General
Dariye Loses Another Bid to Frustrate N1.2b Fraud Trial
By Dipo Olowookere
Former Plateau State Governor, Mr Joshua Dariye, has again lost his bid to scuttle his N1.162 billion fraud trial, preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Gudu, Abuja, on March 6, 2017 threw out his motion seeking for his lordship to be disqualified from the trial.
Mr Dariye, who is facing a 23-count charge for allegedly diverting the state’s Ecological Fund to private companies including Ebenezer Retnan Ventures and Pinnacle Communications Limited, had in January lost in a similar bid, having applied to Justice U.I. Bello, the Chief Judge, CJ of the FCT High Court, accusing the trial judge of “manifest and undisguised bias”, and seeking for the case file to be transferred to another judge.
The CJ threw out the application and ordered Mr Dariye to go and continue with his trial before the judge as his allegation of bias was “baseless”.
At the time Mr Dariye sent his letter to the CJ, dated December 13, 2016 his defence counsel, G.S. Pwul, SAN, also brought two motions to the court, one of which was the one asking the trial judge to “disqualify” his lordship from the case.
He had also applied to the court, seeking for the recall of two principal witnesses, Musa Sunday, an EFCC operative who was cross-examined by both the prosecution and defence on January 25, 2016 and Peter Clark, a retired detective constable with the United Kingdom, UK Metropolitan Police, who was cross-examined by both counsels on May 9, 2016.
At the last sitting on March 2, 2017 Pwul, while arguing the applications, contended that it was necessary to recall the witnesses “in relation to new evidence”.
Citing exhibits D6 – D34 as the reasons for the recall, he further argued that there was need to further cross-examine Sunday as regards transactions between the Plateau State government and Pinnacle Communications Limited. He had also urged the court to summon Clark “in relation to his evidence and investigation activities carried out in the United Kingdom and to confront him with new evidence”.
Prosecution counsel, Adeniyi Adebisi, in his argument contended that the defence was provided with the list of all the witnesses in the proof of evidence, which included the names of the witnesses, which it wanted to bring to the court.
He added that “the defence knew in advance the witnesses to be called by the prosecution and so had adequate time and opportunity to review their statements and all evidence referred to were in existence and available long before Musa Sunday and Peter Clark testified before the court”.
Adebisi further argued that: “Dariye was present at all proceedings and well represented by his counsel who thoroughly cross-examined the two witnesses.” He reminded the court that Clark had retired and during the trial “the defence was never stampeded and the court didn’t force the counsel to conclude his cross-examination”.
He surmised that: “The applications are a ploy to delay the case and the Supreme Court has given directive for expeditious hearing”. He urged the court to dismiss the applications “with substantial cost”.
Justice Banjoko in ruling on the motion seeking for his lordship to be disqualified from the case, said: “I have no interest whatsoever in this case and I have so far presided over the case without fear or favour, and in line with my oath of office and so the motion lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed.”
The trial judge ruling on the second motion, noted that “the defence has called 16 witnesses and is now seeking to reopen prosecution’s case when defence is still going on”, and “the prosecution has already closed its case”.
The trial judge citing several authorities noted that while a recall by a party involved in a case is not out of order, “a recall is permitted only by a trial judge” and based on two facts that the party seeking a recall brings to the court “good enough facts as well as questions he intends to ask the witness which in this instance the defence has not done”.
While dismissing the application seeking for recall of Clark, the trial judge ruled that: “I have carefully considered all the authorities and submissions of counsels and found that Peter Clark the prosecution witness nine, PW9, resides in a territorial jurisdiction outside of Nigeria and in his oral testimony he stated that he retired on 9 March 2015, and came to Nigeria on his own freewill to see to the end of an investigation he started and the court can see that the witness was extensively cross-examined by the defence and the defence was not curtailed or prevented and so had maximum advantage to cross-examine him.”
The trial judge noted that Clark was a master of his own time and there was nothing to hold that he still resides in the UK since his retirement and moreover, he was not a “compellable witness”.
“The application is hereby denied and accordingly dismissed,” the trial judge held.
Justice Banjoko while adjourning to March 16, 2017 “for defence to continue”, however acceded to the request of the defence to recall Sunday for “further cross-examination in the interest of justice” and because he still resides in the “territorial jurisdiction of Nigeria”.
By Adedapo Adesanya
As part of initiatives to celebrate the just concluded Armed Forces Remembrance Day, the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (Credicorp) has kicked off a consumer credit fund for personnel of the armed forces in a partnership with Fewchore Finance.
The scheme aims to benefit 20,000 armed forces personnel in its first phase.
This fund – kicking off with the Armed Forces Remembrance Day – advances President Bola Tinubu’s vision to extend consumer credit access to over 50 per cent of working Nigerians by 2030.
This demonstrates a specific commitment to improving the welfare of Nigerian soldiers who protect and serve the nation.
Via affordable consumer credit, members of the Armed Forces can now acquire life-enhancing household assets and meet immediate financial challenges – and at even better terms for locally manufactured goods.
According to a press release, the programme aims to ease their financial burden, boost morale, and enhance the well-being of their families, most of whom they leave for the battlegrounds.
President Tinubu has long championed the welfare of uniformed personnel, and this initiative reflects his commitment to creating meaningful support systems.
“This programme shows Mr. President’s commitment to supporting those who protect and serve our nation,” said Mr Uzoma Nwagba, Managing Director/CEO of Credicorp. “By making credit accessible to armed forces personnel, we not only honor their service but also advance the President’s goal of using consumer credit for much better lives.”
On his part, the chief executive of Fewchore Finance, Mr Sunkanmi Balogun, added, “We are proud to support the courageous men and women of the armed forces. At Fewchore Finance, we have a long-standing relationship with the Armes Forces and remain committed to creating solutions that address real needs.”
The initiative, starting with a first phase targeting 20,000 beneficiaries, will involve all branches of the armed forces.
Phased implementation will ensure equitable access, coordinated with the respective Accounts and Budget departments of the forces.
The programme launched at the last Armed Forces Remembrance Day carries deep symbolic meaning, showcasing the nation’s gratitude and dedication to the brave men and women who protect its peace and security.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government, the 36 state governments, and the 774 local government councils (LGCs) in the country have share N1.424 trillion from a gross revenue of N2.310 trillion recorded in the month of December 2024.
This was disclosed by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) at its December 2024 meeting chaired by the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun.
The funds shared comprised Gross Statutory Revenue, Value-Added Tax (VAT), Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and Exchange Difference (ED), with the sum of N84.780 billion removed for the cost of collection and N801.175 billion allocated for transfers intervention and refunds.
The total revenue distributable for December 2024 was drawn from statutory revenue of N386.124 billion, VAT of N604.872 billion, EMTL of N31.211 billion, and exchange difference of N402.714 billion.
It was disclosed that the federal government received N451.193 billion, the states got N498.498 billion, the local councils shared N361.754 billion, and the oil-producing states were given N113.477 billion as 13 per cent derivation of mineral revenue).
In a communique issued by FAAC after the meeting, it was stated that the gross revenue available from the VAT was N649.561 billion as against N628.973 billion distributed in the preceding month, resulting in an increase of N20.588 billion.
From that amount, the sum of N25.982 billion was allocated for the cost of collection and the sum of N18.707 billion given for transfers, intervention and tefunds.
The remaining N649.561 billion was distributed to the three tiers of government, of which the federal government got N90.731 billion, the states received N302.436 billion and councils got N211.705 billion.
Accordingly, the gross statutory revenue of N1.226 billion received for the month was lower than the sum of N1.827 billion received in the previous month by N6.988 billion.
From the stated amount, the sum of N57.498 billion was allocated for the cost of collection and a total of N782.468 for transfers, intervention and refunds.
The remaining balance of N386.124 billion was distributed as follows to the three tiers of government: federal government got the sum of N167.690 billion, states received N85.055 Billion, the sum of N65.574 billion was allocated to LGCs and N67.806 billion was given to the beneficiary states as 13 per cent derivation.
Also, the sum of N31.211 billion from EMTL was distributed in the period under review, with the central government getting N4.682 billion, the states receiving N15.605 billion, the local councils getting N10.924 billion, and N1.300 billion allocated for cost of collection.
It was further revealed that from the N402.714 billion from exchange difference, the federal government received N188.090 billion, states got N95.402 billion, and the councils got N73.551 billion, while the oil-producing states shared N45.671 billion.
FAAC disclosed that VAT and EMTL increased significantly last month, while oil and gas royalty, CET levies, excise duty, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) and Companies Income Tax (CIT) decreased considerably.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), in collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), is finalising plans to introduce a digital farmer registry via the Government 2 People (G2P) card initiative.
The National Identity Number (NIN) enabled card initiative will address the Federal Ministry’s immediate challenges of identity and authentication, required to deliver government services efficiently and accurately, according to a statement jointly issued by Mr Joel Oruche, Director of Information, FMAFS and Mr Kayode Adegoke, NIMC’s spokesperson on Thursday.
The statement added that the programme seeks to address existing barriers to effective government programs, ensuring that aid reaches the right beneficiaries.
The partnership will, “leverage the National Identity Management System to power the Ministry’s farmer registry by the linkage of the NIN and attendant biometric identity data of each farmer to their farmland, as well as all necessary supporting data relating to that farmer, including the size of the holding, type of crops or livestock.”
Connecting the NIN-backed registry to the G2P card will allow for the provision of targeted and ring-fenced aid to the farmers and other recipients of government benefits under the FMAFS programmes.
“The G2P card ecosystem is an initiative that allows for the issuance of NON-enabled cards by Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and enables the use of the card’s frontend by these MDAs for their respective programmes. The key feature of the ecosystem is a biometrics card with multiple wallets that can provide verifiable identification and also process transactions without internet connectivity, allowing the Ministry to support beneficiaries in the most remote locations. The card is unique to each citizen, and every Nigerian and legal resident is eligible to obtain it, banked or unbanked. The G2P card will be owned by and personalised to each MDA that adopts its usage.
“By adopting this card, FMAFS can uniquely identify all farmers, provide multiple agriculture services through the card in a manner that eliminates risks and fraud and also provide end-to-end visibility within the agriculture value chain thus enabling scalability. Agriculture services to be provided through the card include farmer financing, input distribution, farmland mapping linked to identity, extension services monitoring & evaluation and agency banking as well as multiple types of third-party services.
“Within this framework, NIMC will provide the foundational identity ecosystem to FMAFS, who as the owner of both the farmer registry and G2P card scheme will provide government services via the issued G2P cards, tailored to the needs of the farmers supported by the Ministry at the national and sub-national levels.
“The G2P card has a large capacity in-card chip that stores beneficiary identity, know your customer (KYC), picture, and fingerprints. In addition, it has two applets and several wallets dedicated to multiple types of programmes, which provides the flexibility and channels needed for multiple interventions to be implemented against the same unique identity. This flexibility is required to address infrastructure challenges limiting identity verification and digital evidence of beneficiary access when implementing government programmes,” the statement revealed.
The G2P biometric cards will be processed through a bespoke but interoperable biometrics Point of Sale (POS) acceptance device, which requires biometrics to access and operate which will allow the Ministry to better deliver services and programmes in any location regardless of infrastructure challenges.
The card will operate as a digital wallet/ prepaid card and it is tailored for government transactions such as subsidies, loans, welfare disbursement, pensions and other activities carried out by FMAFS.
“With the G2P ecosystem, any programme implemented by the Ministry can now be administered independently and showcased through digitally enabled dashboards displaying key data on how each programme has been efficiently implemented or otherwise,” the statement added.
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