General
Former Aide Accuses Adebayo Shittu of Massive Fraud
By Dipo Olowookere
Mr Victor Oluwadamilare, a former aide to Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu, has accused the Minister of fraud.
Mr Oluwadamilare was until yesterday Mr Shittu’s Special Assistant on Media.
He was sacked on Thursday alongside another aide, Mr Imam Tajudeen, who served as the Minister’s Special Assistant on Special Duties.
Hours after he was fired, Mr Oluwadamilare wrote a letter, which trended on social media, accusing the Minister of fraud and refusing to pay his (Oluwadamilare) emoluments since 2015.
The letter titled ‘Request For My Accumulated Emoluments’ said the Minister owes the writer N14 million) due at the end of March, 2018.
He also said the Minister owns about 12 luxury houses in Abuja, Lagos and Ibadan and earns over N50 million as salary, travelling expenses on the coffers of the Ministry running into several millions of Naira.
The former aide said further that Mr Shittu has collected estacodes in excess of $800,000.
Yesterday, when the Minister fired Mr Oluwadamilare, he warned those who have dealings with him against associating with the aides.
Below is the content of the letter Mr Oluwadamilare wrote to his former principal.
March 12, 2018
Chief Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu
Hon. Minister of Communications
Federal Ministry of Communications,
Federal Secretariat,
Abuja.
Dear Sir,
RE: REQUEST FOR MY ACCUMULATED EMOLUMENTS
I am writing on behalf of myself and my colleague, Sheik Tajudeen Imam, Special Assistant (Special Duties), renowned Muslim Cleric and leader, whom you appointed to assist you 25 months ago.
I am constrained, once again, to formally request for the payment of my accumulated emoluments totaling FOURTEEN MILLION NAIRA (N14million), due at the end of March, 2018, from you.
You will recall that your letter referenced HMC/026/Vol. 11/17, dated 23rd November, 2015 and titled: APPOINTMENT AS SPECIAL ASSISTANT (MEDIA) TO THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, stated among others in paragraph 3 that: “Your monthly emolument will be decided in line with the existing practice”. (Annexure 1)
Sir, for many months, running into years despite many verbal reminders, nothing has been done on this matter–you gave many promises which never materialised. I was forced to mention the issue of non-payment of my emoluments to a number of your friends and close associates, who promised to talk to you on the imperative of paying the emoluments of your aides. Indeed, I got several feedbacks on your promise to address the issue, but, after many months nothing happened!
WHY THIS LETTER
Prior to your appointment as Minister of Communications by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, via a letter dated 16th November, 2015 with reference no. SGF.12/S.6/XI/808 (Annexure 2), I had set up what I called: ADEBAYO SHITTU MEDIA OFFICE (Annexure 3) in Ibadan. My personal office, 36 Ososami Street, off Oke-Ado, Ibadan, was made available to the media office for your 2019 gubernatorial ambition at no cost to you.
I did not stop at that, I recruited and enlisted the support of seasoned journalists and experienced media managers, to coordinate and chart a media plan for your political ambition, ahead of your other competitors. I was the Chairman and convener, for which I spent my personal resources. Some of the members are:
- i) Dele Ogunsola
- ii) Wale Adele
iii) Bola Ogunlayi
- iv) Tawfiq Akinwale
- v) Marouf Yusuf
- vi) Femi Popoola
vii) Winlade Adisa
Following your unexpected and dramatic nomination and eventual appointment, you called me on phone one Saturday in November, 2015 and requested that I should liaise with members of the Adebayo Shittu Media Office to nominate one of us to be appointed as SA Media for your new appointment then.
An emergency meeting of the group was promptly held. At the end of extensive deliberations, the group unanimously settled for me and my name was officially sent to you. This formed the basis of my appointment as Special Assistant (Media), alongside other aides appointed then in November, 2015. So, I represented a formidable group and other interests.
If I was so appointed, and having worked conscientiously with considerable impact on your tenure in office in the past 27 months and some weeks, it is imperative that I should be remunerated commensurably genuinely “in line with the existing practice”.
WHAT IS THE EXISTING PRACTICE?
The existing practice copiously referred to in my letter of appointment (Annexure 1) could not be in the realm of individual whims and caprices, as the matter is a settled issue in the Federal Civil Service rule and procedure in Nigeria.
According to a subsisting Federal Government circular from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation with Ref. NO.SGF.12/5.6/1.1/23 (Annexure 4) titled: RE: APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL ASSISTANTS AND PERSONAL ASSISTANTS, addressed to All Honourable Ministers, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and all Federal Permanent Secretaries, it stated that the Special Assistant to the Ministers should be on Grade Level 16 Step 4. Other Associated Allowances were also clearly stated.
In summary, the total emoluments due to me as a duly appointed Special Assistant amounted to N252,300.41 per month. This is inclusive of two Domestic Servants, who are expected to be on Level 3 step 8, according to a Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS), prepared by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (Annexure 5).
THE DEBT BURDEN
Sir, be informed that your inability or inhuman refusal to arrange for prompt payment of my emoluments for over two years, no doubt, has not only made life very uncomfortable for me and my household, but had equally made me a laughing stock among my contemporaries and media practitioners.
Even though, principal officers of the Ministry, at the inception of your tenure made spirited efforts to convince you on the “existing practice” of settling SAs emoluments, you apparently refused bluntly.
Conversely, while you deliberately made me to suffer working for you under the most excruciating condition of deprivation, you have been living in indescribable opulence.
Your obvious insensitivity and lack of compassion for me and my other colleagues have done incalculable damages to our persons and families. Some of them are:
- i) My health has deteriorated badly because I could not adequately finance my medical upkeep
- ii) I have been a squatter in Abuja since 2016, having lived in a hotel for many months with outstanding debts till date.
iii) For close to one year now, there has been an unresolved feud with my wife because of my inability to effectively fulfil my marital responsibilities and family upkeep.
- iv) My first daughter, from all indications, may not be able to enlist in the NYSC Scheme in April, 2018 because of my failure to adequately fund her education.
- v) My second daughter had lost one calendar year in the University because of my inability to pay her school fees and other incidentals as at when due.
- vi) My other children of school age have been traumatized and discouraged in their educational pursuit because of the irregularity in the payment of their school fees, with its attendant backslash.
vii) Your conduct has made me a perpetual debtor, with over N3million debt hanging over my neck from sundry creditors.
The irony of the above situation is that while you effectuated stagnation in my life and development (and that of others) by your deliberate ploy and insensitivity, you were doing well for yourself and your family. It is evident to all that your life has witnessed unprecedented turn-around, albeit illicitly, considering the thrust and mission of the Buhari Administration on corruption in public offices.
Thus, in a space of 29 months in office and from ground zero in 2015, you now have no fewer than 12 luxury houses in Abuja, Lagos and Ibadan and a few months ago, you bought a brand new N93 million Printing Press. You have bought over 25 luxury vehicles for yourself, family members, concubines and cronies, outside the eight official vehicles attached to your office.
In the same vein, you have expended substantial amount of money, far above your legitimate earnings as a Minister in the Buhari Administration, on your gubernatorial ambition in Oyo State, while you have equally sponsored no fewer than 22 members of your family and cronies including under-aged children to the Holy Land in Saudi Arabia and lesser Hajj (Umrah) pilgrimage. Of course, everyone in Oyo State knows about your investments that run into hundreds of millions of naira, in your less than three years in the office–these are currently scattered all over Oyo State!
While it is your right to do whatever you like with such stupendous resources at your disposal in less than 30 months as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, my concern is that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. My belief, in this regard, is that a sincere leader should grow up with his followers legitimately. Ironically however, you are shockingly unperturbed by whatever happens to your aides, making the welfare of those who work with you a nullity.
The hope of working with you to properly project you and Oyo State at the Federal Executive Council that came with nostalgic feelings has been dashed. You did not only mess us up by dashing our hopes and aspirations, you inflicted on us injuries that are of permanent nature and of odious dimension. You bruised our psyche, you rubbished our ego, you wasted our time, you exposed us to hardship, you almost destroyed our humanity, you reduced our worth before our wives, children and acquaintances and above all, if not for God, you almost turned us to beggars in Abuja.
While we were suffering under your gross insensitivity and primitive meanness, your sing-song and alibi to the unsuspecting public, both in Abuja and Oyo State, has been that we collect estacode even if you are not paying salary. Your insidious wickedness was so brazen, and, it is a provocative travesty that would make the globally condemned experience of blacks in Apartheid South Africa a child’s play.
THE WAY FORWARD
You may wish to note, sir, that there are two payments made to me which could be linked to you in respect of my outstanding emoluments.
Tuesday, February 6, 2018, the sum of N500,000 was transferred to my Access Bank Account under the name of Ademola Lawal.
Tuesday, February 6, 2018, the sum of N500,000 was transferred to my Access Bank Account by one SA’ADU A. SADIQ & SONS.
With this development, you have paid me the sum of N1million, out of my accumulated emoluments till date, remaining the sum of N13million at the rate of N500,000 per month.
To all intents and purposes, my demand for N500,000 monthly payment may seem incongruent to the provisions of the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS) and the Federal Government Circular (Annexure 4 & 5), but it subsists when one considers the following:
- i) Your body language and subsequent reactions showed that you have a clandestine motive to deny us our entitlements.
- ii) The letter written to me by your former Special Assistant (Admin), Mr David A. Awotunde, titled: PAYMENT OF MONHTLY EMOLUMENT TO HONOURABLE MINISTER’S AIDES and dated 10th June, 2016 (Annexture 6), is quite instructive.
I discountenanced the letter and its content because of its inconsistencies. It is strange and curious that you could succumb to the evil machinations of the “spin doctors” around you then, who suggested that you should convert a N3million largesse shared by your aides at that point in time into N100,000 monthly emolument for a few of us. Not only that the said money was ‘paid’ in advance to cater for the months up till April. Isn’t that novel and ridiculously curious?
The innuendoes contained in the said letter to the effect that I was entitled to N100,000 monthly is not only laughable as a notable professional and graduate of more than THREE DECADES, but also an embarrassment to your person and the totality of the Federal Government. This suggestion, and on the basis of the fact that I learnt you are currently computing how much is due to me, is a wish that could not stand the test of time as my entitlements in this regard do not fall within your whims and caprices, and, no matter how powerful you think you are now because of your timed appointment, it will be an exercise in futility.
I believe you are well aware that it is customary for political office holders to enjoy Severance Allowance which varies from 200 – 300% of Annual Basic Salary. The allowance is usually pro-rated after a minimum of two years tenure.
Undoubtedly, when all these factors and others which I’m holding back, are put in perspective, my demand for N500,000 monthly emolument should be regarded as very modest.
BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
Since there is ‘’A time to keep silence, And a time to speak’’, I had the rare grace of keeping silent in the face of your inhuman and unwarranted tyranny for almost 28 months, but the time to speak out for my entitlements is NOW.
It is quite regrettable that you have manifested in all your relationships with many of those who helped build you up to where you are today reveling as a lord and conqueror with unbridled abandonment. It is disappointingly befuddling that you have become the ironical epitome of Mayor La Guardia who once said that ‘’anyone, who extends his hand of fellowship to me, stands the risk of losing a few fingers’’.
Thus, while you have been living in sudden and extremely outrageous opulence as a public servant at the expense of your dutiful and hardworking aides, you seemingly forget your pitiable socio-economic status and experience in Oyo State before you got this job as you have all of a sudden become insulated to common sense, justice and fairness, the mantra on which many people sheepishly believed in you in your struggling days–including myself.
It is quite bewildering that the fact that you collect your salary every month and regularly does not strike any right cord in you that your aides too deserve a better life by way of their own legitimate emoluments.
FACT SHEET
Hon. Minister, since your inauguration you have collected over N50 MILLION as salary, travelling expenses on the coffers of the Ministry runs into several millions of naira, while you have collected estacodes in excess of $800,000–little wonder, you’re derisively referred to as ESTACODE MINISTER in the Presidency. Yet, you inhumanly find it very convenient to ignore the legitimate entitlements of your aides! In this regard, be informed that you are like an ostrich that buries his head in the sand in delusion that it has hidden itself from the prying eyes of the public.
It is regrettable that as a member of the Nigerian Bar, justice, fairness and equity, the tenets on which the noble profession is pillared, do not matter to you; as a supposed ‘staunch’ Muslim, fear of God is a strange word to you–you have indeed proved that you are a wolf in sheepskin, particularly to the unsuspecting members of your Islamic Faith and other Nigerians, who erroneously see you in the mould of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Unfortunately too, as a Chief of Olubadan, the famed Yoruba family values have taken a flight into oblivion in your scheme of things just because you are in a most ephemeral position as an appointee of His Excellency, President Buhari, a globally acclaimed leader of impeccable character and pedigree.
More disturbingly, your proclivity and debasement of humanity via your unprecedented maltreatment of your appointed aides has become falteringly odious as a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with the change mantra; as a member of the Federal Executive Council, your fraudulent practices is novel and as a Community Leader, deceit is your way of life. The view that your conduct is a disgrace to Islam and mentoring in Nigeria is only an attestation to your greed, insensitivity, vindictiveness, avarice, wickedness and above all, self-centredness.
Dear Minister, after all said and done, I have one advice for you. Please, it will be in your best interest not to play to the gallery and listen to the counsels of your ‘spin doctors’ to either ignore me or take me on. The best and dignified way out for you on this issue of my outstanding entitlements is to access funds from your various ‘sudden’ investments and pay me in full. Like the celebrated former Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, once said, ’’I hope my loyalty will not be put to test’’. In the same vein, I hope my resolve to collect my entitlements in full will not be put to test by you.
Any grandstanding in this matter, to say the least, will be embarrassingly suffocating, as I will leave no stone unturned to retrieve my emoluments in full.
Enough should be enough for the WISE.
Yours,
Victor Oluwadamilare
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has sealed two fuel stations in Ogun State engaging in under-dispensing of petroleum products and non-compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021.
Leading the enforcement team around the Akute-Ajuwon axis of the state, the Head of Distribution Systems Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, Mr Olufemi Adebowale, said the move became imperative in view of repeated breaches of regulatory requirements by the affected stations and the need to protect the rights of consumers from sharp practices.
According to him, the development is part of its ongoing efforts to enforce compliance with industry regulations, protect consumers from sharp practices, and ensure that petroleum marketers dispense the correct quantity of products across the state.
He explained that records available to the authority showed that the fuel stations have consistently violated regulatory compliance by under-dispensing petroleum products, illegally breaking official seals placed on the facility, and resuming operations without authorisation.
According to him, such actions amount to a violation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2023 and undermine efforts to protect consumers from exploitation.
“The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority is carrying out a lawful enforcement on this facility. Our records have consistently shown that this company has been violating regulatory compliance.”
“It is high time we made it clear that they cannot continue to under-dispense products, deliberately remove our seals, and believe that nothing will happen; that is why we are here to enforce the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2023 he said.
“When it comes to under-dispensing, they are cheating members of the public by not selling the correct quantity of fuel. Also, once a station is sealed, it has no authorisation to operate. But this station deliberately removed our seal and continued operations, which is against the law.”
Mr Adebowale disclosed that the authority has been monitoring the station’s activities since 2025, describing the violations as persistent despite several enforcement actions.
He revealed that the affected station had been sealed no fewer than six times within the period, but continued to remove the authority’s seals and ignore invitations extended by the regulator.
“From our records, this has been happening since last year. The station has also refused to honour our invitations. It has been sealed not less than six times, yet it keeps removing our seals and resuming operations.”
On the sanctions awaiting the operators, Adebowale said the authority had served the stations with enforcement notices, while the facilities would remain shut until all stipulated conditions are met.
He added that the NMDPRA management would also consider suspending the operating licence of the affected stations, while also sending a strong warning to any fuel station intending to go against the rules of PIA.
“That is against the rules. They do not have any right to operate until we authorise them to do so. This is a clear deviation from regulatory compliance. According to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), when this happens, we must carry out enforcement, and that is why we are here today.
Beyond conducting this exercise, we are also using this opportunity to address the public through the media. As long as operators are doing the right thing, they have nothing to fear. However, for those going against compliance levels—whether through under-dispensing or direct violation of our seal—all necessary enforcement, penalties, and sanctions will be strictly applied against such offenders.”
“A letter has been served, the station has been completely shut down, and they must meet all the conditions, including payment of the applicable penalties. We are also looking at suspending the operating licence, subject to management’s approval,” he said, warning that any further attempt to tamper with the seals or resume operations illegally would attract criminal prosecution.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says it has moved to reduce port gridlock by releasing trucks into Apapa and Tin Can ports in scheduled batches based on terminal demand, while enforcing strict rules against indiscriminate parking on port access roads.
The General Manager, Lagos Port Complex, Mr Debo Lawal, said the NPA management, led by Managing Director, Mr Abubakar Dantsoho, was committed to ending indiscriminate truck parking around the ports and aligning operations with global best practices.
He said the authority was working with Truck Transit Parks Limited (TTP) to regulate truck movement into terminals through a phased release system.
According to him, trucks will now be released in scheduled batches based on terminal demand, instead of allowing all approved trucks to enter the port corridor simultaneously.
“If a terminal requires 100 trucks, they will not all be released at once. They will come in batches to reduce pressure on the port access roads,” he said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.
Mr Lawal said a joint task force had been clearing Apapa and Tin Can port access roads since June 26, 2026, operating until about 8 pm daily to prevent indiscriminate parking.
He added that another clearance exercise would soon be conducted to sustain the gains and prevent a return to the persistent gridlock that previously characterised the port corridors.
The port manager, however, urged truck operators to support the initiative by exiting the port environment immediately after loading or offloading cargo.
He noted that some truck drivers still parked along access roads after completing port operations, despite repeated engagements by the authority.
“We engage truckers and their leadership every day, but enforcement will continue alongside sensitisation to ensure compliance,” he said.
On infrastructure, Mr Lawal said the federal government, through the NPA, had begun payment of the five per cent counterpart funding required for the 726 million dollar port rehabilitation project.
He disclosed that preliminary activities, including borehole drilling and site investigations, had been completed, while contractors were expected to mobilise to the site before the end of July.
According to him, a technical stakeholders’ meeting was held on July 7, while a broader stakeholders’ review was scheduled for July 13 to assess progress and address implementation gaps.
Mr Lawal said the rehabilitation project, alongside ongoing reforms, was aimed at reducing cargo clearance time, eliminating documentation bottlenecks and improving operational efficiency at the nation’s seaports.
He added that the National Single Window project was about 80 per cent completed, with a dedicated office already established near the port to improve inter-agency coordination.
According to him, the digital platform will integrate banks, the Nigeria Customs Service, shipping companies and other government agencies to improve efficiency, plug revenue leakages and enhance revenue collection.
Mr Lawal expressed confidence that improved digitisation, reduced human interference and more efficient truck management would strengthen Nigeria’s trade competitiveness and enhance operations at the Apapa and Tin Can ports.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has said the implementation of the Defined Benefit Scheme Pension Harmonisation is a reform meant to advance and enhance pension payment equity in the country.
The chief executive of PTAD, Mrs Tolulope Abiodun Odunaiya, said this initiative was a landmark reform designed to restore fairness, improve retirees’ welfare and strengthen confidence in the administration of the country’s legacy pension system.
The harmonisation exercise marks one of the most significant policy interventions in the Defined Benefit Scheme since PTAD was established in 2013 to take over the management of pensions under the old federal pension arrangement.
Unlike periodic pension increases that merely raise existing benefits by a percentage, she stressed that pension harmonisation was further than that by recomputing pensions using the latest approved salary structures that existed before the closure of the Defined Benefit Scheme.
She noted that the objective is to ensure that retirees who held similar positions and rendered comparable years of service receive equitable pension benefits regardless of their retirement dates.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of years of agitation by pensioners over historical disparities in pension computation.
She added that the PTAD’s harmonisation programme seeks to resolve that challenge by restoring parity within the system. According to her, pension harmonisation is the formal recomputation of pensions using approved salary structures applicable before the DBS cut-off date.
In practical terms, it ensures that pension outcomes are determined by rank, grade level and years of service rather than the year of retirement.
The Directorate believes the exercise will significantly improve social justice by correcting historical inequities that disadvantaged thousands of retirees.
The harmonisation applies primarily to pure Federal Government pensioners as well as eligible retirees under the Parastatals Pension Department (PaPD), Defunct and Transferred Agencies Pension Department (DTAPD), and the Education and Health Pension Department (TEHPD), particularly those who initially served under the Federal Government before their agencies were transferred to state governments.
