The names of a former National Deputy
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, and other ex-convicts,
are still on the national honours list, The PUNCH has learnt.
Other prominent convicts whose names are on
the list are a former Inspector-General of Police, Tafa
Balogun; ex-Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru; her former
counterpart in the defunct Intercontinental Bank, Erastus Akingbola; and
other ex-managing directors of banks convicted after they were conferred
with the national honours.
President Goodluck Jonathan during the 2012
national honours awards in Abuja in September had said that he had directed the
national honours award committee to withdraw the awards from awardees who had
been convicted or undergoing criminal trial.
Investigation by The PUNCH showed that
the committee had not been able to meet to carry out Jonathan’s order.
It was also gathered that 21 recipients of the
2010 and 2011 National Honours awardees had yet to receive their medals more
than one year after they were conferred with the awards.
Eighty per cent of the awardees came from the
public sector as either public officers or political appointees.
Already, the Special Duties Office in the office
of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation had concluded arrangement
to use its 21 members of staff, preferably those from recipients’ home states
to take the medals personally to them.
A senior government official told our
correspondent on Sunday in Abuja that the members of the national honours award
committee had not been able to meet due to “some logistic factors.”
The committee which is chaired by a former Chief
Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore, it was learnt, had also been unable
to meet because some of its members were on other national
assignments.
The source said, “Prof. Attahiru Jega is a member
of the committee but following his appointment as chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission, he has not had the time because of his
commitment to ensure that INEC got its acts right. Dr. Christopher
Kolade is also a member of the committee but his appointment into the Federal
Government’s SURE-Programme is also a minus.
“The committee has not even been able to meet
since the last ceremony in which Otunba Mike Adenuga and 148 others were
honoured.”
Our source, however, assured that the case
of George, Ibru, Akingbola, Balogun and others would be
resolved next year when the committee begins sitting.
“It(committee) is most likely to meet in January
2013 to review the whole process and find a way of transferring the medals to
the recipients since many of them are too old to travel and commence compiling
the names as directed Mr. President.”
Our correspondent was also informed that
one of the greatest challenges facing the committee was funding.
“The national awards committee is in a serious
financial crisis. There is no money because funding has been difficult and it
will be difficult to perform very well when there is no money. But as soon as
things improve, the committee would start sitting and we can assure you that
everything will come back to reckoning”, the source stated.
Jonathan’s directive on the removal of
recipients not worthy of the honours was contained in a letter to the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.
A source in the Presidency had confirmed to The
PUNCH in September that, “There is a letter to that effect, with a
directive to find out the names of those who were indicted and who have
(national) honours awards. I think the job is ongoing and almost being
concluded. The office of the SGF has been mandated to find out the names of
those who were indicted and have national honours.
“It is not all the people indicted that have
national honours awards. For instance, you cannot strip somebody of a national
honours award when he has none in the first place, even if he has been indicted.
So the Office of the SGF is on it.
“Mr. President has given instruction that the
names of the people should be compiled. As soon as the list is out, the
President will do something about their case. The SGF is sorting out the names
of those who were indicted and have national honours.
“For instance, the former Managing Director of
Oceanic Bank Plc, Mrs. Ibru, falls within the category. So also is the
ex-MD of Intercontinental Bank, Mr. Akingbola.”
George was sentenced in 2009 to a 30-month
jail term by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court for contract
splitting and inflation when he was the chairman of the board of the
Nigerian Ports Authority.
Balogun pleaded guilty to eight counts of money
laundering in 2005 and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by
Justice Binta Nyako.
Ibru was in 2010 convicted by Justice Dan Abutu
of the Federal High Court in Lagos of bank and securities fraud. She was
sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and made to forfeit over N150bn in assets
and cash.
The PUNCH last year had reported that
the country’s most prestigious honours awards held on November 15, 2011 was
marred by a shortage of medals and certificates.
As a result of the shortages, many of the
honourees had been unable to get their medals and certificates.
Anyim had blamed it on the large number of
recipients in 2011 and promised that those who could not receive their
medals and certificates would have them “in the next one week.”
Punch
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