Alhaji Alhaji stays put
According to our highly placed source, the Head of the Federal Civil Service and the Secretary to the Federal Military Government, Mr G. Longe was disturbed by a publication in the Talking Drums of July 9, 1984 and subsequent ones that were beginning to appear in the Nigerian newspapers.
These reports first appeared in an Austrian newspaper stating that Alhaji Abubakar had lost about N40,000 in various foreign currencies in the hotel where he put up while attending an OPEC meeting in Vienna.
Alhaji Abubakar said the amount he lost was 17,000 British pounds and 700 American dollars in travellers cheques and not N40,000. The permanent secretary said he took the money to Vienna after closing his foreign account in London in compliance with the Federal Military Government directive. In order not to appear indifferent to the whole episode, Mr Longe phoned (not queried) Alhaji Abubakar to make an explanation or give his own version of the story in writing so that he, Mr Longe, could file it for record
As it is, Alhaji Abubakar who all along had regarded himself a more senior officer than Longe, appeared to have been hurt by Mr Longe's phone call. To show who has "longer legs" (as Nigerians themselves are wont to call it) Alhaji Abubakar summoned Longe to his office to receive the explanation.
When Longe came, Alhaji Abuba- kar told him that the dust about his foreign account was being raised by the fugitives because they (the fugitives) are aware of his long standing connec- tions with the international monetary organizations as well as with foreign ministers of finance the world over and that they were using his Austrian episode as a campaign to remove him from office so that the Federal Military Government will not have a more competent and knowledgeable secretary to replace him in negotiations from the IMF and other banking insti- tutions! In essence, he told Longe that if the government wanted an economic recovery, he Alhaji Abubakar is the magic wand to use.
With the silence over the matter by the Federal Military Government, it appears Alhaji Abubakar has again won.
Not yet though, for a fortnight ago, students of the University of Benin, angered by the silence of the government over the issue, have called for the removal of Alhaji Abubakar in what they called "compliance with, and spirit of WAI."
In a press statement in Benin, the students said: "That Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji is still occupying that prestig- ious office of Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Finance contradicts WAI... We like to assert strongly that Alhaji violated the 1979 constitution that prevents public officers from operating foreign accounts." Drawing analogies from Melford Okilo's jail sentence for a similar offence, the students went on: "We demand that Alhaji should be made to face the law. We hope that the government will take the path of reason because that is the only way this country can be made habitable by all."
Power cut for electric cars
PLANS for the manufacture of Danish made electric cars which were to be imported into Ghana and later manu- factured there, appear to have fallen through. Two national newspapers of Denmark B.T. and Politiken have published statements from the Board of Hope Computer Corporation disasso- ciating the Board from the management.The statement said that no car had yet been developed to the stage of manufacture and a further $10m was required for further developments.
The Board therefore disassociated itself from the floating of shares by the management and stated that there was no car to be assembled and sold because it is not fully developed.
Earlier announcements from the company had claimed that production was about to start with 200 of the cars due to be exported to Ghana next year and a further 500 in 1986.
A Ghanaian company Oturoh Electrical Services was supposed to import the cars and start assembling the cars in Ghana in 1986.
NEXT WEEK
DO GHANA'S PUBLIC TRIBUNALS CONFORM TO INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED STANDARDS OF JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS?READ AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL'S OPINION.
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