Skip to main content

Advert

Ng

Federal permsec ZOOMED OFF with 40 cars, says Lai Mohammed

A former Federal permanent secretary, abbreviated as permsec, retired from office recently and bolted away with 40 brand new SUVs and other vehicles. The startling revelation was made today by Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, while explaining President Muhammadu Buhari’s 
well-articulated strategy in the fight against corruption in the country. Mohammed was reacting to criticisms that the anti-corruption war lacks strategy.

 In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday, the Minister said the strategy has proven so effective that it has led to, among others, the recovery of the cars from the Permanent Secretary. He said the federal government is not just fixated on prosecution alone but is also taking preventive measures to make corruption unattractive Alhaji Mohammed listed the strict enforcement of the Treasury Singles Account (TSA), which has largely reduced the diversion of government funds into various secret accounts, and the constant fishing out of ghost workers in the public service, which many states are now adopting, as some of the preventive measures against corruption. He however said some other measures have been perfected to strengthen the anti-corruption fight, adding that the measures include the establishment of the Presidential Committee on Asset Recovery and the Asset Tracing Committee; the setting up of an Asset Register, and the Whistle Blower Policy. 


The Minister also announced the plan by the government – working through the Code of Conduct Bureau – to commence, starting in 2017, a trial run of electronic asset declaration to facilitate compliance and also to search and retrieve data on the assets of public officers In addition, he said, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption is working with relevant MDAs, especially the National Bureau of Statistics, to improve data collection on corruption indicators generally. ”Once perfected, the data will be shared with government periodically, if possible as regularly as government receives data on inflation and unemployment trends, to indicate trends in corruption and influence government measures to correct the situation before it gets out of hand as we have now,” Alhaji Mohammed said.



 Expatiating on the Presidential Committee on Asset Recovery, he said it meets regularly to take reports from key law enforcement agencies on government’s anti-corruption effort, share information and intelligence, review the challenges being faced in the anti-corruption efforts generally and give directives on the way forward. ”This same body, on the recommendation of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, has directed a centralized management of recovered looted assets through the Central Asset Management Committee under the leadership of Minister of Finance as legal custodian of government asset. ”This singular move has reduced the opportunity for re-looting of recovered assets that was prevalent under previous regime.

 By this measure, EFCC, ICPC and all asset recovery law enforcement agencies are mandatorily required to furnish the Minister of Finance with full details of recovered asset whether cash or otherwise,” the Minister said, adding that data reconciliation will soon be completed and the information will be made available to the public. On the Asset Register, he said it has made very difficult the looting of government physical assets, most notably vehicles, by departing political appointees as well as senior and middle level officers. Alhaji Mohammed said the recently approved Whistle Blower policy is designed to further enhance government’s effort to recover looted funds, noting: ”People who give credible and useful information to government that leads to recovery of stolen public assets will be rewarded with between 2.5% – 5% of the recovered fund and government will keep the identity of the whistle blower absolutely confidential.”

 He said the government is finalizing the constitution of an Asset Tracing Team to work with internationally reputably bodies to trace and recover public assets in private pockets. ”In this regard, government will also escalate the use of non-conviction-based asset recovery methods to boost revenue and diminish corruption and the perception that crime pays or criminals can keep their loot. The Federal Government is getting Nigerians in diaspora and international civil society organizations involved in the campaign for return of looted assets,” the Minister added


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

UNIZIK’s BEST GRADUATING STUDENT

Ikenna Henry Ozofor was the cynosure of all eyes at the 11th convocation of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, the Anambra State capital. With a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.85, the Chemical Engineering graduate was the school’s valedictorian. He also made history as the first student with the highest CGPA in the Faculty of Engineering. Ikenna shares his success story with FRANKLIN ONWUBIKO (Corps member, NYSC, Katsina)

Senate to ASUU: Go back to class

The Senate on Wednesday appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU), to call off its nationwide industrial action in the interest of the country. The indefinite strike action embarked upon by ASUU members entered its 4th day on Thursday. The upper legislative chamber described the strike by the University teachers as a surprise to it having intervened earlier in the year when ASUU embarked on warning strike. It said that its intervention facilitated renegotiation of some outstanding issues between ASUU and the Federal government on the implementation of the 2009 agreement. Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Senator Jubrin Barau who made the plea at media briefing in Abuja said ASUU needed to call off the strike for renegotiation proper to commence between it and the Federal Government. Barau noted that the industrial action should not have been the first option by the university teachers since the Senate and by extension, the Nationa...

JAMB RELEASE GUIDELINE FOR 2017/2018 UTME REGISTRATION

JAMB has released an official publication regarding the guidelines for the 2017/2018 UTME Registration and relevant information every prospective UTME candidate and owners of JAMB CBT Accredited centres should have in mind before the 2017/2018 UTME registration commences. For the sake of clarity and comprehension, each important aspect of the registration process and relevant information is presented as a sub-heading. STOPPAGE OF SCRATCH CARDS The use of Scratch Cards has been discontinued for the following reasons:  Prone to fraudulent practices,  Archaic,  accountability (zero). PAYMENT OPTIONS The following channels will be made available: i. Web Payment: ATM issued cards (Visa, Verve and Master card) i. Online Quick Teller ii. ATM Payment iii. Quick Teller Mobile Application iv. Bank Branch (CASH / CARD) OPTIONS PROVIDED FOR REGISTRATION Four (4) options are available to a candidate who wishes to register: i. A mobile app will be created for a cand...