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Tag: bribe

  • Alleged N50m bribe: Court releases businessman on bail

    Alleged N50m bribe: Court releases businessman on bail

    The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting in Maitama has granted N500million bail to a Lagos businessman, Dr. Akintoye Akindele accused of offering N50million bribe to the Police.

    Justice Hamza Muazu, in a ruling yesterday, rejected the request by prosecution counsel Simon Lough (SAN) to further detain the defendant to enable the police to conclude its investigation.

    Justice Muazu agreed with defence counsel Henry Eni-Otu that the offence, with which the defendant was charged, is ordinarily bailable.

    He proceeded to admit Akindele, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Duport Midstream Company Lld, to bail at N500m, with two sureties in like sum.

    Read Also: Aregbesola’s group a contraption, says APC  

    Justice Muazu, who is sitting as the court’s vacation judge, said one of the sureties must own a landed property within jurisdiction and should be a resident of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT.)

    The judge ordered the defendant to deposit his international passport with the court.

    He noted that since it will be impossible to conclude the case during the vacation, which will soon end, it was better to return the case file to the court’s Chief Judge for reassignment to a regular court after the vacation.

    Justice Muazu then ordered the return of the case file to the Chief Judge for reassignment.

    Akindele, who has been in police custody for weeks, was arraigned on Tuesday on a one-count charge, marked: CR/595/2023 filed in the name of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

    The prosecution claimed the defendant offered to bribe policemen, who were investigating a case of funds diversion brought against him, to enable him to escape abroad.

    Akindele denied the prosecution’s claim by pleading not guilty when the charge was read to him, following which his lawyer applied for bail.

  • Alleged video clip: I did not collect, has not collected and will never collect bribe’

    Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State yesterday told the  State House of Assembly that he “did not collect, has not collected and will never collect bribe from anybody” as he was recently portrayed in a series of video recordings.

    Ganduje who had been summoned to appear before a seven-man investigative committee set up by the assembly to probe allegations that he collected a $5million cash bribe from contractors sent his defence in writing.

    The letter was signed and delivered   to the committee by Information,Youth and Culture  Commissioner,  Muhammad Garba.

    The governor, in the four paragraph letter, said: Re: invitation to respond to a bribery allegation against His Excellency, kano.

    Your Correspondence No: KMHA/ADMIN/COM/Vol.1/12 dated 31st October 2018: I have the instruction of His Excellency, the Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (OFR) to write as follows:

    That His Excellency, the Governor of Kano State categorically and unequivocally denied the allegation of collecting bribe from contractors as alleged by the publisher of the online newspaper, Daily Nigerian.

    That His Excellency, the Governor of Kano state did not collect, has not collected and will never collect bribe from anybody whosoever and for whatever purposes.

    That the allegation levelled against him is injurious falsehood designed purposely to tarnish his long-established good reputation, reduce his popularity for some political opponents to take undue advantage in the forth-coming general election.

    That caution should be exercised by handling this allegation putting into consideration the antecedents of the accuser on similar accusations against leaders and rulers in the state, particularly the allegation made against the former Governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and the Sarkin Kano, Malam Muhammad Sanusi 11, which turned out to be false accusation.

    Yours Faithfully,

    Malam Muhammad Garba,

    Commissioner for Information Kano state,

    For the Governor

    I so submit.

    The commissioner was not cross –examined  since he was merely representing the governor.

    The committee chairman said: “we cannot go into cross-examination with you. We can only receive a written response from the governor, and that is what we can work with because you are not the governor.

    “The accusation is directly against him. So sending his representation, like we said in the letter, will be   in writing and we accept it from you if you tender it before the Committee.

    “There are so many questions you may not be able to answer because you are not the one who is being accused of the bribery allegation against the governor.”

    The House had previously interrogated Jafar Jafar editor of the Daily Nigeria who posted the video recordings.

    The governor’s counsel, Ibrahim Muktar, who accompanied Garba to the House expressed  appreciation to the  Committee for the way it was   ”conducting  this proceedings which shows fairness to everybody, fairness to the public, fairness to the accuser, and fairness to the person being accused—that is the Governor of Kano state.”

    He added: “This concept of fair hearing can be seen right from day one when commenced the proceedings till today. We have seen transparency in everything.

    “We have seen fair treatment about the parties concerned. So, we have appreciated on behalf of the general public. I just want to draw the attention of the House probably to the way your information is being taken out to the media which is very important.

    “Just this morning when I was coming to this particular meeting, I had a reporter reporting that only a single member out of the seven members of the Committee is around—that only one member of the Committee is available. All other members are not available. This was a live broadcast of one of the local radio stations in the state. When I came in, to my surprise, I see all the members sitting and waiting for the parties.

    “Secondly, the way this invitation letter which was sent to His Excellency was reported was not good. But the way the letter was written showed fairness, it gave options as rightly stated by the Hon. Commissioner of Information. Several option were given either for His Excellency to send his representative, right formally to the Committee or appear in person together with his lawyers, but the way it was reported that Governor has only one option and that is for him to appear before this Committee.

    “And with due respect Mr. Chairman, this is mischievous because if the Governor fails to appear today in person, that means the message to the general public is that the Governor is in contempt of request made by the Committee. So I am just drawing the attention of the chairman and members of the Committee to this because some people are trying to tamper with the way you are conducting your fair and transparent proceedings. They do this in order to create a mischief and I am sure that you are not part of it with the way it is transmitted by some mischievous persons.”

  • Education official arrested for accepting bribe

    A high-ranking official of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology was arrested Wednesday for allegedly accepting a bribe in exchange for a personal favour, Tokyo prosecutors said.

    Futoshi Sano, the director-general and former deputy vice minister, is alleged to have received a bribe from a private university in Tokyo to accept his child, in return for supporting a project at the university.

    The special squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office said Sano allegedly received the bribe from the university in May 2017.

    They also said Sano’s child passed the university’s entrance examination in February.

    Sano has held the post of director-general of the Science and Technology Policy Bureau at the ministry since July 2017. (Xinhua/NAN)

  • N62.3b NSITF fraud: Suspects offer minister $4m bribe to stop probe

    I Determined to stop the ongoing probe of a fraud in the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund(NSITF), some suspects have offered the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, a $4m bribe.

    The bribe was to be paid in two tranches, but the minister, who rejected the offer, has vowed to ensure the ongoing cleansing of the NSITF.

    He said in one day alone about N5billion was withdrawn from the NSITF’s account under questionable circumstances.

    Some labour leaders have been implicated in the NSITF fraud.

    Some of the labour leaders were said to be behind the nomination of a few members of the new board.

    The NSITF accounts in First Bank of Nigeria and other banks had recorded a total turnover of over N62, 358,401,927 between 2012 and 2015 from the Employee Compensation Scheme contributions.

    Of the N62.3b, the Federal Government contributed N13, 600,000,000; N48, 758,401,927.80 was contributed by the private sector.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a former NSITF Managing Director Umar Munir Abubakar, and four others for alleged diversion of N18billion of the money.

    The others are Deputy General Manager (Finance) Henry Ekhasomi Sambo; General Manager (Legal) Adebayo Adebowale Aderibigbe; Chief Richard U. Uche and Aderemi Adegboyega.

    The EFCC has also grilled and detained a former Chairman of the Fund, Dr. Ngozi Olojeme, for alleged diversion of $48,485,127 from the agency’s accounts.

    Apart from those on trial, some officials of the NSITF had been sent on compulsory leave to enable a nine-man Administrative Panel of Inquiry examine the challenges in NSITF.

    Those suspended are General Manager (Social Security) Ishmael Agaka; Deputy General Manager  (Internal Audit) Zwalda Ponkap; General Manager (Information) Catherine Ugbe; and General Manager (Compensation) Dr. Kelly Nwagha.

    Amid the trial and inquiry, an attempt was made to bribe the minister.

    A source said: “In the attempt to stop the administrative probe, some of those implicated sent an emissary to the minister to forget the past and gloss over the fraud which borders on diversion of PAYEE, pension funds and other remittances.

    “They offered a $4million bribe cash to be paid in two tranches to halt the inquiry and spare the suspects. They were really desperate to cover up.

    “The minister rejected the bait and told the front of the suspects that he would never be part of any under-the-table deal to cover up the looting of workers’ entitlements.

    “The desperation made the minister to be suspicious that there was more to the fraud in the system than meet the eye. We believe the administrative inquiry will assist the government to uncover the rot in NSITF.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “Actually, the ongoing probe of NSITF delayed the inauguration of the new board of the agency headed by Comrade Frank Kokori.

    “In fact, going by the latest revelations, some labour leaders have been fingered in the scam. These leaders were discovered to have influenced the nomination of one or two members of the board in order to cover up their tracks.

    “Some members of the new board need security checks in the light of the revelations from the investigation by the EFCC.

    “There is no way the new board can be inaugurated in the present circumstances in NSITF. We need to clean up the system for the new board to have a better take-off.”

    “The suspects are trying to fight back by rushing to the House of Representatives to raise dust, but the minister has sent a detailed report to the House on the depth of the large scale fraud in NSITF.”

    Ngige, who confirmed the bribe offer, said: “We will do our best to get to the roots of the scandal in NSITF; we will not allow any cover-up.

    “The administration of President Muhammadu Buuhari is committed to the anti-corruption campaign. We will leave no stone unturned to rid the system of bad eggs. We will allow the nine-man panel to do a thorough investigation.

    “Do you know that in one day alone, about N5billion was withdrawn from the account of NSITF for questionable purpose? The fraud we are looking into was perpetrated between 2011 and 2015.”

    During the inauguration of the panel, headed by Director of Finance and Accounts of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ishaya A. Awotu, the minister said it would look into the financial state of the NSITF with a view to purging it of “negative trails inflicted on it by its last board and management”.

    Other members include: Mrs. P.O Odusanya from the office of the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr. S.U. Ukut from the National Salary Income and Wages Commission, Millicent Ikeotuonye from the Budget Office of the Federation and Eze Osuagwu, representing the Organised Private Sector.

    There were also representative of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Ibrahim Jilbia, who is director of Skills Acquisition and Certification as well as Mrs. D.E  Ajiboye, director, Social Security and Cooperative Development – both from the Ministry of labour and Employment.”

     

  • Alleged N10m bribe: EFCC to arraign CCT chairman March 16

    Alleged N10m bribe: EFCC to arraign CCT chairman March 16

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will on March 16 arraign the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar, in connection with alleged N10million bribery scam.

    He was alleged to have demanded for the bribe from a former Comptroller of Customs, Mr. Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo.

    Umar is going to face trial in the High Court of Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    In the charge sheet, the CCT chairman was alleged to have collected N1.8 million bribe, suspected to be part of the N10million, through his personal assistant, Alhaji Gambo Abdullahi.

    The suspect will be prosecuted by Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN) on behalf of the Federal Government.

    A top source in the commission said: “The CCT chairman will be arraigned on March 16 before Justice Ishaq Bello of the FCT High Court.

    “The onus is on Justice Umar to prove before the court that he did not receive any bribe from the ex-Comptroller of Customs.”

    The charges read in part: “That you, Danladi Yakubu Umar, being the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and presiding over a case with Charge No. CCT/ABJ/03/12, involving one Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo, sometime in 2012, at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did ask for the sum of N10 million from the said Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo, for a favour to be afterwards shown to him in relation to the pending charge (No. CCT/ABJ/03/12) in discharge of your official duties and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 12(1) (a) & (b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2003; and

    “That you, Danladi Yakubu Umar, being the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and presiding over a case with Charge No. CCT/ABJ/03/12, involving one Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo, sometime in 2012, at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did receive the sum of N1.8 million from the said Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo, through your personal assistant by name Alhaji Gambo Abdullahi, for a favour to be afterwards shown to him in relation to the pending charge (No. CCT/ABJ/03/12) in discharge of your official duties and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 12(1) (a) & (b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2003.”

    With five witnesses already lined up, the EFCC said it would rely on a petition dated June 20, 2013, by Rasheed O. Taiwo; the statement of the CCT chairman; the Zenith Bank statement of Taiwo Rasheed Owolabi; the Zenith Bank Statement of Ali Gambo Abdullahi and a copy of Zenith Bank Cheque of Taiwo Rasheed Owolabi; a copy of Zenith Bank Cheque of Ali Gambo Abdullahi and all processes and documents in the suit

    But as at press time, findings confirmed that the CCT chairman was yet to be served.

    A source said: “The CCT chairman has not received any notice of his arraignment by the EFCC.”

  • Abuse of local content Act: Senate panel alleges bribe offer to kill probe

    Abuse of local content Act: Senate panel alleges bribe offer to kill probe

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Solomon Adeola, yesterday said he was offered a vessel to drop a petition seeking investigation of an international oil firm for allegedly flouting the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act.

    He spoke at a Senate hearing on a petition by Indigenous Ships Owners Association of Nigeria on alleged attempt to deny Nigerian shippers the, after being technically and commercially pre-qualified for almost five years.

    The committee invited the oil firm, NNPC, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and the petitioners to look into the allegation.

    Adeola said the interest of his committee was to investigate the allegation to determine the overall propriety of the oil firm, adding that his committee also wanted to establish if there were interests other than national interest at play.

    The Senator, representing Lagos West, said he is aware that there are forces trying to scuttle the contract validly entered into between the oil firm and members of the Indigenous Vessels Operators Association of Nigeria.

    He said, ‘’They offered me a vessel to abort this Senate Committee of local content’s probe and I refused. We have received ample information to take decision, or resolve this matter, but for the sake of the principle of fair hearing, it is the very reasons we want to hear from the representatives of the oil firm, the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and other stakeholders involved in this case’’

    The committee directed the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), to give NAPIMS a waiver in order to allow the 10 indigenous vessel owners who bided initially and adjudged pre-qualified to bid again.

    The Committee also directed the resumption of the tendering process for contracts for supply of vessels to the oil firm which was stopped after almost five years of the tendering process.

    The Deputy General Manager, NAPIMS, Roland Ewubare, said there appeared to be a valid reason to alter the contracts. He asked for time to work with the committee, the oil firm and the local contractors to fix whatever is the problem.

    Ewubare said he is aware that the oil firm is the only international oil company that has put mechanism in place to support indigenous vessel owners.

    The Indigenous Vessels Operators Association of Nigeria had asked the Senate Committee to intervene to stop the oil firm from cancelling the bidding contract it entered with the association’s members in 2014.

    It told the committee that it all began in 2014 when the oil firm, a joint venture partner with the Nigerian Government in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry published a tender with reference no. NTD 0001632 for the provision of Platform Support Vessels (PSV) and Terminal Support Vessels (TSV) by Indigenous vessels operators.

  • Malabu : I didn’t receive $2.2m bribe, says  Adoke

    Malabu : I didn’t receive $2.2m bribe, says  Adoke

    A former Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke( SAN) yesterday denied receiving $2.2million bribe from the $1b Malabu Oil Block deal.

    He insisted that  there was nothing illegal or shady about the resolution of the dispute over the ownership and operation of the OPL 245.

    He said all the State actors that implemented the settlement agreement,  including himself, acted in the national interest.

    He said the requisite Presidential Approvals were duly sought and obtained before a settlement agreement was reached on Malabu Oil Block.

    He also said he has filed an action before a Federal High Court to seek reliefs and declarations on the extent of the powers of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under sections 5, 147, 148 and 150 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

    He said he asked the court to determine whether  a Minister of the Government of the Federation can be held personally liable for carryout the lawful directives/ approvals of the President.

    Adoke made these disclosures in a letter to a UK-based anti-corruption body, Global Witness following a statement by the organisation on the charges preferred against Shell,  Eni  and top executives of the oil giants on the Malabu deal.

    The ex-minister, through his counsel, Femi Oboro Gromyko Amedu, alleged that Global Witness insinuated that he collected $2.2million bribe from Malabu Oil Block deal.

    The letter said: “Our client vigorously denies that he received a bribe of $2.2 million or any other sum on account of the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement and states that he has had cause to call attention of the public to the reckless and reprehensible attempt by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to link his Mortgage repayment to the Unity Bank of Nigeria to the alleged bribe of $2.2 Million, when the loan documentation in respect of the mortgage is available for any objective person to apprise himself of the transaction and arrive at an informed conclusion.

    ”Our client reiterates that he had applied for a mortgage loan in the sum of N300,000,000 (three hundred million Naira only) from Unity Bank of Nigeria to purchase a property from Aliyu Abubakar, a property developer in Abuja.

    “ The bank paid the loan sum directly to the developer. Our client was also required to source and pay the balance of N 200,000,000 (two hundred million Naira only) as the sale price was fixed as N 500,000,000.

    “ When however, our client could not meet up with his repayment obligations to the bank as well as complete the payment of the balance of N 200million to the developer, the developer opted to repossess the property.

    “Our client had no option than to consent to the proposal and asked that the sum of N 300million  earlier paid to him by Unity Bank of Nigeria be refunded directly to the Bank.

    “The developer accordingly paid the money directly to the bank to offset the mortgage loan and the certificate of occupancy (title documents) in respect of the property was released by the bank to the developer.”

  • Corporal kills driver over N50 bribe

    Corporal kills driver over N50 bribe

    A police Corporal attached to the Ekiti State Police Command, Ayodele Famodimu, has allegedly shot a commercial driver to death at a checkpoint in Oye-Ekiti.

    Sources said Olabode Ojo Segun was coming from Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State and heading to Ilorin, Kwara State capital.

    Eyewitnesses told The Nation on Wednesday that the incident, which occurred on Tuesday night, caused pandemonium in Oye-Ekiti.

    The policeman reportedly demanded a bribe of N50 from the commercial driver, which he refused to give.

    The angry policeman then opened fire on the driver, who was the only one hit in the bus.

    Frightened passengers crawled out of the bus, which skidded off the road and somersaulted.

    The sources said that the Olukare of Ikare, Oba Akadiri Momoh, called the Ekiti Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to get a first-hand report.

    Eyewitnesses said: “After the driver was hit, he lost control and the bus somersaulted.

    “He was lying dead on the scene. In the confusion, every person crawled out of the vehicle, seeking help.”

    FRSC spokesman Mohammed Olowo said only the driver was shot.

    Olowo added that there were no critical injuries, pointing out that a hospital call the morning after did not register any critical injury.

    Police spokesman Alberto Adeyemi said the command had commenced an orderly-room trial for the corporal.

    Adeyemi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said that Famodimu would be charged to court after the orderly-room.

    He said: “The suspect is already facing departmental orderly room trial, his name is Corporal Ayodele Famodimu and his departmental orderly room trial has already started.

    “When the trial has been concluded, he would be dismissed after which he would be charged to court.”

  • $500,000 bribe: Lawan to know fate today

    High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Jabi, Abuja will today rule on whether the trial of the former Chairman of the House of Representative on Fuel Subsidy Mr. Farouk Lawan will be transferred back to Justice Angela Otaluta of the Lugbe Division of the court.

    The Federal Government is prosecuting Lawal before Justice Otaluka on a three-count charge of corrupt collection of $500,000 out of $3 million bribe he allegedly requested from the Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited Mr. Femi Otedola.

    Lawan was accused of accepting $500,000 as a bribe for the removal of Otedola’s company’s name, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, from the list of firms indicted by the Lawan-led House committee for allegedly abusing the fuel subsidy regime in 2012.

    At the last adjourned date, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Enitayo Fagbemi, brought an application dated June 30, 2017 to transfer the case back to the former judge handling the case at the FCT High Court in Lugbe.

    He said: “My lord, we have called four witnesses already and were about to call the fifth witness when this matter was re-assigned back to your lordship.”

    Fagbemi said the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) must be followed, urging the judge to grant the application in the interest of justice.

    The defence counsel, Godwin Iginbor, opposed the application, urging the court to dismiss it as lacking merit.

    “The complainant does not have any evidence to show that the chief judge did not comply with Section 98 of the ACJA and that application is tantamount to asking the CJ to overrule the decision,” Iginbor said.

  • Eight LASTMA officials held for alleged bribe taking

    Eight LASTMA officials held for alleged bribe taking

    The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has arrested eight of its officials for alleged bribe taking.

    They are Adeola Adebeshin, Idowu Davies, Folashade Abolade, Lanre Shittu, Olusoga Akinkotu, Said Olowu, Peter Olaoye and Said Adebola of LASTMA’s Agege Pen Cinema office.

    Adebeshin and Davies were said to have arrested two commercial buses with registration numbers FKJ 770 XT and KRD 558 XM driven by Olatunji Mayowa and Donatus Eze at Abule Egba for seat belt violation.

    A statement yesterday by LASTMA said the drivers violated the Lagos State Traffic laws, and the buses were seized and taken to the Agege-Pen Cinema office.

    But at the office, it alleged that the officials with the general duty officer demanded N7,200 each from the drivers to the release the buses.

    The drivers, the statement said, gave the officials marked money in a sting operation coordinated by LASTMA’s Provost Marshal Femi Ajibosho.

    The Provost Marshal, the agency claimed, arrived when Abolade was about collecting N7,200 from Eze; Mayowa’s marked N7,200 was found on her during a search.

    Shittu, Akinkotu, Olowu, Olaoye and Adebola were said to have arrested a vehicle and asked Abolade to facilitate collection of bribe from the owner on their behalf before releasing the vehicle.

    “All the traffic officials involved in this shameful act have been released on bail, but are to face the full weight of the Lagos State Public Service Rules and Regulations,” LASTMA General Manager, Mr Olawale Musa said.

    The agency, he said, had set a standard for itself to become one of the most disciplined, credible and efficient traffic management institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    “LASTMA under my watch will not tolerate any act of indiscipline and corruption capable of dragging the revered image of the agency and that of the state government in the mud.

    “To this end, all the officials involved in the shameful act will be made to appear before the Personnel Management Board (Discipline) to defend their action in accordance with the relevant sections of the Public Service Rules.”

    Musa described the officials’ action as disgraceful, saying it did not represent LASTMA’s training and operational manual.

    LASTMA had dismissed 20 officials for corrupt practices; 15 were warned for acts considered inimical to the agency’s operations.