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HURIWA calls for ICPC probe as Governor Sule plans appeal in wake of tribunal verdict

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7 months ago

October 4, 2023

MINISTER OF CULTURE, NOA AND EFCC SHOULD WORK ON CULTURAL REORIENTATION AGAINST 419 OFFENCES BY COUPLES, YOUTHS- HURIWA Prominent civil rights advocacy group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to liaise and partner actively with credible civil rights organisations, the Federal ministry of Culture and Creative Economy and the National Orientation Agency to create massive enlightenment and sensitize couples and youths in Nigeria about the necessity of pursuing legitimate sources of income and the avoidance of all traces of advanced fees fraud in Nigeria. HURIWA raised the alarm that more and more couples and families are getting caught by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over their alleged involvement in mind-boggling and mind-blowing criminal acts of frauds and advanced fees fraud running into billions of Naira just as the Rights group said the trend should be clinically tackled from the root causes of these trends which can at best be situated around the unprecedented collapse of the hitherto respected African tradional and cultural values and the effects of unbridled materialism and unethical globalisation. HURIWA which applauded the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for calling attention to the worrying trend of married couples increasingly getting entangled in criminal cases of frauds and advanced fees fraud, also called on the anti-graft agency to think of setting up a team made up of psychologists, sociologists, Anthropologists in Nigerian Higher academic institutions to articulate learned opinions on the remote and immediate causes of the involvement of multiple numbers of couples in the disturbing cases of sophisticated fraud and then to proffer far-reaching solutions to the scandals which has deeper implications to the place of African culture and tradition globally. HURIWA recalled that recently, the Head, Cybercrime of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Nura Buhari, attributed the increase in the number of couples committing crimes to greed and loss of traditional values. “It’s just the 21st century generation where people believe they can make money through the internet by identifying a glitch or system weakness and committing fraud,” Buhari said in an interview with one of the nation's fast growing online newspapers. The EFCC official was reacting to the rising number of couples caught by the agency for their involvement in internet fraud. On 28th November 2023, the Commission arraigned a couple, Oriyomi Idowu and Ruth Idowu, before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos over false pretence, money laundering, stealing, retention of stolen property and forgery to the tune of N2,757,188,000.00. The couple were arraigned alongside Food Commodity Processing Enterprise, Bonway Food Processing Company Limited, Samee Idowu Company Limited and Farmex Integrated Companies Limited, which all belong to Ruth Idowu. According to EFCC, sometime in 2023 in Lagos, Ruth converted the sum of N10,000,000 to purchase a GLK Benz, purchase sum derived from converting the sum of N500,000,000 belonging to Creditpro Business Support Services with the aim of disguising the illegal origin of the funds. The accused also dishonestly retained the sum of N936,619,876 in UBA account, property of Creditpro Business Support services, knowing same to be funds fraudulently obtained from Creditpro Business Support Services but the defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges. EFCC also arraigned another couple, Aisha Malkohi (a.k.a Ummitah, Arab Money) and her husband, Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud (at large), over alleged fraud involving the sum of N410,518,000 meant for the purchase of cars from Saudi Arabia. They were arraigned on 8th December 2023, before Justice Aisha Mahmud at Kano State High Court after they obtained the sum of N225,259,000 belonging to Farida Ibrahim between 6th January to 16th December, 2022. The said money was reportedly paid into a Zenith Bank account bearing Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud for the purchase and supply of 64 cars, from Saudi Arabia. But Malkohi pleaded not guilty to all the five counts read to her. Malkohi was arrested by EFCC investigators in Kano following a petition from two people–Farida Ibrahim and Ibrahim Mohammed Abdulrahman–alleging that she conspired with her husband and defrauded them under the guise of supplying them with cars, gold, electronics and kitchen utensils from Saudi Arabia. EFCC carried out an investigation that revealed the defendant had collected a total sum of N410,518,000 through bank accounts belonging to her company–Golden Grass Hill International Ltd– and her husband’s Zenith Bank account. Further investigation also revealed that the defendant, alongside her husband, who is still at large, diverted the monies into several bank accounts. On 19th December 2023, the Enugu Zonal Command of the EFCC arraigned another couple, Mr. Udeani Sunday and his wife, Udeani Amaka, before Justice M.G. Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu. They were arraigned on three-count charges bordering on obtaining the sum of N2,750,000.00 by false pretence in an alleged land fraud. According to EFCC, between 10th July 2019 to 19th December 2019 in Enugu, the couple lured one Onugu Chinyere to deliver N2,750,000.00 to them under the pretence that they’d sell a plot of land behind Ebenezer Anglican Church, Ala-Uguaji along Enugu/Port Harcourt Road to her, but like the other couples they also pleaded not guilty and the case was adjourned till February 6, 2024. "Looking at these cases and the established harmonious pattern of couples increasingly becoming partners in the crime of fraud from a deeper philosophical point of view, is actually left for philosophers and free thinkers like us to weigh in. So why are couples who ought to behave as embodiment of good behaviour and the supposed teachers of morality and ethics to their children, now turning around to become undesirable social elements?", HURIWA affirmed. Speaking further on the breaches of family cohesion and the collapse of well respected African cultural value systems, HURIWA argued that there are actually a formidable body of scholarly works on the renowned African cultural values, one of which states that in Africa, the sense of family unit, ethics and etiquette are fundamental to understanding who the African is at all times. Professor Oliver Onwubiko listed the following African cultural values: sense of community life; sense of good human relations; sense of sacredness of life; sense of hospitality; sense of the sacred and religion. HURIWA has therefore advocated a coordinated approach and the intra-governmental synergies between the EFCC, Federal ministries of information and culture and some credible CSOs, to work out a template and implement strategies for promoting the reversal of the authentic African cultural values and for families and youngsters in Nigeria to be enlightened persistently to embrace the pursuit of legitimate wealth and reject shortcuts to wealth as it were.

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The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has made an urgent appeal to the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) to conduct a thorough investigation into allegations that Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State might be utilizing state funds to support his legal battle following his recent defeat at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.

In an official statement released on Wednesday, HURIWA expressed deep concerns regarding reports suggesting that Governor Sule could be tapping into the state’s financial resources to sustain his ongoing legal efforts aimed at challenging the tribunal’s verdict

“This verdict decisively recognized the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), David Ombugadu, as the rightful winner of the highly contentious March 18 governorship election in Nasarawa State”. The tribunal, led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, found that Ombugadu had provided evidence that the election results were manipulated in favor of the APC and had the majority of valid votes”.

While HURIWA acknowledges the governor’s right to appeal the decision, it issued a warning against the potential misuse of state funds to finance the appeal and urged Governor Sule not to further deplete the state’s finances by funding a potentially fruitless appeal. Instead, the organization called on him to respect the tribunal’s verdict and uphold the principles of democracy.

HURIWA emphasized that the misuse of public funds for personal political battles is a form of corruption that undermines the principles of good governance and transparency. “Such actions represent a serious violation of the foundations of democratic governance and ethical conduct, posing a direct threat to Nigeria’s democracy and its essential principles of integrity and accountability”.

In response to these grave concerns, HURIWA called on the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to initiate an immediate and comprehensive investigation into Governor Sule’s financial transactions and the utilization of public resources by his administration, stressing that the objective of the investigation is to determine whether state funds have been diverted to finance the governor’s legal campaign and take appropriate action if any wrongdoing is found.

Furthermore, HURIWA called for significant electoral reforms to address the issue of litigation arising from elections. The organization contended that the current practice, where sitting governors are allowed to use state resources to contest election results in court, is detrimental to the democratic process and can potentially lead to financial abuse of state resources.

HURIWA echoed the views of legal experts such as retired Justice Peter Ige of the Court of Appeal, proposing that the electoral process should be reformed to ensure that all legal disputes related to elections are resolved before the winners are sworn into office. This, according to the rights group, would pave the way for a more transparent and accountable electoral system. HURIWA suggested that incumbents temporarily hand over power to Chief Justices or Chief Judges, in the case of state governors, while election-related litigation is concluded.

“According to Justice Ige, concluding the post-election matters before the winners are sworn in, would be of mutual benefit to all the stakeholders in the electoral process and adjudication. He also stated that pre-election matters should be concluded before the general elections”.

Additionally, HURIWA recommended a two-tiered approach to handling election disputes, with the governorship and presidential polls being exclusively handled by the Appeal Court and Supreme Court, while other election-related matters are resolved at regular tribunals, terminating at the Appeal Court.

HURIWA concluded by emphasizing the need for these reforms to promote fairness, transparency, and the rule of law in Nigeria’s electoral processes just as it called on relevant authorities, including the National Assembly, to consider and implement these reforms to strengthen the nation’s democracy and prevent the misuse of public resources for personal political gain.

Recall that 24 hours after the election (March 19, 2023), INEC promised to declare the result of the governorship poll at 9am the following day (March 20, 2023). However, the state returning Officer Professor Tanko Ishaya, emerged five hours earlier than promised (4am) and declared APC’s Sule winner.

According to the INEC officer, APC’s Sule polled 347,209 votes to defeat PDP’s David Ombugadu he declared scored 283,016 votes.