The Nation Newspaper

Tag: $15m

  • Minister hails $15m Korea model school

    The FCT Minister Malam Muhammad Bello has praised the 15 million USD Korea Model School being built along Airport Road, Abuja via bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and the Korean government.

    The Minister who spoke in his office while receiving a delegation from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) led by the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Noh Kyu-duk, said it is the largest bilateral project between the two countries.

    Malam Bello noted that the school when completed would serve as a landmark and would strengthen existing a cordial relationship between Nigeria and Korea.

    While assuring that his administration would strive to provide the counterpart fund as at and when due, the Minister said that the FCT Administration would give all the necessary support to make the project successful.

    Malam Bello also praised KOICA for the intended capacity building programme planned for the would-be teachers in that school; saying that would surely create quality managers whose by-products would positively impact on the development of the country in the future by the time the school comes on stream in 2018.

    The Minister disclosed that the FCT Administration was working at creating a special unit in his office that would communicate directly with all the multilateral agencies and countries that are doing projects on joint venture with the FCT Administration to smoothen their operations.

    While noting that the geometric rise in Abuja’s population was posing serious challenges in the areas of managing the city’s traffic movements, waste disposal and electricity generation, the Minister said the Korean government could consider the possibility of investing in these areas to deepen its relationship with Nigeria.

    According to the Minister, “electricity supply is a huge challenge and we need it for basic security issues like the street lights in the night, traffic lights for interchanges as well as the hospitals and so many other areas.”

    “I can assure you that any project that any of the Korean companies is interested to do in Abuja to provide power, we are equally interested because power is needed now more than ever in the city for all the public facilities, we get the power from the national grid and it’s not enough.”

    Speaking on public transportation in FCT, the Minister said running the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has been quite a challenge as substantial numbers of the huge fleet of buses in the system were down and non-functional.

    “We are thinking that if we can get the company that is very experienced in managing urban mass transit system that uses buses, they may want to come in and we can go into partnership,” he stressed.

    His words: “We own the bus company but if we get serious investors, we can reduce the percentage of ownership because what we are interested is not to make money out of the business, but to improve the movement of the people within the city.”

    Speaking earlier, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Noh Kyu-duk said the Korean Government would build certain parts of the Model School, while the FCT Administration will handle other parts.

    Mr. Kyu-duk said the programme is so unique in a way that it would serve as landmark in educational sector between Nigeria and the Korean Republic.

    The Ambassador recalled that the electricity situation in the FCT was much better some 20 years ago when KOICA first came to Abuja, but regretted that the agency is now running on generators at present to sustain its activities.

    “Some of the Korean companies have good experience and technology to build this kind of power plant if the opportunity could be given to us,” he added.

    The FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye and other top officials of the FCT Administration also joined the Minister to receive the Korean delegation.

     

  • Court rejects request to summon Clark on Ibori’s $15m

    A Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday refused the oral application to summon Southsouth leader Chief Edwin Clark for his comment on the controversial $15 million traced to the convicted former governor of Delta State, James Ibori.

    Ibori allegedly offered the money as bribe to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Clark called for the sack of the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, following the “needless controversy” in which the money was shrouded by the suit filed by the commission.

    At the resumed hearing of the suit filed by the commission seeking forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government yesterday, EFCC counsel Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) criticised Clark for commenting on an issue that is before the court.

    Ruling on the request to invite the elder statesman, Justice Gabriel Kolawole said the application was diversionary.

    Justice Kolawole said Clark is neither a party nor counsel in the matter before him.

    He, however, said the commission is at the liberty to file a formal application to summon Clark before him.

    Meanwhile, a London lawyer, Mr. John Aina, has filed an application on behalf of an individual, Mr. Olalekan Kayode, urging the court to remit the $15 million bribe money to him on trust for the public.

    Aina urged the court not to forfeit the money to the Federal Government on the grounds that all the looted funds recovered from the families of the former Head of State, the late Gen. Sani Abacha; former Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic Bank Cecilia Ibru; former Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye and Halliburton were “re-looted” by government officials.

    He said he would constitute a trust committee on behalf of Nigerians, which shall determine what projects to execute with it for the benefit of the masses.

    Before adjourning hearing till November 11, Justice Kolawole told parties to serve all pending applications.

    Clark had accused Lamorde of displaying gross incompetence in the manner he was handling the case.

    He said: “Nigerians desire a more serious body to fight corruption and not the EFCC that is being manned by Lamorde.”

    The elder statesman said there was no controversy over the ownership of the money as is being insinuated by the anti-graft agency in the suit before the court.

    He said all involved in the forfeiture suit filed by EFCC should be probed.

    Clark believes the money might have been offered as bribe to former EFCC boss Nuhu Ribadu to compromise him in the investigation of the N120 billion supplementary budget fraud allegation against Ibori.

    Justice Kolawole had granted an order forfeiting the money to the Federal Government, following an exparte application by the EFCC.

    Ibori allegedly offered the money as bribe to Ribadu through an undisclosed source in 2007.

    The money had been in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) since Ibori denied offering the money to Ribadu.

    But the Delta State Government filed an application to counter the forfeiture order.

    It said the money belongs to it and should be returned to its treasury.

  • Ibori’s $15m : Court rejects request to summon Clark

    Ibori’s $15m : Court rejects request to summon Clark

    A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, refused oral application to summon the prominent South-South leader, Chief Edwin Clark, over his comment on the controversial $15 million traced to the convicted former Delta State Governor, James Ibori.

    Ibori allegedly offered the money as bribe to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Clark had called for the sack of the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, over the needless controversy generated by the money.

    At the resumed hearing of the suit by the commission, seeking forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government, the EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) criticized the elder statesman for commenting on the issue already before the court for adjudication.

    Ruling on the request to invite Clark, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, who said the application was diversionary, pointed out that Clark is neither a party nor counsel in the matter before him.

    He, however, said the commission is at the liberty to file a formal application to summon Clark before him.

    Meanwhile, a London- based lawyer, John Olufemi Aina has filed an application on behalf of an individual, Olalekan Kayode asking the court to remit the $15 million bribe money to him on trust for the public.

    Aina asked the court not to forfeit the money to the federal government on the grounds that all the looted funds recovered by the federal government from the family of the late General Sani Abacha, Cecilia Ibru, ex-Governor Joshua Dariye up to Halliburton were re-looted by government officials.

    He said he will constitute a trust committee on behalf of Nigerians who shall determine what project to execute with it for the benefit of the general public.

    Before adjourning hearing till November 11, Justice Kolawole asked parties to serve all pending applications.

    Clark had accused Lamorde of displaying gross incompetence in the manner he was handling the case, adding that “Nigeria desires a more serious body to fight corruption not the EFCC, the one being led by Lamorde.”

    The elder statesman said there was no controversy over the ownership of the money as being insinuated by the anti graft agency in the suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja.

    Clark said the EFCC, Achibogu and all involved in the forfeiture suit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, should be probed to put the battle against corruption on the front burner of our “body polity.”

    “As at today, the EFCC as presently constituted cannot fight corruption because it lacks the will, courage and determination, as the James Ibori $15 million bribe had revealed. The EFCC should be made of men of honour and probity.

    “Despite the opinion some may hold on Ibrahim Lamorde the present Executive Chairman of the EFCC, he should be investigated for the unholy roles he had played in the James Ibori saga”, Clark added.

    He was of the opinion that the money might have been offered as bribe to Ribadu to compromise him on the allegations of N120 billion supplementary budget fraud levelled against the former governor.

     

     

  • Ibori’s $15m bribe: Clark calls for Lamorde’s sack

    Ibori’s $15m bribe: Clark calls for Lamorde’s sack

    IJAW leader Chief Edwin Clark has called for the sack of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, over the “shoddy handling” of the controversial $15 million bribe offered to the commission by former Delta State Governor James Ibori.

    Speaking with reporters yesterday in Abuja, Clark said Delta State elders, and Stakeholders, in September, 2009, petitioned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) demanding that the money be returned to the state treasury.

    He said the needless controversy in which the money is shrouded by the suit filed by the EFCC has cast aspersions on the ability of the anti graft agency to fight corruption.

    Clark said: “Lamorde has displayed gross incompetence in the manner he is handling the case. Nigeria desires a more serious body to fight corruption and not the EFCC being manned by Lamorde.”

    The elder statesman said there is no controversy over the ownership of the money as is being insinuated by the EFCC in the suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja.

    He said the EFCC and all involved in the forfeiture suit should be probed.

    Clark said: “The Ibori $15 million bribe scandal has revealed that the EFCC, as presently constituted, cannot fight corruption because it lacks the will, courage and determination to do so. The EFCC should be made up of men of honour and probity.

    “Despite the opinion some may hold of Lamorde, he should be investigated for the unholy role he played in the Ibori saga. Based on statements made by former EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu; Lamorde, who was then the Director of Operations and James Garba, a staff of the commission, the ownership of the money is not in doubt, despite the fact that Ibori denied giving the bribe.”

    He said the money might have been offered as a bribe to Ribadu to compromise him on the allegations of the N120 billion supplementary budget fraud leveled against Ibori.

    Clark said: “Knowing that the $15 million bribe was originally part of the dropped charges in London Crown Court puts to rest the controversy about its ownership.

    “The affidavit sworn on August 10 by Bello Yahaya, a police officer attached to the commission, where he claimed that the money was of unknown origin, contains several contradictions, misinformation and lies. It makes one believe that there is more to the matter than meets the eyes.

    “The depositions ridicule the anti-corruption agency and portray it as not transparent, incompetent and uncommitted to the war against corruption.

    “Senator Andy Uba made a public statement about the source of the money and where it was given, which was widely circulated by the media. Yahaya lied when he claimed that the money was not collected from Uba but was merely picked from his residence.

    “This again is deliberate and unexpected from the anti-corruption agency. Yahaya claimed that Uba denied having anything to do with the money and refused to make any statement in respect of the matter. This is another deceit and cover-up by security agencies saddled with the anti-corruption war.

    “If Uba denied having anything to do with the money then, who gave them the order to collect the money in his house? Who gave them the money in his residence?”

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had granted an order forfeiting the money to the Federal Government, following an ex-parte application by the EFCC.

    Ibori allegedly offered the money as bribe to Ribadu through an undisclosed source in 2007.

    The money has since been kept in the CBN’s custody, after Ibori denied offering it to Ribadu.

    In an application filed to counter the forfeiture order, the Delta State Government claimed that the money belongs to it and should be returned to its treasury.