…Amaechi Was the Target
The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has expressed shock at Sunday morning’s shooting of Senator Magnus Abe — the senator representing Rivers South East in the National Assembly and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) — and Chief Tony Okocha, the chief of staff to Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, as well as the killing of five children by men of the Nigeria Police.
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the senior special aide on media and publicity, released a statement saying the interim state chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya did not at first believe the news until he verified it because he, like any other right-thinking individual, could not understand why policemen paid with taxpayers’ money could turn their guns against the people, including prominent citizens well-known to them.
“We wish to unequivocally condemn this premeditated murder of our five children and attempted murder of two prominent and innocent Rivers citizens by the State Police Command, which seems happy to transform into an army of occupation instead of discharging its constitutional role of safeguarding lives and property. This is a declaration of war on Rivers State and its people”, read a part of the statement.
“We are holding State Police Commissioner, CP Joseph Mbu responsible for the deaths of five innocent kids that may be our future political leaders by this agents of darkness and the attempted murder on Senator Abe and Chief Okocha, since the shooting was carried out by a team of regular police and mobile policemen from MOPOL 19 on the orders of CP Mbu.
“Acting on CP Mbu’s orders, the trigger-happy policemen had stormed the APC rally organised by the Save Rivers Movement at the College of Arts and Science, Rumuola, Port Harcourt, and started shooting rubber bullets and teargas canisters to disperse the crowd. One of the rubber bullets hit Senator Abe, who fell to the ground and would have died instantly if his aides had not quickly grabbed him and rushed him to a hospital in D/Line in Port Harcourt.
“It is reported that the case of the senator is very critical and arrangement is being made by Governor Amaechi to fly him out for medical attention if he recovers from coma. Chief Okocha’s case is a bit better, as he was only shot on his legs and may be crippled for life if urgent attention is not given to him.
“The Police ordered everybody to vacate the venue. Several persons were injured, as they scampered for safety. The Police insisted that the rally must not hold, claiming that it would constitute a breach of the peace – a very spurious claim. And we are talking of a rally aimed at mobilising the public on the agenda of a political movement, of which the Police was duly informed!
Eze recalled that APc has shouted itself hoarse that Mbu is on a mission to cause mayhem and insecurity in the state; but sadly, the powers that brought him to state for this mission not only continued to sustain him but also continued to empower him in his acts of impunity in Rivers State.
“This single man has on various occasions abused, insulted and vilified our elected State Governor in the person of Gov. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, claiming that he (Mbu) is the chief security officer of Rivers State and not the governor as stipulated by the Constitution of the Federal Republic!” the statement continued.
“This single man has on various occasions given police cover to GDI, the political pressure group of President Goodluck Jonathan and Supervising Minister for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, while denying the same services to other political groups in Rivers State, including Save Rivers State Movement while we sustain the Police with Rivers State fund. This single man, since he came to Rivers State, has promoted criminality in various ways and has even made himself a member of PDP, attending their meetings!
“The National Assembly has found this man guilty and asked for his redeployment to no avail! The Rivers State Government and various pressure groups have called for his redeployment to no avail, all because the Federal Government is bent on using him to cause a war in Rivers State”!
In view of the foregoing, APC swore that the blood of the five innocent kids that were slaughtered by the Police would hang over Mbu’s head and those of his sponsors. It appealed to Nigerians to join in praying for the survival of Senator Abe and Chief Okocha, praying that by God’s grace, the trials will be overcome, as the plot of intimidation will not deter it from salvaging Rivers State from the PDP-led Federal Government whose hatred and disdain on our people are now legendary.
Interim State Chairman of APC in the state, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya also condemned the shootings and demanded the immediate release of Hon. Ike Chinwo, who was arrested by the Police after the mayhem “for no just cause”, within 24 hours unfailingly.
In another statement, Interim National Publicity Secretary of APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed accused President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience of causing chaos in Rivers State and making the country ungovernable.
He urged Jonathan to urgently put an end to the worsening reign of impunity in the state, which is being carried out under his watch by those who obviously acting to impress him and the first lady, saying the call has become even more imperative following the irresponsible act of brigandage by the Police, having stopped a peaceful and lawful rally billed for the Obio Akpor Local Government Area of the state by the Save Rivers Movement (SRM)
“The Police went to the venue of the rally, pulled down the erected canopies and fired tear gas at everyone around there and even into nearby homes, with the result that five children are now feared to have died from suffocation due to this shameful Gestapo-style action of the Police, who are being funded by taxpayers to protect the lives and property of the same citizens they are now brutalising and killing.
“Not only that, they injured the chief of staff to Gov. Chibuike Amaechi and fired a supposed rubber bullet, at point blank range, at Senator Magnus Abe, who is now gravely injured. The senator is believed to have been deliberately targeted for attack by the Police.“We understand that the exceptional brutal clampdown on the planned rally by the Police, who seem to have now surpassed even their own act of brutality against the people of the state, was aimed at impressing the first lady, believed to be due in Port Harcourt on the same day (Sunday)”.
According to APC, there is no way a commissioner of police in any state will be so bold as to be waging a war against an elected governor and his aides/supporters if he is not empowered to do so by higher authorities; and as everyone knows, Mbu believes he is now the de facto Governor of Rivers because he has the support of the Presidency to exhibit impudence.
“Mbu, who is going down in Nigeria's history as a classic example of an officer of the law turned the biggest violator of the law, has not only defied the resolutions of the National Assembly, he has also thumbed his nose at the ultimatum issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). He is the Alternate Inspector General of the Police who takes orders only from a conniving presidency”.
“The only reason the impunity in Rivers could have continued unabated is because it is a dress rehearsal for what is being planned for 2015, hence the APC has continued to raise the alarm over the instigated crisis in Rivers. Since this reign of impunity started, the Rivers Governor has been barred from accessing his official residence by the Police; members of the State House of Assembly have been tear-gassed and harassed endlessly; the plane owned by the state government has been grounded, using the institutions of state; and even a chartered plane bearing the governor has been prevented from take-off, not minding that the member of the state House of Assembly which the plane was supposed to be carrying was not on board. No one has apologised for this chutzpah.
It lamented that all these are happening under the watch of a president who has been widely quoted as saying his ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian, saying the statement now rings hollow, considering what is happening in Rivers and elsewhere, which is widely regarded as a sign of things to come ahead of 2015.
“President Jonathan should act today to bring Rivers State and indeed Nigeria back from the brink of lawlessness”, APC pleaded. “His body language must discourage the likes of Mbu from turning Nigerian into a lawless nation. He must differentiate his position as the leader of the PDP from his perch as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.In its own reaction, the River State Government claimed that Governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi, and not the injured two, was the real target of the trigger-happy policemen.
“Today Sunday 12th January 2014, Rivers State witnessed another senseless attack on innocent citizens in a continuous rape of democracy by the Joseph Mbu-led Rivers State Police Command”, Commissioner of Information and Communications, Ibim Semenitari wrote.
“Today’s attack on members of the Save Rivers Movement, a non-governmental association at the College of Arts and Science, Rumuola, Port Harcourt Rivers State and especially the unprovoked shooting of Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, the senator representing Rivers South East senatorial district, is cause for worry and an indication of the length that the PDP is willing to go to silence opposing views.
“The Rivers State government has it on good authority that Senator Abe took the bullet originally meant for Governor Chibuike Amaechi, who was billed to be present at the event. This is disconcerting especially in the light of recent revelations that the Presidency may be training snipers ahead of the 2015 elections and that Governor Amaechi is top on the list of those to be eliminated”.
The Rivers State Government then requested the Federal Government and its agencies to respect the rules of democratic engagement in their “misguided fight” against the people of Rivers State and especially save the nation from the unnecessary chaos into which federal agents like Mbu want to plunge it ahead of the 2015 elections.
“The Rivers State Government therefore reiterates its call for the re deployment of CP Mbu from Rivers State before he turns the state into a graveyard because of his intolerance and unprofessional behaviour.
“The Government of Rivers State understands that Mr. Mbu would prefer to be a policetician rather than a responsible police officer but would request that he attempts to at least protect the lives and properties of the poor Rivers taxpayers who pay his salary, and who are the real employers of the officers and men of the Rivers State police command”.
It condemned the disruption of the rally, describing it as selective, since the Police do not only allow members of the PDP Grassroots Democratic Initiative (GDI) to hold rallies but indeed provides them with protection. It expressed belief in the freedom of association and freedom of expression guaranteed to all Nigerians by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, asking Inspector General of Police, the Chairman Police Service commission, the Chairman Nigeria Human Rights Commission and Mr. President on whose table the buck ends as Commander in Chief and the Nation’s Number One citizen to call Mbu to order and bring an end to this impunity in Rivers State, and restore the hope of Rivers people that they have not been marked as enemies and lamb for slaughter in their own country.
“Despite the shenanigans of Mbu and his cohorts, the Rivers State Government wishes to reassure Rivers people of its commitment to fight on the side of the people and on the side of truth”, the statement added. “We appeal to our people to remain law-abiding and not to take the laws into their own hands as we promise to continue to use all legitimate and legal means to guarantee the safety of our people and their rights to exist in Nigeria”.
However, the Rivers Police Command has denied allegations of the shootings, saying so single bullet was released while it dispersed the rally.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ahmad Muhammad, organisers of the rally were dispersed because they did not obtain a Police permit.
“I can confirm to you that Sen. Magnus Abe was not shot”, Muhammad said. “The Police did not expend any bullet while dispersing the crowd. It is not true. The Police did not shoot the senator; we only used minimum force to disperse the crowd at the venue of the rally”.
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Tinubu Meets Bolloré in Paris Over Expanded Investment in Nigeria’s Creative, Digital Economy
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has held talks with French businessman Vincent Bolloré in Paris on plans to expand investment in Nigeria’s creative and digital economy.
The meeting, held during the President’s working vacation, focused on opportunities to deepen the localisation of operations by the Bolloré Group and increase investment in sectors including film, entertainment, fibre-optic infrastructure and digital services, according to a statement issued by the presidency.
Bolloré and members of his executive team outlined proposed investments centred on Nigeria, highlighting the country’s growing influence in global entertainment through Nollywood and Afrobeats.
The group also expressed interest in expanding its operations and local presence in Nigeria, with the presidency saying the plans could support increased production, investment and employment opportunities in the country.
Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s focus on economic growth, job creation and digitalisation, while welcoming the group’s reported plans to deepen its activities in Nigeria.
The President said the government would continue to support investments aimed at developing the creative and digital economy, strengthening infrastructure and creating opportunities for Nigerian talent.
According to the statement, Tinubu also emphasised the potential for Nigeria to serve as a base for companies seeking to operate across Africa and international markets.
The meeting comes as Nigeria continues to promote its entertainment and technology sectors as areas of economic opportunity, with the government seeking to attract investment while expanding employment opportunities for young Nigerians.
Tinubu said his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda seeks to harness Nigeria’s talent, entrepreneurship and growing global cultural influence to create greater economic opportunities and improve livelihoods.
News
Banks Shut 476 Branches as Nigeria’s Banking Landscape Goes Digital
Nigeria’s banks are rapidly abandoning the traditional banking model, shutting down hundreds of branches and cash centres as customers increasingly move to digital and electronic channels.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria show that banks closed a net 476 branches and cash centres between 2022 and 2025, cutting the country’s physical banking network by 8.8 per cent in just three years.
The number of bank branches and cash centres plunged from 5,410 in 2022 to 4,934 in 2025, signalling a dramatic shift away from brick-and-mortar banking.
The contraction has gathered pace in recent years.
Banks closed 37 locations in 2023, followed by a much steeper reduction of 229 locations in 2024. Another 210 branches and cash centres disappeared in 2025.
In effect, more than nine out of every 10 locations lost during the three-year period were closed in 2024 and 2025.
The figures, contained in the CBN’s 2025 Statistical Bulletin for the Financial Sector, cover branches and cash centres operated by commercial, merchant and non-interest banks. The data were sourced from the CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Lagos bears the biggest hit Lagos, Nigeria’s financial powerhouse, recorded the largest decline.
The state had 1,602 bank branches and cash centres in 2022. That figure dropped to 1,532 in 2023, 1,521 in 2024 and just 1,444 in 2025.
That represents a loss of 158 locations, or nearly 10 per cent, in three years.
Despite the closures, Lagos remains overwhelmingly dominant, accounting for almost 29 per cent of all physical banking locations in Nigeria.
The Federal Capital Territory also suffered a significant contraction. Abuja went from 400 locations in 2022 to 362 in 2025, a decline of 38, or 9.5 per cent.
But some states experienced far more dramatic cuts.
Ekiti lost almost half of its banking locations, falling from 107 in 2022 to just 57 in 2025 — a staggering 46.7 per cent decline.
Enugu lost 44 locations, dropping from 162 to 118, while Oyo shed 41, falling from 237 to 196.
Other notable declines were recorded in Ondo, Plateau, Osun, Cross River and Rivers.
Northern banking centres also feel the squeeze
The contraction was not confined to the South.
Kano, for instance, initially expanded its banking footprint, rising from 164 locations in 2022 to 183 in 2024. But the reversal was sharp in 2025, when the figure crashed to 157.
Kaduna followed a similar pattern. Its locations climbed from 148 in 2022 to 164 in 2024 before falling back to 146 in 2025.
Yet not every state is losing branches.
Delta recorded the strongest expansion among the states highlighted, adding 23 locations and rising from 173 in 2022 to 196 in 2025.
Edo added 10, while Jigawa and Kogi gained six and five locations respectively.
A widening banking divide
The figures expose a striking disparity in access to physical banking infrastructure across Nigeria.
While Lagos had 1,444 branches and cash centres in 2025, Yobe had only 23, Taraba 26 and Zamfara 28.
Bayelsa and Gombe had 31 each, while Ebonyi had 32.
The imbalance underscores how heavily physical banking infrastructure remains concentrated in Nigeria’s major commercial and economic centres.
The bank branch may be losing its battle
The shrinking branch network comes despite the number of banks operating in Nigeria initially increasing.
The country had 32 banks in 2022, 33 in 2023 and 35 in 2024, before the figure slipped slightly to 34 in 2025.
That means the branch closures cannot simply be explained by a shrinking number of banks.
Instead, the figures point to a much bigger transformation: Nigerian banking is moving away from physical locations and towards digital platforms.
The CBN has itself been pushing greater adoption of alternative payment channels, particularly among farmers, traders, small businesses and informal-sector operators who may have limited access to conventional banking services.
Speaking at the 2026 CBN Fair in Lokoja, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Hakama Sidi-Ali, stressed the importance of alternative payment channels in expanding financial access and stimulating economic activity.
The message from the numbers is even clearer.
The era of banking halls on every major street may be fading.
With hundreds of branches disappearing in just three years — and the pace of closures accelerating — Nigeria’s banking industry is betting increasingly on phones, apps, electronic payments and other digital channels rather than physical walls and counters.
For millions of Nigerians, the next bank branch may no longer be a building. It may be sitting in their hands.
Business
In The Spotlight
Dangote: OPM Made You 36th Globally—How Many Investors Will Become Billionaires?
Alhaji Aliko Dangote has done what very few Africans have ever done. He has built a business empire of extraordinary scale, crossed the $50 billion mark in personal wealth, and reportedly risen to the 36th position among the world’s 3,397 billionaires.
That is an achievement Nigerians can acknowledge. But today, I want to ask a different question. Alhaji Dangote, how many of the Nigerians who are now investing their hard-earned money in your businesses will you help turn into millionaires—and eventually billionaires? That, in my view, is the more important question. Because behind every great fortune is an army of people whose money, labour, patronage, trust and participation helped create that wealth. And that brings us to OPM—Other People’s Money.
Other People's Money Built More Than One Fortune
Let us be honest: no business empire is built by one person alone. Investors provide capital. Banks provide financing. Workers provide labour. Consumers provide revenue. Suppliers provide goods and services. Governments provide infrastructure and an operating environment. And ordinary Nigerians have been buying Dangote products for decades. Now, Nigerians are being invited to take another step—from being customers to becoming owners.
The public offering of shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery gives ordinary Nigerians an opportunity to put their money into one of the country's biggest industrial projects. That opportunity comes with risk, of course. Nobody should invest money they cannot afford to lose, and nobody should assume that buying shares automatically guarantees wealth.
But there is a bigger principle here.If Nigerians are going to put their money into Dangote's business, Nigerians should also have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the wealth that business creates.
Don't Take Nigerians for Granted
Alhaji Dangote, Nigerians have supported your businesses.They have bought your cement.They have bought your sugar. They have bought your flour. They have bought countless other products connected to your business empire.Nigerian workers have built factories, transported products, operated plants, sold products and provided services.
Now, ordinary Nigerians are being asked to invest directly. That creates a responsibility—not merely to shareholders, but to the broader Nigerian public.
Don't take Nigerians for granted. Treat the small investor with the same seriousness you would give the institutional investor. Give shareholders transparency. Give them accountability. Give them information. Give them confidence that their money is being managed responsibly. And when the business succeeds, shareholders should have the opportunity to benefit from that success.
Your Greatest Legacy Should Be Bigger Than Your Net Worth
There is nothing wrong with becoming extraordinarily wealthy by building successful businesses.But there comes a point when the conversation should move beyond “How much is Dangote worth?" The more interesting question becomes:How many people became wealthy because Dangote built these businesses?
Imagine the impact if hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who invest today eventually build substantial wealth from their investments. Imagine a young Nigerian who starts with a modest investment and, over decades, builds an investment portfolio capable of paying school fees, buying a home, funding a business or securing retirement. Imagine Nigerian families passing shares from one generation to another. That is how an ownership culture is created.And Nigeria desperately needs an ownership culture.
We Need More Than One Dangote
Nigeria does not simply need another Dangote. Nigeria needs 10,000 Dangotes in different industries.
We need Nigerians who build technology companies, manufacturing companies, agricultural businesses, energy companies, financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies and global brands.But we also need millions of Nigerians who can become shareholders in those businesses. A country becomes economically stronger when wealth creation spreads beyond a handful of extraordinarily wealthy individuals.
The refinery therefore presents an interesting test. Can a Nigerian industrial giant create not just a massive fortune for its founder, but also a new generation of Nigerian investors? Can ordinary Nigerians who put their money into the company eventually look back and say:I was there when it started, and I benefited from its growth”?
That would be a powerful story.
From Billionaire to Wealth Creator
Dangote has already demonstrated that he knows how to create enormous corporate value. The next challenge is different.Can he help create enormous shareholder value for ordinary Nigerians?That is where the conversation about his $51.3 billion fortune becomes relevant.
If one man's wealth can grow by tens of billions of dollars, Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the people who invest alongside him can also experience meaningful wealth creation. Not necessarily overnight.Not necessarily without risk. But over time.That is what investing is supposed to be about.
The Question Nigerians Should Keep Asking
So, Alhaji Dangote, congratulations on reaching another extraordinary milestone.But don't stop at building your own fortune. Build an ecosystem in which others can build theirs. Don't let Nigerians remain merely consumers of Dangote products. Make them owners. Don't let the story end with one Nigerian becoming one of the world's richest people. Let the next chapter be about thousands, perhaps millions, of Nigerians building meaningful wealth through ownership and investment. Because the real measure of an economic giant is not only how high the founder climbs. It is how many people rise because of the platform he created.
So here is the question Nigerians should be asking: Aliko Dangote, OPM has helped take you to the 36th richest person in the world. Now that Nigerians are putting their own money into your empire, how many of those investors will you help turn into millionaires—and, ultimately, billionaires? That is the legacy question.
By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe (EEA) Publisher/Editor-in- Chief)
In The Spotlight
Mixed metaphors: Eating them young
On this page, I have praised former Minister Nasir el-Rufai for his work in the Federal Capital Territory.
As governor, I praised some of his work, including when he fired state teachers. I also criticised him when he became arrogant and presumptuous.
Powerful people tend to misjudge distance, in terms of how long they will remain powerful, as well as the depth of their relevance, measuring how power, once in the hands of others, can remain in their favour.
El-Rufai made both miscalculations. Following over two decades of untouchability in power from Olusegun Obasanjo to Muhammadu Buhari, he has now spent 200 days in pre-trial detention on ICPC and DSS charges.
This should not happen to a citizen, any citizen. But some citizens, when fate grants them the winning lottery ticket, become Cronus, the Titan in Greek mythology who, to maintain his power, swallowed five of his six children soon after birth.
But not Zeus, his youngest son, who miraculously survived and, becoming the supreme ruler of the Olympian gods and the “Father of Gods and Men, “would exact vengeance.
In power, el-Rufai forgot not only the principle of right and wrong, but also the concept of justice.
But it was right there the whole time: on the flip side of injustice. The truth is that wearing glasses to be able to see arms, nobody to see through clouds.
Last Tuesday’s disruption by political thugs of the visit to Benue State of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, is an early reminder of the temptations of power in a Nigerian election year.
The ruling party controls the state, which is in the thick of Nigeria’s insecurity crisis. Its governor, Hyacinth Alia, is a Catholic priest. Having, in 2025, been involved in trying to prevent the same Obi from a humanitarian visit, claiming that his intervention was purely on security grounds, Mr Alia is trying to persuade the country that his are not the hands behind the crude attempt to stop, particularly Mr Obi, from travelling freely and safely in the state.
As Minister Festus Keyamo wisely said, this kind of menace is not a part of our democracy. Mr Alia, show the world your strengths, not your limitations.
Big news: the 2024 Auditor-General’s Non-Compliance report, published last month, identified over N1.34trn in audit lapses.
It found that the National Cash Transfer Office paid N33.751 billion to 3,295,207 households in 35 states in 2023 with no evidence that the money reached genuine beneficiaries.
The Office could not produce REMITA records to authenticate the payments. SERAP has written to President Tinubu demanding a published audit trail and investigation of the flagged N78.8bn in total irregularities.
Similarly, Femi Falana (SAN) has called on the EFCC to investigate and prosecute officials.
Given that we are dealing with a specific regime of governance coated in colours of ruthlessness, it is doubtful that these calls will yield anything.
The truth is that the situation is worse than what we know so far, and so, I have a different call: that Nigerians pay close attention to what is actually a long-running looting spree of our poorest and most vulnerable. There is a scorched-earth assault going on.
I begin in 2019, the start of the second term of the fake anti-corruption champion Muhammadu Buhari:
The Auditor-General’s 2019 report on the FGN Consolidated Financial Statements discovered that 36 MDAs made individual transfer payments,totalingN15,534,467,561.26, without identifying the beneficiaries, ignoring the relevant budget lines for “Transfers–Payment to Unemployed” and “Transfers–Payment to Aged/Vulnerable Group.” The Auditor-General flagged the risk of “diversion of public funds” and “misapplication of funds.”
The 2020 report is more curious. In the MDA-by-MDA budget-performance schedule, the National Social Investment Office shows: Approved Budget N0.00, Supplementary Budget N0.00, Total Budget N0.00, but the actual spending is N275,010,764,595.02! That is, the NSIO somehow recorded spending N275bn with no budgetary authorisation at all.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2021 Non-Compliance report, Volume II, found under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs that N54,630,000,000 in N-Power Batch C1 stipends (the August–December 2021 backlog) was recorded as paid but, per the Auditor-General’s own field visits, “was not actually effected to the beneficiaries.”
The same section found N2,617,090,786 paid for the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (COVID-19 period), the Auditor-General recommending full recovery to the Treasury: a combined N58.05bn flagged in that one ministry in that one year.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2022 Non-Compliance file is titled as Volumes I and II merged, but despite that filename, Volume II appears to be absent, as it excludes Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO or NASSCO, meaning that their work was either not audited at all, or that that specific audit has yet to be published.
Again, and similarly, despite examining the two volumes of the 2023 Non-Compliance report, neither the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO, NASSCO, N-Power, GEEP nor school feeding appears anywhere, although many other agencies were thoroughly audited.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
That brings us to the 2024 itemised findings SERAP has publicized: N33.751bn in cash transfers with no beneficiary confirmation; N36.744bn paid in December 2023 without prepayment audit; N4.616bn in unsupported expenditure which the Auditor-General says “may have been diverted”; N350.18m in enrolment payments to state coordinators with no supporting documentation; N89.51m for store items never delivered or logged; N17.42m in diesel cash advances with no traceable purchases; and at NASSCO, N2.24bn paid through 158 vouchers without prepayment audit.
These appear to be the patterns that Nigerian MDAs exhibit in their work every year, with vulnerable Nigerians exploited every year.
But the first challenge is for journalists to track Humanitarian Affairs/NSIPA through every audit year to establish the full carnage.
There is another crisis: that despite all of this, a lot of MDAs still fail to submit audited accounts to the Auditor-General, representing one of Nigeria’s worst accountability challenges. This is a problem that worsened significantly under the Buhari administration despite his anti-corruption rhetoric. According to the Auditor-General, the 2016 audit year saw the highest number of non-submissions (324) in modern Nigerian history: more than double the previous 22-year high of 148. In 2016-2017 alone, 436 agencies failed to submit accounts. Think about that.
President Bola Tinubu is in the middle of a three-week foreign trip, departing without formally informing the National Assembly or handing over to Vice President Shettima, violating the constitution.
For a man who is seeking a second term of office, this is a stark reminder of how little the rules, or for that matter, Nigeria, really matter to Mr Tinubu. Keep in mind that when he headed north, Mr Shettima headed south, to Angola.
The general debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly will begin on 22 September. Mr Tinubu is scheduled to speak the following morning.
At a time of chaos and doubt in his leadership, and in democracy under his watch, he will confront the theme: “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”
By Sonala Olumhense