FG Withdraws Forgery Charges Against Saraki, Ekweremadu-Tobi Soniyi

President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu in a chat during plenary

The federal government on Thursday withdrew the charges of criminal conspiracy relating to the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Orders, 2015, filed against Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, at the Abuja High Court.

In doing so, the Ministry of Justice filed an application to amend the charges and attached the amended charges. In the new charges, only the former clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Salisu Maikasuwa, and a former deputy clerk, Mr. Ben Efeturi, were listed as the accused persons.

Saraki and Ekweremadu were charged alongside Maikasuwa and Efeturi for allegedly forging the Senate Standing Orders. All of them pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail. They were first arraigned before Justice Yusuf Halilu on June 10, 2016.

However, a litigation officer from the Ministry of Justice, Odudu Loveme, yesterday deposed to an affidavit, which was attached to the new charges.

Loveme averred that the prosecutor, Aliyu Umar (SAN), had on September 30, in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution told him that he had studied the case diary and “had decided to amend the charges in the manner stated on the face of the motion paper”.

He stated that he had consequently filed the amended charges. He said: “That I depose to this affidavit in good faith believing same to be correct to the best of my knowledge and information and in accordance with the Oaths Act Cap 01 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.”

On the face of the new charge, only Messrs Maikasuwa and Efeturi would now face prosecution.
Count one of the new charge reads: “Salisu Maikasuwa and Benedict Efeturi, on or about the 9th day of June 2015 at the National Assembly Complex, Three Arms Zone, Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, agreed to do an illegal act, to wit to make the Senate Standing Orders, 2015 (as amended), without the authority of the 7th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which act was committed by yourselves and that you thereby committed the offence of criminal conspiracy.”

They were also accused of fraudulently amending the 2015 Senate Standing Orders without the authority of the 7th Senate “with the intention that the senators-elect of the 8th Senate would believe that the said Senate Standing Orders, 2015 (as amended), was made by the authority of the 7th Senate of the Federal republic of Nigeria”.

They were accused of forging a document punishable under Section 366 of the Penal Code Act (Northern States) Federal Provisions Act, 1960, Cap 345, Laws of the Federation, 1990 (as amended).

The federal government also accused them of giving false information with the intention to mislead the public.
The court had on September 28 adjourned the matter to today, October 7 for commencement of hearing.
Justifying the amendment, Umar said that the sole issue for determination was “whether the court can permit the amendment of the charge in terms of the amended charge”.

According to him, the court has the powers to permit the amendment based on the provisions of Section 216(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

The section states that “a court may permit an alteration or an amendment to a charge or framing of a new charge at any time before judgment is pronounced”.

He also quoted Section 216(3), which states that “where a defendant is arraigned for trial on an imperfect or erroneous charge, the court may permit or direct the framing of a new charge, or any amendment to, or the alteration of the original charge”.

When the federal government charged Saraki and Ekweremadu for the alleged forgery, both of them had maintained their innocence, saying that it was politically motivated arising from their emergence as Senate President and Deputy Senate President, respectively.

Their election did not sit well with the presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which had backed Senators Ahmed Lawal and George Akume to lead the Senate.
The decision to withdraw the charges against them may also not be unconnected to weakness of the federal government’s case against them.

THISDAY had reported two weeks ago that the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was faced with the dilemma of amending the charges against Saraki and Ekweremadu, because the charges that had been filed in court were baseless and could not hold water.

Culled from Thisday

Kaduna State Appoints Actuaries Towards Massive Pension Reform Plan

Governor El Rufai, Kaduna State

In a statement according to Samuel Aruwan, Special Assistant to the Governor El Rufai on Media and Publicity, the Pension Reform Law of Kaduna State, passed in 2016, will come into force on 1 January 2017. By that date, all public sector workers will migrate to the contributory pension scheme which replaces the defined benefits scheme. The current government inherited arrears of pensions and gratuity amounting to N14bn. The sheer size of this outstanding liability underlines the challenge with the defined benefits scheme which tends to subject the pensioner to hardship, and is prone to fraud.

By that date, all public sector workers will migrate to the contributory pension scheme which replaces the defined benefits scheme… The sheer size of this outstanding liability underlines the challenge with the defined benefits scheme which tends to subject the pensioner to hardship, and is prone to fraud.

The New Contributory Pension Scheme

The new Contributory Pension Scheme seeks to ensure that all retirement benefits due to genuine workers in the public service are paid as at when due. It is designed to be user friendly and transparent, with workers being able to receive updates on their Retirement Savings Account (RSA) while they are in service. The contributory nature of the new scheme, with employer and employee making contributions to the RSA for each worker, also ensures that the pension obligation becomes manageable for the government. These overcome the deficits that have made the defined benefits system (also known as pay-as-you-go) such a nightmare for pensioners and an unsustainable burden on public finances. The challenges of the old scheme have included a weak administrative framework and corruption.
The adoption of the Contributory Pension Scheme in Kaduna State aligns the state with the pension reforms that were introduced by the Federal Government through the Pension Reform Act of 2004.
In preparation for the commencement of the Pension Reform Law, Kaduna State has appointed H.R. Nigeria Limited as actuaries to conduct valuation of the defined and contributory pension schemes. This is to determine the accrued pension liabilities in respect of each employee of the government based on the contract of service existing before the effective date of the new law.
The actuarial valuation will calculate the amount needed to pay the pension rights already built up and those that will become payable. The outcome of the valuation will assist seamless migration to the contributory scheme. The new pension arrangements will protect the earned pension rights of workers, and end the nightmare and problems that unfunded pension schemes have created for pensioner and government alike.

Culled from NTA

Recession: Operators uncomfortable as FG eyes N5.8tn pension fund-Nike Popoola and Ifeanyi Onuba

Emefiele, Udoma and Adeosun

Pension operators in the country are increasingly getting uncomfortable with the moves being made by the Federal Government to use part of the N5.8tn Contributory Pension Scheme assets to fund infrastructure development and move the nation out of economic recession.

Operators, who spoke to one of our correspondents, said it was wrong for government officials and senators to accuse the administrators of the CPS of holding on to the fund when the economy was going through a difficult time.

They insisted that contrary to that position, the fund was actually not idle.

“Despite the fact that we have been explaining that the fund is not idle but is invested wisely, because it belongs to the contributors and retirees who subscribe to the scheme, it is disturbing that government officials have continued to display their level of ignorance on how the scheme works by demanding that we should release the money to them,” one of the operators, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said.

The Director-General, National Pension Commission, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said on Wednesday that there was a need for the government to provide adequate guarantees to secure investment of the fund in infrastructure.

She stated this at the African Pension Awards, which was organised as part of activities for the World Pension Summit.

There have been calls by stakeholders in the public and private sectors that the fund should be spent on addressing the infrastructural gap in the country.

However, Anohu-Amazu said while the commission was not opposed to the idea of deploying the pension fund for infrastructure, adequate mechanism must be put in place to ensure its safety.

The PenCom DG explained that pension funds alone would not be able to address the infrastructure needs of the country, adding that other sources of funding such as Public-Private Partnership arrangements should be explored.

She said, “Today, pension and social security systems serve as catalysts for generating pool of long term investible funds that can be used to develop necessary ingredients for economic development such as infrastructure.

“Given the current global economic challenges occasioned by the drop in commodity prices, the funds generated under viable pension schemes have become veritable sources of financial intermediation.

“In order to support economic development, it is fundamental that the pension fund is diversified to include investment in identifiable infrastructure, real estate and other key aspects of the real economy.

“In achieving this, pension funds require adequate guarantees by the government, in addition to the development of the enabling vehicles through which the investments will be made.”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had warned at the World Pension Summit on Tuesday that while the pension funds could provide the needed funding for developmental projects, caution must be taken in order not jeopardise the objectives of the pension scheme.

Obasanjo, whose administration was instrumental to the establishment of the CPS in 2004, said with the fund rising to about N5.8tn, there would always be the temptation to tamper with it for other compelling needs such as infrastructural development.

He said, “I am particularly happy that what we put together 10 years ago has become so successful that we have well over seven million employees captured from both the public and private sectors, and as you have heard, we have almost N6tn in pension assets.

“I like innovation and I like what you are talking about in the next two days – pension innovations and sustainability – but I will add two things. Your innovation must be with caution.

“When people have to work all the days of their lives that they are strong and they make contributions for their future, we cannot be too adventurous with the so called innovation because when they need the money, the money must be there.”

The former President added, “One of the things that makes me very happy about the pension scheme is that in the last five years or so, when almost anything goes about public funds, the pension fund remains sacrosanct, and I believe that is something we must preserve no matter what we do.

“Our innovation must be with caution and security. We must never reduce trust or eliminate trust from the pension fund. People must have trust that when they require money in their old age, in their retirement, from the money they have contributed, the money will be there.”

Obasanjo added that while he was not opposed to the idea of deploying the pension fund for infrastructure, it must be done in such a way that it would not affect the prompt payment of pensioners who had contributed to the scheme in their active days.

He said the sustainability and integrity of the pension industry was vital as any issue of mistrust from pensioners would lead to its collapse.

The Chief Executive Officer, RiskGuard Africa Nigeria Limited (Pension & Insurance), Mr. Yemi Soladoye, said that pension funds were long-term funds and that part of the reasons for creating them was to finance national development projects.

“As long as the issue of safety and security of the fund is guaranteed, it is okay to borrow the government part of the fund, because that it part of the reasons why we generate long-term funds,” Soladoye said.

He, however, pointed out that the bulk of the fund should be invested in government securities, because it would be safe there except the country was no longer safe for investment.

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Culled from Punch