Over the past two weeks, I\u2019ve attended every day of the
\ncourt case that ICPC brought against Pinnacle
\nCommunications Ltd and the Director General of the
\nNational Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Modibbo
\nKawu. From the beginning, I had very strong confidence
\nthat the case was a travesty of justice, and one that was
\nset up as part of an elaborate politically-inspired,
\npersecution agenda. That much was what I concluded in
\nthe first piece that I wrote, a few weeks ago, about the
\nplight of the NBC DG.
\nI have read several responses to my article. Some even
\nmade the laughable assumption that I was a non-existent
\nwriter. But we will not be bothered, by such labored
\nresponses, because the truth of the piece couldn\u2019t be
\nfaulted. The past two weeks in court, only deepened my
\nskepticism about the elaborate hoax that was put into the
\npublic space, by those who had put together the ridiculous
\naccusations, against Nigerians who are working honestly
\nand honorably, to help deliver Nigeria\u2019s Digital Switchover
\n(DSO).
\nThe events in court last Thursday gave the game away.
\nThe ICPC Star witness, Charles Adama, confessed in
\nopen court, that there was no petition against Pinnacle
\nCommunications Limited, and in the course of their
\n\u201cinvestigation\u201d, they did not find any sum of money<\/p>\n
traceable from the accounts of the company, in the
\naccount of the NBC DG, Modibbo Kawu. The court room
\nwas stunned to discover that the petition that ICPC had
\nreceived was actually against Integrated Television
\nServices (ITS), the Signal distribution company that came
\nout of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA).
\nThe trail from ITS to Pinnacle Communications Limited,
\nand the arraignment of the Pinnacle Chairman and
\nManaging Director, as well as the DG NBC, went through
\nthe carefully and obviously, mischievous route, of an
\nelaborate media trial, that was relentless, as it was vicious.
\nCharles Adama told the court, that his boss, Hakeem
\nLawal, directed them to go after Pinnacle Communications
\nLimited. From what we have heard in court so far, the
\npolitical forces behind the persecution agenda, knew that
\nthere was no case against these individuals; but a plan
\nwas hatched, which was to damage their characters as
\nmuch as possible in the media, the conventional and
\nsocial media, ever before they appeared in court. The idea
\nwas to have sufficiently damaged their characters, by a
\nrepeated statement of the kicker: \u201cN2.5 Billion DSO
\nFRAUD\u201d, which was pushed relentlessly by Rasheedat
\nOkoduwa of the ICPC, and was particularly repeated by
\nPREMIUM TIMES, SATURDAY SUN and THE PUNCH
\nnewspapers.
\nThe character damage was only the first salvo in an
\nonslaught. The second leg of the agenda was to get the
\narraignment carried out, and then push for Modibbo Kawu
\nto be forced out of the NBC. We heard that it was the<\/p>\n
assurance that they gave to the NBC staff members that
\nthey procured as prosecution witnesses. They were
\nassured that by the time the case opened, Modibbo Kawu
\nwould no longer be the Director General. The individuals
\nconcerned bought the assurance line, hook and sinker.
\nUnfortunately for them, the authorities probably saw
\nthrough their subterfuge, and they refused to remove
\nModibbo Kawu from his position.
\nThat became their first strategic defeat. They had banked
\non that as their main joker, and the truth, from
\ninvestigations that I carried out inside the ICPC itself, was
\nthat those behind this case, only wanted Modibbo Kawu
\nout of the NBC; they were really not interested in a court
\ncase, that was likely to end up exposing them to the
\nridicule that is beginning to manifest in court, especially
\nwith the revelations that came out last week Thursday. We
\nnow know, thanks to the cross examination of the ICPC
\nwitness, especially by Lawyer, AV Atuwewe, that ICPC did
\nnot receive any petition against Pinnacle Communications
\nLimited.
\nThe petition received was against ITS, and as Charles
\nAdama confessed, it was when they checked NBC\u2019s
\nAccount, that they discovered that Pinnacle
\nCommunications Limited was also paid a \u201cSeed Grant\u201d, by
\nthe Commission. They threw caution to the wind, went
\nagainst the law which set up their own organization, and
\ndecided to pursue an unsolicited investigation against
\nPinnacle Communications Limited. They were in a<\/p>\n
desperate search for a smoking gun against the
\nindividuals concerned.
\nAn ICPC insider confided to this reporter, that they
\nchecked all bank accounts that the DG NBC owned; they
\neven checked those of his wife, children and relations,
\nhoping to be able to smoke out a scandal. The more
\nfrustrated they were, the more angry they became, and
\nthe more desperate became their plan to damage the
\ncharacter of these innocent, hardworking and patriotic
\nNigerians. When Lawyer Atuwewe asked Charles Adama
\nif they found any trail of money, from Pinnacle
\nCommunications Limited to the NBC DG, Modibbo Kawu,
\nhe answered NO; but to uphold the delusion that has been
\nat the basis of their wild geese chase from the beginning,
\nhe said that in 2015, another company owned by the
\nChairman of Pinnacle Communications Limited, called
\nPuretec, had paid some money into the account of Word,
\nSound and Vision, where Modibbo Kawu worked, before
\nhis appointment as NBC DG. Yet, the same man
\npretended that he didn\u2019t know when Kawu was appointed
\nNBC DG; in the same manner that he feigned ignorance
\nthat the Pinnacle Communications Limited transmission
\ncenter was commissioned by the Vice President, Yemi
\nOsinbajo, on behalf of President Buhari in 2016.
\nCharles Adama said that ICPC did not visit the Pinnacle
\ninstallations in Abuja and Kaduna, because that was not
\ntheir interest. What mattered to them at the ICPC, was the
\nscandal that they can create around the N2.5 Billion that
\nwas paid to Pinnacle Communications Limited, and how<\/p>\n
the money was spent. He mentioned that the Chairman of
\nPinnacle Communications Limited paid charities, churches
\nand mosques, golf clubs and other individuals. How these
\nconstituted a crime, would still be determined by the court.
\nBut going by what legal analysts were saying after the
\ncross examination of the first four prosecution witnesses,
\nthe ICPC has bungled its own case, even before it really
\ngot underway. It became clearer, that the ICPC knew that
\nthe case was a most useless witch hunt, that was why it
\nwent for a media trial, since about October last year.
\nRasheedat Okoduwa, who lives a scandalous love tangle
\nwith the ICPC Head of Operations, Hakeem Lawal
\n(Hakeem Lawal was said to have abandoned his family for
\nRasheedat Okoduwa), has repeatedly used the complicit
\nmedia, especially PREMIUM TIMES, THE PUNCH and
\nSATURDAY SUN, to malign the names of Modibbo Kawu
\nand Sir Lucky Omoluwa, especially.
\nBut the threads in this unfolding case have several
\nstrands. The ICPC told a blatant lie in court, that ITS was
\ninvestigated and found to have used the N1.77 Billion it
\nreceived from the NBC judiciously. They lied. This reporter
\nspoke with people connected with ITS operations and
\ninstallations, in Enugu, Jos, Ilorin and Osogbo; and I was
\ninformed that ITS is using the transmitters of STAR TIMES
\nfor its Operations. Yet the money collected from NBC was
\nmeant for acquisition of digitally compliant broadcast
\nequipment and for human capital development. Where are
\nthose digitally compliant equipment? None of these was
\never procured by ITS. Did ICPC trace the alleged transfer
\nof N200million by ITS into the account of Jimi Muhammed,<\/p>\n
Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed\u2019s son, in Lagos?
\nWhat about the Jeep that was allegedly purchased by
\nformer NTA DG, Sola Omole for Minister Lai Muhammed,
\nand delivered in his Lagos residence, from the same
\nN1.77 Billion? Have they investigated the stories carried in
\nhushed tones, inside the NTA Headquarters in Abuja,
\nabout payments to former NTA DG Shola Omole? And is
\nthere an effort to get to the root of sums of money running
\nto Millions, allegedly transferred from the same ITS money
\ninto NTA? Are these the examples of the \u201cjudicious
\nspending\u201d that Charles Adama was talking about in court
\nlast week? The NFIU should be very interested in these
\nallegations to determine their veracity.
\nThe ICPC duped everyone, by hiding the petition it
\nreceived until it was forced by the court to reveal the truth.
\nIt was a most unacceptable abuse of its powers, position
\nand responsibilities as an anti-graft agency. It was also
\nclear to all, that the agency is being press ganged into the
\nludicrous duty of destroying the character of these hard
\nworking Nigerians, to serve the dirty political agendas of
\ncertain political forces, located within an ethno-regional, as
\nwell as religious nexus. Related to this point, is the
\ncowardly and irresponsible position of Lai Muhammed, the
\nMinister of Information and Culture, in the entire saga. The
\nICPC investigator, Charles Adama revealed in court, that
\nthey \u201cinterviewed\u201d Lai Muhammed as part of their
\ninvestigation, but the Minister refused to give a statement,
\nuntil he got clearance from the Secretary to the
\nGovernment of the Federation (SGF). He was however
\nreported to have informed them, that he \u2018merely signed\u2019<\/p>\n
what was presented to him by the DG NBC. This the ICPC
\ninterpreted as the Minister having been \u201cmisled\u201d by
\nModibbo Kawu. From the inquisitional mentality of ICPC
\nofficials, the person who \u201crecommended\u201d an action is to be
\nblamed, not the person that did \u201capproval\u201d. So Lai
\nMuhammed that approved payment to Pinnacle
\nCommunications Limited, had no case to answer. And in
\nthe many months that the case has been deliberately kept
\nin the media, Lai Muhammed, who is said to enjoy
\nascribing all successes in every agency under him, as a
\nreflection of his personal ability, has refused to say a word,
\neither to affirm the truth about the payment he approved,
\nor support the position of the ICPC, that the DG NBC
\n\u201cmisled\u201d him, to give the approval for the payment. Yet,
\nWe all heard the speech that Lai Muhammed gave at the
\nlaunch of the Pinnacle Transmission Center in Abuja; We
\nalso saw him on television, visiting the site while under
\nconstruction; and the interview he gave to the press about
\nprogress of work; as well as the live television shots of him
\nholding tape for the Vice President to cut, while declaring
\nopen the Pinnacle Communications Transmission Center
\nin Abuja.
\nThere are a few theories that people in the Ministry of
\nInformation shared, about Lai Muhammed\u2019s attitude, to the
\nN2.5 Billion Pinnacle Communications Limited payment.
\nThe first one was that Lai Muhammed saw the ICPC
\nissue, as an opportunity to get rid of Modibbo Kawu, as
\nDG NBC. Lai Muhammed is said by many observers, to
\nhave a visceral hatred for Modibbo Kawu\u2019s independence
\nof thought and action as DG, NBC. This is tied to the fact<\/p>\n
that he was not instrumental to Modibbo Kawu\u2019s
\nappointment in the first place; and the Lagos political
\ngroup that Lai Muhammed belongs to, has always been
\nunhappy that they lost the chance to get Dele Alake into
\nthe position in the first place. Their hope was to use the
\nICPC arraignment to remove Modibbo Kawu and
\nshoehorn Dele Alake into the position. Secondly, Lai
\nMuhammed has not forgiven Modibbo Kawu\u2019s \u201ceffrontery\u201d
\nof going to seek the governorship of Kwara State last year.
\nSearches conducted in the Ministry of Information and
\nCulture, at the Radio House Abuja, indicate that Lai
\nMuhammed is still trying to canvass that argument of
\nModibbo Kawu\u2019s governorship ambition, as a ground to
\nget him out of the DG position at the NBC, even at this late
\nhour of his own tenure as Minster of Information. The
\nother point that has been raised is that Lai Muhammed is
\nso desperate to be re-appointed as a Minister by President
\nMuhammadu Buhari, that he was not going to say
\nanything, that would amount to defending the action he
\ntook, in approving the payment to Pinnacle
\nCommunications Limited, so as not to be seen as
\nantagonizing another organ of government. The fact that
\nthe ICPC is taking a wrong action of arraigning innocent
\npeople means nothing to Lai Muhammed. His own
\nambition is always the first, and important matter for him.
\nA very learned political analyst in Lagos, who has studied
\nLai Muhammed from his days as Bola Tinubu\u2019s Chief of
\nStaff in Lagos State, said that treachery, stabbing people
\nin the back and uncommon ability to tell lies, are the main
\nelements of Lai Muhammed\u2019s political survival till date. Lai
\nMuhammed, it was argued, can willingly push anyone<\/p>\n
under a moving train, if such a terrible act, will enhance his
\npersonal position. The analyst said Lai Muhammed would
\nnot suddenly develop empathy, sense of honor or a sense
\nof justice that he has never possessed.
\nIt is very interesting that the ICPC investigator, Charles
\nAdama, nevertheless was forced by the circumstance of a
\ncross examination, to reveal some curios details. He
\nconfessed that months after the first visit to Lai
\nMuhammed, they never bothered to return or to invite him
\nto their office, as they did to others, to make him write a
\nstatement. It meant that there was one law for Modibbo
\nKawu, Mr Dipo Onifade and Sir Lucky Omoluwa; while
\nthere is a different law, for Minister Lai Muhammed, who
\nwas the approving authority for the N2.5 Billion, that ICPC
\nhas made the basis of a clearly political witch hunt, and a
\nvery unconscionable media trial. ICPC\u2019s Adama also
\nconfessed, that so far, Minister Lai Muhammed has not
\ndenounced, at least publicly or in writing, the fact that he
\napproved the payment to Pinnacle Communications
\nLimited. He also accepted that the Federal Government
\nnever complained about the money paid to the company.
\nThis ICPC issue is becoming the ultimate charade. But as
\nthe lawyers say, the case is sub judice, so we are not
\nallowed to comment on the substance. However too much
\nhas been revealed already, and it\u2019s looking like even more
\nwould soon come to the public space, for Nigerians to see
\nsome worrisome dangers. The first is the clear abuse of
\nthe powers of the ICPC, to intimidate as well as malign the
\ncharacters of Nigerians, especially when such individuals
\nare the targets of an over-ambitious political, ethno-<\/p>\n
regional and religious group. The Lagos political
\nmachinery has become a clear and present danger to
\nNigeria. They arrogantly want to take every strategic
\nposition in government and in politics; and they will use
\nevery kind of weapon, including their control of the media,
\nto destroy people they have targeted, to achieve their
\ninordinate ambition. We must not allow them to achieve
\nthis inordinate ambition at the NBC, and against Modibbo
\nKawu and Pinnacle Communications Limited. And as for
\nICPC, if Charles Adama was right in court last week, that
\nthere was no petition against Pinnacle Communications
\nLimited, why were the gentlemen in court arraigned?
\nNigerians deserve a very reasonable answer; not the
\nwish-washy presentations they are presenting in court.<\/p>\n
ABUBAKAR MAHMOUD AHMED, A RETIRED
\nJOURNALIST, PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONSULTANT AND
\nHADITH SCHOLAR, LIVES IN KURMI MASHI, KADUNA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the past two weeks, I\u2019ve attended every day of the court case that ICPC brought against Pinnacle Communications Ltd and the Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC),…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n