TRADE AND INVESTMENT. In November 2009, South Africa hosted the South Africa-Nigeria Bi-National Commission in Pretoria. At the conference, it was noted that Oando, an energy conglomerate based in Lagos had recently been listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Nigeria-based Dangote Group had invested a record $378 million in South Africa's cement industry. In 2008, approximately $2.1 billion was traded between the two countries. By 2012 total bilateral trade had increased to $3.6 billion. In 2012, 83% of trade was taken up by South African imports of Nigerian crude oil. Between 2002 and 2012 South African imports from Nigeria have increased by 75% mostly increases in oil imports, whilst Nigerian imports from South Africa have increased by 13%. The Nigeria - South Africa Chamber of Commerce serves to improve and facilitate bi-lateral trade relationships between Nigeria and South Africa. Its offices are in Lagos-Nigeria, and it has its membership in 315 companies currently trading in both Nigeria and South Africa. It is made up of blue-chip companies, Nigerian companies and South African companies. Nigerian business men have expressed concern over the pace and perceived rapid expansion of South African business interests in the country. Three (3) of the best Hotels in South Africa are owned by Nigerians, the biggest subscriber of the South African Multi Choice DSTV (Digital Satellite Television) is Nigeria with over 11million subscribers which is rated at $2million income monthly subscribtion fees. Nigeria is also one of the biggest user of the South African MTN (Mobile Telephone Network). South Africa has enjoyed enormously in the areas of revamped economic prosperity from Nigeria since the Apatheid and after; Today, it happened that; a stinking, corrupt and child abuser; King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu is leading terrorist attack on Nigerian Citizens in South Africa; which its country helped in rebuilding the country that was raveged by Apatheid War. King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu who happened to have more than six (6) wives with the eldest among them aged 14yrs old has been demanding payment of $700,000 monthly for each of his under-aged wives from the South African Govt. King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu has cocaine confidence to ignite the killing of innocent foreigners including Nigerians. The demands for monthly payments to his wives, despite criticism that too much taxpayers money is being spent on the king, his wives, and his over 25 children. The KwaZulu Natal government, one of nine provincial administrations, has already budgeted about $6.9 million for the Zulu royal family this year. In a swift reaction, the South African Defence Spokesman has laid charges of hate speech made by King Goodwill; the son of King Cyprian Bhekuzulu kaSolomon. The charges were laid at South African Human Right Commission on Wednesday. Three weeks ago‚ King Zwelithini said foreigners must go back to where they came from. He said "We are requesting those who come from outside to please go back to their countries.” These statement has ignited killing and destruction that affected mostly Nigerians living in South Africa. He denied the statement until media replayed a recording of it widely‚ Then the king defended his statement‚ saying the media "misinterpreted his words and distorts them to sell newspapers". In the past week‚ at least five people have been killed in xenophobic violence in Durban townships‚ with the violence spreading to Primrose township near Germiston‚ East of Johannesburg last night. Foreigners are currently being evacuated out of Primrose area with the help of the Gauteng police. Flack laid the charges in his personal capacity with the support of the union. He said that political leaders have done little to stop the violence and people complaining about Xenophobia on social media were ineffective. Flack said: “Twitter activists are playing hair-dryer politics. I decided to do something. "The king needs to be charged for inciting this violence.” The Constitution protects freedom of speech but does not protect hate speech. Hate speech is defined as “propaganda for war" incitement of imminent violence; or advocacy of hatred that is based on race‚ ethnicity‚ gender or religion‚ and that constitutes incitement to cause harm". On Thursday‚ a peace march is taking place in Durban led by KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu and Ethekwini mayor James Nxumalo. A peace bus carrying Johannesburg residents run by social media expert Khaya Dlanga and Shaka Sisulu left Johannesburg on Wednesday night to join the march. President Jacob Zuma spoked about xenophobia in parliament on Thursday. On April 18, 2015 by 0305 GMT, South African police were sighted firing rubber bullets to disperse crowds setting immigrant businesses ablaze as attacks against foreigners spread to Johannesburg. Chanting and singing, machete-armed residents seen burning down shops owned by foreigners, including a Nigerian dealership in the nation's largest city. Immigrants carrying bricks accused police of not doing enough to protect them as businesses smoldered. Six people were reportedly killed as Violence targeting immigrant shops started recently in the port city of Durban, where two foreigners and three South Africans were killed. Residents have accused African immigrants of taking their jobs and committing crimes. The unemployment rate in South Africa is 25%, according to government figures. Shops set ablaze and looted as xenophobic attacks spread in South Africa. Xenophobic attacks spread to Johannesburg by 02:51 GMT The attacks against immigrant and their businesses started in Durban. The attacks have left six people dead. South African police were firing rubber bullets to disperse crowds setting immigrant businesses ablaze as attacks against foreigners spread to Johannesburg. Chanting and singing, machete-armed residents burned down shops owned by foreigners, including a Nigerian dealership in the nation's largest city. Immigrants carrying bricks accused police of not doing enough to protect them as businesses smoldered. The Violence which mainly targeting immigrant shops started recently in the port city of Durban, where two foreigners and three South Africans were killed. Residents have accused African immigrants of taking their jobs and committing crimes. The unemployment rate in South Africa is 25%, according to government figures. Sixth death occurred Wednesday. The body of a 58yrs-old foreign national was found in Verulam town, where a mob attacked the man at his home. He fled and died of his injuries near his home; South African police said. At least 112 people have been arrested throughout KwaZulu-Natal Province for various offenses related to the violence, the South African police said. - @pilpal007

SIX COUNTRIES TURNED DOWN ALISON MADUEKE'S SHELTER REQUEST.

No fewer than six countries have already refused to grant a place of safety request by the minister of petroleum resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke. The Business Council for Africa (BCA) said in its just released monthly report that about $1 trillion is the latest estimated figure of the looting of the Nigerian treasury between 1960 and 2005 alone. According to the report dated March 2015 focused extensively on Nigeria’s general elections. It said the notorious minister, whose impunity is known to have been closely protected by President Goodluck Jonathan, will be coming under the microscope for the first time in her ministerial career. “Given her reputation, it comes as no surprise to learn that 6 countries have already refused to grant her asylum to live in their countries as she now wishes to leave Nigeria at the earliest possible opportunity,” it said. The BCA recalled the president-elect Muhammadu Buhari lamenting that the rest of the world looks at Nigeria as the home of corruption, one where stealing is not corruption but a way of life, and that his administration will pursue all public officers and individuals who are believed to be guilty of corruption. It observed that despite an earlier promise, it is now understood that Buhari’s anti corruption fishing net will include ministers currently serving under President Goodluck Jonathan.  Alison-Madueke’s departure from Nigeria is likely to be followed by several other PDP elders, party members and supporters as well as some former government officials, as Buhari’s anti corruption drive will be far-reaching. “It will be very interesting to learn in the coming months exactly how far back in Nigeria’s history his administration will go in the pursuance of those who have robbed”. The latest estimated figure of theft from the Nigerian treasury between 1960 to 2005 is estimated $1 trillion. Given that President Jonathan’s administration is considered the most corrupt of any of its predecessors, that figure is going to be considerably magnified, but whether the new president will wish to pursue former heads of state is a matter of interest and considerable debate to Nigeria observers. It is this subject that is primarily responsible for Buhari’s success in winning the election, as well as his campaign promises to eradicate Boko Haram, revive the economy and rebuild Nigeria to its position as the number one country in Africa. While the BCA agreed that the March/April 2015 were “the most credible elections in Nigeria’s history”, it said they could not be called the most incorruptible. On the contrary, it referred to them as the worst because of the amount of money that the PDP so freely and openly spent on trying to secure the re-election of the out-going President Goodluck Jonathan. “The stories and reports from the 36 States of the federation and the amount of money distributed by the PDP to elders, rulers, church leaders, unions and youth leaders amongst others in an endeavour to favour the voters towards the PDP has backfired badly,” the report said. BCA said that if the 2011 elections were considered bad, the 2015 elections will undoubtedly go down as the most corrupt in Nigeria’s history, certainly since 1999, as the amount of money being distributed as bribes primarily by the PDP so very openly would readily confirm. It reported that since November when campaigning began, President Jonathan and General Buhari during their travels made no fewer than 109 promises of what they intend to achieve if given the mandate in the presidential election. “President Jonathan’s campaign continued to hinge on his party’s Transformation Agenda and the achievements of his Government in the last 4 years, particularly in the agricultural sector, job creation and the empowerment of women,” the report said.  In that regard, it credited Jonathan as having achieved a great deal during his tenure. According to the report, it was, however, Jonathan’s failures, rampant corruption, insecurity, inability to eliminate the Boko Haram insurgency, failure in such sectors as the economy, and power in particular, and the overall feeling that he was ruled rather than leading that have cost him his re-election bid. The report also stated that in the 2015 elections, up to 250 Nigerians lost their lives, describing that deplorable record as speaking volumes for the control achieved by the police at the campaign rallies by the two main candidates. It described the cost of the campaigns of the two main parties as “simply staggering”, noting that by the first week of March, Buhari had spent some N332.58 billion as compared to the expenditure of President Jonathan which amounted to N1.05 trillion. “This is without taking into account the cost of other expenses for such items as campaign rallies, where the PDP has spent N1.06 billion against Muhammadu Buhari’s APC’s N595.08 million, and clearly demonstrates the desperate lengths that the PDP have gone to in order to try and secure the re-election of President Jonathan.” In a swift reaction to cover the asylum seeking, Mrs Diezani Alison Madueke, said last night that she was not seeking asylum in any part of the world, as claimed by her traducers. An online publication reported, yesterday, that the minister had been denied asylum by six countries, where she had so far applied, but did not mention the countries involved. Mrs Madueke, who spoke through the Group Public Affairs General Manager of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr Ohi Alegbe, denied ever contemplating relocating from Nigeria. Alegbe said his boss merely went for a short vacation outside Nigeria and would soon return to her job. He said the claim that the woman had been denied asylum by six countries was not only a fabrication aimed at confusing some gullible persons, but deliberately targeted at smearing the minister and her office. Alegbe said: “I want to say that the Minister of Petroleum has never contemplated going on asylum in any part of the world and has never applied for asylum anywhere. “The minister has only gone for a short vacation abroad and will soon return to Nigeria, having no reason to leave her job and country for any other place.” The online medium, quoting a group known as Business Council for Africa, BCA, had said that no fewer than six countries had already refused an asylum request by Mrs Diezani Alison Madueke. The BCA gave the impression that the minister would be investigated under the new administration of Gen Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), even though he had said that he would not probe his predecessors. “Given her reputation, it comes as no surprise to learn that six countries have already refused to grant her asylum to live in their countries as she now wishes to leave Nigeria at the earliest possible opportunity,” it said. In an earlier event immedietely after President Goodluck Jonaathan lost re-election bid to General Muhammad Buhari (Rtd), the minister, popularly called the oil goddess, and known for her exuberance and plundering of Nigeria’s petro-dollars with impunity has paid an early morning visit to Ex-president Abdulsalami Abubakar who happen to be the Chairman of the Abuja Peace Accord. Diezani is known to partner with Kola Aluko and other sudden billionaires to loot Nigeria’s wealth, some of whom have even swindled her of billions of dollars, leaving here broke and frustrated lately. She was behind much of the dirty and desperate campaigning against the opposition revolution and was part of those who sponsored the NSA Sambo Dasuki and army chief election postponement in the hope of defeating President-elect Buhari. Diezani has been in charge of the kerosene subsidy scam that has constantly looted $100 million monthly in fake subsidy money for kerosene through Mr Ifenyi Uba that sold at over N100 a liter against subsidized rates meant to be N50/liter. This money has amounted to over $12 billion dollars being looted by Diezani, president Jonathan and the Cabal every year which is part of over $20 billion dollars that gets missing in 18 months as reported by former central bank governor and now Kano Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Cabal like Aliko Dangote have also recently pilgrimaged to Abdulsalami and President-elect Buhari to negotiate terms of continued enjoyment to the death of Nigerian masses. Aliko Dangote was also spotted seated and looking ignored in Bhari's office immedietely the election results were announced.

SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE NIGERIA'S $15MILLION THAT WAS SIEZED TO BURST THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES AFTER IT WAS RUBBISHED UNDER GOODLUCK JONATHAN ADMINISTRATION.

The South African law enforcement agencies seized $15million in two batches: $5.7million that had been wired to Standard Bank and $9.3million in cash, which was confiscated. It was brought into the country through Lanseria airport in Johannesburg in three suitcases by a delegation said to represent the Nigerian government. In both cases, the money was suspected to be for illegal use. Now South Africa wants to use the money to extend an olive branch to Buhari’s government and mend relations between the two countries, which became strained during the tenure of outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan. “The positive thing about Buhari is that, one of the people who supported him is Atiku Abubakar. That makes him our man and he will automatically work well with President Jacob Zuma,” a government source said. Atiku Abubakar is close to Jacob Zuma. He was Nigeria’s deputy president during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, at the time when Zuma was Thabo Mbeki’s deputy. “Also, this man; Buhari is a retired military general. It is true that the military needs some beefing up to fight Boko Haram and we should help,” the source added. So how will Nigeria know that it stands to benefit from an otherwise controversial transaction that had exacerbated tensions between the two countries? Diplomatically you send a signal. Obviously they will have to make a request once they receive a positive signal, but the request will just be an official step to finalising the transaction.” General Buhari is due to take over the leadership of the country after winning the recent elections. Formal talks have not yet begun, but South Africa has apparently started sending “positive signals” through its diplomats in Nigeria and to the Nigerian embassy in Pretoria.  To ensure that the process of returning the money or regularising the sale of arms looks as clean as possible, the Hawks investigation will continue, the source said, but will be managed politically to reach a conclusion that is diplomatically favourable. “One way is to make the investigators say: ‘Yes, a law has been broken, but it’s true that the government of Nigeria is the owner of the money and genuinely wanted to buy arms legally. They might have flouted the rules, but it’s a genuine transaction. We will say this money does not come from dirty hands or rebels or arms dealers,” the source said. “We will find a way to regularise the transaction and either return the money or give them arms.” Nigeria wanted to buy arms such as helicopters and ammunition to strengthen its fight against Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. Last year, the M&G reported that the head of the national conventional arms control committee, Jeff Radebe, who is also the minister in the presidency, was blamed by his colleagues in government for taking a unilateral decision to try to regularise the sale of arms to Nigeria to facilitate the release of bodies of South Africans who were killed when the TB Joshua church building collapsed in Nigeria. At the time, Radebe denied it and said the committee had met in October and decided to propose unlocking the Nigerian arms trade. The M&G quoted from two letters that Radebe had written to JP “Torie” Pretorius of the Hawks and Dumisani Dladla, the head of the arms control committee’s secretariat, in which he said the failed attempt on September 5th to pay an arms dealer in South Africa “was, in fact, a legitimate requirement from the government of Nigeria”. “Although the required administrative processes were not adhered to at the time, the government of South Africa deems it a bona fide error,” he wrote.  This week a government source told the M&G: “What Jeff did may have been unilateral, but it is now an avenue that South Africa is willing to explore. Even when we were doing damage control after your story, the discussion centred around how we can get a positive outcome out of this.” The committee apparently met after the article was published in November last year and decided to return the money or the sale of arms to appease the new government of Nigeria after the elections. “After the story, they had to regroup and say: ‘How do we deal with this situation?’ You cannot let it hang forever; you must find a way to conclude it in a way that will satisfy both sides,” the source said. Zuma has apparently been briefed by ministers who serve on the committee and has warmed to the idea. Efforts to get comment from Zuma’s spokesperson Mac Maharaj and from Radebe were unsuccessful. Relations between Nigeria and South Africa have not been at their best, particularly between the Jacob Zuma and Jonathan Goodluck administrations. By returning this money you get friendship, loyalty and an opportunity where he General Buhari is willing to work with us to lead the continent and speak with one voice. “Instead of Nigeria second-guessing us all the time, we will compare notes and stop fighting for things like the United Nations Security Council seat that’s not even permanent,” the source said. “Nigeria is a strategic country that South Africa cannot ignore. It’s a big market. It’s possible South African companies make more money in Nigeria than in South Africa.” When Buhari won election against Jonathan in last month’s elections, Pretoria was already positioning itself for refreshed relations with Federal Govt of Nigeria. The M&G has seen a letter that Buhari wrote to Zuma a few days before the elections, in which he complained about Jonathan’s alleged delaying tactics over the poll and the use of violence in an attempt to sway the vote in his favour. “I thank your government and your mission in Nigeria for your contributions to Nigeria’s democratic process. While Nigeria’s democracy must be established and secured by the commitment to fairness and the rule of law of Nigerians, the goodwill and positive influence of your government have helped us on this difficult yet vital journey,” Buhari wrote. “It is not your business who wins elections in Nigeria, but we seek your help in making sure the election is a free and fair one for us to win or lose according to the people’s will.” He is expected to hold a one-on-one meeting with Zuma on the sidelines of the African Union summit that South Africa is hosting in June, and it’s anticipated that the issue of the seized money will be discussed. Either Zuma or Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend Buhari’s inauguration in May. Asked for comment, department of international relations and co-operation spokesperson Nelson Kgwete said the department had not been in talks with Nigeria over the confiscated money and knew nothing about a proposal to either return the money or sell arms to that country.