Presidential Poll: How Orubebe Plotted to Abduct Jega

A report by the Reuters news agency has unravelled an alleged plot by some persons close to President Goodluck Jonathan to abduct the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral  commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Tuesday, March 31, to stop him from announcing the results of the presidential election and declaring Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) as the winner of the poll.

According to Reuters, central to the plan were Jega's security detail and Godsday Orubebe, a former Minister of the Niger Delta Ministry.
Orubebe's role was to cause a disturbance at the collation centre as cover for the abduction of Jega.

Quoting pro-democracy advocates and an Abuja-based diplomat, the report said as Buhari closed in on Nigeria’s presidency, an aide to Jega sent a text message to an independent voting monitor, warning of an imminent threat to the electoral process.

The aide had unearthed a plot by supporters of Jonathan to disrupt the public announcement of the national election results and kidnap Jega in a bid to wreck the count.

Central to the plan, they said, were Jega's security detail and Orubebe, a former cabinet minister from Jonathan's Niger Delta, an area whose leaders feared a change of power would mean an end to the perks it enjoyed under Jonathan’s presidency.

Orubebe's role was to cause a disturbance at the headquarters of the commission as cover for the abduction of Jega.
Efforts by THISDAY to reach Orubebe to comment on the allegation hit a brick wall yesterday. After repeated phone calls and SMS, he responded by SMS, saying he was in a meeting.

INEC also declined to comment and turned down requests for an interview with Jega, whom Reuters was unable to reach independently.
However, Reuters found no evidence to suggest that Jonathan, who conceded defeat in the election, was involved. His spokesman and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), did not respond to requests for comment.

While the plot would likely not have changed the result, it could have unleashed fury among Buhari supporters in the north, where over 800 people were killed in rioting after his last election defeat in 2011.

But the plot’s failure enabled Nigeria to complete one of its few credible vote since independence in 1960.
According to Reuters, the plot to derail the election in its closing moments was pieced together from the text message, events on the ground and interviews with democracy advocates and diplomats in Abuja.

When he sent the SMS, the election official, whom the sources declined to name for his own protection, hoped the outside world would hear of the plot, the text of the message made clear.

“Fellow countrymen, Nigeria on Trial,” read the SMS sent on the morning of March 31 to Clement Nwankwo, head of the Situation Room, an Abuja-based coalition of human rights groups and democracy advocates, monitoring the polls.

“Plans are on storm (sic) the podium at the ICC Collation Centre and disrupt the process,” it continued, the official dropping words and letters in his haste.

“Nobody is sue [sic] what will happen. Please share this as widely as possible.”
At that moment, Jega was about to preside over the announcement of results, having announced results from 18 states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) the day before, which had given Buhari an early lead.

As tallies from around the country showed Buhari on course for a win, unidentified PDP hard-liners started to panic, seeking ways of manipulating the count, Nwankwo and the diplomat said, citing political contacts in the Delta and Abuja.

Realising they could not engineer an outright win, PDP agents set about doctoring the tally at collation centres in pro-Jonathan areas to ensure Buhari failed to meet a requirement for 25 per cent in two thirds of the states, Nwankwo said, citing reports from election monitors on the ground.

A Reuters reporter witnessed and photographed one tally list in Port Harcourt with suspiciously similar totals for registered voters at polling stations: 500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 450.
In another tally centre in the city, 17,594 valid votes were recorded out of a registered voter population of 11,757, the Reuters reporter said.

Foreign election observers also noted the peculiarities - and contacted diplomats in Abuja who called in international intervention.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and his British counterpart Philip Hammond - in Switzerland for talks on Iran - issued a tough statement saying vote counting “may be subject to deliberate political interference”.

But as Buhari's lead grew, some PDP supporters from the Delta, including Orubebe, decided on a final gamble: to create a disturbance in the collation hall and have thugs snatch Jega from the stage, according to Nwankwo and the Abuja-based diplomat.

What the group planned to do after the abduction is unclear, the diplomat and Nwankwo said, but the confusion could have triggered nationwide violence.

“It was a desperate thing, mostly by a group of people from the Niger Delta who were in the room,” Nwankwo said, describing events that unfolded publicly in the minutes after he received the SMS.

When Jega opened proceedings on the morning of March 31, Orubebe grabbed a microphone and launched into an 11-minute tirade accusing Jega of bias.

“Mr. Chairman, we have lost confidence in you,” he shouted, pushing away officials trying to make him surrender the microphone. “You are being very, very selective. You are partial,” he continued, surrounded by three or four supporters. “You are tribalistic. We cannot take it.”

Nigerians watched, aghast, on live television.
Meanwhile, Jega's security detail was approached by unidentified individuals telling them to stand down, according to Nwankwo and the diplomat. But the bodyguards refused.

“Some of the guards who had been guarding Jega for years demanded a written order,” Nwankwo said. “But it didn’t exist.”

Jega then rebuked Orubebe: “Let us not disrupt a process that has ended peacefully,” he said as Orubebe slumped in his chair.
“Mr. Orubebe, you are a former minister of the Federal Republic. You are a statesman in your own right. You should be careful about what you say or about what allegations you make,” he said.

Later, Orubebe congratulated Buhari on Twitter, expressing his “apologies to fellow Nigerians”.

Nanny who abducted the orekoya's three children has been arrested by the Police

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, has said the police have arrested Mary Akinloye, the 23-year-old nanny, who kidnapped three children in the Surulere area of Lagos State.

Aderanti spoke on Thursday morning on a live Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily.

Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Kenneth Nwosu, said Akinloye was arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad while a manhunt is ongoing to apprehend other fleeing accomplices of the househelp.

Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, added, “She was nabbed by SARS in the Sasha area (of Akowonjo, Lagos). She was arrested alone, and is now in police custody. Efforts are on to arrest other fleeing accomplices, if any.

“She is still making confessional statements.”

This untold true love story of Peter Okoye & Lola Omotayo will make you shed a tear(Must Read)

love story of Peter Okoye & Lola Omotayo

I was reading Genevieve magazine December edition with Peter and Lola on the cover and I just couldn’t resist sharing this part of their amazing story with you guys..Had to type it out….It will help you understand better why Peter places Lola above all….It’s pure love from Lola

“After we had scaled the hurdle and became friends, I kept preventing her from coming to my house because everyone called her boss.From her wristwatch and everything, I would be like.”CHEI! This person no be my level”
One day, I took ill and I guess she tried to reach me but I wasn’t picking up. She then called brother who told her I was ill. To my horror she then came over to my house. To be honest with you, I was so ashamed that after she left, I wanted to know who invited her to my house”That person don buy my trouble”.

More below

I remember living in a small room which my brother and I shared.Our bed was a mattresson the floor. The wardrobe had clothes overflowing to the floor and the room was littered with unwashed plates and half drunk pure water nylons. I was lying down as a broken fan did its best to circulate the air and she walked in and said hello.

 I felt as if I was dreaming. The picture of five boys sharing a two-room apartment was definitely an eye sore. I didn’t know where to look when she came in.She just tip-toed to where I was and looked at the environment then called her driver and asked him to come into the compound.

“She picked two shirts and asked me where I kept my underwear.I didn’t want her to go there so I told her they were washed and drying outside .She helped me get into her car and took me to her house. I remember sleeping in her arms as we drove through thick traffic. Although I wasn’t really ill by this time, I pretended  to be very ill especially as I saw the layout of pounded yam and Egusi with goat meat,
Food over, she gave me some medication and I stayed at her place for three days and kept pretending to be ill because I din’t know how to go back to my house.
Infact it was the first time in my life I was sleeping in a room with an airconditioner”

Now tell me this love story didn’t being tears to your eyes…

Ships laden with petrol, rice, palm oil arrive Lagos ports 

Ships full of petrol, rice, palm oil, sugar are reportedly in the Lagos port.



According to Vanguard, Nine ships laden with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, are waiting to berth and discharge at the Lagos ports.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its daily publication – `Shipping Position’ – made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos.

It indicated that two other ships laden with kerosene and aviation fuel were also waiting to discharge their contents.

The document noted that six ships laden with rice, crude palm oilein, vehicles and crude palm oil had also arrived the ports, waiting to discharge.

NPA said that 46 ships were expected to arrive the ports from April 15 to April 30.

The document stated that the expected ships contained fish, bulk sugar, containers, crude palm oil, crude palm oilein, bulk gypsum, buck wheat, vehicles, bulk fertiliser and general cargo.

It explained that the ships would also sail in with petrol, bulk gas, kerosene, base oil and diesel.

The 23 ships containing buck wheat, sugar, general cargo, rice, bulk salt, fish, bulk gas, bulk gypsum and petrol are currently discharging at the ports. (NAN)

Kotangora House In Lagos on fire

The famous Mamman Kotangora House situated on Marina, Lagos Island has been reportedly gutted by fire.

Channels Television reports that high rise building houses corporate entities, including the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Federal Mortgage Bank.

It was gathered from eyewitnesses that the fire started-off around the generator house of the building this morning.

It is believed that properties worth millions of naira might have been gutted by the inferno but officials of the Lagos Fire Service and the National Emergency Management Agency are in combined effort to put out the ravaging fire.

Newsbreak also reports that firemen had arrived at the scene, adding that the building also housed Diamond Bank Limited, a law firm, F.O Fagboungbe and Co, MBL Financial Services Limited, among others.

Western Post reports that Maman Katangora House is a building of about 14 storeys with a lot of offices and businesses.

hmm God help us o!!!!!!

Buhari Fights Against Pension For Ex-governors

According to Vanguard, Buhari intends to demonstrate moral leadership from top to bottom by repealing the pension laws passed by majority of the nation’s 36 state Houses of Assembly which confer huge pension entitlements for governors and their deputies.

The pension entitlements in many cases provide 100 per cent pay for the incumbent governors buildings, generous medical allowances for them and their family members and annual holiday provisions, all of which are to last for life. Provisions in the pension allowances are also made for staff, security and vehicles that are renewable every three or four years.

According to a source, Buhari was said to have described the pension laws enacted by states controlled by APC and PDP governors as scandalous.

The source said: “he was very blunt about it and said that it was something that was going to be done immediately, especially because it is not something that can be sustained.

“The feeling was that not only was it wrong and morally unconscionable, but that it was not something that should be encouraged, and he was appealing to them that it should be changed.”

States of the federation that are reported to have passed the pension laws include: Lagos, Edo, Gombe, Oyo, and Rivers states. These laws confer on several former governors huge benefits which in some cases are 100 per cent of what the incumbent is earning, while in others, some benefits in the pension laws are as high as 300 per cent of what obtains in some states.

Buhari who made the fight against corruption the theme of his campaign has promised to tackle corruption head on when he assumes the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on may 29.

Goodnews!!! The Orekoya children are back and reunited with their parents

Goodnews.... information reaching us has it that the kidnapeed children of the Orekoyas have been returned and reunited with their parents! 

      The Orekoya children

A family friend of the Orekoyas, Dayo Adefila, confirmed this on his facebook page some moments ago.

the three children were said to have been dumped yesterday evening in a compound somewhere in Akowonjo, Lagos. We cannot say for now if any ransom was paid, but the goodnews is that the Orekoya children are safe and sound.   

the kid's mother, Mrs Adebisi Busayo Adekunle Orekoya has now confirmed the release of her children on her facebook page.

 

Thank God they are safe and sound but I hope the Nigerian Police will rise to the occasion and bring the kidnappers to book and parents let's be careful and mindful of who we trust with her children. It is well

Breaking news: Fayose won at the supreme court today. He is still the ekiti state Govenor

ABUJA – The Supreme Court has upheld the judgements of both the Ekiti State Governorship Tribunal and the Court of Appeal which had earlier affirmed Governor Ayodele Fayose’s victory. The apex court, ‎also said that Fayose was not validly impeached in 2006.

In an unanimous judgement, Tuesday, a seven-man panel of Justices of the court led by Justice John Fabiyi,also held that the appeal which challenged Fayose’s election victory at the 2014 Ekiti State governorship election lacked  merit.

The panel maintained that the APC failed to prove its allegation that the election was fraught with unparalleled irregularities, adding that the allegation that Fayose tendered forged Higher National Diploma Certificate ‎to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was not proved beyond every reasonable doubt.

File: Gov. Ayo Fayose of Ekiti taking Oath of Office before Chief Judge of Ekiti, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, at the inauguration in Ado-Ekiti On Thursday with them is Mrs Feyisetan Fayose.

At least he can start parking his things back into the state house!!   LOL!!!!!! 

Nigeria To Be Among World's Largest Economies by 2030

Nigeria will be the only African country that would be among the top 20 economies in the world by 2030, the United States of America Department of Agriculture has listed.

The department in its latest macro-economic projections for 2030, indicates that the U.S. would continue to lead the world economies with a GDP of about $24.8 trillion and expected to be closely followed by China with about $22.2 trillion, Daily Independent reports.

India was placed in the third position based on their projections with $6.6 trillion. Nigeria meanwhile was placed second from bottom at $1 trillion and the only African country in the list.

Nigeria overtook South Africa in 2013 as largest economy in Africa after it concluded its GDP rebasing.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers had earlier, based on forecast, named Nigeria would be the fastest growing economy on earth by 2050.

“Though we remain wary of oracles and fortune-tellers, a new report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers highlights some of the profound global economic shifts we at Quartz believe are well underway,” it said.

The sages at PwC forecast that between now and 2050 that the fastest growing economy would be Nigeria, followed by Vietnam, India, and Indonesia.

They said Chinese growth would slow down due to a rapidly aging population and rising labour costs.

In a similar vein, ratings agency Moody’s also published a report on Nigeria’s rebased GDP of $510 billion, which it estimated would surge to $4.5 trillion by 2050.

Moody’s said that the rebasing exercise was supportive of assessing the nation’s sovereign credit profile, although it does not change the government’s nominal stock of outstanding debt, nor its revenue generation capacity to service that debt.

“With a population of 170 million and oil reserves estimated at around 37.2 trillion barrels (or roughly 28 per cent of total African reserves), Nigeria is likely to number among the world’s 15 largest economies by 2050 when GDP is projected to exceed $4.5 trillion in purchasing power parity terms,” said Aurelien Mali, VP-Senior Analyst, Moody’s.

“From a credit standpoint, the revised GDP estimates allow a better understanding of the Nigerian economy and its underlying resilience.”

The rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP follows similar rebasing exercises by more than a dozen other African countries over the past decade, resulting in a range of revisions of national output.

Moody’s notes that in Nigeria’s case, the GDP revision is more spectacular as it means the country has now overtaken South Africa to become the largest economy in Africa, with its ranking among global economies jumping from 36th to 28th, with an economy almost as large as that of the Netherlands.

President-elect, General Buhari has been urged to save foreign reserves from falling if he is to save the failing economy which has been in crises since the turn of the year.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of April, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN announced that the foreign exchange reserves fell by 4.9 per cent to $29.79bn on March 30, from $31.35bn in February.

Airport staff trapped in the cargo hold of an airborne plane to Alaska

An airport ramp worker came very close to flying his way to another city — in the cargo hold of a plane.

Alaska Airlines says Flight 448 made an emergency landing on Monday, 14 minutes after taking off from Seattle because a ramp worker had gotten trapped inside the cargo hold.

The airline has confirmed that the ramp agent, who works for Alaska contractor Menzies Aviation, was asleep in the cargo hold when Flight 448 departed L.A. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot heard “banging from beneath the aircraft." 

Alaska Airlines says the captain then quickly returned the plane to Seattle, where, after landing, the ramp agent was found in the cargo hold and taken to the hospital. Fortunately for the sleeping employee, the cargo hold was pressurized and temperature controlled. 

Alaska Airlines says the Seattle baggage handler is out of the hospital and has passed a drug test.

Not a good way to end your workday; Alaska Airlines confirms the employee had fallen asleep in the cargo hold. 

Alaska Airlines is now shedding light on what led up to this crazy incident. The airline says the employee was part of a four-person team loading baggage onto the plane Monday afternoon.

“During a pre-departure huddle, the team lead noticed the employee was missing,” the airline says in its statement. “The team lead called into the cargo hold for the employee and called and texted the employee’s cell phone, but did not receive an answer.” The airline says the employee’s co-workers thought he’d finished his shift, which was scheduled to end at 2:30 p.m., and went home. Flight 448 took off at 2:39 p.m.

Alaska Airlines is stressing — repeatedly — that drugs weren't related to this incident. In addition to revealing the employee passed a drug test, the airline made sure to point out that all of its workers “undergo full criminal background checks and drug screening prior to being hired. They are also subjected to random drug tests throughout their employment.”

I am not aware of heading any Transition Commitee- Pastor Tunde Bakare

The pastor of the Latter rain assembly has denied any knowledge of his appointment by the president elect- General Buhari to head any transition commitee.

Speaking to Daily Trust through his spokesperson, Mr Yinka Odumakin denied the transition committee appointment.

He said: “This is news to Pastor Bakare also. He read it in This Day Newspaper as others did this morning.”

He attributed the report to mischief makers saying, “mischief makers are at work as usual.”

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Buhari campaign office, Malam Garba Shehu also denied the report, saying he wasn’t aware of Bakare’s appointment.

In an interview in Daura, Buhari had said the transition committee when put in place would comprise of patriotic and knowledgeable Nigerians and will have more technocrats than politicians.

Bakare was Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election under the platform of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) but they lost to the President Goodluck Jonathan.

Well let's wait and see as things unfold........

We’re trying to raise ransom, says father of abducted 
children 

Devastated parents of the three siblings kidnapped by their maid last Wednesday, yesterday said they were still struggling to raise the N13 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers for the release of their children.

The victims

 Vanguard gathered that, yesterday, the abductors refused to bring down the ransom, maintaining that they would only release the children when the ransom was paid.

The abductors, who initially demanded N15 million, reportedly reduced it to N13 million last Friday after passionate pleas from parents of the kidnapped children.

Their mother, Mrs Adebisi Orekoya, said she wished the whole scenario would turn out to be a dream.

The children, Demola,6; Adedamola, 4, and Aderomola, 11 months, were abducted by their househelp, one Mary Akinloye, 24 hours after she was employed by the family viaOLX, an online sales portal, with an agreement of N10,000 to N15,000 monthly salary.

Akinloye, who claimed to be 23 years old and hailed from Ibadan, Oyo State, according to the family, resumed work on March 7, when the former nanny did not show up after her annual leave.

Nightmare begins

However, trouble started for the family next day, after Mrs Orekoya, who was at work, received a call from her eldest son of age 10, at about 1pm, informing her that Akinloye (maid) had left the house with his siblings.

She reportedly did not give the children lunch before leaving the house with the 11 -month-old baby strapped to her back, while she held others by the hand.

Tension heightened when neither the new maid nor the children were seen at about 4pm.

By Friday last week, the maid reportedly spoke with the family on phone, where one of her accomplices gave the family a two-day ultimatum to produce the N13 million ransom, threatening that they would lose the children if they failed to make the money available.

A source said: “The whole family has been thrown into untold trauma. As at Friday last week, my brother received a text message, where the kidnappers threatened to waste the children if the N13 million ransom was not paid within 24 hours.

“In fact, their exact word was that they would ‘delete’ the children if they failed to pay the money.

“The children’s mother is a shadow of her old self. She is devastated. She loves all her children no doubt, but she is concerned more about 11 months old Aderomola.

“She never ceases to call out to him everyday, wondering what type of food he was being fed with. During one of the conversations, she was allowed to speak with the children, who claimed they were being taken care of.

“But the issue now is how to raise the requested amount.”

On his part, father of the abducted children, Mr. Leke Orekoya, who spoke with Vanguard on phone, said they were still trying to raise the money.

He said: “We are still trying to raise the money. They have not shifted ground. The amount is still what they demanded for (N13 m).

“My wife is devastated at the moment and we are praying and hoping that we would be able to reunite with our children soon.”

Police’s promise

When contacted, spokesman for Lagos State Police Command, Kenneth Nwosu, said investigation into the abduction was still ongoing, adding that effort was on to rescue the children.

SOURCE THE  VANGUARD

Buhari Brings Back Tunde Bakare To Handle Transitional Committee; May Make Him Minister

Nigeria's president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has said that for the transitional committee, he will appoint only credible, patriotic and knowledgeable Nigerians to manage the committee.

To this end, one of the people handling the committee will be Pastor Tunde Bakare, who was the president-elect's running mate in 2011.

Buhari will also interview members of the committee, and may elevate them to ministerial positions, ThisDay said.

He also promised the PDP members who have defected to his party justice, despite the dark history they have shared.

Buhari said: “It is a difficult time for Nigerians as you all know. I have said it in the past that in the last 16 years, Nigeria has never realised the amount of revenue it received. A barrel of crude oil rose to about $140 and has crashed to about $50 now.

“During the 16 years, we knew some big companies that employed a lot of Nigerians and gave them training facilities like the Nigeria Airways and the Nigeria Shipping Line.

“Even the Nigerian Railways is managing to be on paper with some refurbished engines moving from Lagos to Ibadan and a few other places. But if you go to their stations all over the country, you will realise that they are in a terrible shape.

“The important thing in a country with a huge population of youths, with more than 60 per cent of them under the age of 30 who are unemployed, is that you need these institutions to give jobs and training to Nigerians.

“It is very disappointing that the PDP government virtually failed to use those resources to make sure that the economy continues to grow in a sustainable way.

“I think the worst thing is the lack of accountability and the terrible budgetary system. Imagine that over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s budget is spent on recurrent spending.

“How can you sustain development in a developing country like Nigeria with only about 10 per cent of your income going to capital spending? Things just have to change.”

Source: #ThisDay

Royal baby preparations begin today as hospital prepares for world's media

The Duchess of Cambridge is not due to give birth for another fortnight but the hospital is responding to media excitement already

Prepared: The hospital is making sure everything goes right on the big day

Preparations for royal baby two begin at private hospital the Lindo Wing today as parking restrictions are put in place.

With Kate Middleton's due date now less than two weeks away officials are preparing for the world's media to descend on the west London hospital when the tot arrives.

However, to avoid the long wait that happened before Prince George in July 2013, no-one will be allowed to take their positions after Kate is 

admitted to the wards.

Centre: The eyes of the world will be on the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, in Paddington, London

Parking restrictions are the first step of the preparations and later this week positions for photographers, reporters and camera crews will be marked out ahead of the baby's due date around the weekend of April 25 and 26.

Kate and Prince William have not found out if they are having a boy or girl.

The baby will be a little brother or sister to George, 21 months, and will be fourth in line to the throne making uncle Harry fifth place.

William and Kate are said to be “hugely grateful for the warm wishes they have received from people throughout the UK and indeed around the world over the last few months.”

A spokesman added: “They know that people are excited that Prince George will soon have a little brother or sister and it means a great deal to them that so many will be celebrating this important moment for their family.”

But William, 32, could face a mad dash to be at the birth at the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington if he is at work training to be an air ambulance pilot when Kate, 33, goes into labour.

The prince will be faced with a two-and-a-half hour 120-mile drive from the air ambulance base in Norwich, a two hour 100 mile drive from their base in Staverton, Gloucestershire or a 90 minute 70 mile drive from the base in Cambridge to be by his wife’s side.

However, in the unlikely event he doesn’t make it Kate will be in good hands with an expert medical team headed up by obstetrician Guy Thorpe-Beeston who delivered Prince George on July 22 2013.

Culled from the mirror

Controversy Trails the Sale of SAHCOL

The Managing Director of Pan Express Services Limited, Chief Peter Okezie, has expressed dissatisfaction over the sale of what is now known as Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), and  has protested to the  National Assembly on the matter. Okezie has submitted a memo to the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, protesting the sale.

  

It will be recalled that Pan Express was one of the companies that bided for the acquisition of former Skypower Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), but lost out when it failed to pay for the company after it was acknowledged as second bidder by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

In his petition which he submitted recently to the Chairman of the Committee, Okezie alleged that there was under-hand cutting of his company during the process, and described the  process as a big sham.

House of Representatives Committee on Privatization and Commercialization is currently probing the sale of government's equity in some privatized enterprises in the country.

Although the former management of SAHCOL and BPE have described the sale as transparent and challenged any one that might have contrary opinion to make his position public, the Pan Express Boss who participated in the process said in his memo that the company paid a non-refundable bid fee of USD 10,000, and executed a bid bond of N50 million, “which, in the midst of their (BPE) self-inflicted confusion, they reduced to N5.6 million.”

“We made these commitments on the understanding that the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) would adhere strictly to due process, and be fair and transparent in implementing the entire process of bidding and sale of SAHCOL and that they would give Pan Express Services Limited, as much opportunity as anyone else to buy SAHCOL.

  

Okezie lamented in the memo that Pan Express was irked and disappointed that secrecy and favoritism “were introduced at some point, which led to SAHCOL being sold at ridiculous price far lower than what every bidder bided, and to some bidders, including our company, being excluded from the competition.”

Although the thinking of the public was that when Eraskorp Consortium failed to pay N13, 458, 000, 000 it bided for the company, it automatically reverted to the reserved bidder, Pan Express, which final bidding was N10, 400, 000, 000, to buy SAHCOL.

This did not happen because the time it was supposed to pay for the company elapsed, and BPE had to take the next step for the sale  of the company, which finally was bought by Skyway. Okezie alleged that due process was not really followed because of prior design to sell the company to a particular organization.

  

At the second round of bidding on June 30, 2009, Eraskorp Consortium came tops with N13.4billion, Pan Express Services Limited N10. 4 billion, Skyway Aviation N9.1 billion, TAK Continental N7.7 billion, Moore Associates N6.2 billion and Aviation Handling Partners N5.5 billion and following this result Pan Express was confirmed reserved bidder.

But according to the Pan Express boss,  on August 31, 2009, BPE 'upgraded us to prefered bidder and asked us to pay N10.4 billion”.  

“We were given only ten working days to pay the first installment of 30 per cent. Unfortunately, this demand came during the turbulent period of sudden financial reforms in the banking industry. As a result of new rules for credit and personnel changes, our bankers, which had all along arranged credit for us to buy SAHCOL, wrote to us asking for 30 working days to provide the money”.

“We promptly wrote to BPE to request for 30 working days, instead of ten, to make payment. We attached the Bank's letter, surprisingly, BPE turned down our request”. 

In other words, BPE taking cognizance of the reform process that was going on in the banking industry should have given Pan Express more time, so that it would secure the necessary funds to acquire the company.

Spokesman of BPE, Chigbo Anachebe  told THISDAY then that the Bureau was not expecting Pan express to bring cash to BPE, because in other parts of the world, the company that was acquiring another company would partner with banks to source for funds to pay for the purchase.

But in that memo, Chief Okezie said, “Towards the end of September, we heard that BPE had secretly conducted another bidding exercise for four of the six contestants whom they have selected. This time, it introduced a benchmark minimum of N5.5 billion, an amount which is far below all the bids in the table above. There was no publicity and no live coverage of this exercise, which they tagged “willing Buyer, Willing Seller Option.”

  

According to him, the last bid exercise lacked merit, fairness and transparency, further describing it as totally contrary to due process.  

He argued that “All six contestants should have been invited to compete since a new element of threshold benchmark was being introduced. Otherwise, the third placed bidder should have been invited to pay their bid amount N9, 160,621, 000.00.” 

He noted that BPE's resort to a new process where they introduced a new element, smacks of a plan, conceived from the beginning to sell SAHCOL to a particular contestant at a predetermined price known only to BPE and that contestant.” 

Okezie alleged that his company had it on good authority that BPE sought NCP's approval to organize a secret bid exercise even before the expiration of the ten working days which he said they gave them to pay the first installment of 30 per cent.

“In actual fact, while our ten working days was to expire on September 15, 2009, BPE had on September 14, 2009 written to NCP and sought for approval to organize a secret bid”.  

He also said, BPE's preference to commence a new process that would yield N5.5 billion for SAHCOL, rather than wait another twenty working days and collect N10.4 billion was self serving and in line with the script to sell SAHCOL for personal gain rather than realize the maximum possible proceeds for government.”

Okezie therefore alleged that the entire bidding process, which was widely advertised and publicized in the media, according to him,  was a bogus smokescreen to give the impression of adherence to due process and the principle of fairness and equity, regretting that they were misled into committing huge resources to a grand deception.  

He also said that prior to the privatization of SAHCOL, “our understanding of government's purpose for privatising its enterprises was to get private sector experts to run these businesses to deliver quality services and sustain the development of indigenous professionalism in those sectors as well as to return to government, as much as possible, good price for its investment”. 

Director-General of BPE, Dr. Chris Anyanwu had  defended the agency's sale of Skypower Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL) privatization transactions, saying that the bureau did not breach any process. 

Testifying at the sitting of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatization and Commercialization probing the sale of government's equity in some privatized enterprises in the country, defended his role of the privatization agency in the sale of SAHCOL, insisting that it was transparently done.

He noted that the sale of SAHCOL was the first enterprise BPE had to superintend during his tenure, “I had to put in my best and in line with my guiding principle of transparency and accountability, ensured that the best practices were adopted and followed. It is absurd and unfortunate that someone could fault the entire process and cause a petition to the effect”.  

  

He said apart from following due process and in accordance with the rules, “the entire process was under the watchful eyes of the Technical Committee (TC) of   the National Council on Privatization (NCP) and NCP.” 

The DG stated that after the mandatory period, the petitioner was given a grace period to  pay the required  30 percent of the total sum but he failed, necessitating BPE to knock off the first and preferred bidder,  and adopted  the willing buyer-willing- seller approach.  

Chairman of the committee, Abbas Braimoh said the members would deliberate on their findings and table their recommendations before plenary for action to be taken in the best interest of the nation. 

Braimoh who gave the order on behalf of other members, reiterated that as parliamentarians, “We will not fold our hands and watch any government agency frustrated in the discharge of its mandate.

In a speech he made at the handover of SAHCOL to Skyway, Anyanwu  said that BPE sold the company to an organization that has the competence to effectively manage it and stressed that the Bureau expected the best from Skyway.

  

“Nothing short of excellence will be expected from them because this will be a signal of what is to come in the privatization process superintended by us. So I expect that they will bring in new equipment and run it up to the highest possible standard... I am an apostle of...revocation or reversal; so that will happen if you don't do your best because the purpose of privatisation is to get infrastructure, to be the best.

He also said, “We want businessmen who know their onions to come and take over businesses formerly run by government and run them well. That is what we expect Skyway to do in this case and also all Nigerian investors are challenged to take their destiny into their hands,” he declared.

According to BPE before it finally sold SAHCOL to Skyway, it went through another process that was outlined below.

The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) has approved that Skypower Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL) be offered to the four remaining bidders on the basis of 'willing-buyer, willing-seller', following the failure of both the preferred bidder, Eraskorp Consortium and the reserve bidder, Pan Express Services, to make payment at the deadline as stipulated in the terms of sale made to them.

The four bidders are: Skyway Aviation Handling Company; AK Continental Limited; Moore Associates Limited; and Aviation Handling Partners Limited.

The bidders were invited to re-validate their earlier bids or make a fresh bid based on the new reserve price of N5.522billion. Following an all-party meeting with the four prospective bidders on 29th September 2009, the following bids were submitted as follows:

Skyway Aviation Handling Company    N5.5221 billion

TAK Continental Limited                   N5.5230 billion

Moore Associates Limited; and          N5.5230 billion

Aviation Handling Partners Limited      N5.5220 billion

The Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Babington Ashaye, told the bidders that “whoever pays first will be the winner and the preferred bidder,” adding that the total acceptable amount for the enterprise must be fully paid within 30 days from the date of offer. However, 30% of the bid amount must be paid within 15 days of the offer.

“It would be recalled that Eraskorp Consortium emerged the preferred bidder while Pan Express Services Limited emerged the reserve bidder at the opening of financial bids submitted by six pre-qualified prospective core investors for 100% government's equity in Skypower Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL). The event took place on June 30, 2009 at Transcorp Hilton Hotel.  Both companies have since failed to meet the payment deadline.

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) is divesting 100% of its controlling shares with the intention that after a few years from take-over, 49% interest will be divested to the Nigerian public under the supervision of BPE at a time that will be mutually agreed upon in the Share Sales Purchase Agreement (SSPA).” On the face value every part of the process was transparent as BPE argues, but why did it not extend the time for Pan Express in cognizance of the crises that befell the banking industry at the time Pan Express was expected to pay for the handling company.

Although SAHCOL management then agreed that the company was valued at N2 billion, which meant that selling it for N5. 5221 billion was still a good price for the Federal Government, but observers strongly believe that selling it  at over N10 billion would have been a better bargain for government.

(Source:ThisDay)