By George Mgbeleke

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has reacted with outrage, shock and deep national concern over the disturbing revelation by the World Bank that more than N34.53 trillion in Nigerian public revenue was deducted and diverted through opaque “first-line charges” before reaching the Federation Account between 2023 and 2025.

In a statement signed by HURIWA National Cordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko,”This shocking disclosure by a respected international financial institution confirms the long-standing fears of millions of Nigerians that a dangerous shadow fiscal structure now exists within the Nigerian state — one that permits powerful institutions and politically connected agencies to appropriate public wealth outside transparent constitutional processes and beyond effective legislative scrutiny.”

HURIWA stated that the implications of this revelation are catastrophic for Nigeria’s democracy, economic stability and national survival.

At a time when Nigerians are enduring unprecedented economic hardship, mass hunger, collapsing purchasing power, rising unemployment, worsening insecurity, failing public hospitals, underfunded schools and crippling inflation, it is morally indefensible and economically criminal that over N34 trillion could disappear through a system deliberately designed to avoid transparency and public accountability.

The World Bank clearly stated that approximately 41 per cent of federation revenue never reached the Federation Account because it was retained through “first-line charges” by government agencies operating under questionable statutory arrangements.

This means that while ordinary Nigerians were being told to endure economic reforms and sacrifices, powerful government institutions were quietly operating a parallel financial empire outside meaningful public scrutiny.

HURIWA notes with serious concern that agencies allegedly implicated in this scandal include the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigeria Customs Service and other major revenue-generating institutions whose internally retained revenues and cost-of-collection mechanisms have now become subjects of international scrutiny.

The World Bank’s conclusion that these deductions weakened legislative oversight and created a pro-cyclical spending structure is a devastating indictment of Nigeria’s public finance management system.

More disturbing is the revelation that some agencies now receive allocations larger than the annual budgets of several Nigerian states and critical federal ministries combined.

This is not merely a technical fiscal issue.

It is a direct assault on constitutional democracy, fiscal accountability and the social contract between the Nigerian state and its citizens.

HURIWA therefore declares that the National Assembly has failed woefully in its constitutional responsibility to protect public resources and defend the interests of Nigerians.

A legislature that permits the operation of massive off-budget spending systems amounting to tens of trillions of naira cannot honestly claim ignorance.

The continued silence, passivity and inaction of senators and members of the House of Representatives strongly suggest institutional compromise and political capture.

Nigerians elected lawmakers to oversee the executive, not to function as ceremonial spectators while public funds disappear through bureaucratic manipulations.

The association further states that if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Nigeria Police Force and other anti-corruption institutions fail to launch immediate criminal investigations into this monumental scandal, then the Nigerian people would be justified in concluding that these agencies have become mere decorative institutions incapable of confronting elite corruption.

Anti-corruption agencies that aggressively pursue petty financial crimes while remaining silent over allegations involving N34.53 trillion lose all moral authority and public credibility.

HURIWA warns that Nigeria cannot survive as a functional democracy where trillions of naira are spent outside transparent appropriation systems while citizens are repeatedly subjected to taxation, subsidy removals, borrowing and austerity measures.

No nation can develop under a fiscal culture driven by opacity, impunity and elite entitlement.

The association therefore demands the following immediate actions:

The immediate establishment of an independent judicial commission of inquiry to investigate all first-line charges, statutory deductions and retained revenues between 2023 and 2025.
A comprehensive forensic audit of the NNPCL, Nigeria Customs Service, and every revenue-generating agency operating retention mechanisms tied to gross federation revenues.
Immediate emergency public hearings by both chambers of the National Assembly to identify all officials and institutions responsible for approving, supervising, or benefiting from the deductions.
Full public disclosure of all beneficiaries, amounts retained, legal authorisations, and expenditure records associated with these deductions.
Suspension and prosecution of any public official found to have violated constitutional appropriation procedures or abused statutory revenue-retention provisions.
Immediate reform of all cost-of-collection structures and elimination of automatic percentage-based allocations operating outside transparent annual budgeting systems.

HURIWA further calls on Nigerian citizens, civil society organisations, organised labour, student unions, professional associations, religious bodies, and pro-democracy groups to rise in defence of constitutional governpublic accountability.

The association specifically urges constituents across the country to commence democratic recall processes against lawmakers who continue to shield executive misconduct and institutional corruption through silence and complicity.

Public office must never become a licence for organised economic sabotage.

Nigeria can not continue to function as a republic where ordinary citizens are subjected to suffering while politically connected institutions operate unchecked financial empires funded by public resources.

HURIWA is therefore giving the Federal Government, the EFCC, ICPC, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the leadership of the National Assembly until 12 noon tomorrow to publicly announce concrete investigative and accountability measures regarding this scandal.

Failure to act decisively will confirm growing public fears that Nigeria’s anti-corruption framework has collapsed completely under political interference, institutional capture, and elite conspiracy against the Nigerian people.

History will not forgive those who remain silent while the nation’s resources are systematically stripped away under the guise of administrative deductions and fiscal procedures.

By George Mgbeleke

Following the daredevil terrorist attack launched on Wednesday’s night targeting stidents living in the hostels of the Federal University of Technology Owerri, in Imo State and the fact that the Fulani terrorists who attacked were over 50 armed marauders who shot at every moving and living beings on sight within the vicinity of the students residential area in Owerri, a call has gone to the Imo state Governor Mr. Hope Uzodinma who does not live in Owerri due to his involvement in the nationwide political campaigns for the reelection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to resign and hand over to his deputy governor to provide quality and focused governance. HURIWA alleged that intelligence revealed that there are hundreds of armed Fulani terrorists pretending to be herders who are hibernating in the thick forests scattered all over Imo State, the Heartland of Nigeria.

Besides, HURIWA condemned the security institutions and their state directors such as the Army with a large presence in Owerri, Imo state, the police with a huge state command, the Department of State Services with a massive state directorate for dereliction of duties and for not preventing such a massive numbers of terrorists masquerading as herders to invade Owerri Imo state and to launch such deadly attacks just as the Rights group wondered why it took the security forces a long time as reported by eye witnesses before intervening in the horrendous and bloody attacks on students and other residents of that suburb of the Imo State capital. HURIWA demanded the upgrading of military and intelligence activities of security agencies not focused solely on arresting or crushing IPOB but should be basically focused on eradicating, decimating, degrading and neutralising the massive numbers of Fulani terrorists just as the Rights group urged Imo state government to audit the cattle owners in Imo State, register them and mount surveillance on their activities, abolish open grazing of cows in the towns and cities of Imo State to protect farmers and residents from the bloody attacks of Fulani terrorists.

“HURIWA is aware that there is also a contingent of special forces from the military but whose single focus is on the members of the self determination group the Indigenous People of Biafra but yet, armed Fulani terrorists have often launched several deadly attacks in Imo State and particularly around the Federal Highway linking Imo state to Aba and PortHarcourt.

“It is unfortunate that the police and the Nigeria Army that are noticeably seen mounting roadblocks all over the Federal Highways of Imo State and are mostly extorting and harassing Road users and particularly commercial drivers, have failed to protect the sacredness of the lives of Imo state citizens and prevent the wanton destructions of their priced assets and properties.”

“The Imo state government has so far failed to protect the students of FUTO and over 50 percent of the vast lands of Imo state and communities are ungoverned spaces whereby armed insurgents and Fulani terrorists are busy killing, maiming and attacking residents of communities spread across the three Senatorial Zones of Imo State.

“Our proposal is that GOVERNOR HOPE UZODINMA SHOULD QUIT OR TAKE A LONG VACATION AND EMPOWRR HIS DEPUTY TO FULLY PROVIDE GOVERNANCE IN IMO STATE. HOPE UZODINMA HAS ALREADY BEING Tipped AND HIRED BY PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU TO COORDINATE HIS CAMPAIGNS FOR 2027 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ABD THIS IS AN HERCULEAN TASK. COMBINING THIS JOB AND THAT OF GOVERNING A STATE WHICH IS A 24/7 JOB BY HOPE UZODINMA IS IMPRACTICABLE. ALSO HOPE UZODINMA IS FOCUSED ON BECOMING BOTH A SENATOR AND A GOVERNOR AT THE SAME TIME AND HE SPENDS ALL HIS TIME OUTSIDE IMO STATE SO HOW CAN HE PROTECT THE CITIZENS OF IMO STATE OF SOUTH EAST OF NIGERIA.”

HURIWA in a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko recalled that fear has gripped students, staff, and residents of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) and surrounding areas in Imo State after reports of an invasion by heavily armed Fulani herdsmen.
Eyewitnesses say over 50 armed men on motorcycles stormed the Eziobodo and Ihiagwa areas near the university. They opened fire on residents in what many described as an ambush attack. Gunshots rang out for several minutes, causing students to run helter-skelter from hostels and lecture halls. Some people were reportedly injured, while others are said to be missing.
Many blamed the slow response of security agencies. Despite police posts and military checkpoints nearby, the attackers reportedly moved freely before disappearing into nearby bushes. The university community remains tense, with some students fleeing to safer areas.
On social media, reactions have been swift and angry. @Romeo_Onchain wrote:
“Yesterday was not funny in FUTO. Students were running helter-skelter. Lives were lost, several injured, at least 4 kidnapped. The government must come to our aid now!”
@MAGNITUDE0003 added: “This is my area.
Police and army are around but these Fulani men still entered with bikes. God we are finished!”@BadmanVizzy posted: “Small FUTO wey we dey manage. These Fulani herdsmen don come for us. This is serious!”
Security agencies are yet to issue an official statement, but residents are calling for urgent action to restore calm and protect lives.

By George Mgbeleke

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has strongly condemned what it described as the “uncivil, reckless and disgraceful conduct” of Lere Olayinka, spokesperson to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, following his recent outburst during a television programme.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, the association said Olayinka’s conduct fell far below the standards expected of anyone occupying a sensitive public communication office funded by Nigerian taxpayers.
HURIWA stated that the deployment of gutter language and uncouth expressions by a spokesperson attached to a cabinet-level public official was “absolutely reprehensible and unacceptable in any decent democratic society.”
The group particularly condemned what it described as the “unprintable and disrespectful remarks” directed at former Minister of Special Duties and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Tanimu Turaki, stressing that such verbal attacks against a respected elder statesman and legal luminary were “totally outrageous, shameful and despicable.”
According to HURIWA:
“This spokesman of Wike appears unfit for public office. His comments consistently lack decorum, civility, respect for elder statesmen, and the maturity expected of someone occupying a public communication role. His combative and uncouth disposition reflects poorly on the office he represents.”
The association further stated:
“His deployment of gutter language unbecoming of someone being paid with taxpayers’ money is absolutely reprehensible. The unprintable words he used against the person of former Minister of Special Duties and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, are totally outrageous and despicable. The so-called spokesperson to the FCT Minister should first be enrolled in a short course on media relations and public communication before he can be considered qualified to speak for a cabinet-level appointee. He comes across as garrulous, illogical, cantankerous, and unsound in his arguments. This is deeply unfortunate.”
HURIWA faulted Olayinka’s remarks while reacting to discussions surrounding the Supreme Court judgment on the Peoples Democratic Party’s national secretary position, noting that instead of engaging issues constructively, he resorted to personal attacks and inflammatory rhetoric.

We in HURIWA agree with the erudite opinion by a communications strategist who says that in politics and public communication, the responsibility placed on spokespersons is enormous. A careless statement, a reckless allegation, or a deliberate attempt to sensationalize issues for partisan gain can unnecessarily inflame tensions, damage reputations, and distort facts already before competent courts. This appears to be the situation arising from comments made on national TV by a spokesperson for the FCT Minister regarding the issues between Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, and his former close friend and we in the organised civil society community are shocked that such a person is holding such a high profile office serviced by Nigerian taxpayers.

Contrary to the impression allegedly created during the TV appearance, the matter before the High Court of the FCT, Abuja, does not contain any allegation that the learned SAN had an immoral relationship with the wife of his former associate.
The rights group warned that the increasing trend of verbal hostility, insults, and reckless public commentary by political spokespersons poses a serious threat to democratic culture, political tolerance, and healthy national discourse.
The association urged political appointees and their media aides to embrace responsible communication, civility, and issue-based engagement capable of promoting unity and strengthening democratic values rather than deepening divisions through needless verbal attacks.