Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Socio Economic Rights
and Accountability Project, SERAP, have entered the same
trouser.
This may not be unconnected with the seven days ultimatum by
SERAP to the state government to provide information on details of
the budgetary allocations and actual spending on primary school
education in the state.
But the Governor has warned SERAP to stop ‘blackmailing’ him
with ultimatum for information that they could source from the
state website.
“Respond to what? Our business is to govern our people in Delta
state with
the highest sense of accountability. I have not seen anywhere it
is written in the oath of office that there must be one body who
will come and harass us and make us abandon what we are doing”.
Charles Aniagwu, Chief Press Secretary, CPS, to the Governor
retorted.
SERAP had few days ago while reacting to the video of Success
Adegor, a pupil of Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1, Sapele, Delta
state who was driven from school for failure to pay her examination
levy, issued Governor Okowa the ultimatum.
SERAP in its FOI request said,“the evidence of education deficit
in the state is further buttressed by the case of Adegor, who was
sent home because her parents could not pay the illegal school
fee/levy of N900 and the insufficient and poor-quality education
infrastructure of Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1, Sapele”.
According to them, “If we have not heard from you within seven
days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter, the
Registered Trustees of SERAP shall take all appropriate legal
actions to compel you to comply with our request.
SERAP said in the FOI request, dated April 5, 2019, and signed
by Kolawole Oluwadare, its Deputy Director said: “Full development
of human personality is essential objective of education. A strong
Delta State in the future requires a strong education system
today.
A poor education system will severely cripple Delta State’s
future growth, development and sustainability, both socially and
economically. Providing theinformation as requested would show your
commitment to ensuring access to quality education as a public
good.
“Despite the huge resources available to your government and the
massive budgetary allocations to primary education in your state,
including from the UBEC funds, several of the around 1,124 primary
schools across the State are in a shambles, and with very poor
teaching facilities, thereby jeopardizing the futures of tens of
thousands of Nigerian children in the State.”
Furthermore, the FOI request said: “SERAP notes that since
assuming office, your government has received over N7.8 billion
from Universal Basic Education
Commission (UBEC). Your government has also received funds from
federal allocations to Delta State”
“Your government accessed over N3bn of UBEC funds between 2015
and 2016, while also reportedly approved the release of N1.28
billion counterpart fund to enable it access UBEC funds for 2017.
Your government also received N213 billion from Federation Accounts
Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2018, at an average of N17.8 billion
monthly”
“We urge you to provide details of budgetary allocations and
actual spending by your government between 2015 and 2019, including
specific projects carried out to improve access to free and quality
primary education in your state, the locations of such projects and
the primary schools that have benefited from the projects”.
But Aniagwu faulted SERAPover such demands and ultimatum,
warning that nobody is going to blackmail us for cheap
popularity.
“There are 36 states of the federation. In these 36 states, the
Governors of these states and indeed the federal government budget
for education of their different states and ministries of
education.
If SERAP want to know what anybody is spending with respect to
education. Why are you going to move the story of Success to begin
to make such demands? Why don’t you ask every state?
“Let people ask of things for the purpose of developing Nigeria
and we will move with them. We encourage anybody who is interested
in what we are doing here. We don’t have anything to hide.
Senator
Ifeanyi Okowa runs a very transparent government and the
businesses we do here is on the basis of the transparency and if
SERAP wants to know how transparency exist in the system, let them
come to Delta but giving ultimatum as if they are the owners of the
government in Delta state is not something that we are going to
fall into.
“Why didn’t they give ultimatum to many other states where
people are learning under the trees? Why don’t they give ultimatum
to other places where they are not able to pay their teachers? In
Delta, we not only pay our workers we also assist local governments
to ensure that the teachers are well paid as at when due”
“There are states in the federation where teachers are even paid
half salaries. In some other states, they are owed more than six
months. I expect SERAP to go there and begin to demand for
ultimatum so that we know that in deed they are very much
interested in the development of this country and not playing to
the gallery.”
When asked if the state government will respond to SERAP
demands, he replied t there is nothing we are hiding, our budget is
very clear; we put it on the website. Let them go there they will
see it we don’t have anything that we are hiding.
“We have a house of Assembly. Those are the ones that should be
giving Governor ultimatum in the first place because the house of
Assembly represents the people but when somebody else comes from
somewhere, we don’t even know those who constitute them. Have they
spoken to anybody? Have they come here to talk to us?
“Before you give ultimatum, you must first of all shown what
effort you have made to say I went to this man he didn’t answer me.
How do you just go to the media and give us ultimatum in the media?
And you expect us to jump? We don’t even know who is giving the
ultimatum”
“He queried: “Why are people not even looking at the
intelligence of Success? How many children in Nigeria have that
kind of intelligence? That is the stuff we are made of in Delta.
Producing bright brains; Success is a very good example of the kind
of children that we produce in Delta. So, they should come and
first ask us how do we produce such intelligent children and not
begin to look at the fact that her intelligence is able to expose
one thing or the other”
“Do they have children in other states who can even afford to
say they have problem in school? Are they not supposed to thank us
that in Delta we produce very bright children? Just as we also do
in sports?
“I can tell you that on the priority needs of our budgeting
since 2015, when we had a supplementary budget after we have been
able to have a review of the existing budget that we met in 2015,
Senator
Ifeanyi Okowa has continue to give prime and priority attention
to the education sector. I think usually, after our budget in the
works sector where you have a lot of infrastructures and roads,
education takes a very prime position”
Read more serap-cannot-blackmail-delta-for-cheap-popularity-okowa/
Court Jails Economics Graduate for
Impersonation
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal
office, has secured the conviction of an Economics graduate from a
public university in Southwest Nigeria, Fredrick Shuaibu, for
criminal impersonation.
Fredrick was convicted and sentenced to four months imprisonment
on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 by Justice Watilat Ibrahim of a
Federal High Court in Abeokuta, Ogun State after pleading guilty to
an amended one-count charge of fraudulent impersonation.
He was said to have used the computer and network system to
fraudulently impersonate one Kristen Polochak, a white female, via
his email KristenPolochak@gmail.com, using same to dupe one Jim
Fletcher of a sum of $1,000.
The offence, according to the charge sheet, was contrary to
Section 22 (3) (b) and punishable under Section 22 (4) of the Cyber
Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015.
The convict was originally arraigned on December 10, 2018 on a
five-count charge. But the charges were dropped when he opted for a
plea bargain.
Mabas Mabur, EFCC’s counsel, thereafter prayed the court to
convict him based on the plea bargain agreement signed by both
parties.
After considering the terms of the plea bargain, the presiding
judge convicted and sentenced Fredrick to four months imprisonment
with effect from the day he was arrested by the EFCC.
The court also ordered that he restitutes to his victim the sum
of $1,000.
He was also to forfeit to the Federal Government his HP laptop,
a Macbook, one iPhone 6 mobile phone, one power bank, three MTN SIM
cards, being part of the benefits he derived from his fraudulent
acts.
Tony Orilade
Ag. Head, Media & Publicity
April 10, 2019