VARIOUS CORRUPT PRACTICES OF FORMER MINISTER OF STATE FOR HEALTH; WHO IS NOW CAMPAIGNING FOR ELECTION AS SENATOR UNDER ADAMAWA CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT UNDER (PDP). Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health, Dr. Idi Aliyu Hong seems to be a man that can’t live without scandal if the latest information coming out on him is anything to go by. While the young minister is yet to come out clean on the allegation that he bought a N300 million mansion in Utako area of Abuja, he has again been accused of ‘stealing’ government vehicles for his 2011 governorship ambition in his Adamawa home state. Late last year, Hong was accused of paying N300 million for a property located at plot 331 Utako district in Abuja barely a year after he was appointed a minister of the federal republic. The lid was blown off the deal when the minister allegedly failed to pay some agents who introduced the property to his aide, their own fee. The minister was however said to have set security agents after the property merchants for trying to blackmail him. He was also said to have confirmed that he bought the mansion but with a loan from a bank which is the usual defence tactic of many officials caught in a similar web after they would have struck a deal with their bankers for a fee. While Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, EFCC is yet to let the minister off the hook of its searchlight on the source of the money used to buy the mansion, iReports-ng’s investigations have revealed that Hong has been fighting yet another battle with some officials of the National Museum and Monuments Commission. The officials under the aegis of concerned staff of the Commission revealed that while the present Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Adetokunbo Kayode and Hong were minister and minister of state for Culture and Tourism respectively, “the parastatal was asked to supply cars for the exclusive use of the minister and the minister of state. That was done with the understanding that after their appointment they return the cars.” According to the officials, “one of the cars given to Hong, a Toyota corolla has an engine number 2933678 and chassis number JTDBR 22e703217112. After Kayode was reassigned to ministry of labour, he returned his cars, while Hong who we are made to understand is interested in future elections has refused to return his own.” Beside the Toyota car, Hong is also being accused of keeping another Honda Accord car which belongs to the Commission. The officials alleged that he had taken the vehicles to Adamawa state to keep as part of preparation of logistics for his gubernatorial ambition in the next election year. The aggrieved workers have threatened to drag Hong before the EFCC if he fails to return the vehicles he inappropriately took away from the Commission. Investigations by iReports-ng revealed that what Hong is being accused of is a common corrupt practice among ministers. It was gathered that ministers in Nigeria have the habit of forcing agencies and parastatals under their supervision to put some cash together for their (ministers’) welfare package especially when they just get into a new ministry while they equally demand vehicles from these agencies as gifts. A minister who was just removed from a very important ministry is said to have received over 20 of such car gifts from agencies under his ministry. Suspecting that security agents may go after him after his sack from his juicy ministry, the minister was said to have hurriedly transferred the vehicles mostly assorted jeeps to the homes of relatives and friends for safe keep and take away the prying eyes of security agents from him. Source - http://ireports-ng.com/2010/03/07/minister-of-state-for-health-idi-hong-in-another-corruption-scandal/ http://ireports-ng.com/

OBAMA CUT SHORT INDIA TRIP TO PAY CALL ON SAUDI ARABIA. President Barack Obama will shorten his trip to India and divert to Saudi Arabia, paying respects after the death of King Abdullah and meeting with the oil-rich nation's new monarch, the White House said Saturday. The scheduling shift, announced just before Obama left Washington, underscores the desert kingdom's pivotal role in U.S. policy in the Middle East, including the military campaign against the Islamic State group. Saudi Arabia's status as one of Washington's most important Arab allies has at times appeared to trump U.S. concerns about the terrorist funding that flows from the kingdom and about human rights abuses. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama would meet on Tuesday with King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and other officials to "offer his condolences on behalf of the American people." The president called Salman from Air Force One to express his sympathies on the passing of his older brother. The White House said the king welcomed the news that Obama would be traveling to Riyadh. Obama's pivot comes two weeks after the White House faced criticism for not sending a high-level representative to Paris for a peace rally in the wake of terrorist attacks in France. The White House later said it was a mistake that someone with more stature than the U.S. ambassador to France had not joined the dozens of world leaders who marched arm in arm through the boulevards of Paris. White House officials said Obama's stop in Saudi Arabia was not influenced by the Paris misstep, but it could keep similar criticism at bay as other world leaders head to Riyadh to offer condolences. Obama's willingness to visit Saudi Arabia, a country with ties to the terrorists behind the Sept. 11 attacks, could give critics a fresh reason to question why the president did not stand with Western allies in a symbolic show of defiance against violent extremism. The schedule change meant that Obama, who arrived in New Delhi on Sunday morning local time, would skip a visit to the Taj Mahal, India's famed white marble monument of love. The rest of Obama's travel itinerary was to remain intact, including meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a summit with U.S. and Indian business leaders, and his participation in the annual Republic Day festivities marking the enactment of India's constitution. Modi, who took office in May, surprised the White House by inviting Obama to attend the parade as his guest, the first time that honor has been bestowed on an American president. Given Obama's commitments in India, the White House originally had said Vice President Joe Biden would travel to Saudi Arabia following the 90-year-old Abdullah's death on Friday. Officials said that as plans for Biden's trip came together, they realized that the window for the U.S. delegation's visit coincided with Obama's departure from India, and they decided the president would make the four-hour flight from New Delhi to Riyadh. In keeping with Islamic tradition, only Muslims attended Abdullah's funeral Friday. Other Western leaders were making plans to visit Saudi Arabia throughout the weekend. Obama made an overnight visit to Saudi Arabia last March and met with Abdullah at his desert camp outside Riyadh. The king was in frail health at the time and appeared to be breathing with the help of an oxygen tank.

HOW PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN AND GOV GABRIEL SUSWAN OF BENUE STATE DIVERTED N8bn “ZAKI BIAM MASSACRE” VICTIMS’ SETTLEMENT FUNDS President Goodluck Jonathan has come under attack for diverting N8billion settlement funds for victims of the 2001 massacre in Zaki Biam, Benue State, North-central Nigeria. A member of the legal team representing victims of the killings, Sebastine Hon, on Wednesday blamed Mr. Jonathan for diverting the funds meant for the settlement of the massacre victims to the Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam. In a petition to the president dated January 14, and signed by Mr. Hon, Ocha Ulegede and Chris Alashi, all members of the legal consortium for the massacre victims, the lawyers described Mr. Jonathan’s action as “most embarrassing and shocking.” The lawyers also described as embarrassing, claims by the Attorney General for the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bello Adoki, that Alexander Gaadi, the lead plaintiff gave a mandate to Mr. Suswam to collect the judgment debt. They insisted that no such mandate was given by Mr. Gaadi and never did such an issue presented at the various discussion held between the legal team and the government. “Since the matter is before the Court of Appeal awaiting out-of-court settlement, we wonder whether it is Mr. Suswam who would be signatory to the settlement terms to be adopted as consent judgment of the court,” a part of the petition reads. “In law, it is never heard of that strangers to a court judgment would be permitted to enforce the judgment of the court.” PREMIUM TIMES investigation showed that neither Mr. Suswam nor the Benue State Government was a party toor supported the long-drawn legal battle between the massacre victims and the Federal Government of Nigeria. Fiery Tiv activist, Mr. Gaadi led 13 others and a consortium of lawyers including Messrs Hon, Ulegede and Alashi, to sue former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Nigerian Army after the killings. After six years of legal battle, a Federal High Court in Enugu on July 5, 2007, ruled in favour of the massacre victims and awarded N41.8billion damages against the government. After the ruling, the judgment creditors secured an absolute order to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to release the funds to victims of the massacre. A Federal High Court in Enugu, headed by Justice Lewis Allagua, issued the order on October 27, 2007. But when the government failed to honour the court ruling and the order to pay the judgment debt, counsels to the massacre victims entered contempt proceedings against the CBN. The government went ahead to secure a restraining order from the Appeal Court to stop the committal proceedings on October 25, 2007. Again on March 3, 2009, the government through its counsels, D.D. Dodo, Adoke Bello, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, and Innocent Daagba secured another restraining order against the payment of the judgment debt. It was at this point that the judgment creditors filed an appeal to the Supreme Court challenging the second restraining order secured by the government. The Supreme Court did not hear the appeal but directed the legal team to approach the Appeal Court to set aside the restraining order. While the parties were exploring out of court settlement processes, Mr. Gaadi, the lead judgment creditor, died on September 15, 2011. Mr. Gaadi’s demise came barely a month after the government agreed to a compromise deal of N8 billion and shortly after Mr. Adoki, formerly one of the government’s counsels was appointed Attorney General for the Federation and Minister of Justice. Following Mr. Gaadi’s death, Mr. Suswam reportedly initiated moves to collect the judgment debt. At a press conference on March 4, 2013, the governor had reportedly told journalists how the state government sued the Federal Government over the Zaki Biam killings and how the Appeal Court awarded it N40 billion in compensation. Mr. Suswam also indicated meeting Mr. Jonathan and the Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who he claimed complained of paucity of funds but agreed to pay N8 billion after all. “We are almost being paid. We took the Federal Government to court and we got judgment of N40 billion,” Mr. Suswam is quoted to have said. Cletus Akwaya, the chief press secretary to Mr. Suswam told PREMIU TIMES the state government has constitutional duty to ensure the wellbeing of the people of the state. “Whether the state government was involved in the litigation or not, since the resources are coming to Benue citizens the government must be involved,” he said. He argued that the government was not embezzling the funds but was interested in ensuring the real victims benefitted from it. Mr. Akwaya said the federal government did not pay the compromise funds because of the court ruling but because of Mr. Suswam’s intervention. He said, “The money is not being paid because of the litigation. It is being paid because the governor engaged the president and told got him to pay the money. “This has happened in many other places. There are several parts of the country where such killings took place but government has not done anything. When reminded that similar payments were made in Odi, Bayelsa State, he said, “Zaki Biam is different from Odi.” Asked why the state government failed to take the Federal Government to court but waited for private citizens to win a case before stepping in, he said, “It was a matter of strategy. The state government had representatives and in this case Dr. Gaadi and other litigants. “Again, this is a legal issue. If the people feel that the state government should not be involved, the attorney general for the federation will determine who collects the money based on his interpretation of the law. “This is a legal issue. People should not bring their own whims and caprices into this matter. The legality of the matter will be based on interpretation of the law. “If the state government is justified by law to take custody of the funds, the Federal Government cannot be said to have done anything illegal. Anybody who feels aggrieved can seek legal redress. If anybody feels that Benue Government should not be involved, there are many legal avenues to seek redress.” Peter Akper, one of the aides to the attorney general for the federation and minister of justice refused to speak on the issue when PREMIUM TIMES contacted him. Calls made to the minister’s telephone failed to connect and a text message sent to him was not responded to.