Lagos secondary school bursar docked for N705,000 fraud

A secondary school bursar, Richard Olaleye, who allegedly defrauded the school of N705,000, on Thursday appeared before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court. Olaleye, 44, who resides at No. 9, Salami St., Maidan, Mile 2, a Lagos suburb, is facing a two-count charge of stealing and fraudulent use of accounting.

According to the prosecutor, Insp. Simon Imhonwa, the accused committed the offences between June, July and August 2015 in the school located at No. 27, Mary St., Irawo, Ikorodu. Imhonwa said the accused, who was in charge of payments and accounting records of the school, converted a total sum of N705,000 from the school’s coffers to personal use.

He said the accused in an attempt to cover up the fraud, destroyed several receipt booklets belonging to the school. “The alleged missing fund was discovered following a quarterly audit done by officials of Pillar Private School,” Imhonwa said. He said the offences contravened Sections 285 and 335 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Reports show that Section 335 provides a seven-year imprisonment for offenders. In her ruling, Magistrate Bola Osunsanmi granted the accused bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case to Nov. 23.

Insurgency: Troops kill terrorists in battle

In continuation of the fight against Boko Haram terrorists, Nigerian troops from 243 Battalion under 5 Brigade Nigerian Army on patrol, Sunday, engaged some terrorists in a fierce battle killing four of them while others escaped.

The terrorists who had converted a primary school in Duwabafi village, Borno State, to their camp and were armed with AK 47 rifles, also converted a part of the school to their logistic materials base.

A statement signed by Colonel Sani Usman, Acting Director, Army Public Relations said soldiers who were on fighting patrol to rid elements of the terrorists from their camps encountered the suspected elements holed up at the Primary School in Duwabafi village, Borno State, on Sunday.

“There was heavy exchange of gunfire in which the patrol killed 4 suspected Boko Haram terrorists, recovered 2 AK-47 rifles, 4 various sizes of solar energy panels, several types of drugs and 5 motorcycles.

“The patrol has returned to base and is further re-strategizing for more onslaughts on all remaining vestiges of Boko Haram elements within the area

20 pro Biafra detainees: Court to rule on bail applications today

Chief Magistrate Andrew Jaja of a Port Harcourt Magistrate’s court will today rule on the bail applications filed by counsels of 20 pro Biafra supporters arrested in Port Harcourt during a protest march last week by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

This is even as the  Anambra State police command has denied detaining any  supporter of Radio Biafra Director.

The protesters had demanded the unconditional release of the Director of Biafra radio, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu

The Chief Magistrate, Mr. Jaja had to defer the matter till today after listening to arguments of counsels of the 20 suspects seeking the court to grant them bail last week.

While remanding them in prison custody, the Chief Magistrate said he needed to take a critical look  at the issue and thus adjourned till today.

The suspects were, among other things, charged for treasonable felony. They also allegedly tore the nation’s flag, an act the Police said was a threat to the unity of the  country,

Those arraigned were: Benson Sunday (21), Emmanuel Ali (25), Ukeme  Monday (32), Chibuzo Ezechina (33), Charles Eze (29), Egbo Okechukwu (24), Chibona Ifion (47), John Douglas (20), Ezenwa Alphonsus (51), Wori Endurance (30), Chinomere Nwolu (25), Henry Eze (36), Friday  Uzunwa (22), Igodo Abio (34), Akaniyene Uwem (22), Eni Iboro (27), Obinna Stephen (26), Monday  Ocha (37), Obinna Ibekwe (27), and Kingsley Ezengorie  (24).

The three-count charge against them read in part, “…on October 20, 2015, at about 2:00p.m., at Ikwerre Road in Port Harcourt, in Port Harcourt magisterial District, the suspects and others now at large did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: treason and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 37(2), of the criminal code, Cap C38, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004.

“… on same date and time did without lawful authority demonstrate and chant war song that Hausa is not part of Biafra, which caused panic in the neighbourhood, instilled fear on reasonable grounds with intent to intimidate or cause panic within the state and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 37(1) of the criminal code, Cap C38 laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004.

And “…all the suspects and others now at large on the same place and time, did wilfully and unlawfully damage the Nigeria flag, which was hoisted at Zenith Bank Plc, Ikoku Branch in Port Harcourt, and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 451 of criminal code, Cap C38 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004.”

Meantime, the  Anambra State Police command said, yesterday, that no supporter of director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu was detained by it, contrary to a newspaper report on the matter.

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, for the command, Mr. Ali Okechukwu said the 17 persons, made up of 13 females and four males, who were among those protesting on the said date, were cautioned and asked to go home by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hosea Karma.

He denied a newspaper report that the police shot four members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, describing such report as mischievious.

Energy firms owe banks N3.72trn – CBN

POWER firms and oil and   gas companies operating in Nigeria are owing banks in the country about N3.72 trillion as at June 2015, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. The CBN, in its Statistical Bulletin for the Second Quarter of 2015, said the indebtedness of the energy firms was 27.7 per cent of the total credit to the private sector which stood at N13.433 trillion in the period under review.

CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele

The huge debts by the firms are being attributed to the low price of oil in the international market, which has negatively impacted on the revenue profile of the companies.

The total indebtedness of the energy firms as at June end was N147 billion or 4.11 per cent above their total debts of N3.573 trillion as the end of 2014. But it represented a slight decline of N108 billion or 2.82 per cent compared to the N3.828 trillion recorded as at the end of May 2015.

Energysector

Giving a breakdown of banks’ credit to the energy sector, the CBN said at the end of June, downstream oil and gas, natural gas and crude oil refining companies owed banks N2.059 trillion compared to N2.285 trillion and N2.047 trillion owed in May 2015 and December 2014, respectively.

Similarly, independent power projects and power generating companies were indebted to the banks to the tune of N353.91 billion, compared to N357.501 billion owed in May 2015, and N276.125 billion as at the end of 2014.

On the other hand, upstream oil and gas services companies owed banks N1.147 trillion against N1.027 trillion and N1.099 trillion as at May 2015, and December 2015. Power transmission and distribution companies owed N161.244 billion compared to N158.57 billion and N150.88 billion as at May 2015 and December 2014, respectively.

In its analysis, the CBN said: “Net domestic credit (NDC) increased from its level in December 2014 by N2.537 trillion or 13.45 per cent to N21.41 trillion in the review period, indicating a 15.85 percentage points decrease below the provisional programmed target of 29.30 per cent for fiscal 2015, but 28.29 per cent higher than the level achieved a year earlier.

“Net credit to government, year-to-date, rose by 231.72 per cent showing 195.67 percentage points increase above the provisional programmed target of 36.05 per cent for fiscal 2015. “Credit to private sector increased from its level in December 2014 by N782.10 billion or 4.32 per cent to N18.897 trillion. At this level, it was 21.74 percentage points lower than the provisional programmed target of 26.06 per cent for fiscal 2015.”

The report further attributed the increase in credit to government on a N1.183 trillion drawdown of government deposits which overshot the N572.5 billion expansion in claims on government. According to the report, these movements were traced to N1.131 trillion drawdown.

This is  on government deposits by the CBN, and N47.1 billion contraction of credit to government by commercial banks. In its analysis on private sector credit, the CBN said: “The 0.6 per cent increase in claims on private sector was accounted for by the increases of N68.3 billion or 0.6 per cent and N16.0 billion or 1.8 per cent in loans and advances to other customers and investments, respectively.

No justification for electricity tariff hike – Stakeholders

NIGERIANS have been thrown into confusion over whose authority supersedes on the issue of electricity tariff increase. No sooner than President Muhammadu Buhari, assured Nigerians that there will be no hike until supply improved significantly, than the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, last week declared a new tariff regime effective from November 1.

Stakeholders note that the new tariff is more than 40 percent higher than the current levels and will be the second time in nine months, even as there has been no significant improvement in the electricity supply situation in the country.

While some consumers admit to better supply in some locations, majority however, insist that the situation is even worse than before, as they enjoy the scarce commodity only for a few hours late into the night, when it is really of no use to them.

No justification: Reacting to the development, an advocacy group, Nigerian Electricity Consumers Advocacy, NECAN, said the recent “consultations” on tariff carried out by electricity distribution companies, DISCOS, were a mere trick to justify tariff hike.

According to NECAN President, Mr. Tomi Akingbogun, “We believe NERC is allowing the public to be over billed by allowing the DISCOs justify the increases. Otherwise, how can it be explained NERC allowed a tariff hike of 12.5 to 48 percent in January, and allowing same percent in October of that same year?

“NERC has allowed the DISCOs to take advantage of everyone and had changed the rules at will thereby breaking all the rules. The condition given to them was to ensure that customers are metered before complaining of losses.” He therefore called on the President Buhari to keep his promises to Nigerians and discourage the exploitation by the DISCos.

Costs evaluation: Also commenting, the Director General, Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Mr. Muda Yusuf, said  the proposed upward review in electricity tariff at this time is worrisome, as consumers should not be made to pay for inefficiency or corruption costs.

His words: “It is important to evaluate the elements of the current costs especially the integrity of procurement processes and other operational expenditure under the current dispensation. The risk of bloated costs is typically high with such enterprises, especially as they operate in a monopolistic environment.

“Pricing is only one component (although fundamental) in the power reform process. There are other issues such as the gas availability, security of gas infrastructure, adequacy of investment in gas infrastructure, security and adequacy of the transmission lines, and the general framework to mitigate the risk of investment in the sector.

“The problem of outrageous billing is yet to be addressed. The commitment to the provision of meters for electricity consumers to ensure fair billing is inadequate. A vast majority of consumers still have no meters.

Inadequaciesin billing

Yet this is fundamental to a good relationship between the power firms and their customers. Many consumers feel exploited at this time because of the inadequacies in billing. The contentious fixed charge is still in place. “It is heart rending that the choice of locations of many of the Independent Power Projects, IPPs, was informed more by politics than the economics of power generation.

“Access to a major input in power generation, which is gas, was not sufficiently taken into account.  This reality has badly affected the cost profile of the IPP projects. All these are complications and challenges on the path of the power sector productivity,” he maintained.

Breaking the law:  According to Section. 76 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act. MYTO 1.0 states that there will be no increase until 2017, and only 5% will be allowed. DISCOs were given two years to meter all customers. But they refused saying there was no money. Grant was given them, they refused to access it.

Alternatively, customers were asked to fund meter purchase and be refunded from their bills. But for three to four years or more down the line, nothing has been done to that effect. The law does not recognise estimated billing. NERC should stop the practice, but instead it allows it on the excuse that DISCOs must make profit.

Presently, only about 40 percent electricity users are metered. How does NERC want the DISCOs to make profit from the 40% customers captured? This is the question begging for answer if the plan is not to allow them make super profits before metering everyone.

No valid basis for hike: Against this backdrop, the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics, NAEE, condemned attempts by the DISCOs and NERC to increase electricity tariffs, saying that there is no valid and empirical basis for any sort of increase.

GRIDLOCK: Assembly summons LASTMA boss, charges new commissioners

To address the menace of traffic gridlock in the state, Lagos State House of Assembly, yesterday, asked the new Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Dayo Mobereola to come out with strategic plans that would ease the perenial lockdown in several parts of the state.

File Photo

The lawmakers also, yesterday, called on the General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, Bashir Braimah, to appear before it over the persistent traffic issues.

The summon resulted from the adoption of a motion moved on the issue by a member, Moshood Oshun, representing Lagos Mainland Constituency 2, during plenary yesterday.

Speaking on the issue, Speaker, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa, observed that the state ought to devise other means of transportation such as rail and sea to ease traffic congestion.

According to him, “there is need to invite the General Manager of LASTMA to come and address us on the issue, while the newly-appointed Commissioner for Transportation should direct relevant agencies to ease the traffic situation in the state.

“LASTMA was established to ease traffic in the state, and also provide jobs for people and any official of the agency that is not ready to work should be shown the way out. We have to urgently do something about this.”

Also contributing, the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Wasiu Eshinlokun, said there should be zero tolerance for driving against traffic and for motorcycle riders that ride on restricted roads.

In his view, the Majority Leader, Sanai Agunbiade said the intention of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in changing the approach of LASTMA officials on the way they handle traffic offenders was good.

He added that the governor did not stop LASTMA officials from enforcing traffic laws, adding that okada riders now ride on highways with impunity.

Agunbiade said there was need for the Commissioner of Information and that of Transportation to collaborate on enlightenment of the public on traffic rules.

Also, Tobun Abiodun from Epe Constituency 1 said that the Federal Government had abandoned its responsibility in Lagos, while urging the House to call on her to fix the bad federal roads in the state.

Gbolahan Yishawu from Eti-Osa Constituency 2 put the blame on the quality of drivers in the state as he said people obtain driver’s licenses without knowing traffic rules and laws.

Man, 23, bags 6 months imprisonment for stealing N50,000

An Ota Magistrates’ Court in Ogun on Monday sentenced one Joshua Sunday, 23, to six months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to stealing N50,000 from one Olaoye Temitope.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs A.O. Abimbola, however, gave the convict an option to pay N40, 000 as fine.

Sunday, who resides at Iyana-Iyesi in Ota, was convicted for stealing.

The Prosecutor, Sgt. Abdulkareem Mustapha, told the court that the convict committed the crime on Oct.13 at about 12.30 p.m. at Idiroko Road in Ota.

Mustapha had alleged that the accused was caught in the act removing money from the complainant’s pocket.

He said that Sunday was subsequently, handled over to the police.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Volume 1 of the Revised Laws of Ogun State, 2006.
Estelle says: If only the politicians can also be judged this way.

How NNPC officials stole billions using failed electronic management contract

NNPC Towers

An enterprise resource solution for accountability in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC’s business processes, turned a spin project for crooked top officials to steal billions, a report reveals.

The project, which had 86 weeks completion time-line, has dragged for more than three years, after gulping almost double the contract sum originally approved by the Nigerian presidency, with nothing to show.

The resource solution is called SAP Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP).

It is an electronic management solution deployed by most global organisations to monitor real-time operations of a network of subsidiaries and affiliates irrespective of their locations.

All-in-one solution

The solution is an all-in-one package, comprising different modules for standard business, financial, contracts management and personnel information, data and processes in the business value chain.

The automated tool is usually deployed once and run globally through an integrated network that links all the organisation’s operational units and affiliates seamlessly, irrespective of location.

Most multi-national oil companies, like Royal Dutch Shell Group, ExxonMobil Corporation, Chevron Corporation and Total operate such integrated global systems that allow seamless monitoring of business processes with partners and government agencies from any location.

In 2013, Royal Dutch Shell Corporation, the world’s fourth largest oil producer, with about 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, and almost 40,000 staff, spent only $32million to deploy a similar solution within 18 months.

With the tool, Shell monitors real-time operational processes involving thousands of subsidiaries and affiliates in over 90 countries around the world, including Nigeria.

Curiously, a detailed implementation review report in February 2015 by the corporate audit department of the NNPC, exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES , showed how the deployment of a similar platform by the NNPC turned out a specimen of monumental fraud.

By January 2015, the report said the SAP ERP implementation gulped almost double the total amount approved for the deployment of the solution in all NNPC’s 13 subsidiaries, affiliates and strategic business units (SBUs).

The report, titled “Review of SAP Implementation Project” from Assignment No. HPA/1/2015/02, stated: “a major risk that hindered the completion time-line of the project was connectivity required to support SAP to go-live was not fully available.

“There seems to be a disconnect between the business units (users of different SAP solutions) and the SAP PMO as per the completeness of deployment and usability of the solution.

“While SAP PMO considers SAP program as having been completed and closed, most business units are still grappling with challenges, ranging from incomplete deployment, lack of integration amongst modules and usability.”

NNPC enterprise solution conceived

The SAP ERP was first approved by the board of the corporation on May 15, 2007 as a plank for the then Olusegun Obasanjo administration’s reform agenda in the country’s oil and gas industry.

But PREMIUM TIMES investigations revealed that successive NNPC managements, beginning with Funso Kupolokun as GMD, always exploited loopholes in the project’s execution to milk the system of billions.

Findings showed that Accenture, the management consulting and technology services firm, was originally expected to run the project for $67million.

The company was paid about $3million in 2007 to carry out the “blueprinting”, a road-map for implementing the solution.

However, another bid for $24million was received from SAP of Germany through its Nigerian subsidiary, SAP Nigeria.

This compelled Accenture to bring down its price to $25million after its allies on the NNPC Board had leaked the information.

Provisional Board approval favoured the bid by SAP Nigeria, with majority of members persuaded with the argument that as patent owner of the SAP solution, the company would provide after sales service where necessary at no extra cost.

The Board decision to choose SAP Nigeria angered some key members, who were strongly rooting for Accenture.

Regardless, the then Special Adviser to the President on Petroleum, Edmund Daukoru, stood up to the pressures by some powerful Board members to overturn the Board’s decision for Accenture.

Members of the Board were still abroad in Harvard for a training programme when their dissolution was announced by then President Obasanjo, apparently to frustrate the implementation of their decision not to give Accenture the contract.

Days later, Mr. Kupolokun wrote to Mr. Obasanjo requesting the reversal of the dissolved Board’s decision on the contract to SAP Nigeria.

But, the president could do nothing on the request without a reconstituted NNPC Board till Mr. Obasanjo’s tenure ended in May 2007.

When Musa Yar’adua took over and the NNPC Board was reconstituted, Mr. Kupolokun also approached him with a similar memo. But, nothing could be done till he was removed from office.

SAP ERP approved

Underground scheming on the project continued till February 16, 2009 when President Yar’adua finally approved about $25.57million for the entire project.

This excluded cost of critical related infrastructure, $4.038 million; project team cost, $1.74 million, project implementation in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt refineries, $5.4 million, totalling about $36.75million.

Shortly after the presidential approval of the contract, the hawks went to work immediately, to realise through other means what they could not in the board room – hijack the contract.

The plan coincided with the period Surajdeen Afolabi’s employment as supply chain manager with Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria was about to come to end.

Mr. Afolabi was promptly recruited to take charge of the newly created department to coordinate the SAP project.

Although a non-IT professional, Mr. Afolabi was assured strong management support to work independently of the existing ICT Department.

Indeed, successive managements in NNPC made good the assurances. Because of the high level complicity in the executive scam, neither Mr. Afolabi nor the department he headed was starved steady supply of hard currency, as all requests were routinely met.

On assumption of office, Mr. Afolabi’s first proposal was for $3million to conduct another “blueprinting”, done earlier by Accenture. Despite opposition from the IT department, approval was given and funds released.

Independent confirmation could not be obtained on whether the funds were actually used for the purpose they were released or not.

Beside, any staff poking his nose in the affairs of the SAP project was either cut to size or shown the way out of the department.

Almost double bill

Details of the expenditure on the project exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that as at January 2015, the NNPC had spent about $70.66 million and €6.06 million as well as N820.089 million.

The amount is almost double the  $36.75 million approved by the Federal Government for the completion of the entire project.

Yet, the solution is partially functional in only five SBUs, namely: the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC; Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC; Integrated Data Services Limited, IDSL; NNPC Retail Limited and Crude Oil Marketing departments, COMD, and Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company, WRPC.

Deployment in each SBU costs a minimum of $5million.

Project completion timeline was 86 weeks. But the review report showed that more than 36 months later, implementation seemed to be leading nowhere.

“As at March 2012, over two years after the take-off of the project, connectivity required to support SAP (to) go live was not fully established,” the report said.

Experts fault deployment

A Lagos-based IT consultant, Fred Umahi, criticized the deployment of stand-alone SAP solutions by NNPC, saying as an enterprise solution, it should have been deployed once and run globally through an integrated network linking all SBUs, irrespective of location.

Mr. Umahi faulted the duplication of the SAP solution in all NNPC subsidiaries without integration, describing the absence of inter-connectivity between the SBUs so far deployed as the main reason the solution had not been functional.

“Every organisation deploys one SAP solution and integrate it to all its business units globally,” Mr. Umahi explained. “Deploying stand-alone SAP hardware, data baseline and operational system in silos by NNPC without integration is wrong.”

Those familiar with the implementation of the project said the SAP project managers did not reckon with its scope, in terms of the modules suitable for the business requirements and peculiarities of each SBU.

For instance, workers in the Human Resources, Crude Oil Marketing and Finance departments said the SAP module deployed to them was not what they needed, because they were serviced with different business modules and licenses.

Despite opposition by the IT department that Microsoft Business Intelligence Suite had already been deployed, the NNPC management went ahead to approve €4 million for Business Intelligence solution using Business Object.

But the Business Intelligence module, a management reporting tool for decision making, deployed at NPDC, failed to work, because it does not run on Service Pack Zero, considered an obsolete model that does not allow upgrade.

As a temporary solution, an upgrade from Service Pack Zero to Service Pack 7 cost about $5million, apart from additional charge of $2million per SBU for “stabilisation”; $1.9 million for “corridor support” (training for prospective users) and €4 million as annual SAP maintenance fee. “Customization” and “optimization” attract similar fees.

Equally, approval was given for the department to license all SAP solutions end-to-end at €4 million each, irrespective of the fact that NNPC already had similar subsisting licenses.

Despite the huge expenditure on the deployment of the Business Intelligence that has failed to work, a source in the NNPC, who asked not to be named, as he had no permission to speak on the issue, said Mr. Afolabi already announced plans to scrap the system.

In its place, he wants to introduce an Enterprise Project Management, EPM system after NNPC had spent about $1.9 million for in-house personnel training.

Approval has also been given for another contract to run a Project Sanctioning and Approval Procedure, P-SAP.

Hawking the solution

To capture more SBUs and affiliates to buy in, the SAP department has continued to hawk the solution to all NNPC subsidiaries and affiliates.

The audit report noted that Mr. Afolabi made presentations proposing the solution to 18 SBUs and several affiliates, like Brass LNG, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

“The problem with the SAP system is a fundamental one,” one top NNPC said. “The structure was built on a fraudulent foundation that no one can build on. The department that deployed the solution, from top to bottom, is not technically competent.

“For the system to work, President Muhammadu Buhari has unfinished business at NNPC. If his dream of sanitizing the NNPC and bring it to international reckoning is to be realized, cleaning the Aegean stable has to begin with the SAP project.

“Those who committed the fraud that has cost government billions must be cleared from the system and the contract reviewed. Otherwise, NNPC is doomed.”

NNPC says SAP is working

Regardless, NNPC spokesperson, Ohi Alegbe, dismissed reports that the project was not working, saying those complaining are those finding it difficult to adapt to the change since the introduction of the solution in NNPC.

“Please, don’t get sucked in to the false claims that SAP is not working. SAP is working very well. In fact, the implementation of SAP is one of the success stories of the ongoing transformation process at the NNPC,” Mr. Alegbe said.

Mr. Afolabi, who was in charge of the SAP Department since 2007 as General Manager and recently appointed Group General Manager, SAP/IT Department by the new NNPC management, dismissed as “laughable and mischievous” claims that SAP in NNPC was not working.

He provided commendation letters and framed awards on the walls of his office received from previous NNPC managements as testimonials for the performance of the SAP solution in the corporation’s operational processes, particularly contract awards and payments.

“SAP is working perfectly in NNPC,” Mr. Afolabi told PREMIUM TIMES in his office a fortnight ago in Abuja.

“Since the introduction of SAP in NNPC, all aspects of our operations are working seamlessly. We have received several awards and recognitions from NNPC management and outside because of the SAP success story. The only challenge we have has been how to get everybody to buy in.”

He refused to give further details.

Although Mr. Afolabi promised to provide “vigorous and robust responses” if PREMIUM TIMES submitted a formal request for clarification on issues relating to SAP in NNPC, he failed on three occasions, over two weeks, to provide answers to questions sent to him.

Despite their claims that SAP was working well, the newly appointed Group Managing Director of NNPC, Ibe Kachikwu, recently expressed frustration and disappointment over the project, officials there told PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr. Kachikwu reportedly told a meeting of NNPC’s top management officials that despite the huge investment in project, it remained more of a drainpipe than a solution, particularly in helping curb corruption in its business processes.

The General Manager, ITD/SAP of NNPC, Inuwa Danladi, recently recruited to head the seven-member SAP Team, was said to have recommended that based on the implementation review report, the SAP project cannot function effectively except it was dismantled and deployed afresh.

Mr. Danladi is said to have told the NNPC management that the deployment of SAP in the corporation was deliberately designed to fail, so as to serve as a conduit for its managers to siphon money.

Strings of Suicide Attacks Put Maiduguri on Edge

Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai 

Over 60 killed in one week; fear grips residents     Buratai warns of all-out offensive against sect.

The last seven days have been horrendous for residents of Maiduguri and its suburbs, with an upsurge in suicide bombings by the Boko Haram sect claiming over 60 lives.

The attacks are coming on the heels of warning by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai of an impending all-out war against the terrorists in the North-east in a matter of days

The latest attack in Maiduguri took place yesterday morning in Umarari Village, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, during which three female underage suicide bombers detonated bombs, killing seven villagers.

This upsurge in attacks is coming despite assurances by the military to annihilate the terrorists by December.
Following the heightened suicide attacks, many in Maiduguri are now living in fear, with Muslim faithful choosing to shun congregational prayers at Mosque for individual prayers at home.
Some of the Muslims who spoke to our correspondent said it was wiser now to avoid congregational prayers centres as it draws the attention of suicide bombers.

One of those that spoke to our correspondent in Maiduguri, Abba Yunus said from recent attacks, Mosques, because of the large gathering are being targeted by suicide bombers.
"I have chosen for now to pray at home especially at nights and in the mornings; it seems to be the time the suicide bombers are on the prowl," said Yunus.

Three underage girls detonated bombs during the attacks on Umarari Village.
A resident of the village, Idris Mohammed told our correspondent on phone that the explosions occurred after the three young girls ran into houses in the village detonating bombs strapped on them.

He confirmed that seven persons, including the three suicide bombers died in the attack.
He equally said twenty other persons were injured and had been assisted by the villagers to hospitals in Maiduguri.
The spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the Northeast, Abdulkadir Ibrahim confirmed the Umarari Village attacks.

Umarari is a village behind Molai which was attacked on Thursday night.
Governor Kashim Shettima who visited the scenes of the attacks, in company of NEMA Director-General, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Sidi commiserated with the families and relations of the deceased even as he urged the people to be more security conscious and report suspicious persons or group of people to the security agencies in the area.    

Just on Wednesday, the suicide bombers attacked Sajere, Maiduguri, killing 7 people.
The most deadly of the raging attacks took place on Thursday in Molai, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, during which 43 people were killed in a Mosque after a suicide attack by suspected Boko Haram members.
Molai is a distance of about 15 Kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and had witnessed some suicide explosions in the past.

The entire Molai Mosque came crumbling down on the worshippers. As mourners gathered to evacuate the corpses another bomb was detonated right in their midst killing more people.
A survivor in the Mosque attack, Tijjani Bulama told journalists that he was lucky to have joined the congregation late for the prayer.
Bulama said his entire household - his father and siblings - were tragically lost in the first twin explosions at the Mosque in Molai.
He said the bang was so loud that he lost his hearing for some minutes and he was also unconscious.

“I could not hear anything again. I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. It was a bad experience for me," he added.
Another residents said a male suicide bomber came into the Molai mosque at about 6.30pm as if he was one of the worshippers and minutes later, a loud sound came from the Mosque; the entire building carved in, killing all worshippers. 

“After the first blast, Civilian JTF, relatives and other people came to rescue the victims; unknown to them, the second one (suicide bomber) detonated his own in their midst killing more people," said the eyewitness.
Borno State Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Opadokun said in a test message after the Molai attacks: “The death toll has risen to 30 in the early hours of Friday as more corpses including the village head of the area, were discovered and evacuated to the hospital mortuary.

Fear grips Maiduguri residents...
Elizabeth Yakubu, a resident of Bulumkutu who lives in the same neighborhood with Sajeri, captures the prevailing mood in the town as follows: "I have restricted going out at night. Whatever I want to buy, I buy before 6:30pm because most of these attacks are at night.
"It is sad that the suicide attacks are on the increase but unfortunately,  since I have a job to do, I cannot flee town just like that, all I have to do is to take precautions."

Ibrahim Idris, a taxi driver was however, more philosophical: "I am a man of faith and believe that when death will come, it will come but it is quite unfortunate that the terrorists seem to be on the prowl and are killing people daily.

"They have successfully sent fear into everyone, we are praying that the government finds a way of arresting these suicide attacks, the rate at which people are dying from bomb attacks is simply unacceptable and if something is not done to put an end to it, I won't be surprised to see people fleeing Maiduguri."

On her part, Hassanatu Kyari, who had earlier fled from Damboa to Molai when it was attacked last year, lamented that the terrorists keep pushing for Maiduguri. I had to flee to Molai from Damboa because of these hoodlums but as they have started pushing for Molai, I may need to make a decision very soon to move into Maiduguri.

"I just pray that the government is able to stop this their push for Maiduguri, because the alternative is that people may have to flee the capital and that will be very disastrous."

Buratai warns of all-out offensive against sect…
Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has in a solemn message to the troops engaged in Operation Lafiya Dole yesterday, warned of the impending all-out war against the Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east in a matter of days.
Buratai stated that "the next few days will be crucial to Operation Lafiya Dole", warning that "it is also crucial to our country Nigeria".
According to him, "our sovereignty as a nation is threatened".

He said: "The Nigerian Army and indeed the military  as the symbol of our nationhood is being challenged.  Our ability to stand and defeat the Boko Haram terrorists in the next few weeks will determine the future of our country.

"We cannot afford to lose the fight. We are better trained and better equipped. The whole nation is behind us. Mr. President is with us. Let us remain steadfast in this noble cause. Be courageous. We must degrade and defeat the terrorists. This job must be done. We must make our country men and women proud."

The latest statement from the CoAS might have been a fallout of the earlier warning issued by the Nigerian military that all Boko Haram terrorists wherever they are, to desist from all acts of terrorism, surrender themselves and face the law now.

Recall that the Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman, had last week stated that terrorists’ continued insurgency was an exercise in futility since the military "are aware of all their hideouts, camps and enclaves".
Usman had urged the remnants to "follow their colleagues who have so far surrendered", warning that "failure to surrender will result in serious consequences as our troops are fast closing up with them".

However, it seems as if the warning fell on deaf ears as the terrorists have stepped up suicide bombing attacks that have left close to 60 people dead and several others injured in Maiduguri metropolis in just one week.
The heightened attacks are also coming barely few days after President Muhammadu Buhari assured he was "fully confident" of ending the Boko Haram terrorism by the end of this year, saying that the military "is well-positioned to meet the December deadline which they had been given".

APC Candidate Laments Delay in Getting Certified True Copy of Ruling

Inibehe Okori,

The All Progressives Congress senatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom North West, Inibehe Okori, has decried the delay of getting the certified true copy of Wednesday’s ruling that upheld the election of former governor Godswill Akpabio as senator representing Akwa Ibom North West. 

He described it as an effort to sabotage his appeal.
Okori had approached the tribunal challenging conduct of the election and declaration of Akpabio as winner of the poll.
He lamented Friday that more than 48 hours after the judgment was delivered,  the judge was yet to release CTC of the ruling to enable him proceed to the Court of Appeal to challenge the ruling.

In a statement, he said, "The decision to withhold the judgement  is part of a grand conspiracy by both the tribunal chairman and Akpabio to prevent the appeal. I know that people are making serious efforts through various illegal means to stop me, but they will not succeed".

Justice Anunihu also insisted that even though Akpabio was nominated by the PDP for election in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial district instead of North West where he hails from, his nomination and subsequent declaration by INEC as winner of the election was in order in so far as INEC had published his name among the list of candidates for the election 30 days to the date of the election.
The tribunal further stated that the Certified True Copy of INEC's Card Reader report which proved that only 205,519 voters were validly accredited was admitted in error and ruled that all evidence emanating from the document be expunged.

Justice Aninuhu also said the mode of sponsorship was not specified in the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution and therefore Akpabio's form reading Akwa Ibom North East is a clerical error which amounts to a non issue and that Akpabio's form reading Akwa Ibom North is an erroneous error as INEC did not complain about the nomination. Justice Aninuhu said there was nothing wrong in INEC correcting the error done by the PDP on the former Governors nomination form in so far as the PDP nominated only three senatorial candidates from the three senatorial district.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Akwa Ibom State has described the ruling of Justice Goddy Anunihu as a desecration of Justice. Briefing newsmen in Abuja, the party said "it observed with horror the wholesale miscarriage of justice in the outcomes of the various petitions filed by the party and its candidates at the Akwa Ibom State National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunals."

The statement reads, "Nothing drives this point more forcefully home than the controversial decision of the Justice Goddy Anunihu-led Panel to dismiss the petition of the APC candidate for the Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district, Chief Inibehe Okori, on the grounds that Mr. Godswill Akpabio’s candidacy in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District, rather than Akwa Ibom North West where the APC candidate contested, was a "mistake" and that the  Panel's admission of the card reader database analysis evidencing the fraudulent casting of 444,505 votes by only 205,519 accredited voters was done "in error" and had to be expunged from the Tribunal record in deciding the case. In our view, this fraudulently contrived and inconsistent verdict by Justice Anunihu has, once again, brought the judiciary in the country into opprobrium and raised serious questions over the integrity of the Nigerian justice system".
The party, through its chairman, Amadu Attai, recalled that the 2015 general elections in Akwa Ibom State " were adjudged by national and International observers as electoral aberration unknown to civilization.

Indeed, everything that played out in the violent and fraudulent elections was clinically executed in consonance with Godswill Obot Akpabio. We instructively recall that while addressing an assembly of 850 local "election monitors" at a tent in the Government House residence in 2011, Mr. Godswill Akpabio had bragged that: "Once the winner of a governorship election has been announced in Nigeria, it is now your word against the world. INEC cannot help you again, even in the Tribunal. That means you will drag from the first Tribunal to the High Court; from the High Court to the Court of Appeal; from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court and if you know the Nigerian judicial system, once the Governor is announced,  before the Supreme Court finishes listening to the opposition case, our tenure as governor has finished".

The APC in Akwa Ibom State expressed what it called deep frustrations and pains over the development. 
"We sympathize with our people, who had hoped to redress the grave wrongs done them at the March 28  elections will be redressed at the tribunal", it said.
The party called on the President, the Federal Government and Nigerians to intervene in the matter and ensure that justice is done.

Embattled Amaechi Writes Saraki, Urges Him to Ignore Indictment

 Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi

Embattled former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has written a letter to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, urging him to discard the White Paper issued on his indictment by Rivers State Government.

In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by THISDAY yesterday, Amaechi claimed that he was innocent of the allegations of corruption for which he had been indicted by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry chaired by Justice G.O. Omereji.

The letter, signed by his counsel, Edward Pepple and dated October 12, 2015 further stated that the Supreme Court had emphasised in a case involving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar "that an indictment by judicial commission of inquiry or administrative panel is not an 'indictment' or sufficient for the purpose of preventing a person from holding a public office."

The letter added: “Section 182(1)(i) only enables a judicial commission of inquiry or administrative tribunal to determine the culpability of a citizen where it is alleged that such citizen has been in breach of standards of behaviour expecting in public life.

"Where such inquiry finds a citizen liable or culpable of a conduct bordering on criminality and the federal or state government accepts such a report through a published white paper, it is still not enough to deny a citizen eligibility to the office of governor unless and until he is afterwards prosecuted in a court of law and found guilty.

"Mr. President, we have no doubt that the Senate being an arm of government established under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria verily appreciates the general principle of the rule of law, hence the invitation extended to our client to respond to the petition.

"Whereas we appreciate the commitment of the Senate to be fair and just, especially in offering our client an opportunity to state his side of the matter, however, we need to state, and most regrettably too, that our client is unable to comment or respond in specific terms to the allegations contained in the said petition as that would amount to commenting on the subject matter before the court of law."
While urging the Senate president to ignore his indictment, Amaechi said one of the cardinal principles of fair hearing is that an accused person is presumed innocent he is proved guilty.

He also claimed that his position is strengthened by Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) adding that the allegations are not only false but "also made mala fide with the intent to solely irritate, embarrass and tarnish the hard earned reputation of our client and maliciously represent him as a person not fit and proper to occupy public office."

Amaechi also claimed that if the intention of the petitioners was genuine there would not have been any need to petition the Senate having earlier petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related offence Commission (ICPC) over the same matter. 

The letter added: "We wish to re-emphasis that our client is always ready, usually enthusiastic and desirous of defending himself at all times, however we have implored and advised him that he is restrained at this time, most regrettably, from commenting on the content of that petition, which is the subject matter before the courts of law. He is therefore not in a position to respond to the petition, issue by issue before the distinguished Senate.

"In the circumstance therefore, we urge you with utmost respect to discard the malicious petition intended to disparage and malign our client’s reputation and misrepresent him before the distinguished senators and the nation and create the wrong impression that our client is not a fit and proper person to occupy public office. He is a fit a proper person to occupy any position in this country. He is capable mentally and physically."

Source: ThisDay

EFCC Grills Akpabio Over Alleged N108bn 'Dirty Deals'

Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio,

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday arrested the immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, over alleged multi-billion naira fraud and money laundering.

A senior official of the anti-graft agency said that the Senate Minority Leader was picked up by the agency’s operatives at about 5:30pm in his house in Abuja and questioned at the EFCC headquarters for several hours.

‘’Yes. The former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, was arrested. As at the time I left office, which was about 7pm, he was still being interrogated by our operatives.

“He was brought to the EFCC corporate headquarters alongside his lawyer, Mr. Ricky Tarfa, who accompanied him and some of his personal aides,” the EFCC official told us.
Asked whether the ex-governor would be detained till Monday or not, the source said: “I am not in a position to confirm that. Let’s wait and see what will happen before tomorrow.”

However, we learnt he was released around 11pm.
It was also gathered that the anti-corruption agency had started investigation into alleged stealing of N108.1billion of Akwa Ibom funds by Akpabio in June this year – following a written petition by one Mr. Leo Ekpenyong, an Abuja based lawyer.

In the petition dated June 22, 2015, Mr. Ekpenyong had stated that between January and December 2014, the ex-governor colluded with two of his personal aides to steal a huge sum of N108.1 billion from the state’s treasury.

According to him, “Between January –December 2014, it is on record that the trio of Godswill Akpabio, Mr. Etekamba Umoren and Mr. Udo Isobara, made illegal but substantial withdrawals of cash from a designated state government-owned account with Zenith Bank with account number: 1010375881 amounting to N22.1 billion’’.

“It is worthy of note that reasons for such ungodly cash withdrawals against financial regulations and due process laws range between sundry use and unjustifiable expenditures by Akpabio and his numerous surrogates and proxies.
“For example, a whopping N18 billion was withdrawn fraudulently from the state FAAC account with the United Bank for Africa in trenches of N10 million and above by Mr. Isobara in a surreptitious manner to conceal their dishonest intention.”

In the period under review, the petitioner added that the ex-governor also withdrew a huge sum of N18 billion from the state account under the guise of special services, reception of very important guests and sundry items.
He added: “The cummulative aggregate of these monies stolen by Akpabio from the coffers of government as pocket money is the annual budget of some states in Nigeria put together.”

Among the properties, which the petitioner claimed the ex-governor acquired through proxies include, a multi-billion naira mansion at Plot 5 Okogosi Spring Close, off Katsina-Ala Crescent, Maitama-Abuja; a multi-billion naira mansionette at Plot 28 Colorado Close, Maitama, Abuja and another multi-billion naira mansion at 22 Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Others include a multi-billion naira property at Plot 23 Olusegun Aina Street, Parkview, Lagos; a multi-billion naira 25 storey building and others in Lagos.

Obama says US criminal justice system ‘unfair’

President Barack Obama urged reform of the US criminal justice system Saturday, saying much of it “remains unfair” and that punishments should correspond to the severity of crimes.

“The United States is home to five percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners,” Obama said in his weekly radio address. “Every year, we spend $80 billion to keep people locked up.”

The president said the reason the United States has such a high prison population — 2.2 million — is that more non-violent offenders have been put behind bars over the past decades than ever before.

Despite efforts to address the matter, “much of our criminal justice system remains unfair,” Obama said. “In recent years, more of our eyes have been opened to this truth. We can’t close them anymore.”

He called on the Republican-controlled Congress to send reform bills to his desk to sign into law and said he would be traveling around the country to highlight the issue in the coming weeks.

Among other things, “justice means that the punishment should fit the crime,” Obama said.

“And justice means allowing our fellow Americans who have made mistakes to pay their debt to society, and rejoin their community as active, rehabilitated citizens.”

Obama’s comments came as the United States prepares to release thousands of prisoners considered at low risk of returning to crime, as part of an effort to ease prison overcrowding and redress overly harsh sentences.

The measure stands to benefit petty criminals and drug users sentenced to long prison terms for minor, non-violent offenses.

The release comes after the US Sentencing Commission, which sets policy for federal crimes, reduced its sentencing guidelines for drug possession.

While the US population has increased by 30 percent since 1980, the country’s prison population jumped 800 percent during the same period.

The result is a record rate of incarceration for an industrialized country, which has overburdened the federal prison system.

Indian girls aged two, five ‘gang-raped’ in New Delhi

A toddler and a five-year-old girl were raped in separate attacks in New Delhi overnight with at least one gang-raped, police said Saturday, as activists warned of an “epidemic” of sexual violence in the capital.

The two-and-a-half-year-old girl was abducted from a religious event in west Delhi by two men on Friday night and raped before being dumped in a park near her home, relatives and police said.

In a separate incident on the other side of the city, the five-year-old was lured to a neighbour’s house and raped by three men, a police officer told AFP.

The two attacks come as New Delhi grapples with a grim litany of sexual attacks against women — and in several recent cases, children — that have sparked outrage in India and abroad.

“We have launched a manhunt for the suspects. So far no one has been arrested,” Pushpendra Kumar, West Delhi police chief, told AFP of the younger girl’s case.

He said they found the younger child bleeding profusely several hours after she went missing and that tests showed she had been raped at least once.

Police have arrested three men in the case of the five-year-old victim whom tests showed was raped multiple times, after locals managed to catch her assailants and hand them over to the authorities.

“Her clothes were partially torn with blood spots all over them. Some locals saw her and she told them she was sexually assaulted,” an officer from Anand Vihar police station told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“Some of the locals then barged into the house and caught them (the alleged perpetrators) before handing them over to us,” the officer said.

Both girls are undergoing medical treatment but are believed to be out of danger.

– ‘When will Delhi wake up?’ –

The latest attacks come eight days after a four-year-old girl was allegedly raped and slashed with a blade before being abandoned by a railway track in the capital.

Police arrested a 25-year-old man in that attack, in which the young girl suffered severe internal injuries.

“When will Delhi wake up? Till when will girls continue to be brutalized in Indian capital. Gangrape of 2.5 year n 5 year old. Shameful,” Delhi Commission for Women chairwomen Swati Maliwal tweeted Saturday.

Describing the assaults as “extremely shocking”, Maliwal told Indian television station NDTV that violence against women had assumed “epidemic proportions” in Delhi.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed anguish over the rapes Saturday, terming them “shameful and worrying” on Twitter, but blamed his political opponent Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for the deteriorating security situation in Delhi.

“Repeated rape of minors is shameful and worrying. Delhi police has completely failed to provide safety. What are PM n his LG (lieutenant governor) doing?,” Kejriwal tweeted before heading to meet the victims in hospital.

Kejriwal and Modi’s administration are jostling for control of the capital’s police department, with Delhi city authorities saying they are unable to improve security for women.

They deflect the blame on to Modi’s central government which controls Delhi’s 84,000 police, the largest metropolitan police force in the world.

The fatal gang rape of a young student on a bus in Delhi in 2012 led to an outpouring of anger over frightening levels of violence against women.

India recorded 36,735 rape cases in 2014, with 2,096 of them in Delhi.

Experts say those figures likely under-represent the true scale of the crimes.

Cash crunch hits ECOWAS as Nigeria insists other should pay their dues

A cash crunch has hit the economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as one of its major financiers; Nigeria has insisted that other member nations who are in default in the payment of their dues meet their obligations before Nigeria makes further commitment in terms of payment of its dues.

According to an official of the commission who spoke with weekend vanguard, the worst hit department of the commission by the cash crunch is the ECOWAS court of Justice which is struggling to cope with the payment of its workers salaries.

The official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the matter said over the years; other members of the ECOWAS block have left the financing of the affairs of the commission to the three biggest economies of the region: Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana.

However, with the dwindling prices of oil which is the main stay of the Nigerian economy as well as the recent civil war in Ivory Coast and Ghana’s economic down turn, it was no longer possible for the three countries to continue to bear the cost of financing the sub regional body.

Speaking on the cash crunch being faced by the commission the source hinted that some of the problems being experienced by the commission are self inflicted.

“Like all civil service, ECOWAS is in a deep mess largely self inflicted. There is a large duplication of functions and unnecessary creation of offices that are not really relevant to the functioning of the commission. The consequence is that the bureaucracy is over bloated with a huge toll on the finances of the commission.

”For instance, from an initial six commissioners, the commission has increased the number of commissioners to fourteen with a retinue of aides and other support staff which has taken a huge toll on the finances of the commission.

The consequence is that the core duties of the commission are being ignored at the expenses of payment of emoluments of its staff. Even as the major financier of the commission, Nigeria is not well represented in terms of staffing. I think it is the combination of this and the dwindling revenue to Nigeria that it decided that other members of the commission should also contribute their quota.

That decision is affecting the core responsibilities of the commission and if nothing is done urgently, it may soon grind to a halt” the source said.

Weekend Vanguard gathered that some countries in the region have not paid their dues for up ward of five years yet their nationals occupy very high position in the commission.

“The reality is that the expenditure pattern of the commission is not sustainable and unless all member nations meet their financial obligations, the commission’s duties ill be severely affected. For now, the ECOWAS court of justice is struggling to pay its workers salaries.

It may soon extend to other department if nothing is done. It is a very serious matter” the source said.

Some of the projects of the commission that face imminent danger as a result of the cash crunch are the impending elections in Ivory Coast, Guinea and the suspended elections in Burkina Faso which Nigeria contributed hugely to it before it was truncated due to the recent coup in the landlocked West African country.

It was gathered that an emergency meeting of the commission is being proposed for later next month to address the financial challenge facing the commission and to impress on the defaulting countries to pay up their dues.