Judiciary my main headache in anti-graft drive, says Buhari

• EFCC to arraign Bashir,
Adebayan from today

• Govt reviews contracts with Chinese firms

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has described the judiciary as his major headache in his administration’s campaign against corruption. For him, the ongoing fight against corruption could only be effectively tackled with a strong, supportive judiciary.

Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), may from today, arraign some high-profile suspects on corruption charges.

To be arraigned this morning at the Federal High Court 6, is Chidi Adebanya, a former Interface Manager of Shell Production Development Company (SPDC), who is being prosecuted in N7 billion tax evasion scam in Gbaran Ubie Intergrated Oil Gas project in Bayelsa State.

At a town hall meeting in Addis Ababa with Nigerians resident in Ethiopia yesterday, the president said far-reaching reforms of the judiciary remained a key priority for his administration.

On the fight against corruption, Buhari tacitly indicted the judiciary for causing the unnecessary delay with reference to his experience while contesting for the presidency. “If you reflect on what I went through for 12 years when I wanted to be the president, I attempted three times and on the fourth attempt through God and the use of technology, it was possible for Nigerians to elect an APC candidate as president.

“In my first attempt in 2003, I ended up at the Supreme Court and for 13 months I was in court. The second attempt in 2007, I was in court close to 20 months and in 2011, my third attempt, I was also in court for nine months.

“All these cases went up to the Supreme Court until the fourth time in 2015, when God agreed that I would be president of Nigeria,’’ he said.

Buhari assured members of the Nigerian community that with the support of the Chief Justice of Nigeria,(CJN), Justice Mahmud Muhammed, he would continue to do his best to improve the nation’s judicial administration system.

Buhari announced that the Federal Government had ordered a review of several railway transport projects signed by the previous administration with the Chinese government.

“The Chinese government was very generous to Nigeria on the projects signed with the previous government because they agreed to pay 85 per cent of the project.

“But the Nigerian government was unable to meet up with its counterpart funding of 15 per cent, so the Chinese government was unable to make any impact on the project,’’ he said.

The President said he had directed the Ministers of Transportation, Finance, Power, Works and Housing, to revisit the agreements and explore ways of re-approaching the Chinese government for assistance.

On the proposed N6.077 trillion 2016 budget submitted to the National Assembly, the president said for the first time in Nigeria, the budget would be largely financed from non-oil revenue.

He identified the collapse of the international oil market and oil theft in the Niger Delta as main reasons for projecting more revenues to fund the budget from the non-oil sector.

The president also said the proposed budget would focus on increasing efficiency and transparency in government operations and the blocking of leakages from revenue generating agencies.

He added that the recovered assets of the country would also be used to reduce the budget.

Adebayan, who will be arraigned before Justice Ademola Adeniyi, has been under investigation by the EFCC since 2014. In what the officials of the commission believed was a plot to distract his prosecution, Adebayan at the time, accused two officials of the commission of demanding a N120 million bribe from him in order to quash the case against him. But the case has proceeded in court and he will be arraigned again today.

By tomorrow, former Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda, will be arraigned before Justice Peter Afen at the FCT Court, Maitama. He is being prosecuted in connection with the $2.1 billion arms procurement scandal.

Yuguda was first arraigned on December 17 before Justice Affen alongside former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa and his son, Sagir Attahiru, on an allegation of N13.6 billion fraud.

The trio were arraigned on a 22-count criminal charge alongside the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki(rtd) and the former Director of Finance in the Office of the NSA Mr. Shuaibu Salisu.