Thousands Flee Delta Violence

From:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8062315.stm

Halliburton Implicated in Nigerian Bribery and Corruption

An excellent video on the involvement of large multi-national companies in corruption in Nigeria.  This feature video by PBS discusses the involvement of American company Halliburton in bribing Nigerian leaders.  An interesting aspect of this is that the bribery took place at a time when former United States Vice-President Dick Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton.  Albert “Jack” Stanley, the CEO of Halliburton’s subsidiary KBR was also implicated in the bribery allegations, and the video alleges that Halliburton/KBR paid bribes to former Nigerian leaders Generals Abacha and Obasanjo.

The video features interviews with former EFCC boss Nuhu Ribadu and former President Obasanjo. For those who keep harping that Ribadu’s anti-corruption efforts were ineffective, note that (a) he prosecuted thousands for corruption (and got nearly 300 convictions) (b) he was offered and refused to accept a $15 million cash bribe from one of the corrupt Governors he was investigating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhcmwcPf4PY

Interview with Nasir El-Rufai

Former FCT Minister, Nasir El-Rufai

This is an excellent interview with the controversial former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai. He defends his stewardship, and decisions he took in government, and appraises the Yar’Adua government.

For those who do not have the patience to read the whole interview, the most telling statements he made were:

“I do not think President Yar’Adua is doing enough to even keep Nigeria at the level he found it. From what I read and hear, things are a bit worse than in May 2007. But you live in Nigeria, you reflect and get your readers to reflect as well, is your life better now than it was two years ago?”

“James Ibori had boasted that since he cannot go to London, he would ensure that my passport is seized when I come, and this was communicated to me.”

“if Ibori was actively prosecuted, then the new administration is serious about fighting corruption. I added that if Ribadu were promoted out of his EFCC job, it would be a clear sign that the intentions are suspect. This was in mid-2007. I rest my case.”

‘Yar’Adua Not Doing Enough To Even Keep Nigeria At The Level He Found It’

From: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/policy_politics/article01//indexn3_html?pdate=040409&ptitle=%27Yar%27Adua%20Not%20Doing%20Enough%20To%20Even%20Keep%20Nigeria%20At%20The%20Level%20He%20Found%20It%27&cpdate=040409

Former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Mallam Nasir El-rufai in this online interview with GODWIN IJEDIOGOR speaks on his tenure, persecution, the Pentascope deal and President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Some people say you are only suffering a bit of what some people suffered due to the demolition exercises under your tenure as Federal Capital Territory minister?

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but I am not suffering. For two years I have pursued my life’s interests and I live in relative comfort. I have been contacted and complimented by many people, including some that lost property to the corrective actions we took in Abuja.

On Facebook, I have reached the limit of 5,000 friends, with over 1,200 standing by to be my friends. Some are critical, most of them compliment and commend the work I did, and that is the next generation.

The tragicomedy in Nigeria, whether it takes place in the Villa, the Senate or the FCT, does not bother me at all. I thought through all I did and as I said, we did what had to be done, which others are now copying.

To some Nigerians, your tenure is credited with restoring Abuja to viability as the federal capital. What could be responsible for your achievements in that regard?

I think my education and training as a chartered quantity surveyor, knowledge of Abuja and being in the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) and therefore familiar with how the federal government functioned all helped a lot.

Secondly and by far the most important success factor was the political will of then President Olusegun Obasanjo to see that Abuja reverted to the vision he and Gen. Murtala Mohammed had in 1976.

Thirdly, unlike most ministers, I knew my portfolio was FCT at least a month in advance and began visioning, planning and prioritising with my aides while in BPE. So from day one, we knew where we wanted to go and it was not easy to lead us in another direction.

Finally, we gave our staff the freedom and wherewithal to do what was right, no matter whose ox was gored and they knew I would stand by them, take the heat and the responsibility for their actions.

But critics say some of these achievements came at huge social and personal costs to victims, who lost a lot?

All public policies have cost and benefits, winners and losers. What should guide public action is the overall collective good. Our actions in FCT hurt a few people, who by the way mostly broke the law. The benefits are an organised, orderly city, with high quality of social services.

The reality is that most state governors are now copying our courageous examples in Abuja, several years after we did what had to be done. Abuja is there for all to see.

There have been complaints that your administration acted illegally in demolitions and land allocations, including disobedience of court orders?

The claims are false, even the highly biased Senate Committee could not produce a single case in which I disobeyed any court order. All the people that came with allegations disappeared before I appeared before the Senate Committee.

Regarding demolitions and revocations, only a court can decide whether we acted illegally or not. The Senate Committee can make no such pronouncement and we have challenged every single one of their resolutions in the Federal High Court. All those that challenged our revocations in the courts have lost; the most recent one was Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State.

So the Senate is wrong and the courts will prove this in time.

You are alleged to own several properties, especially in Abuja, acquired during your tenure as minister, sometimes using cronies?

That is untrue. I have no property in Abuja, except the so-called Atiku Guest House, which I bought under the sale of government houses program. I had a terraced house in Stallion Estate, which I sold to facilitate my movement to the United States (US) for my degree program and fellowship at Harvard.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) made several allegations of houses that I won, these will be subject of future litigation in some jurisdictions, but they are all false. I have said this and I will say it again; if you find any property that belongs to me that is not in my asset declaration, seize it.

The weird belief that any property owned by any friend of mine, however close or remote, must be mine is not only unfair, unjust and unreasonable, but also quite dangerous. I am not a venal person and do not care for material accumulation.

I am also not a pretentious hypocrite, who will allocate land to his wife under another name. If I wanted to allocate land to myself, I will do it in my name. I am not the coward and hypocrite that some people are. The owners of the properties will meet them in domestic courts…and I will meet them somewhere, somehow, soon.

Some of your policies as FCT minister are either being reversed or reviewed?

No government can bind a future government, so they are free to reverse whatever they want to reverse. They will bear the consequences and history will judge us all. What we did led to results that even our enemies grudgingly admit. What our successors do is their business, not ours.

Do you think President Umaru Yar’Adua is doing enough to uplift Nigeria?

I do not think President Yar’Adua is doing enough to even keep Nigeria at the level he found it. From what I read and hear, things are a bit worse than in May 2007. But you live in Nigeria, you reflect and get your readers to reflect as well, is your life better now than it was two years ago?

So do you think he merits a second term?

That is up to Nigerians to decide, if their votes are allowed to matter. I will certainly not vote for him, but I am sure his family would not agree with my view.

What is your relationship with Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar now?

I am in contact with President Obasanjo. In fact, I spoke to him earlier in the week when he was on his way to South Africa, I think. My relationship with Obasanjo remains that of a caring father and a favoured son.

I have not spoken to Atiku Abubakar since we left office. I hear he is doing well and planning to run for President in 2011. I wish him luck.

What is your regret as FCT minister and given another opportunity to serve, what would you do differently?

I am writing my memoirs, where I will document my regrets and all the areas I think I screwed up. Since I need you to buy the book, I will not answer this question fully.

Human beings are not perfect, so we make mistakes. But I do not think about what I would do differently, as I have never repeated a class; I never do any job twice. Once is enough.

After school, what next for you?

A short vacation and then back home to Nigeria. If the government does not seize my passport, I will rest a bit, then go to China to start my Mandarin learning program. If they keep me within Nigeria, I will spend my time and resources organising young people to go into public service.

Do you consider it safe enough for you to return after your studies?

I have been told that when I return to Nigeria, I will be arrested and detained long enough to be injected with HIV and Hepatitis, so that I die very quickly from natural causes.

This, I understand, is necessary because I am a threat to the Yar’Adua government. I do not understand how a government I played a pivotal role in bringing about will become an overnight enemy. But I believe in God and my destiny.

I will have my medical test results showing I do not have any incurable disease filed with my lawyers in Canada, US and United Kingdom (UK), so that if anything happens to me, my survivors can initiate legal action.

There is nothing more that I can do. Nigeria is my home and I cannot live anywhere else; I would rather die in Nigeria. So I am coming home soon.

There is a lot yet about the Pentascope deal during you tenure at BPE. Do you still insist that you did the best for Nigeria at that time?

We did what was right and what has happened since then confirm the correctness of our decisions. The people that fought tooth and nail to cancel the deal have now been revealed as bribe-takers in the Siemens scandal, and NITEL, as a viable investment proposition had declined, destroyed by greed, selfishness and narrow mindedness.

Pentascope paid salaries and kept the place going. What has happened since then?

The Senate has deliberated on and approved the report of its committee on the FCT, but you are reported to be dissatisfied with the committee’s proceedings and report. What are your reservations?

My attorney, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, has articulated our case better than I ever can and The Guardian carried this. Everything about that Senate Committee from its constitution, non-declaration of pecuniary interest, contrary to Senate’s own rules and disregarding pendency of a court case and so on are being challenged at the Federal High Court.

More than that is the outright falsehood and malice that oozes through each paragraph of the report. Sodangi, Obiorah and Smart Adeyemi all lost plots, hotels and sources of easy money during my tenure in FCT. So it was time to settle scores and that is what they tried to do.

What is sad is that instead of facing me like men, they bastardised a national institution and misled their colleagues in the process. It is sad.

It is alleged that about N32 billion is missing from the proceeds of the sale of federal government houses in the FCT and you are being held accountable for it, a reason the EFCC said it declared you wanted. What happened to the funds?

This is one of the allegations that the Senate Committee made in its several ‘interim reports,’ which were leaked to the media, but was quietly omitted, from the ‘Final Report’ to the Senate. The reason is simple: They lied again.

First, my tenure ended in May 2007 and an audit of the proceeds of sale of government houses was undertaken jointly by Akintola Williams, Deloitte and Aminu Ibrahim & Co. The report was submitted in July 2007, two months after I left office, and not a penny was alleged to be missing then.

This report was made available to the Committee, yet they went ahead to make headlines with their allegation.

I later learnt there was a deal between my immediate successor and the Committee that if they could pin the disappearance of N32 billion on me, there will be some money to share between the two conspirators.

Shortly after the deal was struck, the cabinet was reshuffled and Mr. Remi Babalola, the Minister of State for Finance, recovered N46 billion from 15 bank accounts of the FCT. It turned out that the money was placed on deposit and someone was collecting what they called brokerage. The funds (N46 billion) were transferred to federal government’s account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

So how can N32 billion be missing today and you find N46 billion the next day? It is all falsehood propagated to tarnish my reputation and create a situation to enable those in office divert the entire amount.

Again, on this matter, we have gone to court, seeking declaratory judgment and presenting all our facts. We sued the EFCC and have joined the CBN, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Joint Auditors to contradict the facts, as we know them.

The EFCC threatened to declare me wanted because I refused to abandon my studies to come to Nigeria to further explain what they called ‘PHCN and NIPOST lands.’ When they realised that they had weak legal basis to challenge my authority to revoke and allocate land under both FCT Act and the Land Use Act, they adopted the Senate allegation of ‘missing N32 billion.”

When even the Senate Committee could not sustain that allegation in its Final Report, the EFCC declared me wanted for ‘jumping bail.’

The EFCC has also invited you over the allocation of plots of land that used to belong to NEPA and NIPOST?

The EFCC wrote to me on these matters in June last year and came to my house and I submitted lengthy explanations, with over 100 pages of documents. Then they wrote in October last year inviting me on the same matter, knowing that I am abroad for studies.

I requested them to send any additional question through my lawyer, but they refused, saying that I must appear. Why must I? Are they paying for my ticket? Are we not conducting this interview by email now? Have they never heard of teleconferencing? No, they wanted me to come so that they could seize my passport and frustrate my studies.

James Ibori had boasted that since he cannot go to London, he would ensure that my passport is seized when I come, and this was communicated to me.

That is the problem of PHCN and NIPOST, which are both matters that I have filed two lawsuits. These are just the excuses to enable EFCC please its masters- President Yar’Adua and James Ibori. But what are the real facts?

The so-called NEPA or PHCN plot was a plot owned by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) for the purpose of building a 330KV substation to connect Abuja to the national grid through Nasarawa State to the East. PHCN changed its plans and decided they needed only a smaller 132kV substation there.

So the plot was redesigned and land set aside for the smaller substation, while 10 or 11 plots were carved out and allocated. Everything was done properly with the input of all land-related departments.

As minister, I had the power to approve the allocations and I did. That is the story of the NEPA/PHCN plot.

The NIPOST plot was allocated to NIPOST over 15 years before I approved its revocation. NIPOST had illegally gone into a sublease agreement with Suleyman Yahyah of Rosehill to build a block of flats or hotel on the plot. I approved its revocation on several grounds, including failure to develop, violation of terms of grant (illegal sublease), and violation of land use. What Rosehill and NIPOST did was criminal to our efforts of restoring sanity in Abuja.

Yet, they had the audacity to petition the government and because we are targets of political persecution, it is given capital.

I have filed another suit against Suleyman Yahyah and Rosehill for libel, because their petition contained tendentious allegations, which I consider actionable. Again, we intend to prosecute this to its logical conclusion and await the judgment of the High Court.

Will you return to Nigeria to answer these charges, and when?

Well, there are still no charges against me, though I have learned that President Yar’Adua has insisted I must be charged even for a traffic violation to convict me as soon as possible. If and when the charges are filed, I will vigorously defend myself. I will return to Nigeria soon.

I hope to be done with my Masters’ program and the Mason Fellowship in June 2009, and then I will go on a short vacation and then come back to Nigeria.

Do you think there is a plan to tarnish the reputation of some of those that served in the Obasanjo cabinet?

No, I do not feel there is a plan. I am certain there is a program to demonise Obasanjo and his high -profile ministers and heads of agencies. It is a major program of the federal government under Yar’Adua. I feel it is of greater priority and importance above the Seven-Point Agenda.

It is alleged that you have difficult relations with President Yar’Adua and his inner circle?

I first met and got to know Umaru Yar’Adua through Sani Maikudi, his cousin and my guardian at Barewa College back in 1972. I considered him my elder brother. The last time I spoke with him was in September 2007 at the inaugural meeting of the National Energy Council.

I resigned from that Council in June last year, as I was coming to Harvard. I do not know the members of his ‘inner circle,’ but Tanimu Yakubu, his Economic Adviser has always been close to me and I still exchange emails with him from time to time.

You are alleged to have initially dismissed Yar’Adua as a presidential material and worked with others to get the courts to reverse his election?

That is untrue. The day President Yar’Adua came to Abuja to pick up his nomination form, he sent Tanimu Yakubu to seek audience with me. I found that strange because usually, when he visits Abuja and we needed to meet, I went to the Katsina State Governor’s Lodge to meet with him, out of the respect I have had for him. But Tanimu was insistent.

So I went home early and Yar’Adua and Tanimu came to inform me of Obasanjo’s invitation to Yar’Adua to file his nomination papers. He asked me to rally the Economic Team behind his candidacy and I did that. I believed strongly in his candidacy and went out of my way to canvass support for it in the Nigerian media and other friends of Nigeria. As I said, Allah will judge between us.

It is not true that I worked with anyone to reverse any election. First, as a public servant and student of Law, I appreciate how difficult the work of judges is. I have never solicited any judge to influence any judgment throughout my life, public or private.

Second, I did not share the view that getting the elections cancelled will lead to any different outcome than we have. And even if the elections are re-run, with (Prof Maurice) Iwu and (Mr. Mike) Okiro in office, Yar’Adua will win again and get a fresh four year term. So why waste the resources?

It is all circulated to justify our persecution… It is sad and disappointing.

What is your opinion on his Seven-Point Agenda?

It is a great shopping list of desirables that is enlightening more by what it does not include in the seven points. For instance, fighting corruption is not on the seven point agenda.

Secondly, the agenda needs to be converted into a clear plan, with priorities and implementation strategies. All the documents I have on the Seven Point Agenda indicate that these are yet to be developed. I hope they get developed soon.

What would be your advice to friends regarding accepting appointment with the present government?

I think every individual should be free to take decisions on whether to serve this government or not, and I believe public service is important and if good people do not do it, bad people will. I will therefore encourage every good and honest person to consider going into public service.

I can answer your question quite categorically in respect of my person. I have observed the government for two years and know the key actors very well. This is not a reforming government. This is a government that lacks courage.

This is a government of double-speak and continuous promises with no foreseeable results or outcomes. This is a government that has little tolerance for mavericks that want to make a difference.

I will never ever serve this kind of government, but I hope others better than me can and will, because Nigeria needs a functioning government utilising the best possible hands. Nigeria is my only country, so I care.

What is your view on corruption, its impact and the war being wagged against it in Nigeria?

Corruption is an evil that has contributed to distorting the incentive structure in Nigeria and has negatively affected our political, economic and social development. It must be fought and brought to a predictable and manageable standstill.

Some countries, like Indonesia, have made progress with significant levels of corruption but its distortion of incentive structures destroys whatever is good in a society in the long run.

The highest point in the anti-corruption war history of Nigeria is still the Mallam Nuhu Ribadu era. Under his courageous leadership, the EFCC was successfully prosecuting at least 100 cases per annum.

This administration is not serious about fighting corruption. It thinks that Nigerians are stupid people who will believe lies when everyone in government repeats them, such as rule of law, anti-corruption with due process, etc. But how many convictions have they secured?

I remember attending a dinner with the British High Commissioner before I left Nigeria, with Babalola and Dr. Faruk Lawan in attendance. He asked us what would signal whether the Yar’Adua government would continue the anti-corruption war so ably started by the Obasanjo administration.

I replied then that if Ibori was actively prosecuted, then the new administration is serious about fighting corruption. I added that if Ribadu were promoted out of his EFCC job, it would be a clear sign that the intentions are suspect. This was in mid-2007. I rest my case.

Do you have any presidential ambition or do you link your current travails to suspicions that you have an interest in the highest office?

No, I do not have any ambitions for political office. I have been there and seen most of it and I feel I have done my bit. About 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population is below the age of 40, so people like me (I will be 50 next year) need to step aside and encourage the emergence of a new generation of public leaders. That is my passion, not holding any office. I am too old.

I want to see everyone older than me retire to their villages to be local government chairmen and allow Obama’s age mates to run the country.

Perhaps I am being suspected of an interest in what you call ‘higher office.’ But if a Nigerian aspires to be President, is that an offense? I have read in newspapers that any political meeting of a few serious politicians is now interpreted as a plot to bring down the Yar’Adua government. What kind of insecure government do we have now?

I reiterate that my passion is to see a young person below the age 49 elected Nigeria’s President in 2011 and beyond. The old people have failed; we need to give things up to the younger ones.

What is your vision of Nigeria?

Nigeria is a country of great resources and capacities suffering from a leadership deficit. We need enlightened and exposed leaders that are bold, courageous and inclusive. We need a national vision that will bring our public leaders and our people together in a broad consensus to move our nation forward, in a way that incentives are placed to reward talent and hardwork, to sanction indolence and deviance, encouraging the strong and protecting the weak, beyond religious or ethnic groupings, states and regions.

I thought Obasanjo laid a good foundation for this to be built upon. It is a disappointment that it has not happened, but we will never give up. This is a burden placed on us by God, as the most populous Black nation on earth.

Update on Uzoma Okere

Remember Uzoma Okere? She is the lady that was beaten by the orderlies of senior navy officer Rear-Admiral Harry Arogundade late last year.  So what has happened since?  The Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike ordered an inquiry into the matter.  Since then the inquiry has concluded by collecting evidence from Arogundade and his men, but not from the victim Okere.  Arogundade is still in service and has been redeployed to the Defence Headquarters as Director of Plans.

The video below is an update featuring eyewitness testimony of the assault on Ms Okere, and testimony from Ms Okere herself about her ordeal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ace8bNewrkE

Babangida: The Real Reason I Annulled June 12

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=134857

From This Day.

IBB: The Real Reason I Annulled June 12

By Omololu Ogunmade, 02.05.2009

For the first time since the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late business mogul, Bashorun MKO Abiola, former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, has given a reason for the annulment. He said he was compelled to nullify the election because of security threats to the enthronement of a democratic government at the time.

Babangida made this disclosure yesterday on a TV programme, Moments with Mo, anchored by Mo Abudu and broadcast on MNet channel of DSTV.

Babangida, who described the annulment as “unfortunate” and revealed that he would launch a book on the saga next year, said having been on the steering wheel of government at the time, he and the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) knew that the new democratic government to be installed would sooner than later be toppled through another military coup deta’t, which he said his government wanted to avoid.
According to him, his regime had decided that it would be the last administration that would ascend the seat of power through coup, adding that it would make no sense to install a democratic government that would be truncated within another six months.

He, however, admitted that the June 12 presidential election was free and fair and also the best of all elections ever conducted in Nigeria’s history. “June 12 was accepted by Nigerians as the best of elections in Nigeria. It was free and fair. But unfortunately, we cancelled that election. I used the word unfortunately, for the first time. We were in government at the time and we knew the possible consequences of handing over to a democratic government. We did well that we wanted ours to be the last military coup deta’t. To be honest with you, the situation was not ripe to hand over at the time.

“Forget about the wrong things that happened in politics. The issue of security of the nation was a threat and we would have considered ourselves to have failed, if six months after handover, there was another coup. I went through coup deta’t and I survived it. We knew that there would be another coup deta’t. But not many people believed what we said. They could have allowed me to go away and then they (coup plotters) would regroup and stage another coup. This is how coups are staged – one man will always come to complain. And he will try to convince you about his complaints,” Babangida said.

He said security threats to the advent of democracy at the time culminated in fresh plans to conduct another election within another six months after June 12 annulment, with better strategy, but which he said he could not achieve as a result of the hostility which accompanied the cancellation. According to him, another election was conceived to come up in November 1993.

He revealed further that he was determined to conduct another election which culminated in the constitution of an Interim National Government (ING), which he noted was eventually toppled by a military coup staged by General Sani Abacha.

Babangida implied that what happened to the ING was eventually the fate that would have befallen the civil rule which his regime would have handed over to.

The former military president said the whole concept of his regime’s plan to hand over to a civil government was aimed at effecting a lasting change which could put paid to rigging. This notion, he said resulted in the decision to register only two political parties, the Social Demoratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC). “When there are two things, you have an option – this or that or nothing. We tried to regulate the number of political parties. We knew what to do,” he said.

Babangida, who expressed fears that his revelation might put him in trouble, was not categorical about his presidential ambition come 2011. Instead, he played around it, saying he was not getting younger, adding that he would rather make himself available to make certain corrections whenever he deems fit.

Excellent Speech on Nigerian Progress by Dr Okonjo-Iweala

If you really want to know about African and Nigerian economic progress, and are tired of the old cliched stories about Africa that only involve wars, fmaine or disease, watch this excellent video.  For those who don’t know her, the speaker is Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former Nigerian Finance Minister and a very senior figure at the World Bank where she is Managing Director.

In this briliant speech given to an audience with no visual aids or written notes, she speaks with clarity and precision on the tremendous reforms and economic growth in Nigeria and Africa. She got a deserved generous ovation for this speech.  This is also a primer for all those in the “President Obasanjo” did nothing brigade in Nigeria.  Watch and learn….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YpticqS9-8

Nuhu Ribadu Dismissed from the Nigerian Police

Finally, Nigeria’s corrupt Governors have got what they wanted. Their arch nemesis Nuhu Ribadu has been dismissed from the police, the corruption charges against them have stalled and they are free to now go and enjoy more of Nigeria’s money abroad in the UK, US and Swiss bank vaults.

Amazingly a section of the Nigerian public criticise Ribadu for prosecuting those who steal from them. Alams, Dariye et al were hailed as heroes by their communities on their return (i.e. the very people they steal from)! It is time we accepted that the Nigerian public are PART OF THE PROBLEM, and corruption in Nigeria is not just a problem of leadership. It has also eaten away at the souls of the populace to the extent where some of them can no longer tell right and wrong, and hail thieves who steal from them, and stigmatise the man who tries to catch those thieves on their behalf. These corrupt leaders are emblematic of Nigerian society and they represent the decadence of the society they emerged from. There are many “common men” in Nigeria, who if given the chance would loot as much as, or even more than the current leadership. Nigerian leaders reflect the nature of Nigerian people, not vice versa.

While everyone is screaming blue murder at Ribadu’s “selective nature”, no one seems to remember that the people he prosecuted are the same people who looted the treasury.  Niger Delta militants are blowing up pipelines, fighting against the federal government and kidnapping civilians, when their former Governor James Ibori controlled a budget larger than the entire GDP of some entire African countries, and was busy stashing their money in the UK.  Ibori has finally got his victory.

Nigeria’s New Cabiniet Ministers

Nigerian Cabinet Ministers

After a long wait, Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua has finally completed his cabinet reshuffle. The list of “new” ministers is underwhelming and there are no radical differences.  The notorious Attorney-General and Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa has been retained (he of Ribadu hounding and Ibori protecting fame).  So do not expect any corrupt ministers, officials or former Governors who looted the state treasury to be prosecuted any time soon. As long as Aondoakaa remains in office, Nigeria will remain a Shangri-La for looters of state funds.

Noteworthy new ministers are Professor Dora Akunyili – formerly head of Nigeria’s National Agency for Food And Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC). When it was announced that she was shortlisted for a ministry, it was presumed she would be made the new Minister of Health (she is a Professor of Pharmacy). However instead she was instead appointed Minister of Information and Communications (the government’s chief propaganda minister) which is an odd post for a Pharmacy Professor who gained fame battling peddlers of fake pharmaceutical drugs.

New Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili

Lots of old “new” faces in the new Federal Executive Council.  The former OPEC Secretary-General Dr Rilwanu Lukman returns to the government yet again as Petroleum Minister. As a reminder, Lukman first held this post under the regime of Ibrahim Babangida in 1986 – 22 years ago (yes TWENTY TWO).  He also served as Babangida’s Minister of Mines, Power and Steel, and as Foreign Minister.  He was an energy adviser to the immediate past government of President Obasanjo.

New Petroleum Minister Rilwanu Lukman

Another familiar face is the new Minister for Special Duties Ambassador Ibrahim Musa Kazaure. I recall cringing with embarassment several years ago when immediately after the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni activists by the Abacha regime, Kazaure appeared on national television in the UK to defend the execution and Abacha’s regime. Kazaure was then serving in an ambassadorial role for the Abacha military regime.

The full list of the key Federal Executive Council ministers (Ministers of State are excluded):

Agriculture and Water Resources: Dr Abba Sayyadi Ruma

Attorney-General and Minister of Justice: Michael Aondoakaa

Aviation: Mr. Babatunde Omotoba

Culture & Tourism: Bello J. Gada

Defence: Dr. Shettima Mustapha

Education: Dr. Sam Egwu

Environment: John Odeh Ogar

Federal Capital Territory: M.A. Aliero

Finance: Mansur Mukhtar

Foreign Affairs: Ojo Maduekwe

Health: Prof. B. Osotimehin

Information & Communications: Prof. Dora Akunyili

Interior: Major-General Godwin Abbe (retired)

Justice Minister & Attorney-General of the Federation: Michael Kaase Aondoakaa

Labour: Chief A. Kayode

Mines and Steel: Dizeani Allison-Madueke

Niger Delta: Ufot Ekaette

Petroleum: Dr. Rilwanu Lukman

Police Affairs: Dr. I.Y. Lame

Science and Technology: Dr. A. B. Zaku

Special Duties: Ibrahim Musa Kazaure

Tourism and Culture: Adetokunbo Kayode

Transport: Alhaji Ibrahim Bio

Women’s Affairs: Mrs. S.H. Sulaiman

Works and Housing: Dr. Hassan M. Lawal

Youth Development: Akinlabi Olasunkanmi

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria: Chukwuma Soludo

CNN “Planet in Peril” Video on the Niger Delta

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPhF3FNayq0

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/10/what.matters.niger/index.html#cnnSTCOther1

Mega Corruption – The Case Against James Ibori

Given the current controversy surrounding former EFCC boss Nuhu Ribadu, I thought it worthwhile to dig into the archives and let readers review this article published a year ago by Tell Magazine on former Delta State Governor James Ibori who was accused of scandalous corruption, and was being prosecuted by Ribadu until Ribadu’s removal from the EFCC stopped Ibori’s prosecution. Today, Ibori is a free man, his prosecution has stalled and he is still enjoying his illegally gotten wealth and access to Nigeria’s political elite. This is the story of how Ibori stole from the Nigerian people.

Friday, November 23, 2007

TELL Magazine Details Allegations of Corruption

Against Ex-Governor James Ibori

By Dayo Aiyetan

After spirited efforts to escape justice, the law is catching up with James Ibori, former governor of Delta State accused of stealing billions of state funds and laundering most of it abroad

Ex-Governor James Ibori of Delta State

If all had worked according to plan, James Ibori, former governor of oil-rich Delta State, would have become one of the most powerful and influential men in Nigeria today. Having generously oiled the wheels of the presidential campaign machinery of Umaru Yar’Adua, Ibori saw himself as a kingmaker who should call some shots in the new government. The former governor, it was gathered, demanded to be made minister in the lucrative petroleum resources ministry. He is also believed, at one point, to have considered being minister of the strategic federal capital territory ministry. But apart from the need to be paid back for his substantial investment in the President’s campaign, Ibori’s desire to be a powerful member of the new administration was also for the simple but strategic reason of self-preservation.

The handsome and fabulously wealthy ex-governor knew that he had been under investigation for corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. For more than two years, the anti-corruption agency had investigated Ibori for allegedly looting Delta State treasury. Becoming a powerful minister in the government would have, at least for some time, secured his freedom from prosecution. So Ibori thought.

However, immediately he learnt of moves by the former governor to become a minister, Nuhu Ribadu, EFCC chairman, put paid to the scheme by placing before President Yar’Adua evidence of Ibori’s monumental looting of his state’s treasury.

Today, Ibori is neither a minister nor is he anywhere near the corridors of power. Rather, he is virtually a fugitive from the law. Ibori and some members of his family and associates are currently being embraced by the long arms of the law not only in Nigeria but also in Britain and the United States, US.

At the time when the EFCC began the clampdown on former governors, Ibori found it convenient to flee to the US. Ordinarily, Britain, where he has investments, houses, luxury cars and fat bank accounts, would have been the natural place to go. But he would most likely have been arrested in that country as the London Metropolitan Police has a strong case of money laundering against him. However, even America, his initial place of succour, has become too hot for him to stay. The magazine has learned that he had to quickly take off from the US and return to Nigeria a few weeks ago after he got wind of the fact that authorities in Florida had also commenced investigations on him in a money laundering case.

As Ibori made his way back home, he was believed to have instructed Theresa, his wife, and former first lady of Delta State, to also return home from Britain where she was staying. However, Theresa was arrested October 1, 2007 as she was waiting to board a plane to Nigeria. Her arrest was in connection with the Metropolitan Police’s money laundering investigations against Ibori. Already, three persons related to and used by Ibori in laundering money have been arrested in London and are currently under restraining orders. These are Adebimpe Pogoson, the ex-governor’s personal assistant, Christine Ibori-Ibie, his sister, and Udoamaka Okoronkwo, a female associate believed to have had a son for him. Theresa, a British citizen, was arrested by men of the Proceeds of Corruption Unit of the Metropolitan Police but was granted bail. However, she is expected to report back to the police in London in January 2008 for further questioning.

The investigations into alleged corruption and money laundering against Ibori have been long drawn, involving security authorities in Nigeria, South Africa and Britain. And the magazine’s own investigations have revealed that the Metropolitan Police has virtually concluded its probe of the former governor. It not only has a watertight case against him, but is in a position to arrest and prosecute him.

A glimpse into the money laundering case against Ibori in London is provided in a witness’ statement supporting an application for a restraining order on Ibori’s investments and assets in Britain and other countries. Written by Paul Gardiner, a financial investigator employed by the Metropolitan Police to unravel the web of the ex-governor’s money laundering schemes, the statement, which was actually presented to the Southwark Crown Court in order to obtain a restraining order on Ibori’s assets, reveals not only persons and companies used by Ibori to launder monies amounting to over N35 billion, but also the circuitous route that the funds were made to pass through to disguise their sources.

Specifically, Ibori, who is being investigated for committing offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act under British law, allegedly criminally stole billions of naira when he was in government and laundered some of same in Britain “thereby committing offences under section 327 and 328 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002″.

Operating like an international crook versed in the art of money laundering, and using the likes of Pogoson, Okoronkwo, Ibori-Ibie and a host of other associates as well as offshore companies and fronts, the former governor allegedly stole funds through the award of often bogus or often inflated contracts, paid monies into the accounts of these people who then transferred the funds into designated accounts abroad. Following a circuitous route, a lot of the monies were then routed to accounts and companies owned or controlled by Ibori. To disguise the sources of the funds, Ibori, through a firm of attorneys in London, also created shell companies in Gibraltar, British Virgin Islands, Switzerland, Mauritius, Panama and other remote parts of the world, to which monies were paid so that they could be legitimised through purchase of properties and other assets. These companies include Haleway Properties Limited, registered in Gibraltar, Teleton Quays Limited (in British Virgin Islands), Erin Aviation Limited (Mauritius), Stanhope Investment Limited (Polynesia), Julex Foundation (Panama) and Parabola International Corp. (Mauritius).

Documents at the Southwark Crown Court, London, showed that Ibori devised a simple method to launder the money he allegedly stole from Delta State coffers. For example, during his eight-year rule, cash and drafts worth about £2 million were paid to Pogoson from Delta State accounts. Money was paid into her account in Asaba and Lagos, from where it was electronically transferred into the United Kingdom, UK, accounts of MER Engineering, a company owned by the former governor. Ibori was a director in the company before he became governor. However, since 1999, Pogoson has been the sole signatory to the company’s accounts. From MER’s UK account, nearly $1.5 million was then electronically transferred into the account of a front company for the ex-governor, Stanhope Investment, held at Private Bank AG Geneva and other accounts held by him in Switzerland. Police forensic investigators from London discovered that because of the law in Nigeria which barred him from having foreign accounts, Ibori opened the account in the name of Stanhope in Switzerland, and through it, he paid for the purchase of an armour-plated Mercedes MayBach in April 2005. He is known to have several such foreign accounts. Ibori coughed out €406,600 and had the vintage car shipped to his home in South Africa. It was also from this account that the ex-governor paid the initial deposit of $4.7 million for the purchase of a Bombardier Challenger jet, total cost of which is put at $20 million. He transferred the money in June 2005 to the account of Parabola International Corp held in Zurich. The money was then transferred into the accounts of Arlington Shamas, Solicitor, London, Ibori’s representatives, for onward transfer to the aircraft manufacturers.

Pogoson, who resides in London in a house owned by Ibori’s sister, was arrested in April 2006 for money laundering charges but was released. She was further interrogated February this year, accused of holding many accounts in Nigeria with which she helped her boss launder money.

In the same dubious manner, Ibori, in the guise of awarding contracts to some companies, used his sister and Okoronkwo to loot Delta State funds and launder same abroad. Court documents in London and Nigeria show that in February 2005, acting as a purchasing representative to Onovin Nigeria Limited, a Nigerian company owned by Vincent Uduaghan, younger brother to Emmanuel Uduaghan, current governor of Delta State, Ibori-Ibie, the ex-governor’s sister, received over N38 million ostensibly for the procurement of running tracks for stadia in the state from a German firm. A total of £300,000 meant for the purchase of the tracks was transferred into Ibori-Ibie’s account with Barclays Bank, London. However, an inspection of her Barclays account showed that only a total of £123,717.72 was paid to BSW, the German suppliers. The shortfall of £176,182.26 is believed to have been laundered for the former governor.

In the case of Okoronkwo, between May 26, 2005 and June 8, 2005, she received about N105.5 million of Delta State government funds. The monies were then transferred into her HSBC account in London in three tranches – £200,000 on June I, 2005, £150,000 on June 14, 2005 and £200,000 on June 20, 2005. An inspection of the account showed that some of the monies were transferred to Ibori and Terry Waya, a Nigerian businessman currently serving a jail term in Britain for money laundering, while there is also evidence that properties and other assets had been bought for Ibori from funds in Okoronkwo’s HSBC account. For example, on July 20, 2005, Okoronkwo issued a cheque of £311,000 to Arlington Sharmas Solicitors which was used to purchase a house at 42, Great Ground, Shaftsbury, Dorset. The property was registered in the name of Teleton Quays but is used by Ibori and his wife.

It was discovered that Ibori had instructed Bhadresh Gohil, a partner in Arlington Sharmas, who was central to the incorporation of front companies and legitimising laundered funds for the ex-governor, to register Teleton Quays and purchase the property in the company’s name. Okoronkwo is also known to have purchased another house in London at a cost of £388,077.62 for Ibori in the name of Boyd Properties. In all, over £2 million have passed through Okoronkwo’s HSBC account, most of it paid directly into a London Barclays account number 00115916 in the name of James Ibori.

For the role they played in laundering money for Ibori, the trio of Pogoson, Ibori-Ibie and Okoronkwo are currently subject to restraint proceedings in London and, if found guilty of money laundering charges, face jail sentences of many years.

Yet, the British investigations have revealed even more startling discoveries. Ibori, in late 2005, hatched a plot to legitimise some of his allegedly stolen and laundered money through the purchase of a Challenger jet from Bombardier. Since he knew that he could not directly send money to the aircraft manufacturers, as that would have immediately raised questions in many quarters, Ibori got Gohil to register companies to use for the transaction and to make payments for the jet. In December 2005, Gohil, on behalf of Ibori, brokered a purchase deal for the Challenger at the cost of $20 million between Teleton Quays and Bombardier. Gohil also incorporated another company, Erin Aviation, in Mauritius, which later took over as the buyer from Teleton Quays. In July 2005, four payments totalling £4,788,176.92 were made from Ibori’s account held in the name of Stanhope into a Schrader Bank, Zurich account in the name of Edward Shemutete for Parabola International Corp. Shemutete is a known international expert in money laundering and legitimising corruptly gotten funds. He is currently under investigation in Zambia, his home country, for allegedly helping former President Frederick Chiluba launder money abroad.

Investigators say that Shemutete was most likely fronting for Ibori as he was introduced to the bank by Gohil, the same man who acted for the ex-governor in many other businesses. On September 29, 2005, the money was transferred from the Parabola account into a Barclays Bank, London account, which turned out to be a client’s account held by Gohil’s law firm, Arlington Shamas. The firm later made the payment to Bombardier.

But there were more intriguing disclosures from the examination of the Teleton/Bombardier deal. By July 2006, a total of $9,856,685.22 had been paid for the jet. A breakdown of the payment shows that apart from the $4.788 million paid by Stanhope/Parabola, Bombardier also received $599,963.98 from Wings Aviation Limited; $899,805.96 from Erin Aviation; $249,007.72 from Pamaron Oil and Gas Limited; another $899,896.68 from Wings Aviation and a last transfer of $951,178.07 from Erin Aviation. The entry of Wings Aviation makes the jet purchase more intriguing. Wings Aviation is registered in Nigeria as a charter services provider.

Interestingly, investigators found out through a letter written by Gohil that Stanhope Investment and Parabola International Corp, both believed to be owned by Ibori, were principal shareholders in Aviation Development Corporation, the parent company of Wings Aviation. The investigators in London have inferred that Ibori, through his offshore companies, owns Wings Aviation and that he also provided the monies paid by the company for the Bombardier jet. The investigators equally believe that the agreement between Erin Aviation and Bombardier is to be terminated and the purchase price of $20 million returned. The investigators have moved to place a restraining order on the jet or monies returned by the manufacturers and are also asking for a restraining order on houses, cars and accounts believed to be held by Ibori or his proxies.

These include three houses in London and Dorset, four vintage cars (a Bentley Continental GT, Mercedes MayBach, a Chrysler and a Jaguar) as well as several accounts held in his name and those of his front companies such as Stanhope Investments and Teleton Quays.

The London money laundering investigations on Ibori tell only one side of the story of this young man’s mindless looting of the funds kept in his trust when he was governor of Delta State. The investigations actually derived from investigations in Nigeria on Ibori spanning over two years by the EFCC. Although the EFCC had kept its investigations close to its chest, it was forced to come out with its findings after the Delta State government took the commission to court to restrain it, among other things, from arresting or prosecuting Ibori. In an affidavit deposed by Yahaya Bello, the head of the team that investigated the Ibori case, the EFCC finally opened a can of worms on the ex-governor’s looting ways. Many of the EFCC findings better explain some of the missing links in the British authorities’ investigations. The EFCC investigations uncovered several questionable payments to companies, associates and aides of Ibori, running into billions of naira. For example, it was discovered that there were monthly lodgments of Delta State cheques of between five and seven million naira into the accounts of Onovin Nigeria Limited. Vincent Uduaghan, owner of the company, told investigators that the payments which totalled N350 million in five years were for the supply of fuel from Total Nigeria Limited in Benin, Edo State. But Total, which did have a fuel supply contract, denied having any dealings with Onovin Nigeria Limited.

Furthermore, it was discovered that lodgments of up to N400 million were made from state accounts into the accounts of Ede Ogoro, private secretary to Ibori, and Charles Isiayei, chief accountant to Delta State Government House. It was also revealed that these two men also made several cash lodgments running into billions of naira from “security votes” of the state into the accounts of companies controlled by or connected with Ibori. These include Koln Nigeria Limited, Silhouette Travels, Prime Chambers, MER Engineering Limited and Bainenox.

Another interesting discovery was that part of the money paid from Nigeria for the purchase of the Challenger jet was one million dollars by Pamaron Oil and Gas through Fidelity Bank.

The EFCC investigations also showed how Ibori bought into several companies in Nigeria, including recently privatised state ones using proxies to disguise the source of funds. For example, the National Fertiliser Company, NAFCON, was acquired in 2005 by O-Secul Nigeria Limited owned by Mike Orugbo for $152 million. Orugbo was able to raise only $2 million but, curiously, the company was able to raise the balance from Oceanic Bank with which it had no prior relationship. The bank later received a total of $46 million to acquire 39 per cent of NAFCON from Copex Management Service, the same company that paid money to Arlington Sharmas on behalf of Erin Aviation for the purchase of the Bombardier jet. This time, Copex paid the money on behalf of Nortore Mauritius. This company has been found to belong to a group of foreign investors two of who were brought into the deal by Arlington Sharmas, Ibori’s UK solicitor friend.

Oceanic Bank received a further N4.418 billion from Brisbane Limited, owned by Henry Imasekha, a known friend and associate of Ibori, for 13 per cent of the fertiliser company. Probes into the money paid by Brisbane only opened a new vista of Ibori’s thievery. It was discovered that, in 2001, Imasekha had secured a N2.2 billion loan from New Nigeria Bank to buy 10 per cent shares in Econet Nigeria Limited. There was no evidence that he had a relationship with the bank. Curiously, a few weeks later, the Delta State government bought off five per cent of Imasekha’s shares for N2.5 billion. This money was used by the businessman to pay off the bank loan. But he still had N300 million as well as five per cent of Econet shares. The money used in paying for Brisbane’s 13 per cent shares in NAFCON came from the proceeds of the sale of Imasekha’s remaining shares in Econet.

Imasekha is believed to be a front for Ibori. The EFCC also alleged that Ibori used several companies to divert N5 billion from Delta State coffers into the purchase of shares from Afribank. The commission claims that the entire money had been recovered and returned to the state government. Ibori is also alleged to have similarly invested in high net worth portfolios, including Wilbros Nigeria Limited, among others.

The accusations against Ibori are, indeed, grave. They constitute the most brazen and monumental case of looting by any former state chief executive. And there is not one of these allegations that the ex-governor is unaware of. There is proof obtained from some of his arrested associates that he has actually made efforts to suppress potentially incriminating evidence. Beyond this, Ibori has also played a game of survival by using his understanding of the nation’s political system to escape the law. Many believe he has an ally in Michael Aondoakaa, the attorney-general and minister of justice. Aondoakaa’s attitude towards the fight against corruption is, perhaps, better understood against the background of his having crossed the path of the commission in the past. As one of the counsel to the Benue State government in its action against the EFCC, the state government was asking the court to declare the commission an illegal body and that it had no right to investigate corruption cases against any official of the state. That case was recently decided in favour of the EFCC. Ibori’s first strategy was to buy time from prosecution by orchestrating the removal of Ribadu.

The magazine learnt that as soon as Yar A’dua came into office, Ibori and others recruited by him put pressure on the President to remove the EFCC boss. Their story was that Ribadu had thoroughly messed up and lost respect among Nigerians for allowing former President Olusegun Obasanjo to use him for political battles. If he is to be taken seriously about fighting corruption, then Ribadu would have to go, the President was told.

Having failed in this mission, Ibori and others who were afraid of Ribadu reportedly banded with Aondoakaa whom they knew had a grouse against the EFCC and its helmsman. To incapacitate the commission, a plot was hatched to remove its prosecutorial powers. Aondoakaa briefed Yar’Adua and soon presented a formal letter requesting to direct all prosecutions by the EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.

It was curious that the attorney-general was interested in only these three agencies connected with the prosecution of corrupt governors. However, the fallacy of his action was soon exposed when the President reportedly got superior legal advice from respected legal icons. Aondoakaa was forced by a thoroughly embarrassed President to reverse a decision he had announced to the whole world.

But Aondoakaa has not stopped acting on behalf of the same people that his office should be willing to prosecute if there is a case against them. The attorney-general forcefully took over the prosecution of the EFCC’s case against Orji Kalu, former governor of Abia State, based on a purported restraining order on the EFCC. However, Femi Falana, a Lagos-based lawyer, speaking to TELL in Lagos last week, said there was no such court order. Aondoakaa has also incurred the wrath of many Nigerians, particularly lawyers, for attempting to extricate Ibori from the restraint proceedings in a London court. The Southwark Crown Court in London had on August 2, 2007 frozen Ibori’s assets around the world estimated at about $35 million. But the freeze order was lifted on October 2, 2007 after Speechly Bircham, Ibori’s lawyer, presented to the court a letter written by Aondoakaa stating that the former governor was under no investigation in Nigeria. It was gathered that Bircham had written to the attorney-general to inquire if Ibori was under investigation. Without reference to the EFCC, ICPC, CCB or any other investigating agency in the country, Aondoakaa wrote back to the lawyer saying Ibori was not under any investigation. Significantly, as pointed out by a lawyer, Aondoakaa also said in his letter that as attorney-general, he had not requested for assistance in investigating Ibori as required under the mutual legal assistance programme between Nigeria and Britain. This, more than any other factor, let Ibori off the hook. But that victory was only temporary for the former governor as another court has reinstated the freeze order on his assets. Aondoakaa was said to have initially denied writing any letter to Ibori’s lawyer until the controversial letter was published on the Internet.

Perhaps, embarrassed by the seeming tardiness with which his government is prosecuting the war against corruption, President Yar’Adua directed the attorney-general to cooperate with the British investigating authority. Again, curiously, at a lawyers’ conference in Singapore, he announced the setting up of a special anti-corruption unit in his office.

In a related development, Aondoakaa, the magazine learnt, has also been putting pressure on the CCB to withdraw from his office about 18 case files submitted in relation to corruption cases against former governors. Many Nigerians have blamed President Yar’Adua for attempting to protect Ibori and other former governors from prosecution. But the President’s attitude to his former colleagues is said to be that he did not tell anybody to steal state funds to fund his campaign and that, in any case, he personally received no money from any of them; so there are no entanglements for him. Even sources in the anti-corruption agencies confirm that the President has never interfered with their investigations of the former state chief executives. What has happened, it is said, is that some people have exploited the President’s natural disposition to do things by the book – to follow due process – to sell the new mantra of “rule of law” to him in order to slow down the momentum of the anti-corruption campaign.

As it is now, none of these strategies has worked for Ibori who is now on the run from the law in Britain and America. Soon, with the setting aside of the restraining order on the EFCC to do its job, Ibori’s days as a free man may be numbered.