February 8, 2013
SYSTEM CHANGE REMAINS OUR GOAL!
PRESS STATEMENT
1. The
Joint Action Front (JAF) joins Nigerians to condemn the law that encouraged the
ridiculous sentence of 2 years imprisonment with an option of fine in the sum
of N750,000 given to a former director of the Police Pensions Board, John
Yakubu Yusufu, after he pleaded guilty to charges of stealing N23.3 billion
from pension fund.
2. This is in the same country where
the penalty of an Okada worker of 3 years imprisonment is more than that of a
ruling class thief who stole billions. Equally, ordinary citizens who steal
goats and chickens out of desperation and hunger caused by the UNJUST SYSTEM
are sentenced to several years of imprisonment with hard labour and without
option of fine. This is absolutely ridiculous.
3. JAF notes that the widespread outrage
caused by the judgment has compelled the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to re-arrest and remand Yakubu Yusufu in Prison custody on
the basis of fresh charges of not fully disclosing his asset. However this
face-saving move by the EFCC has not succeeded in erasing its complicity in the
ridiculous judgment on the basis of the unjust formula of plea-bargaining
through which many notable thieves in the past have equally escaped justice in
exchange for a part of their loot.
4. Nigerians
should note that the rulers of Nigeria are not committed to fighting
corruption,. Only SYSTEM CHANGE will end corruption. Thus, Yakubu Yusufu is not
the first to be so lightly sentenced. Former Governor of Bayelsa State
Diprieye Alamieyesiegha was in 2007 given a two-year sentence for money
laundering, while Chief Lucky Igbinedion was convicted on a one-count charge of
misappropriation of money in excess of N3billion and sentenced to six-month
imprisonment with option of fine in the sum of N3.5 million.
5. Also,
prominent on the list include the Deputy Chairman of the PDP Bode George who,
as Chairman of the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) in 2009 got 30-month jail term
following his conviction on a 47-count charge of contract splitting and
inflation Upon completing his term, Bode George left prison in style with a
fanfare procession which ended in a thanksgiving church service! Little wonder
therefore that unbridled corruption, official embezzlement and direct stealing
from the treasury continue unabated despite regular promises of government to
fight the scourge.
6. JAF
insists on a living wage and posits that the scale of embezzlement of the
pension funds should be a wakeup call for Labour to revisit the issue of
pension management in order to ensure the safety of pension fund and its prompt
access to the beneficiaries (workers).
7. It
should be clear to the Nigerian working people in the formal and informal
sectors that their pensions are in serious danger as Pension funds have become
slush funds for government officials and their private cronies to embezzle. The
participation of the private sector in the management of the funds makes this
danger much more palpable as it is within the mandate of private Pension Fund
Administrators and Pension Fund Custodians to invest the funds as they wish,
and without the permission of workers, for profitable ventures.
8. JAF’s
position for a living pension and its credible management is against the
background of the sordid sharp practices exposed in the banking and financial
sector combined with the instability in Nigeria’s economy, with implication for
lost of the pension funds to the caprices of profit-hunting private pension
funds operators.
9. In
fact, government at all levels and irrespective of the political parties in
power is nothing but a government of corruption. This is why JAF continues to
call for SYSTEM CHANGE as the only way to rid Nigeria of these looters by
putting in place a government of the working people and the poor that would be
committed to using our collective wealth to better the lots of all Nigerians.
10. The so-called
rule of law in Nigeria is a protector of ruling class thieves, who are in all
cases, allowed to get away with light punishment. As far as JAF is concerned
11. JAF welcomes
the resolve by the National Union of Pensioners (NUP) to hold a National
Protest on February 25 to demand for the remittance of their check-off dues and
53 percent increment in their pensions. We urge Nigerians to prepare for a
National Protest against pension robbery and monumental corruption in the
country.
12. JAF demands as follows:
·
The Retrial of Yakubu Yusufu, his imprisonment without
option of fine and forfeiture of all his assets.
·
That Labour should demand and campaign for a review of the
Pension Act to entrust the management of pensions in the elected
representatives of the trade unions, as well as to guarantee the safety of the
pensions.
·
To convince Nigerians of its claims of fighting corruption,
Government at all levels should slash salaries and allowances of all political
office holders and government appointees to the same level with that of the
highest paid civil servants.
FORWARD
EVER, BACKWARD NEVER
DR. DIPO
FASHINA COMRADE ABIODUN AREMU
JAF
Chairperson
JAF Secretary
