Ilaro Polytechnic Suspends SUG President Arrested in Full Cult Regalia

AgegePulse Magazine

The management of Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State has suspended indefinitely the president of the school’s Students Union Government [SUG], Adegboye Olatunji, over cult-related offences.

TheNation reports that Olatunji and one Olarewaju Taiwo were nabbed in a bush in the state in full regalia of the dreaded Black Axe cult group on Sunday.

It was gathered that they were nabbed during an initiation ceremony.

The institution, in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar (Public Relations), Sola Abiala, said Olatunji’s suspension was in line with its zero-tolerance for cultism.

The statement read,

“This is consequent upon the foiling of the meeting of some cult groups from the neighboring community, by the security architecture and network of the Polytechnic, the Local Vigilante Group in conjunction with Nigerian Police Force and the Directorate of State Security.

“The suspension of Mr. Adegboye is in line with the Act establishing the Polytechnic and the provision of the Students Handbook coupled with the Polytechnic’s zero tolerance to cultism, pending his appearance before the Students Disciplinary Committee to establish his culpability or otherwise.

“The Management, therefore, use this medium to re-emphasize its zero tolerance for cultism and other misdemeanors.”

The arrest of the duo was confirmed by the Police Public Relations Officer [PPRO] in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said this in a statement on Monday.

Oyeyemi said the suspects were caught in the bush in full regalia of the dreaded black axe cult group have been taken to custody.

He said,

“The duo were arrested following information received by police at Ilaro Division from members of the public that some group of people suspected to be cultists were sighted in a bush at Gbogidi area of Ilaro where they were trying to initiate new members into their dreaded group.

“On receiving the information, the DPO Ilaro Division, CSP Olayemi Jacob mobilized his patrol team and swiftly moved to the scene where the two suspects were arrested with the assistance of members of the public while others escaped through the bush.

“The two arrested cultists who are in full regalia of the dreaded black axe cult group have been taken to custody at Ilaro divisional headquarters where they are being currently interrogated.”

The PPRO said the Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to anti-cultists section of the state Criminal Investigation and intelligence department for discreet investigation.

The nat

GEION defies FIRS, Minister’s directive to pay ARCO Group reconciled monies owed

…as PENGASSAN and NUPENG Gets Set For Mother Of All Labour Strike

Buba Ali is dead. He died out of frustration waiting for money he worked for, but was not forthcoming! His family said he slumped one early morning, and gave up the ghost. Musa Hassan is dead too. He died out of the frustration that killed Buba Ali.

 Both men died broke despite having worked in the prosperous Nigerian oil industry. Their families are aggrieved but embarrassed and do not want us to use their real names in print.

Ali and Musa are victims of a cross fire between an indigenous oil company known as Arco Group and an American company known as General Electric International Operations Nigeria (GEION), both being operators in the oil and Gas industry. Late Ali and Musa Hassan are among the several number of people who are being owed by Arco Group, an organization that was cheated out of a contract deal and forced by circumstances not to be able to make severance payment to exiting staff.

Late Ali and Musa Hassan represent the agony that most of the ex staffers are facing due to General Electric Operations Nigeria (GEION) refusing to pay what is duly owed to Arco Group, despite the intervention of The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Minister of Labour and Employment.

But respite seems to be in sight as the oil industry, is presently boiling. The industry is angry. The labour unions are angry. And the union leaders of PENGASSAN and NUPENG have declared that all hell will be let loose after their 14 day ultimate for GEION to fulfil the payment of arrears due ARCO Group by this weekend.

The general anger has been provoked by the fact that never has a foreign organization been so defiant to the authorities or an agency of the federal government. And the labour unions are peeved and set to go on a sympathetic protest to identify with ARCO Group an organization that is being owed by GEION a foreign company to the tune of ₦1,891,752,214.48, $7,326,125.99 and EUR 328,189.32, inclusive of accrued interests. These being accumulated reconciled monies, said to have been dubiously concealed by the American company.

According to our investigations, the issue dates back between 2006 and 2015, when ARCO General Electric International Operations Nigeria (GEION) had a joint contract for the maintenance of Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC)’s gas plants in some different locations in Delta and Rivers states of Nigeria.

Somehow along the line, GEION is said to have changed ARCO Group’s position to that of a sub-contractor to GEION, reducing its work scope, and making all manner of unjustified deductions from Arco’s invoices.

But the major act of contention was the issue of the deduction of withholding tax (WHT) at the rate of 10% from payments due to Arco, rather than the stipulated statutory rate of 5% which was supposed to be paid to ARCO Group.

ARCO Group reported the illegal deductions when it demanded WHT credit notes from GEION for the sums deducted from its invoices purportedly as tax. Rather than a coherent explanation, GEION could not explain why the credit notes, reluctantly provided it, did not match the volume of monies deducted from its invoices, ostensibly as WHT.

Upon further investigations, the issue became messier when it was found out that it wasn’t ARCO Group alone that short changed in this manner by GEION. And that attracted a further investigation by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and the obvious was found out that GEION had not been straight in its withholding tax credit notes dealings.

FIRS in 2017 confirmed that the applicable rate of WHT to be 5%, and instructed GEION to furnish ARCO Group with credit notes to match purported WHT deductions from ARCO’s invoices. While in other climes, GEION would have been slammed with stiff penalties for such fraudulent error, GEION instead was given opportunity to attend a reconciliation meeting between FIRS, ARCO Group and itself, where at the end of the meeting, was confirmed that the total amount over deducted from ARCO Naira invoices was ₦446 million and some $3 million had been over-deducted in the Dollar invoices.

The reconciliatory meeting also confirmed that between 2006 and 2008, the sums of ₦74 million and $1.275 million deducted by GEION were not remitted as required by law, and could therefore not be accounted for. Another sum of $563,861.05 deducted from 12 ARCO invoices in 2014 could not be traced!

The matter eventually reached a dead end when on Tuesday 24th September, 2019, the Hon. Minister of Labour reconvened the meeting to deliberate on the FIRS report, and issued final instructions to the parties through a letter dated 4th October, 2019, that GEION should make the payments as agreed upon. But GEION has continued to turn a deaf ear to the all entreaties at all fronts.

It was at this point that the labour leaders in PENGASSAN and NUPENG stood up in one accord and said “no, enough is enough,” that no foreign company should hold its government agencies in such disregard.  It was against this backdrop that the unions gave a 14 day ultimatum to industry stakeholders to call to order General Electric International Operations Nigeria, GEION, and all other authorities, over the non-payment of terminal benefits to its members who were laid off in August 2019 by ARCO Group.

The ultimatum which commenced on last Monday was signed by PENGASSAN General Secretary Lumumba Okungbawa and the General Secretary of NUPENG Afolabi Olawale. The ultimatum was addressed to the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Both the Labour unions said that the ultimatum became necessary after GEION failed to act according to the decisions reached at the reconciliation meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment held in September. Which among other things agreed that GEION should within 7 days apply to FIRS for the refund of the over-deducted sums paid to FIRS as agreed during the reconciliation exercise with FIRS. That GEION and ARCO should meet afterwards between the following 2 weeks to reconcile the deductions that had not been done and ensure that the workers who were laid off are paid within one week. Tax deductions made by GEION on behalf of ARCO supposed to be remitted to FIRS but which was not done, should be returned to ARCO within 3 weeks.

GEION was also supposed to meet with FIRS within 2 weeks because of the sum confirmed by the Lagos state Inland Revenue Service office as having been remitted by GEION but presently under dispute for further reconciliation. The unions noted that the refusal of GEION to heed to the agreements is a slap on constituted authority and an affront for which they will have no option but to go on an indefinite strike after the expiration of the ultimatum.

A combination of PENGASSAN and NUPENG strike in Nigeria has always been the most feared in the country as it literally means the paralysis of the economy of a nation that largely depends on oil for survival and popularly referred to as the giant of Africa boasting of about 180 million people.

A nation which critics lament is already going through severe hardship due to insecurity, insurgency attacks in the northern part of the country and land border closure that has restricted trade flow in several sectors of the economy. Can the country survive the impending doom of economic stand still in the next one and a half week? Only time will tell.

Lagos Already Implementing Key Policies To Ensure Inclusion, Prosperity - Gov. Ambode

…Says Empowerment of All Groups, Key To Ending Extreme Poverty

…Delivers 75th Anniversary Lecture At Island Club

AgegePulse Magazine


Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Thursday said if Nigeria must get out of the woods, it must begin now to take concrete steps towards empowering every group in the society and give ears to their views and aspirations, saying it is only in such situation that the country can truly end extreme poverty.



Governor Ambode, who said this while delivering a paper to commemorate the 75th Anniversary Business Lecture of the Island Club, said Nigeria must aggressively pursue strong social inclusion policies in order to build a virile nation where every member of the society, regardless of their status or creed is catered for.



Speaking on the topic ‘Nation Building: Communities, Inclusion and Prosperity’, the Governor said presently there were various indices that present a worrying picture, stressing that the country must address it by taking actions that would change the narrative and engender prosperity.



“A sustainable path towards ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity also involves creating an inclusive society, not only in terms of economic welfare but also in terms of the voice and empowerment of all groups.



“We must begin to realise that every strata of the society counts, we must listen and accommodate all views, whether they are poor, whether they are Igbos, Hausas, whether they are Muslims or Christians. An inclusive society must have the institutions, structures and processes that empower local communities, professional associations, artisans, CDAs so they can hold government accountable.



“It also requires the participation of all groups in society, including traditionally marginalised groups such as ethnic minorities and indigenous populations in decision making processes,” he said.



Highlighting the Lagos example of inclusion and prosperity, Governor Ambode said his administration in the last three years, despite the population and migration challenges vis-a-vis pressure on physical and social infrastructure, has continued to carry out massive upgrade of its infrastructure, which according to him would have improve the lives of all residents and ultimately the economy.



“We believe that every Lagosian must have the opportunity to grow, develop their own skills and contribute to their families and communities in a meaningful way.



“If they are healthy, well educated and trained to enter the workforce and are able to make a decent wage, they are better equipped to meet their basic needs and be successful. Their families will also do well and the whole society will benefit. The aggregate sum of family well-being is the meat for nation building,” he said.



The Governor said that his administration has concentrated on creating an environment for investments to thrive, saying that deliberate steps were also taken to encourage the private sector to take the front seat and grow the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the State.



He listed development of Tourism, Hospitality, Arts, Sports and Entertainment sectors, development of an integrated and modern inter-modal transportation system, Employment Trust Fund, CodeLagos and Ready-Set-Work as some of the strategies evolved over the last three years that has recorded huge impact in the State’s economy.



“Our Employment Trust Fund has disbursed N5.84billion to 7, 880 Lagosians out of which 1,123 have fully repaid their loans. This is a revolving fund that targets inclusion and prosperity.



“Over 25,000 jobs were created through the loans and employability programmes and to ensure inclusion, 3,613 women recievedN2.29billion while N1.44billion was disbursed to individuals less than 35 years and at least N100million in each local government of the State,” Governor Ambode said.



“In terms of inclusion and prosperity, our vision to make Lagos safer and more prosperous is driven by the need to foster and build an inclusive society, a Lagos that works for all of us. This has been our primary focus in the last three and half years.



“This vision of making Lagos Africa’s model mega city and global economic and financial hub is reflected in everything that we have been doing, bringing our communities together to ensure the future prosperity of Lagos State is non negotiable. I am convinced that we are on the right trajectory and that’s the way to go if Lagos is going to show a very good example to the rest of the country,” he said.



Recommending the way forward, Governor Ambode said to ensure inclusion and evolve prosperous communities; social policy needs to move beyond conventional social service approaches towards development’s goals of equitable opportunity and social justice.



Expressing optimism that the Nigeria economy was showing positive indices of recovery and encouraging outlook for the future, the Governor, however, said economists had posited that for Nigeria to attain its potential, the economy needs to move at a growth rate of six to seven per cent per year as the population growth was above three per cent.



“To meet our growth ambition, we need jobs and we need to increase productivity too. Nigeria has the advantage of a large population, but the majority are under-skilled. It is imperative to equip workers with the skills needed to keep pace with an economy in transition like Nigeria,” he said.



“We need to close that in economic and political gap between women and men in this country. Providing both girls and boys with education is going to be our first step. Quality education is the basis for job and income, a modern competitive economy needs the best heads and hands regardless of gender. This is just sound economics and simple common sense.



“Government needs to implement structural reforms to enhance efficiency, making valued long term investment in technology and science to support research and development. In addition, government also needs to support the economy to provide jobs for their fast growing job population,” Governor Ambode said.



Earlier, Chairman of Island Club in his welcome address thanked Governor Ambode for his support to the Club since he assumed office, saying that he had not only followed the footsteps of his predecessors as Patron of the Club, but had on some occasions, moved a notch further than they did.



Also speaking, a former chairman of the Club, Chief Olumuyiwa Falomo lauded the Governor for his developmental strides in the last three and half years, assuring him that history would be kind to him.



“Only God knows the future, just carry on regardless, the reward of being very conscientious with what you do will come sooner than later and my prayer for you is that God will guide you and the sky will be your limit,” Falomo said.



Highlight of the lecture was the launch of the anniversary brochure and the commissioning of the car park project initiated by the club.