Police say it is their biggest drug bust in history. They also found marijuana, seeds and $180,000 in cash a safe. 30 June, 2016.
Thursday 30 June 2016
Drug Dealers: Brother And Sister Arrested With $24million In Cash And Drugs.
Police say it is their biggest drug bust in history. They also found marijuana, seeds and $180,000 in cash a safe. 30 June, 2016.
FG Seeks Uk’s Help To Seize Amosu, Adigun’s £3.2m London Mansions
The Federal Government has commenced moves to seize two mansions allegedly belonging to the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.); and a former Chief of Accounts and Budgeting in the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Jacob Adigun.
The PUNCH on Wednesday learnt that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had traced two houses in the highbrow areas of London to Amosu and Adigun.
An impeccable source told our correspondent that Amosu and Adigun, who are due to be arraigned for alleged N21bn fraud, purchased the houses in 2014.
“We identified a detached house at 93b Shirehall Park, London, NW42QU, belonging to Adigun. The house was bought at the cost of £875,000 (N333,375,000) while we traced another house to 50 Tenterden Grove, NW41TH, belonging to Amosu. The house was bought at over £1m (N381m),” the source added.
However, investigations by our correspondent showed that the value of the houses had increased.
Our correspondent, who visited Zoopla.co.uk, which real estate agents use in valuing properties in the UK, showed that both properties were bought in August 2014.
According to the website, the property which Adigun allegedly bought in August 2014 at the cost of £875,000 currently goes for £1,046,000 (N398,526,000).
It adds that Amosu’s property, which it said was purchased in November 2014 at £1,850,000, (and not £1m as claimed by the EFCC) is now worth £2,175,000 (N828, 675, 000).
According to the property website, Amosu’s property has six bedrooms, six bathrooms and two sitting rooms.
A source at the EFCC told our correspondent that the Federal Government, through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, would write to the government of the United Kingdom to assist in seizing the properties, which were allegedly bought with Nigerian taxpayers’ money.
He said, “What we are seeking is how to seize the properties through diplomatic means. It is a process known as Mutual Legal Treaty Assistance.”
According to the UK media, a large number of mansions in the country are owned by corrupt Nigerians.
In a May 2016 report entitled ‘Palaces of Corruption’, The UK Daily Mail unveiled the London mansions of deceased former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; another dead ex-governor, Abubakar Audu of Kogi State, and convicted ex-Governor of Delta State, Mr. James Ibori.
Meanwhile, a Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday granted a N500m bail to Amosu and 10 others arraigned by the EFCC over alleged N22.8bn fraud.
Amosu was arraigned by the anti-graft agency alongside Adigun, Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo and eight companies before Justice Mohammed Idris.
The companies are Delfina Oil and Gas Limited, Mcallan Oil and Gas Limited, Hebron Housing and Properties Company Limited and Trapezites BDC Fonds and Pricey Limited.
Others are Deegee Oil and Gas Limited, Timsegg Investment Limited and Solomon Health Care Limited.
They were charged with 26 counts of stealing, concealing the proceeds of crime and conversion of funds belonging to the Nigerian Air Force.
After the charges were read to the defendants, they all pleaded not guilty.
Counsel for the 1st and 11th defendants, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), informed the court of his motion for bail and sought the leave of the court to move same, which was granted.
Ayorinde said his client had been cooperating fully with the EFCC since his arrest in January 2016.
The senior advocate added, “He has remitted colossal sums of money to the Federal Government, although not in admittance of guilt, but out of cooperation with security agencies.
“My application is that bail be granted to the 1st defendant on self-recognisance. Let those terms be liberal. He has been reporting to the EFCC, sometimes twice a week. The 1st defendant will make himself available for trial.”
Also, Mr. Norrison Quakers (SAN), leading Mr. Kemi Balogun (SAN) and other lawyers for 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th defendants, urged the court to grant their clients bail on liberal terms.
He submitted that his client had been cooperative since his arrest, adding that the accused had health challenge.
“The Commission is aware of it. My humble application is that your Lordship grant bail on liberal terms. Incidentally, the 2nd defendant is on administrative bail by the commission. He will be available for trial”, he submitted.
Counsel for the 3rd, 9th and 10th defendants, Mr. A. Etuokwu, also urged the court for bail.
The prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, did not oppose the bail applications but urged the court to give stringent conditions that would secure the defendants’ attendance in court.
In his ruling, Justice Buba granted them bail to the sum of N500m each.
He remanded the 1st and 3rd defendants in prison while the 2nd defendant was remanded in the EFCC custody pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.
The judge ruled, “Each defendant is granted bail to the sum of N500m with two sureties with landed properties within the jurisdiction of the court. The sureties shall deposit their title documents to the registrar of the court while the EFCC must verify them.”
He added that the sureties must swear to affidavit of means to be verified by the EFCC while the defendants deposit their passports to the court as well.
He adjourned trial to July 8.
According to the charge, the defendants on or about March 5, 2014, in Lagos, “conspired amongst themselves to commit an offence, to wit: Conversion of the sum of N21.5bn, property of the Nigerian Air Force, which sum was derived from stealing, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”
They were also accused of indirectly converting the sum of N3.6bn belonging to the NAF among others.
Source: Nairaland
The PUNCH on Wednesday learnt that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had traced two houses in the highbrow areas of London to Amosu and Adigun.
An impeccable source told our correspondent that Amosu and Adigun, who are due to be arraigned for alleged N21bn fraud, purchased the houses in 2014.
“We identified a detached house at 93b Shirehall Park, London, NW42QU, belonging to Adigun. The house was bought at the cost of £875,000 (N333,375,000) while we traced another house to 50 Tenterden Grove, NW41TH, belonging to Amosu. The house was bought at over £1m (N381m),” the source added.
However, investigations by our correspondent showed that the value of the houses had increased.
Our correspondent, who visited Zoopla.co.uk, which real estate agents use in valuing properties in the UK, showed that both properties were bought in August 2014.
According to the website, the property which Adigun allegedly bought in August 2014 at the cost of £875,000 currently goes for £1,046,000 (N398,526,000).
It adds that Amosu’s property, which it said was purchased in November 2014 at £1,850,000, (and not £1m as claimed by the EFCC) is now worth £2,175,000 (N828, 675, 000).
According to the property website, Amosu’s property has six bedrooms, six bathrooms and two sitting rooms.
A source at the EFCC told our correspondent that the Federal Government, through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, would write to the government of the United Kingdom to assist in seizing the properties, which were allegedly bought with Nigerian taxpayers’ money.
He said, “What we are seeking is how to seize the properties through diplomatic means. It is a process known as Mutual Legal Treaty Assistance.”
According to the UK media, a large number of mansions in the country are owned by corrupt Nigerians.
In a May 2016 report entitled ‘Palaces of Corruption’, The UK Daily Mail unveiled the London mansions of deceased former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; another dead ex-governor, Abubakar Audu of Kogi State, and convicted ex-Governor of Delta State, Mr. James Ibori.
Meanwhile, a Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday granted a N500m bail to Amosu and 10 others arraigned by the EFCC over alleged N22.8bn fraud.
Amosu was arraigned by the anti-graft agency alongside Adigun, Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo and eight companies before Justice Mohammed Idris.
The companies are Delfina Oil and Gas Limited, Mcallan Oil and Gas Limited, Hebron Housing and Properties Company Limited and Trapezites BDC Fonds and Pricey Limited.
Others are Deegee Oil and Gas Limited, Timsegg Investment Limited and Solomon Health Care Limited.
They were charged with 26 counts of stealing, concealing the proceeds of crime and conversion of funds belonging to the Nigerian Air Force.
After the charges were read to the defendants, they all pleaded not guilty.
Counsel for the 1st and 11th defendants, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), informed the court of his motion for bail and sought the leave of the court to move same, which was granted.
Ayorinde said his client had been cooperating fully with the EFCC since his arrest in January 2016.
The senior advocate added, “He has remitted colossal sums of money to the Federal Government, although not in admittance of guilt, but out of cooperation with security agencies.
“My application is that bail be granted to the 1st defendant on self-recognisance. Let those terms be liberal. He has been reporting to the EFCC, sometimes twice a week. The 1st defendant will make himself available for trial.”
Also, Mr. Norrison Quakers (SAN), leading Mr. Kemi Balogun (SAN) and other lawyers for 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th defendants, urged the court to grant their clients bail on liberal terms.
He submitted that his client had been cooperative since his arrest, adding that the accused had health challenge.
“The Commission is aware of it. My humble application is that your Lordship grant bail on liberal terms. Incidentally, the 2nd defendant is on administrative bail by the commission. He will be available for trial”, he submitted.
Counsel for the 3rd, 9th and 10th defendants, Mr. A. Etuokwu, also urged the court for bail.
The prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, did not oppose the bail applications but urged the court to give stringent conditions that would secure the defendants’ attendance in court.
In his ruling, Justice Buba granted them bail to the sum of N500m each.
He remanded the 1st and 3rd defendants in prison while the 2nd defendant was remanded in the EFCC custody pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.
The judge ruled, “Each defendant is granted bail to the sum of N500m with two sureties with landed properties within the jurisdiction of the court. The sureties shall deposit their title documents to the registrar of the court while the EFCC must verify them.”
He added that the sureties must swear to affidavit of means to be verified by the EFCC while the defendants deposit their passports to the court as well.
He adjourned trial to July 8.
According to the charge, the defendants on or about March 5, 2014, in Lagos, “conspired amongst themselves to commit an offence, to wit: Conversion of the sum of N21.5bn, property of the Nigerian Air Force, which sum was derived from stealing, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”
They were also accused of indirectly converting the sum of N3.6bn belonging to the NAF among others.
Source: Nairaland
Wednesday 29 June 2016
Dasukigate: How $40m Was Paid To Jonathan’s Cousin’s Company Account.
The trial of Azibaola Robert, a cousin to former President Goodluck Jonathan began Tuesday, June 28, 2016 with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, presenting its first witness, Ibrahim Mahe who gave account of how he transferred $40million to ‘One Plus Holdings Nigeria Limited’, a company allegedly owned by Robert.
Robert and his wife, Stella are standing trial on a 7-count charge before Justice Nnamdi O. Dimgba of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja for money laundering, criminal breach of trust and corruption.
Mahe, a retired permanent secretary, special services in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, while being led in evidence by counsel to EFCC, Sylvanus Tahir, told the court that, he did not know the first and second defendants (Robert and Stella), but got to know the third defendant, One Plus Company through a transaction.
Narrating how he got to know the company, Mahe stated that, “on August 20, 2014, the National Security Adviser endorsed a memo to me which originated from the Office of the Director of Finance and Administration of the ONSA detailing the bank details of one company called ‘One Plus’ and the purpose for which the company was to be paid a sum of $40million (forty million US dollars).
“The NSA instructed me to prepare payment and I prepared the payment mandate for the $40million in favour of ‘One Plus’ for the signature of the NSA. I sent it to the NSA, he signed and sent it to back to me and subsequent action was for me to counter-sign the mandate and then send it to the Central Bank of Nigeria for Payment”, Mahe said.
The PW1 had earlier told the court that his responsibilities involved matters that had to do with the office of the NSA. He said that the Special Services Office responsibilities in relation with the Office of the NSA has to do with matters relating to finances of the entire “Intelligence Community” which included the Department of State Service, National Intelligence Agency and ONSA.
According to him, permanent secretary, Special Security Office was responsible for co-ordination of the annual budget of the members of the Intelligence Community.
“After formulating the budget, the Accountant General releases the funds of the ‘Intelligence Community’ through an account that is domiciled with the Special Security Office from where it is distributed to the various end users”, Mahe further stated.
He told the court that his office served as a warehouse for funds of the ‘Intelligence Community’ and went further to explain how funds were utilised.
“When funds get into the account, the NSA is informed of the arrival of the funds and proposal on the distribution to the various agencies is made to him. When he approves, the monies are sent to the end users”, said Mahe.
The case has been adjourned to July 4 and 5, 2016 for continuation of trial.
Mahe, a retired permanent secretary, special services in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, while being led in evidence by counsel to EFCC, Sylvanus Tahir, told the court that, he did not know the first and second defendants (Robert and Stella), but got to know the third defendant, One Plus Company through a transaction.
Narrating how he got to know the company, Mahe stated that, “on August 20, 2014, the National Security Adviser endorsed a memo to me which originated from the Office of the Director of Finance and Administration of the ONSA detailing the bank details of one company called ‘One Plus’ and the purpose for which the company was to be paid a sum of $40million (forty million US dollars).
“The NSA instructed me to prepare payment and I prepared the payment mandate for the $40million in favour of ‘One Plus’ for the signature of the NSA. I sent it to the NSA, he signed and sent it to back to me and subsequent action was for me to counter-sign the mandate and then send it to the Central Bank of Nigeria for Payment”, Mahe said.
The PW1 had earlier told the court that his responsibilities involved matters that had to do with the office of the NSA. He said that the Special Services Office responsibilities in relation with the Office of the NSA has to do with matters relating to finances of the entire “Intelligence Community” which included the Department of State Service, National Intelligence Agency and ONSA.
According to him, permanent secretary, Special Security Office was responsible for co-ordination of the annual budget of the members of the Intelligence Community.
“After formulating the budget, the Accountant General releases the funds of the ‘Intelligence Community’ through an account that is domiciled with the Special Security Office from where it is distributed to the various end users”, Mahe further stated.
He told the court that his office served as a warehouse for funds of the ‘Intelligence Community’ and went further to explain how funds were utilised.
“When funds get into the account, the NSA is informed of the arrival of the funds and proposal on the distribution to the various agencies is made to him. When he approves, the monies are sent to the end users”, said Mahe.
The case has been adjourned to July 4 and 5, 2016 for continuation of trial.
Tuesday 28 June 2016
Buratai Bought Second Dubai Property Days After Appointment.
General Tukur Yusuf Buratai bought a second choice property in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, days after his appointment as Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), an investigation by SaharaReporters has revealed.
As this news website exclusively revealed last week, General Buratai and his two wives in 2013 paid the sum of 1,498,534.00 AED (N120 million/$419,000) for the first property, Project TFG Marina Hotel Unit 2711. Sale documents indicated that the first property was handed over to the Buratais on January 13, 2013.
On July 13, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed General Buratai as Chief of Army Staff. Our investigations show that, within 11 days of his appointment, the general was making arrangements for the purchase of a second property from the same company in Dubai. Our investigators obtained evidence that, between July 24 and August 17, 2015, General Buratai paid a total sum of N42.2 million into TFG Sigma 111’s account in Nigeria (Skye Bank 1770380452).
Evidence exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters reveal that General Buratai made N10 million payments on July 24 and August 7 respectively. Three days later, another N10 million was paid into the real estate firm’s account, The phone number on the Skye Bank teller is 08033349740 Saharareporters investigations shows that it belonged to a Nigerian Army Major Emmanuel G. Adegbola of the Nigerian Army Finance Corps (N/10808). On August 17, 2015, the Chief of Army Staff paid the sum of N3,270,000 into the account.
Our sources within the Army disclosed that the lodgments came from Army funds stolen and diverted by General Buratai. They explained that the diverted monies were taken from funds budgeted for the feeding, medical care and payment of allowances of soldiers fighting the war against Islamist insurgents in Nigeria’s northeast zone.
Our sources also stated that the funds for General Buratai’s first Dubai property came from a contract awarded for the supply of vehicles and motorcycles to the Army. They asserted that General Buratai had cornered the contract in his days as Director of Procurement at the Army Headquarters, using a front identified as Usman Gamawa. “The contract was awarded for the purchase of new vehicles, but Alhaji Gamawa's Baggash Investment Limited bought second-hand vehicles and motorcycles from Niger Republic for the use of soldiers,” said one source. He said the purchase of substandard vehicles exposed troops engaged counter-insurgency operations to heightened danger, made them vulnerable to attacks by Boko Haram insurgents, and reduced their effectiveness. Army sources disclosed that, on arrival in Nigeria, the vehicles and motorcycles supplied by General Buratai’s front, Mr. Gamawa, were taken for refurbishment at Mogadishu Cantonment under the supervision of one Sergeant Dandan Garba.
Angered by the deplorable state of the vehicles and motorcycles, a group known as Concerned Soldiers and Officers From The Northeast petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari to demand an investigation into the financial malfeasance perpetrated by General Buratai. A member of the group told SaharaReporters that they want President Buhari to ask General Buratai to explain where he got money for his various assets, including the real estate in Dubai. He said the COAS also owns a huge industrial-scale farm, Tukur and Tukur Farm Limited, on the Abuja-Keffi Expressway. “The farm is currently a huge construction site, featuring a tarred road, a zoo, a guesthouse, chalets, a restaurant, a cinema hall, a mini-stadium and other leisure facilities,” said the source, adding that some of the equipment on the site belongs to the Army.
In a statement issued last Friday, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, acting Director of Army Public Relations, claimed that General Buratai and his family own two properties in Dubai that were paid for in installments through personal savings. But Colonel Usman’s claim that the two homes were bought three years ago is at odds with purchase documents seen by SaharaReporters. Colonel Usman also stated that General Buratai was a victim of a campaign of calumny.
Purchase documents for General Buratai’s first property in Dubai showed that the COAS and his wives paid for Project Marina Hotel Unit 2711 in one lump, instead of by installments. Their single payment earned them what the sellers, Sigma 111, called “incentives, promotions and early payment bonus.” Owing to the lump payment, the sellers shaved off AED 43,466 from the AED 1,542,000 that was the asking price for the property. General Buratai paid AED 1,498,534 for the first property.
The cash lodgments into Sigma 111 Skye Bank account also suggested that General Buratai did not buy the second property three years ago, as Colonel Usman claimed. The dates of the payment showed that money started gushing into the account eleven days after Buratai’s appointment as Chief of Army Staff.
Colonel Usman also claimed that General Buratai had always declared the two properties as parts of his assets. But such claims are hardly cast-iron proof of fidelity to the laws on declaration of assets. Public officials regularly claim to own assets they have not bought. Similarly, Colonel Usman claimed that General Buratai was never a Director of Procurement at the Defense Headquarters. Yet, evidence from the website of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) proves the military spokesman wrong. According to the site bpp.gov.ng, General Buratai attended the 2014 Defense Headquarters Procurement Seminar as the Director of Procurement.
The website quoted General Buratai as stating at the seminar, “It is our hope that at the end of the seminar, we would all be better informed about public procurement procedures and work towards the emergence of an enhanced Defense Procurement Procedure for the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
Several retired and serving Army officers told SaharaReporters that General Buratai seemed to be getting away with his financial misdeeds because of a growing culture of corruption in the armed forces. They point to the case of Major-General A.B. Abubakar, the current Chief of Administration at the Army Headquarters. According to two sources, General Abubakar was never sanctioned after he reportedly misappropriated huge sums meant for the equipping and training of re-absorbed soldiers based in Kontagora, Niger State. Another military source cited Brigadier-General Momoh of the Department of Logistics, Army Headquarters who reportedly diverted millions of the Army’s funds to his private account. “His only punishment was redeployment to the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) of the Nigerian Army,” said the source.
Yet another military source drew attention to the case of one Colonel Jega, who reportedly placed 101st at the Defense College exams. Yet, the colonel got preferential treatment and was sent to the Defense College in Bangladesh, ahead of those who performed much better than he. “Some of those who did better in the exams were even retired,” our source said.
Source: Nairaland
As this news website exclusively revealed last week, General Buratai and his two wives in 2013 paid the sum of 1,498,534.00 AED (N120 million/$419,000) for the first property, Project TFG Marina Hotel Unit 2711. Sale documents indicated that the first property was handed over to the Buratais on January 13, 2013.
On July 13, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed General Buratai as Chief of Army Staff. Our investigations show that, within 11 days of his appointment, the general was making arrangements for the purchase of a second property from the same company in Dubai. Our investigators obtained evidence that, between July 24 and August 17, 2015, General Buratai paid a total sum of N42.2 million into TFG Sigma 111’s account in Nigeria (Skye Bank 1770380452).
Evidence exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters reveal that General Buratai made N10 million payments on July 24 and August 7 respectively. Three days later, another N10 million was paid into the real estate firm’s account, The phone number on the Skye Bank teller is 08033349740 Saharareporters investigations shows that it belonged to a Nigerian Army Major Emmanuel G. Adegbola of the Nigerian Army Finance Corps (N/10808). On August 17, 2015, the Chief of Army Staff paid the sum of N3,270,000 into the account.
Our sources within the Army disclosed that the lodgments came from Army funds stolen and diverted by General Buratai. They explained that the diverted monies were taken from funds budgeted for the feeding, medical care and payment of allowances of soldiers fighting the war against Islamist insurgents in Nigeria’s northeast zone.
Our sources also stated that the funds for General Buratai’s first Dubai property came from a contract awarded for the supply of vehicles and motorcycles to the Army. They asserted that General Buratai had cornered the contract in his days as Director of Procurement at the Army Headquarters, using a front identified as Usman Gamawa. “The contract was awarded for the purchase of new vehicles, but Alhaji Gamawa's Baggash Investment Limited bought second-hand vehicles and motorcycles from Niger Republic for the use of soldiers,” said one source. He said the purchase of substandard vehicles exposed troops engaged counter-insurgency operations to heightened danger, made them vulnerable to attacks by Boko Haram insurgents, and reduced their effectiveness. Army sources disclosed that, on arrival in Nigeria, the vehicles and motorcycles supplied by General Buratai’s front, Mr. Gamawa, were taken for refurbishment at Mogadishu Cantonment under the supervision of one Sergeant Dandan Garba.
Angered by the deplorable state of the vehicles and motorcycles, a group known as Concerned Soldiers and Officers From The Northeast petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari to demand an investigation into the financial malfeasance perpetrated by General Buratai. A member of the group told SaharaReporters that they want President Buhari to ask General Buratai to explain where he got money for his various assets, including the real estate in Dubai. He said the COAS also owns a huge industrial-scale farm, Tukur and Tukur Farm Limited, on the Abuja-Keffi Expressway. “The farm is currently a huge construction site, featuring a tarred road, a zoo, a guesthouse, chalets, a restaurant, a cinema hall, a mini-stadium and other leisure facilities,” said the source, adding that some of the equipment on the site belongs to the Army.
In a statement issued last Friday, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, acting Director of Army Public Relations, claimed that General Buratai and his family own two properties in Dubai that were paid for in installments through personal savings. But Colonel Usman’s claim that the two homes were bought three years ago is at odds with purchase documents seen by SaharaReporters. Colonel Usman also stated that General Buratai was a victim of a campaign of calumny.
Purchase documents for General Buratai’s first property in Dubai showed that the COAS and his wives paid for Project Marina Hotel Unit 2711 in one lump, instead of by installments. Their single payment earned them what the sellers, Sigma 111, called “incentives, promotions and early payment bonus.” Owing to the lump payment, the sellers shaved off AED 43,466 from the AED 1,542,000 that was the asking price for the property. General Buratai paid AED 1,498,534 for the first property.
The cash lodgments into Sigma 111 Skye Bank account also suggested that General Buratai did not buy the second property three years ago, as Colonel Usman claimed. The dates of the payment showed that money started gushing into the account eleven days after Buratai’s appointment as Chief of Army Staff.
Colonel Usman also claimed that General Buratai had always declared the two properties as parts of his assets. But such claims are hardly cast-iron proof of fidelity to the laws on declaration of assets. Public officials regularly claim to own assets they have not bought. Similarly, Colonel Usman claimed that General Buratai was never a Director of Procurement at the Defense Headquarters. Yet, evidence from the website of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) proves the military spokesman wrong. According to the site bpp.gov.ng, General Buratai attended the 2014 Defense Headquarters Procurement Seminar as the Director of Procurement.
The website quoted General Buratai as stating at the seminar, “It is our hope that at the end of the seminar, we would all be better informed about public procurement procedures and work towards the emergence of an enhanced Defense Procurement Procedure for the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
Several retired and serving Army officers told SaharaReporters that General Buratai seemed to be getting away with his financial misdeeds because of a growing culture of corruption in the armed forces. They point to the case of Major-General A.B. Abubakar, the current Chief of Administration at the Army Headquarters. According to two sources, General Abubakar was never sanctioned after he reportedly misappropriated huge sums meant for the equipping and training of re-absorbed soldiers based in Kontagora, Niger State. Another military source cited Brigadier-General Momoh of the Department of Logistics, Army Headquarters who reportedly diverted millions of the Army’s funds to his private account. “His only punishment was redeployment to the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) of the Nigerian Army,” said the source.
Yet another military source drew attention to the case of one Colonel Jega, who reportedly placed 101st at the Defense College exams. Yet, the colonel got preferential treatment and was sent to the Defense College in Bangladesh, ahead of those who performed much better than he. “Some of those who did better in the exams were even retired,” our source said.
Source: Nairaland
Monday 27 June 2016
Fayose Threatens To Expose Those Who Funded His Election
The Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, has threatened to name those who financed his governorship election in 2014 if they fail to stand up to the harassment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
In a statement in response to EFCC’s allegation that he benefited from the illegal largesse from the office of the National Security Adviser under Sambo Dasuki, Mr. Fayose, on Wednesday, gave indications as to the sources of finances for his election.
According to him, Zenith Bank Plc largely funded his election, along with friends and associates who donated to his campaign.
The EFCC, in justifying its restriction on the account of the governor, said it had traced funds from the office of the NSA to the accounts of Mr. Fayose and, Musiliu Obanikoro, who is a former Minister of State for Defence.
The commission said the funds, amounting to about N4.7billion, was moved from accounts operated by two of Mr. Obanikoro’s sons where it was transferred to Mr. Fayose’s Zenith Bank account.
But the governor denied the allegation, saying he had no link with monies from the NSA’s office for which Mr. Dasuki and other leaders in the last PDP government are currently facing trial.
“I wish to state further that if it becomes evidently clear that those who willingly provided money for my election can no longer stand by what they did, may be because of threat from the EFCC, I will not hesitate to name names,” he said.
The governor also hinted that the bank only last week collected the identity card of Abiodun Agbele, the holder of the account through which it funded his campaign, in desperation to perfect the account apparently after submitting to the harassment of the EFCC.
“I must say it categorically that I don’t have any link financially with Obanikoro and I know as a fact that he (Obanikoro) has not; and cannot mention my name, as beneficiary of whatever money any company in which he has interest could have gotten from the ONSA if truly Obanikoro collected money from the ONSA as being claimed by the EFCC,” the governor declared.
“Therefore, bringing Obanikoro and his son’s narrative or that the Zenith Bank is telling different stories, having been blackmailed and coerced into submission by the EFCC is a joke that will not fly.”
Mr. Fayose also alleged that the bank opened the account for the purpose of the election, and requested him to present a trusted ally with which it would relate with.
“In actual fact, the account was opened by Zenith Bank hurriedly at that time and Abiodun Agbele’s identity card which ought to have been collected before the account was opened was only collected last week in the bank’s desperation to perfect the account obviously after submitting to the intimidation and harassment of the EFCC,” he said.
The governor described the EFCC’s case against him as “persecution” and a violation of his immunity, urging the anti-graft agency to also beam its searchlights on the funding of the campaigns of the campaigns of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The PDP Governors Forum has rallied behind Mr. Fayose condemning the action of the EFCC, particularly the restriction placed on the governor’s bank account.
In a statement in response to EFCC’s allegation that he benefited from the illegal largesse from the office of the National Security Adviser under Sambo Dasuki, Mr. Fayose, on Wednesday, gave indications as to the sources of finances for his election.
According to him, Zenith Bank Plc largely funded his election, along with friends and associates who donated to his campaign.
The EFCC, in justifying its restriction on the account of the governor, said it had traced funds from the office of the NSA to the accounts of Mr. Fayose and, Musiliu Obanikoro, who is a former Minister of State for Defence.
The commission said the funds, amounting to about N4.7billion, was moved from accounts operated by two of Mr. Obanikoro’s sons where it was transferred to Mr. Fayose’s Zenith Bank account.
But the governor denied the allegation, saying he had no link with monies from the NSA’s office for which Mr. Dasuki and other leaders in the last PDP government are currently facing trial.
“I wish to state further that if it becomes evidently clear that those who willingly provided money for my election can no longer stand by what they did, may be because of threat from the EFCC, I will not hesitate to name names,” he said.
The governor also hinted that the bank only last week collected the identity card of Abiodun Agbele, the holder of the account through which it funded his campaign, in desperation to perfect the account apparently after submitting to the harassment of the EFCC.
“I must say it categorically that I don’t have any link financially with Obanikoro and I know as a fact that he (Obanikoro) has not; and cannot mention my name, as beneficiary of whatever money any company in which he has interest could have gotten from the ONSA if truly Obanikoro collected money from the ONSA as being claimed by the EFCC,” the governor declared.
“Therefore, bringing Obanikoro and his son’s narrative or that the Zenith Bank is telling different stories, having been blackmailed and coerced into submission by the EFCC is a joke that will not fly.”
Mr. Fayose also alleged that the bank opened the account for the purpose of the election, and requested him to present a trusted ally with which it would relate with.
“In actual fact, the account was opened by Zenith Bank hurriedly at that time and Abiodun Agbele’s identity card which ought to have been collected before the account was opened was only collected last week in the bank’s desperation to perfect the account obviously after submitting to the intimidation and harassment of the EFCC,” he said.
The governor described the EFCC’s case against him as “persecution” and a violation of his immunity, urging the anti-graft agency to also beam its searchlights on the funding of the campaigns of the campaigns of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The PDP Governors Forum has rallied behind Mr. Fayose condemning the action of the EFCC, particularly the restriction placed on the governor’s bank account.
Source: Nairaland
Fayose Threatens To Expose Those Who Funded His Election
The Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, has threatened to name those who financed his governorship election in 2014 if they fail to stand up to the harassment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
In a statement in response to EFCC’s allegation that he benefited from the illegal largesse from the office of the National Security Adviser under Sambo Dasuki, Mr. Fayose, on Wednesday, gave indications as to the sources of finances for his election.
According to him, Zenith Bank Plc largely funded his election, along with friends and associates who donated to his campaign.
The EFCC, in justifying its restriction on the account of the governor, said it had traced funds from the office of the NSA to the accounts of Mr. Fayose and, Musiliu Obanikoro, who is a former Minister of State for Defence.
The commission said the funds, amounting to about N4.7billion, was moved from accounts operated by two of Mr. Obanikoro’s sons where it was transferred to Mr. Fayose’s Zenith Bank account.
But the governor denied the allegation, saying he had no link with monies from the NSA’s office for which Mr. Dasuki and other leaders in the last PDP government are currently facing trial.
“I wish to state further that if it becomes evidently clear that those who willingly provided money for my election can no longer stand by what they did, may be because of threat from the EFCC, I will not hesitate to name names,” he said.
The governor also hinted that the bank only last week collected the identity card of Abiodun Agbele, the holder of the account through which it funded his campaign, in desperation to perfect the account apparently after submitting to the harassment of the EFCC.
“I must say it categorically that I don’t have any link financially with Obanikoro and I know as a fact that he (Obanikoro) has not; and cannot mention my name, as beneficiary of whatever money any company in which he has interest could have gotten from the ONSA if truly Obanikoro collected money from the ONSA as being claimed by the EFCC,” the governor declared.
“Therefore, bringing Obanikoro and his son’s narrative or that the Zenith Bank is telling different stories, having been blackmailed and coerced into submission by the EFCC is a joke that will not fly.”
Mr. Fayose also alleged that the bank opened the account for the purpose of the election, and requested him to present a trusted ally with which it would relate with.
“In actual fact, the account was opened by Zenith Bank hurriedly at that time and Abiodun Agbele’s identity card which ought to have been collected before the account was opened was only collected last week in the bank’s desperation to perfect the account obviously after submitting to the intimidation and harassment of the EFCC,” he said.
The governor described the EFCC’s case against him as “persecution” and a violation of his immunity, urging the anti-graft agency to also beam its searchlights on the funding of the campaigns of the campaigns of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The PDP Governors Forum has rallied behind Mr. Fayose condemning the action of the EFCC, particularly the restriction placed on the governor’s bank account.
In a statement in response to EFCC’s allegation that he benefited from the illegal largesse from the office of the National Security Adviser under Sambo Dasuki, Mr. Fayose, on Wednesday, gave indications as to the sources of finances for his election.
According to him, Zenith Bank Plc largely funded his election, along with friends and associates who donated to his campaign.
The EFCC, in justifying its restriction on the account of the governor, said it had traced funds from the office of the NSA to the accounts of Mr. Fayose and, Musiliu Obanikoro, who is a former Minister of State for Defence.
The commission said the funds, amounting to about N4.7billion, was moved from accounts operated by two of Mr. Obanikoro’s sons where it was transferred to Mr. Fayose’s Zenith Bank account.
But the governor denied the allegation, saying he had no link with monies from the NSA’s office for which Mr. Dasuki and other leaders in the last PDP government are currently facing trial.
“I wish to state further that if it becomes evidently clear that those who willingly provided money for my election can no longer stand by what they did, may be because of threat from the EFCC, I will not hesitate to name names,” he said.
The governor also hinted that the bank only last week collected the identity card of Abiodun Agbele, the holder of the account through which it funded his campaign, in desperation to perfect the account apparently after submitting to the harassment of the EFCC.
“I must say it categorically that I don’t have any link financially with Obanikoro and I know as a fact that he (Obanikoro) has not; and cannot mention my name, as beneficiary of whatever money any company in which he has interest could have gotten from the ONSA if truly Obanikoro collected money from the ONSA as being claimed by the EFCC,” the governor declared.
“Therefore, bringing Obanikoro and his son’s narrative or that the Zenith Bank is telling different stories, having been blackmailed and coerced into submission by the EFCC is a joke that will not fly.”
Mr. Fayose also alleged that the bank opened the account for the purpose of the election, and requested him to present a trusted ally with which it would relate with.
“In actual fact, the account was opened by Zenith Bank hurriedly at that time and Abiodun Agbele’s identity card which ought to have been collected before the account was opened was only collected last week in the bank’s desperation to perfect the account obviously after submitting to the intimidation and harassment of the EFCC,” he said.
The governor described the EFCC’s case against him as “persecution” and a violation of his immunity, urging the anti-graft agency to also beam its searchlights on the funding of the campaigns of the campaigns of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The PDP Governors Forum has rallied behind Mr. Fayose condemning the action of the EFCC, particularly the restriction placed on the governor’s bank account.
Source: Nairaland
EFCC Seizes Properties From Amosu, Adigun And Gbadebo.
June 27, 2016
• Commission seals farms, shopping plazas, hotels in Lagos, Abuja
Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has seized 29 properties from the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu; a former Chief of Accounts and Budgeting in NAF, Air Vice Marshal Jacob Adigun (retd.); and a former Director of Finance and Budget, Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo (retd.).
No fewer than 11 properties were seized from Amosu; 12 were seized from Adigun and six from Gbadebo.
Our correspondent learnt on Sunday that the properties included three plazas, six mansions, a quarry, a hospital, a block of flats, animal farms, a school, two hotels, some uncompleted buildings and some parcels of land.
According to documents made available exclusively to The PUNCH, the properties were acquired mostly in 2014.
The properties seized from Adigun were said to be worth N9.6bn.
Some of the properties include a shopping plaza known as Capadar Plaza on Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, which is worth N980m; a residential mansion on Lake Chad Street, Maitama, Abuja, worth N450m; an executive mansion in Imo River Close, Off Dandube Crescent, Maitama, worth N710m and a four-unit terrace on Agadez Street, Off Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2, worth N720m.
Other properties, said to belong to Adigun, include a 35-room uncompleted hotel on Salt Lake Street, Maitama, Abuja; a parcel of land located on Bourdillon Street, Ikoyi, Lagos; a block of 12 service flats, located on Agodogba Street, Park View Estate, Ikoyi, said to be worth N1.8bn and a quarry in Bwari area of Abuja worth about $694,000.
The source added that all the properties had been temporarily seized.
He added, “Adigun spent most of his own share of the money on properties and so we did not recover much cash from him. Amosu, however, returned over N2.3bn and raised two bank drafts.”
He added that some of the properties seized from Amosu included a house on Adeyemo Alakija Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, worth N250m; a duplex at House 11, Peace Court Estate, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, worth N110m; a N40m property located at NAF Harmony Estate, Asokoro Base and a five-bedroomed house at Valley NAF Estate, Port Harcourt, worth N33m.
Others include a hospital on Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja, known as St. Solomon Hospital with equipment worth $2.15m and a N95m house on Umaru Dikko Street, Jabi, Abuja.
The properties seized from Gbadebo include a fish farm worth N10m; a N20m poultry, located at Musa Close, Oyibo Ayobu, Lagos and a school known as Bloomsville International School, Divine Estate, Isheri-Olofin , off Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The three suspects will be arraigned by the anti-graft agency this week.
The retired military officers were accused of diverting public funds to the tune of N21,467,674,707.43 in 2014.
Others charged alongside the accused persons are Delfina Oil and Gas Limited, McCallan Oil and Gas Limited, Hebron Housing and Properties Company Limited, Trapezites BDC, Funds and Pricey Limited, Degree Oil and Gas Limited, Timsegg Investment Limited and Solomon Healthcare Limited.
One of the charges read in part, “That you (accused persons) on or about the 5th day of March 2014 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit conversion of the sum of N21,467,674,707.43, property of the Nigerian Air Force which was derived from stealing which is contrary to Section18 (A) of the Money Laundering Act of 2012 (as amended) and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.”
According to other charges, the accused persons had allegedly used some of the aforementioned companies, which they own, to award phantom contracts to themselves.
A prosecution witness for the EFCC, in a case against a former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.), had revealed in court how N558m was diverted from the accounts of the air force monthly.
The EFCC was said to have based its investigation on the alleged diversion of N558m and the diversion of funds allocated to the Nigerian Air Force for the procurement of arms, fighter jets and other equipment.
Amosu and his predecessor, Badeh, were, in January, arrested for the non-specification of procurement costs, absence of contract agreements, award of contracts beyond authorised thresholds, transfer of public funds for unidentified purposes and general non-adherence to provisions of the Public Procurement Act.
The investigation also centred on the payment of N4,402,687,569.41 for unexecuted contracts; the procurement of two used Mi-24V helicopters instead of the recommended Mi-35M series at $136,944,000.00; four used Alpha-Jets for the NAF at US$7,180,000, funded by ONSA; the cannibalisation of engines from NAF fleet to justify procurement of jets; and the excessive pricing of 36D6 Low Level Air Defence Radar at $33m instead of $6m per one.
Source: Nairaland
Thursday 23 June 2016
Omisore Got N1.3bn From Dasuki Funds —EFCC - Crime
Tunde Odesola and Eniola Akinkuotu
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has traced N1.310bn to some company accounts allegedly belonging to a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore.
The money was said to be part of the N4.7bn allegedly disbursed by a former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, and his two sons, Gbolahan and Babajide.
The N4.7bn was said to have emanated from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser in 2014 and then transferred to the Diamond Bank account of Sylvan McNamara, a company in which Obanikoro’s sons are the signatories to its bank account.
Omisore, who has since been declared wanted by the anti-graft agency, allegedly received the funds in four tranches from Sylvan McNamara between July and August 2014, a few weeks before the Osun State governorship election which he lost.
A document detailing the transaction showed that the money was paid into three company accounts allegedly belonging to Omisore.
A detective at the anti-graft agency explained, “On July 9, 2014, N150m was paid into the bank account of Sawanara at First Bank. On August 1, 2014, N300m was paid into Sawanara Limited.
“On August 8, 2014, about N160m was paid into the bank account of Fimex Gilt Limited domiciled at UBA. On the day of the election, August 9, 2014, N350m was paid into the First Bank account of Metropolitan Consortium.”
Omisore had, however, denied receiving any money from the ONSA.
Speaking in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, on Wednesday, Omisore said the Federal Government was out to nail him and other members of the opposition at all cost.
He said, “I don’t know Dasuki from Adam. I never went to his office. The Federal Government is just using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to victimise and embarrass me.
“They had said I received N600m, they later said N1.9bn, now they are saying n1.3bn. Which of these figures do they want to pin on me? They have kept shifting the goalposts at will.”
The former deputy governor had also sued the EFCC for N10bn and prayed a Federal High Court in Abuja to grant him an order of perpetual injunction restraining the “defendants (the EFCC) either by themselves, their agents, officers, servants, privies or otherwise however called from making such or similar defamatory publication of and concerning the plaintiff (Omisore) to any person or persons.”
Meanwhile, the sons of Obanikoro on Wednesday shunned the invitation of the EFCC.
The anti-graft agency had last week stormed the home of Gbolahan and Babajide and seized the property located at 10 Mojisola Street, off Banana Island Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Source:
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has traced N1.310bn to some company accounts allegedly belonging to a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore.
The money was said to be part of the N4.7bn allegedly disbursed by a former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, and his two sons, Gbolahan and Babajide.
The N4.7bn was said to have emanated from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser in 2014 and then transferred to the Diamond Bank account of Sylvan McNamara, a company in which Obanikoro’s sons are the signatories to its bank account.
Omisore, who has since been declared wanted by the anti-graft agency, allegedly received the funds in four tranches from Sylvan McNamara between July and August 2014, a few weeks before the Osun State governorship election which he lost.
A document detailing the transaction showed that the money was paid into three company accounts allegedly belonging to Omisore.
A detective at the anti-graft agency explained, “On July 9, 2014, N150m was paid into the bank account of Sawanara at First Bank. On August 1, 2014, N300m was paid into Sawanara Limited.
“On August 8, 2014, about N160m was paid into the bank account of Fimex Gilt Limited domiciled at UBA. On the day of the election, August 9, 2014, N350m was paid into the First Bank account of Metropolitan Consortium.”
Omisore had, however, denied receiving any money from the ONSA.
Speaking in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, on Wednesday, Omisore said the Federal Government was out to nail him and other members of the opposition at all cost.
He said, “I don’t know Dasuki from Adam. I never went to his office. The Federal Government is just using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to victimise and embarrass me.
“They had said I received N600m, they later said N1.9bn, now they are saying n1.3bn. Which of these figures do they want to pin on me? They have kept shifting the goalposts at will.”
The former deputy governor had also sued the EFCC for N10bn and prayed a Federal High Court in Abuja to grant him an order of perpetual injunction restraining the “defendants (the EFCC) either by themselves, their agents, officers, servants, privies or otherwise however called from making such or similar defamatory publication of and concerning the plaintiff (Omisore) to any person or persons.”
Meanwhile, the sons of Obanikoro on Wednesday shunned the invitation of the EFCC.
The anti-graft agency had last week stormed the home of Gbolahan and Babajide and seized the property located at 10 Mojisola Street, off Banana Island Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Source:
Wednesday 22 June 2016
N4.7bn Arms Funds Traced To Obanikoro, Fayose —EFCC
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday said it had made a breakthrough in how over $15bn was siphoned from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The EFCC, which has frozen the bank accounts of the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, and the account of a company, belonging to the two sons of a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, said it had recovered evidence of the alleged illegal transactions from the banks.
The bank tellers and other relevant documents, which were made available to The PUNCH, showed that the alleged scam took place between April 4, 2014, and December 15, 2014, when a total of N4.745bn was paid into the Diamond Bank account of Sylvan McNamara.
A document, made available to one of our correspondents showed that Sylvan McNamara was incorporated in November 2011, with the following people as directors: Ikenna Ezekwe, Idowu Oshodi and Elizabeth Adeniyi.
However, the company, on May 7, 2012, passed a resolution that it should open an account at Diamond Bank and have the following persons as signatories – Gbolahan Obanikoro, Babajide Obanikoro, Ikenna Ezekwe and Theresa Matuluko.
Babajide and Gbolahan are the sons of Musiliu Obanikoro, a former minister of State for Defence.
A source at the EFCC said, “The entire fraud started from the company that Obanikoro’s sons were operating. The company was set up by some people but curiously made Obanikoro sons signatories to the account.”
It was learnt that after money was paid into the firm’s account, about N759,384,300 was transferred into the accounts of about six bureau de change operators.
The two bureau de change operators, who received the bulk of the funds, were A. A. G. B.S Oil and Gas and North Line Limited. While A. A. G. B. S received N168m on June 16, 2014, North Line Limited received N835,000 on July 14; N83,750,000 on June 17; N1, 680,000 on September 3, 2014; about N2,325,300 on September 9; N5,932,500 on September 17 and N842,500 on July 30.
A detective at the EFCC added, “The owner of A. A. G. B. S Oil and Gas confirmed to us that the company is a BDC but was only bearing the name of an oil company. He confirmed that he received N168m from Sylvan McNamara and $1m was delivered to Obanikoro in cash while he was the Minister of State for Defence based on the exchange rate at the time.
“Obanikoro acknowledged receipt of the cash and we have recovered evidence. Some of the remaining dollars was received by Obanikoro’s son, Gbolahan.”
The detective at the EFCC further revealed that about N2bn from the money was withdrawn by the Obanikoro sons and then flown to the Akure Airport, Ondo, for onward transfer to Ekiti State.
While presenting the flight document, the detective said, “On June 12, 2014, barely 10 days to the Ekiti State governorship election, Obanikoro and a man, who claimed to be his Aide-de-Camp by the name of A. O. Adewale, chartered a private jet belonging to OAS Helicopters.
“About N724,500,000 was conveyed on the plane with tail number N638MA. The plane was an HS125 jet, operated by Okin Travellers, a subsidiary of Elizade. The plane landed at Akure at 9.38am and then went back to Lagos to get an extra N494,900,000 and landed at Akure at 5.57pm.
“Obanikoro handed the money over to one Abiodun Agbele, otherwise known as Abey, an associate of Fayose. Officials of Zenith Bank arrived at the tarmac in a bullion van to convey all the cash to the bank’s vault, located at 13 Alagbaka Estate, Akure.”
The detective, who presented bank tellers, said Abey gave the bank instructions at different times to pay the money into Fayose’s Zenith Bank account even after the elections.
He added, “Abbey directed the bank to pay N137m into the account of Ayodele Fayose with number 1003126654 and Bank Verification Number 22338867502. The bank teller dated June 26, 2014, was filled by Abbey with teller number 0556814.
“Abbey directed the bank to transfer N118,760,000 to the same account and paid in N50m cash into Fayose’s account.
“On April 7, 2015, several months later, Fayose personally moved N300m to his fixed deposit account at Zenith Bank with number 9013074033 with the same BVN. The account is domiciled at 15 Olusola Abiona Street, Estate, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos.”
The source added that on the instructions of Fayose, Abbey deposited N100m in the account of Spotless Investment Limited, a hotel, which is owned by Fayose and his wife, Olayemi.
Abbey, who was identified as the owner of a firm, De Privateer Limited, paid N100m into the Zenith Bank account of Spotless Investment Limited with number 1010170969 on June 17, 2014.
He also paid N219,490,000 and N300m on June 18, 2014 and June 19, 2014 respectively into his own company account with Zenith Bank marked 1013835889 while he kept a cash of N260m from the original funds.
Meanwhile, the Presidency on Tuesday described the allegation by the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, linking President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha, to the United States Congressman William Jefferson’s bribery scandal, as laughable.
Based on the scandal, Jefferson was convicted in 2009.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement, described the governor as a man “childishly obsessed with the desire to grab the headlines and insulting people at will because of his incurably boorish instincts.”
Shehu said the Presidency chose to respond to Fayose for the sake of innocent Nigerians who might be misled by his “shameless and blatant distortion of facts.”
He said ignoring Fayose carried the risk of giving traction and credibility to outright and brazen falsehood inconsistent with the status of anybody that called himself a governor or leader.
The presidential spokesman said Aisha had no direct, indirect or the remotest connection with William Jefferson’s corruption scandal in the United States.
He challenged Fayose to tell Nigerians if the so-called Aisha, whose pictures he proudly, but ignorantly shared, was the same Aisha married to Buhari, or if the Aisha of his “idle imagination” had any relationship by blood or any relationship in whatever form, with Buhari’s wife.
Shehu also challenged Fayose to produce evidence from the records of investigation and subsequent trial of Jefferson to prove that Buhari’s wife was in anyway linked to that scandal.
He explained that common names alone were not enough to automatically link innocent people to crimes or scandals, especially in an era of identity theft.
He asked Fayose to show proof when and where Aisha Buhari was invited for interrogation in connection with the Jefferson’s bribery scandal, let alone indicted for a crime locally or abroad.
Shehu added that free speech did not entitle Fayose to falsely accuse innocent people of crimes they knew nothing about.
He warned the governor that Aisha Buhari was entitled to protect her reputation from being recklessly maligned, adding that political opposition was not a licence to attack people’s reputation brazenly without legal consequences.
]But the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has urged Buhari to caution the EFCC and urgently intervene to rescue the country from what he described as the “current gross abuse of the constitution.”
Reacting to the reported freezing of Fayose’s account by the EFCC, Mimiko, in a statement in Akure on Tuesday, said the action of the anti-graft agency had portrayed the nation as one in crisis.
The Ondo State governor argued that the EFCC could not “interfere with the account of a sitting governor,” saying such action would run contrary to Section 308 of the Nigerian Constitution.
According to him, if the intention was to suggest any criminal infraction or fraud against the governor, the agency should have sheathed its sword until Fayose vacated office.
“What has happened is a blatant and violent infraction of the provisions of the constitution and our democracy.
“It’s an attempt to subvert the constitution and it is fascist. The intention is to achieve a penal sanction without going through the due criminal procedure and criminal proceedings,” Mimiko added.
He warned that the country was beginning to manifest the signs of totalitarianism, arguing that the account of any individual could only be frozen after an order by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Source: Nairaland
The EFCC, which has frozen the bank accounts of the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, and the account of a company, belonging to the two sons of a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, said it had recovered evidence of the alleged illegal transactions from the banks.
The bank tellers and other relevant documents, which were made available to The PUNCH, showed that the alleged scam took place between April 4, 2014, and December 15, 2014, when a total of N4.745bn was paid into the Diamond Bank account of Sylvan McNamara.
A document, made available to one of our correspondents showed that Sylvan McNamara was incorporated in November 2011, with the following people as directors: Ikenna Ezekwe, Idowu Oshodi and Elizabeth Adeniyi.
However, the company, on May 7, 2012, passed a resolution that it should open an account at Diamond Bank and have the following persons as signatories – Gbolahan Obanikoro, Babajide Obanikoro, Ikenna Ezekwe and Theresa Matuluko.
Babajide and Gbolahan are the sons of Musiliu Obanikoro, a former minister of State for Defence.
A source at the EFCC said, “The entire fraud started from the company that Obanikoro’s sons were operating. The company was set up by some people but curiously made Obanikoro sons signatories to the account.”
It was learnt that after money was paid into the firm’s account, about N759,384,300 was transferred into the accounts of about six bureau de change operators.
The two bureau de change operators, who received the bulk of the funds, were A. A. G. B.S Oil and Gas and North Line Limited. While A. A. G. B. S received N168m on June 16, 2014, North Line Limited received N835,000 on July 14; N83,750,000 on June 17; N1, 680,000 on September 3, 2014; about N2,325,300 on September 9; N5,932,500 on September 17 and N842,500 on July 30.
A detective at the EFCC added, “The owner of A. A. G. B. S Oil and Gas confirmed to us that the company is a BDC but was only bearing the name of an oil company. He confirmed that he received N168m from Sylvan McNamara and $1m was delivered to Obanikoro in cash while he was the Minister of State for Defence based on the exchange rate at the time.
“Obanikoro acknowledged receipt of the cash and we have recovered evidence. Some of the remaining dollars was received by Obanikoro’s son, Gbolahan.”
The detective at the EFCC further revealed that about N2bn from the money was withdrawn by the Obanikoro sons and then flown to the Akure Airport, Ondo, for onward transfer to Ekiti State.
While presenting the flight document, the detective said, “On June 12, 2014, barely 10 days to the Ekiti State governorship election, Obanikoro and a man, who claimed to be his Aide-de-Camp by the name of A. O. Adewale, chartered a private jet belonging to OAS Helicopters.
“About N724,500,000 was conveyed on the plane with tail number N638MA. The plane was an HS125 jet, operated by Okin Travellers, a subsidiary of Elizade. The plane landed at Akure at 9.38am and then went back to Lagos to get an extra N494,900,000 and landed at Akure at 5.57pm.
“Obanikoro handed the money over to one Abiodun Agbele, otherwise known as Abey, an associate of Fayose. Officials of Zenith Bank arrived at the tarmac in a bullion van to convey all the cash to the bank’s vault, located at 13 Alagbaka Estate, Akure.”
The detective, who presented bank tellers, said Abey gave the bank instructions at different times to pay the money into Fayose’s Zenith Bank account even after the elections.
He added, “Abbey directed the bank to pay N137m into the account of Ayodele Fayose with number 1003126654 and Bank Verification Number 22338867502. The bank teller dated June 26, 2014, was filled by Abbey with teller number 0556814.
“Abbey directed the bank to transfer N118,760,000 to the same account and paid in N50m cash into Fayose’s account.
“On April 7, 2015, several months later, Fayose personally moved N300m to his fixed deposit account at Zenith Bank with number 9013074033 with the same BVN. The account is domiciled at 15 Olusola Abiona Street, Estate, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos.”
The source added that on the instructions of Fayose, Abbey deposited N100m in the account of Spotless Investment Limited, a hotel, which is owned by Fayose and his wife, Olayemi.
Abbey, who was identified as the owner of a firm, De Privateer Limited, paid N100m into the Zenith Bank account of Spotless Investment Limited with number 1010170969 on June 17, 2014.
He also paid N219,490,000 and N300m on June 18, 2014 and June 19, 2014 respectively into his own company account with Zenith Bank marked 1013835889 while he kept a cash of N260m from the original funds.
Meanwhile, the Presidency on Tuesday described the allegation by the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, linking President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha, to the United States Congressman William Jefferson’s bribery scandal, as laughable.
Based on the scandal, Jefferson was convicted in 2009.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement, described the governor as a man “childishly obsessed with the desire to grab the headlines and insulting people at will because of his incurably boorish instincts.”
Shehu said the Presidency chose to respond to Fayose for the sake of innocent Nigerians who might be misled by his “shameless and blatant distortion of facts.”
He said ignoring Fayose carried the risk of giving traction and credibility to outright and brazen falsehood inconsistent with the status of anybody that called himself a governor or leader.
The presidential spokesman said Aisha had no direct, indirect or the remotest connection with William Jefferson’s corruption scandal in the United States.
He challenged Fayose to tell Nigerians if the so-called Aisha, whose pictures he proudly, but ignorantly shared, was the same Aisha married to Buhari, or if the Aisha of his “idle imagination” had any relationship by blood or any relationship in whatever form, with Buhari’s wife.
Shehu also challenged Fayose to produce evidence from the records of investigation and subsequent trial of Jefferson to prove that Buhari’s wife was in anyway linked to that scandal.
He explained that common names alone were not enough to automatically link innocent people to crimes or scandals, especially in an era of identity theft.
He asked Fayose to show proof when and where Aisha Buhari was invited for interrogation in connection with the Jefferson’s bribery scandal, let alone indicted for a crime locally or abroad.
Shehu added that free speech did not entitle Fayose to falsely accuse innocent people of crimes they knew nothing about.
He warned the governor that Aisha Buhari was entitled to protect her reputation from being recklessly maligned, adding that political opposition was not a licence to attack people’s reputation brazenly without legal consequences.
]But the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has urged Buhari to caution the EFCC and urgently intervene to rescue the country from what he described as the “current gross abuse of the constitution.”
Reacting to the reported freezing of Fayose’s account by the EFCC, Mimiko, in a statement in Akure on Tuesday, said the action of the anti-graft agency had portrayed the nation as one in crisis.
The Ondo State governor argued that the EFCC could not “interfere with the account of a sitting governor,” saying such action would run contrary to Section 308 of the Nigerian Constitution.
According to him, if the intention was to suggest any criminal infraction or fraud against the governor, the agency should have sheathed its sword until Fayose vacated office.
“What has happened is a blatant and violent infraction of the provisions of the constitution and our democracy.
“It’s an attempt to subvert the constitution and it is fascist. The intention is to achieve a penal sanction without going through the due criminal procedure and criminal proceedings,” Mimiko added.
He warned that the country was beginning to manifest the signs of totalitarianism, arguing that the account of any individual could only be frozen after an order by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Source: Nairaland
Monday 20 June 2016
EFCC Arrests Jide Omokore & Andrew Yakubu, EX- NNPC GMD, for money laundering
An official briefed on the matter said the businessman would be arraigned alongside Andrew Yakubu, a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, who has also been picked up.
Our sources said the duo would be charged before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja on a four-count charge of money laundering.
According to EFCC insiders, other defendants in the case are Victor Briggs, Abiye Memnere, David Mbanefo, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited.
Background
In 2011 during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Atlantic Energy Limited, Mr Omokore’s company, alongside other companies were allegedly given multibillion dollar worth of public assets without due process.
As at the time, the company, which was barely a year old and had no history of producing a droplet of oil, was awarded controlling stakes in two lucrative oil blocks – OML 30 and 34 – for just over $50 million each.
The deal, which was signed by the immediate past minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, gave Atlantic Energy Limited a controlling 55 percent stake in the oil block.
Interestingly, Shell, which owned the remaining 45 per cent stake, fetched $1.3 billion for a single field after an open and competitive bidding process.
Incorporated as Atlantic Drilling Energy Concept Limited on July 19, 2010, it signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) shortly afterwards.
The NPDC is the upstream production subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Under the agreement, Atlantic took charge of four oil blocks- OML 26 FHN, OML 30 Shoreline, OML 34 Niger-Delta Oil and OML 42 Neconde. It was to provide funds, technical services, drill and sell crude oil.
The company was also accused of lifting crude oil, but remitting only a fraction of its worth to government.
In 2012, according to NNPC insiders, Atlantic Energy paid $168m into government account, but lifted about three million barrels – valued at over $350 million.
In 2013, it also lifted about two million barrels of crude valued at about $240million, but paid only $68million.
Similarly, in 2014, Atlantic Energy paid zero cash-call, but lifted about 500,000 barrels of crude oil, valued at $54 million.
Mr. Yakubu was the GMD of the NNPC between 2012 and 2014 when Atlantic Energy lifted oil without remitting what was due to government.
The EFCC recently raided the business premises of Mr. Omokore, making away with documents and computers.
Last February, high-ranking federal officials told PREMIUM TIMES that the Nigerian government forced Mr Omokore to pay $14 million royalty on oil that his company should have paid between 2011 and 2012.
Our sources said the money was paid into the Federal Government’s account with JP Morgan Chase on January 29, after the EFCC waded into the matter of recovering taxes due to the Federal Government.
“The investigation of tax defaulters in the dollar-soaked oil industry is continuing,” a source at the EFCC said Wednesday. “Those who failed to willingly pay up stand the risk of arrest and prosecution for tax fraud.”
Operatives of the EFCC questioned Mr Omokore on January 27 in connection with the controversial multi-billion dollar crude export deals.
Last week, the federal government commenced processes that would enable it freeze local and foreign assets of Mr. Omokore, and Kola Aluko, another ally of former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, and ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
The government sought an order to freeze several local and international luxury properties owned by the defendants, including the Galatica Star, a $50 million “Super yatch” owned by Mr. Aluko and three private jets.
Other properties owned by the duo and their companies the government asked a federal high court in Lagos for an order to freeze include all sums of money and negotiable instruments of credit of the defendants’ domestic accounts held in 19 domestic banks. The government estimated the total sum held by the defendant to be $1.76 billion.
The government also prayed the court for an order for a freeze on sale or mortgage on the following properties in Nigeria and abroad: Houses on 755 Sarbonne Road, Los Angeles, 952 North Alphine Drive, Los Angeles, 815 Cima Del Mondo, Los Angeles, 1049 Fifth Avenue, New York, 1948 and 1952 Tollis Avenue, Santa Barbara, 157 West 57thStreet, New York, and 4100 Le Reve Dubai.
Other Houses include, Avenue Towers, Lagos, Colina D’Oro Montagnola, Switzerland, Block A consisting of 26 Flats at No 46, Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Mason apartments situated at No6 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Marion Apartment located at 4 and 5 Onikoyi Estate, Banana Island, Ikoyi, 33A Cooper Road Ikoyi, Lagos, 8 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Griove End Road, London, Land, 807 Cima Del Mundo, Mont Tremblant, Canada.
Other assets the government wants to seize are the Galatica Star yatch, a 20-year Berth Lease in Barcelona, Watch collection, a collection of 58 vehicles, a Global Express S5-GMG jet, a Bombadier Global 600 9H-OPE, Bombardier.
Source: Nairaland
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