AFR Business

Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has said that he knows a team of lawyers that can help the President Bola Tinubu government recover $200 billion from fuel subsidy thieves.

Mr Falana said this while he was speaking on the state of the nation’s economy under Tinubu on Channels Television’s Politics Tonight on Friday, October 27, 2023.

Falana criticised a number of decisions made by the Federal Government, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira.

Recall that Tinubu announced the end of the subsidy regime during his inaugural speech on May 29, and his government has also decided to float the naira as part of wider monetary reforms being carried out by the Central Bank.

These decisions, among others, have plummeted the value of the nation’s currency to an all-time low while inflation continued to surge at an alarming rate.

Asked what he thinks should be done to arrest any further downward slide of the naira, Falana said the situation will remain the same if the Federal Government continues to adhere to International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank directives on how to run the economy.

"I’m saying that there is no way the value of the naira will pick up if we continue to take instructions from the IMF and World Bank to run our economy, the activist noted.

He also condemned the government for floating the naira when it had no control over forex exchange.

Falana also said the government should have prioritised the investigation of the alleged scam that characterised fuel importation in the country rather than the hasty removal of subsidy.

He then offered to help the government recover the subsidy loot, saying he knows lawyers who are ready to help achieve that between three to six months.

"Today, it’s only those two institutions, two brettonwood institutions that are commending the government for removing fuel subsidy without investigating the fraud that characterised the importation of fuel.

"Those are the two institutions commending the government for floating the naira. You don’t float the currency, apart from a banana republic, how can you float your currency when you didn’t control the dollar?

"So, these are issues that government would have to address and I’m saying publicly, if the government is prepared I know a team of lawyers that can the government to recover not less than $200bn between three and six months.

"So the government would have to really go back to the drawing table. How can we organise this country in the interest of our people and also in the interest of the government because the government needs political stability," the SAN added.

A new unit of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) called the Special Intervention Squad (SIS) is set to commence operations in 10 pilot states, according to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.

At the opening ceremony of the Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers in Imo State, on Monday, October 30, 2023, the IGP said the unit will train officers to rapidly intervene in major incidents.

The SIS will be deployed strictly to combat the menace of violent crimes across the country, a mandate that sounds exactly like the one the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was created for in 1992. The unit was later notorious for gross abuse of power, including the harassment, extortion, torture and extra-judicial murder of Nigerians — a reputation that led to its eventual dissolution in 2020.

The NPF immediately tried to replace SARS with the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit, but it suffered public backlash and never became fully operational.

Egbetokun said on Monday the SIS is considered an immediate priority in restoring calm to troubled areas in Nigeria. The 10 pilot states were selected following a crime assessment carried out across the country.

"The Police Force under my watch is poised to confront head on the menace of violent crimes in our country, restore calm to troubled areas and engender an atmosphere of peace, safety and security which will promote national economic growth and prosperity," he said.

The IGP, appointed in June, commended President Bola Tinubu for approving the specialised training of the initial team of instructors for the SIS. The training will start in November.

President Bola Tinubu on Monday charged the Nigeria Police Force to safeguard the nation’s security and make its wellbeing their priority.

Tinubu, represented by the Minister for Police Affairs, Ibrahim Gaidam, made the call during the opening ceremony of a National Security Conference and Retreat for senior police officers in Owerri.

Tinubu, who stated that internal security was the responsibility of the police, urged them to protect the rights of citizens.

He commended the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) for the theme of the conference, "Fostering economic prosperity, social integration and political development through enhanced security mechanism."

According to him, economic prosperity, social integration, political development and national stability thrives when security and public order are pursued and guaranteed.

He added that as the nation prepared new national security strategies, his administration would push through significant reforms to make the force better positioned to perform its mandate.

The president also restated his pledge to continue to invest resources to improve the quality of police personnel as well as upgrade their equipment to make policing easier.

He also promised to review the allowances, living wages and working conditions of officers, in addition to providing more firepower to enhance police efficiency.

He also urged them to foster social integration by being fair, just and firm to both complainant and accused.

In his speech, the Imo Governor, Sen. Hope Uzodimma, noted that enhancing internal security to foster national unity should not be left to the government alone.

Uzodimma called for high profile corporate bodies such as oil companies and banks to be made to mandatorily contribute a specified percentage of their annual returns to police fund.

He equally called for more ways to capacitate the police and make them more efficient in fostering national unity and internal security.

He called for more trainings and improved equipment such as weapons, vehicles, communication gadgets and protective gear for the police.

The governor also urged the National Assembly to come up with a bill for a special police fund where national and subnational governments must agree on a percentage of the federation account to be reserved for sufficient police funding.

The IGP, Kayode Agbetokun, said the focus of the police under his watch was standardising service delivery, driving transformative agenda and embracing principles of accountability and professionalism.

He added that the force would also engage in robust synergy with other security agencies to confront the menace of violent crimes in the country.

He added that this would restore calm to troubled areas and engender an atmosphere of peace, safety and security which would promote national economic growth and prosperity.

The IGP also announced the establishment of the Special Intervention Squad (SIS) which would be deployed to every command to deal with state salient security challenges.

He added that concrete steps had been taken to facilitate the smooth take-off of the SIS in 10 pilot states already identified based on recent violent crime assessment.

He expressed gratitude to the president for approving the specialised training of the initial SIS team which will commence next month.

He reiterated that the police were determined to further refine the perception of its officers to the essential concepts of human rights, rule of law and citizen focused policing.

The President of the Interpol, Maj.-Gen. Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, said Nigeria had played a key role in tackling regional and international crime since joining Interpol.

He added that this year alone, the joint Interpol-Afripol operation, targeted human traffickers and migrant smugglers, resulting in over 1,000 arrests worldwide, thanks to the support of Nigeria and several other countries.

"Nigeria has played a vital role in several Interpol operations and initiatives over the years, demonstrating its commitment to tackling transnational crime. The Nigerian Police Force has also supported in the fight against cybercrime.

"In another joint Interpol-Afripol initiative, Nigeria worked alongside 24 other countries across Africa," he said.

He also said the Interpol’s role would not be possible without the support of its member countries, including its 54-member countries across Africa.

"Your continued assistance will ensure that innocent victims are protected from some of the most common crime trends facing Africa," he said.

The president prays that God Almighty grant Professor Nwabueze eternal rest.

President Bola Tinubu has condoled with the Nwabueze family, the government and people of Anambra State, on the death of Professor Ben Nwabueze, one time minister of education.

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Tinubu, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, described the death of Nwabueze who was also a foremost constitutional lawyer as a profound loss.

According to him, Nwabueze’s knowledge of law was outstanding.

"Prof. Nwabueze’s contribution to the precedents and principles of the nation’s constitution is notable. His involvement in the drafting of the 1979 constitution is a legacy that stands him out as well as his outstanding contributions to the legal profession at large."

Tinubu asked his family, the good people of Anambra State, and Nigerians in general to take solace in the worthy legacy that the deceased left behind.

The president prays that God Almighty grant Professor Nwabueze eternal rest.