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  • EFCC drops Diezani, Aluko from $1.6b charge

    EFCC drops Diezani, Aluko from $1.6b charge

    •Court grants N50m bail each to Omokore, others

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) made last minute adjustment to a $1.6 billion charge it filed against associates of former Petroleum Resources Minister Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

    The commission applied for the exclusion of the names of the former minister and a businessman, Kolawole Akanni Aluko, who were mentioned in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/121/2016.

    Mrs. Alison-Madueke (said to be at large) was named in Count 8 of the charge and accused of “abetting the commission of money laundering,” by those listed in the charge.

    Aluko (also said to be at large) was accused of engaging in conspiracy, money laundering and fraud.

    The EFCC decision to drop the former minister and Aluko from the charge was informed by the insistence of the trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako that it was impossible to proceed with the arrangement yesterday when the two co-defendants were not in court and had not been served with the charge.

    Although the prosecution counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) argued that the arraignment was possible without the duo of Mrs. Alison-Madueke and Aluko, who were merely mentioned in the charge, but not as defendants, the judge insisted that both names must either be excluded or they be served with the charge and produced in court before arraignment could take place.

    After Jacobs applied for the exclusion of the ex-minister and Aluko from the charge, the judge directed that the charge be read to the defendants.

    Those arraigned were: businessman Jide Omokore, former Managing Director of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC), Victor Briggs, Abiye Membere, former Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Abiye Membere, Manager, Planning and Commercial of the NNPC, David Mbanefo and two companies linked with Omokore  –  Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited.

    They were arraigned on a nine-count charge and accused of obtaining under false pretence and engaging in money laundering estimated at about $1,646,140,379.90.

    Omokore was alleged to have used the Strategic Alliance Agreement signed between the NPDC and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited to swindle the NPPC subsidiary and the Federal Government of billions of dollars through the lifting of crude oil from some oil wells between March 2013 and May 2014.

    The other accused persons who were senior management staff of the NNPC are accused of conspiracy in inducing the NPDC to facilitate the lifting of crude by Omokore, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited.

    “They were also accused receiving car gifts from Omokore, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited.

    They pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them.

    Following their plea of not guilty, Based on their plea, Jacobs, SAN, asked the court for a date for the commencement of trial.

    Following an application from the defence team, Justice Nyako granted bail to the defendants at N50million each with a surety.

    The judge said such surety must either be a director in the federal Civil Service or must have a landed property in the jurisdiction of the court.

    She adjourned to October 19 for the commencement of trial

    Part of the charge reads:

    *That you Olajide Jones Omokore, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Ltd and Kolawole Akanni Aluko (now at large) between May and October 2013 within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, by false pretence and with intent to defraud, induced the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Federal Government of Nigeria to deliver to you 5,652,227 barrels of crude oil (Brass blend) valued at the sum of US$616,013,615.27 (six hundred and sixteen million, thirteen thousand, six hundred and fifteen US dollars, twenty seven cents) through the medium of a contract (Strategic Alliance Agreement), which delivery was induced by false pretence to wit: the representation that you had technical competence, professional skills and funds (both local and foreign) necessary to support NPDC in petroleum operation for the OML 60, 61, 62 and 63 and you thereby committed an

  • Alleged $1.8b debt: Court freezes Diezani’s associates’ assets in Nigeria, US, UK, others

    A Federal High Court in Lagos has granted the Federal Government injunctions  freezing  assets and funds in and outside the country  traced to two Nigerian businessmen, Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore, as well as  their companies – Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited (AEDC), Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited (AEBD).

    Omokore and Aluko are accused of benefiting from some shady transactions with the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

    They are also  said to be indebted to the government to the tune of $1.8 billion.

    Justice   O. O. Oguntoyinbo, in an ex-parte ruling, granted mareva injunctions restraining  the duo  from dealing with the funds in some local and foreign banks and assets in Nigeria and abroad, pending the determination of a substantive suit filed by the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    The suit marked FHC/L/CS/701/2016 was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by Oladipo Okpeseyi (SAN), who also argued the ex-parte motion for injunctions on May 24.

    Listed as defendants in the case are Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited (AEDC), Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited (AEBD), Olajide Omokore and Kolawole Aluko.

    Justice Oguntoyinbo, in the ruling, restrained the defendants, themselves, agents, directors, among others, “from giving any instruction demanding, accepting or receiving payment from banks and other companies listed as In Re: 1 – 34 on the face of the motion paper and or giving any sale or transfer instruction, demanding, accepting or receiving any payment or sale or dividend on the shares owned by the defendants, their servants, agents, privies, sister companies, their nominees in the aforesaid companies and or persons listed as In Re: 28 -39 on the face of the motion on notice filed herein.”

    The banks and companies listed in the motion include Access, Citi Bank, Diamond, Eco Bank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, Zenith Bank (local banks).

    The off shore financial institutions are BNP Paribas (Switzerland), LGT Bank (Switzerland),  Standard Chartered Bank (London),Barclays Bank (London), Standard Energy (Voduz, Switzerland), HSBC (London), Corner Bank (Lugano, Switzerland) and Deutsche Bank (Geneva).

     The companies include Mia Hotels Ltd, First Motors Ltd, V.I. Petrochemical Ltd, Evergreen Realty & Management, Ox Trade Ltd, De First Union Integrated Services, Amity Plus Ltd and Seven Energy International Ltd.

    The affected companies and persons listed as In Re: 28 –  39, in the motion papers are  Mia Hotels Ltd, First Motors Ltd, V.I. Petrochemical Ltd, Oxtrade Ltd, De First Union Integrated Services, Amity Plus Ltd, Seven Energy International Ltd, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited (AEDC), Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited (AEBD), Olajide Omokore and Kolawole Aluko.

    Justice Oguntoyinbo also ordered and directed some local banks  ”listed as In Re: 1 – 9 on the face of the motion paper to sequestrate, within 7 days of the receipt and or service of this order, any and or all the sums of money and negotiable instruments standing to the credit of the defendants, their servants, agents, privies, nominees, whether natural or artificial, up to the plaintiffs’/applicants’’ claim against the defendants in the sum of $1.762,338,184.40 only, and deep same in an interest yielding account in the name of the Chief Registrar of this court as trustee of same, pending the determination of the motion on notice filed herein.”

    The affected banks include Access Bank, Citi Bank, Diamond Bank, Eco Bank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Heritage Bank.

    The judge further stated, in the ruling, an enrolled copy of which The Nation obtained yesterday, “that  by an order of mareva injunction of this honourable court, the defendant, by themselves, their directors, officers, agents, servants, privies, trustees, nominees, proxies, subsidiaries, sister companies, related companies, or otherwise any other person, natural or artificial, however called, within and outside Nigeria, are hereby restrained from giving any instruction, demanding, accepting, receiving payments and/ or transacting,  transferring, mortgaging or howsoever dealing in any manner, with assets of the defendants in both houses and land in Abuja and Lagos, and others located outside  Nigeria listed below.”

    The affected houses overseas include: 775 Sarbonne Road, Los Angeles; 952 North Alphine Drive, Los Angeles;  815 Cima Del Mundo, Los Angeles, 1049 Fifth Avenue, New York, 1948 & 1952 Tollis Avenue, Santa Barbara; 157 West 57th Street, New York, 4100 Le Reve, Dubai ;  and Grove End Road, London.

    Those in Nigeria are  Avenue Towers, Lagos, Nigeria; Colina D’oro, Montagnola, Switzerland; Block A consisting of 26 flats at No. 46 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; Mason Apartments situated at No. 6 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos comprising 60 units of three-bedroom apartments; Marion Apartments Block 8 located at 4 &5 Onikoyi Estate, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos consisting of 43 units of apartments; 334 Cooper Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; 8 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    Also listed are plots of land identified as “807 Cima Del Mundo and Mont Tremblant, Canada.” Also affected by the order are asset listed in court documents as “other holdings.” They include:  ”Galactica Star (Yacht); 20 year berth lease – Barcelona; Watch collection; Car collections (58 vehicles); Aeroplane-Global Express S5-GMG; Aeroplane-Bombardier Global 6000 9H-OPE and Aeroplane Bombardier.”

    Justice Oguntoyinbo directed the service of the orders on parties affected, “including and in particular, the persons listed In Re: 1 – 34 on the face of the motion paper by way of substituted means to wit: advertisement in newspapers circulating within and outside the Federal republic of Nigeria.

    The judge ordered that the defendants be put on notice of the pending motion on notice for an interlocutory order of mareva injunction and adjourned to June 13, 2016 at 1pm for hearing of the pending motion.

  • Trump, Diezani and Voter Power

    When billionaire Donald Trump took the plunge to contest for United States presidency in June, last year, few people gave him an iceberg’s chance in hell to secure the Republican Party nomination. Today, he is the presumptive nominee of that party for the presidential poll holding in November, and well within a striking chance of the world’s most powerful office. The real estate mogul and TV reality star has in effect metamorphosed from a seeming comical act to a potential President-in-Waiting, and he owes the feat to American voters who propelled his aspiration and batted down hurdles within the Republican Party establishment on his path to victory.

    Trump’s example shows how unassailable voter power can be in electoral aspiration. It was on that power the brash billionaire rode to edge out all rivals in a crowded field of 16 contenders for the Republican ticket. And he did that despite his fiercely divisive rhetoric and a deliberate persona of political incorrectness that scandalised even the most radical of the American political class. Knowing where to locate his support base, Trump positioned himself as a brutally frank outsider taking on the establishment brand of politics, which not a few Americans perceived as gridlocked and short-ended on candour anyway. He made a virtue of being a non-politician in politics. Expectedly, he captured the fancy of voters who disliked the establishment and were angry at Washington’s way of doing things. So fiercely loyal were Trump’s supporters that his tantrums and relentlessly controversial rhetoric did nothing to diminish his following. The man once boasted that he could stand on New York’s Fifth Avenue and blind-shoot at someone, and it would not dent his poll rating in the least.

    Captains of the Republican Party had not hidden their aversion for Mr. Trump, but that was at their peril, and it was not sufficient to arrest his political momentum. Fellow contenders for the party’s ticket railed at his divisive rhetoric, only to end up buckling out of the race in turns and clearing the field for his candidature. The mogul’s most serious challenger, Ted Cruz, threw in the towel after the Indiana primary where he said he had laid all out on the field, without success in convincing voters not to go with Trump. Notable leaders like former presidential candidate Mitt Romney stood up to be counted in open opposition to Trump, to no effect because Trump’s candidature had assumed such a momentum with voters that could not be stopped. Even after he emerged the presumptive nominee, Congress Speaker Paul Ryan spoke out that he was not yet up to endorsing ‘The Trump’ for the ticket; but the billionaire brandished voter support to threaten unseating Ryan as chairman of the Republican National Convention in July. Apparently conscious of the limitation of their individual relevance against voter power, the Republican chiefs by late last week had locked down in rapprochement with Trump, towards rallying the party behind him. After truce parleys in Washington, they announced that there were yet more grounds to cover, but did not dare foreclose a deal to support the nominee.

    Trump’s playbook on voter power is actually a universal rule. Politicians seeking electoral office should best devote their energy to rallying voters after their cause and cultivate those voters’ steadfast support, even against the run of establishment forces – including fraudulent election managers – that may be arrayed in opposition to them. But it would seem that many politicians here in Nigeria operate by a different rule. That is what could explain the alleged N23billion poll bribery plot in which former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has been named. Besides the allegation of sharing slush funds among political chieftains and party centres ahead of the 2015 presidential election, the former minister is said to have issued huge sums as bribery for officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to falsify the election results. I do not intend to raise a mob jury here against the former minister and others that have been named in the scandal, ahead of what the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is able to prove in court. When proved, anyone found guilty as alleged should be made to pay the price for malfeasance. Meanwhile, even the mere narrative evidences the mindset of the average Nigerian politician in the contest for political power.

    The common practice code among our political elite suggests that they count voters least in their calculations for winning political offices. That must be why electioneering campaigns are not driven by well thought-out manifestoes or clearly defined programmes, but by vacuous sloganeering and parades of rented crowds and unruly mobs. Political parties and candidates demonstrate strength, not by superiority of ideas, but by the quantum of brute force they could muster and deploy in intimidation of opponents. In many cases, you hardly knew what a political office seeker offered different from other contenders for the same office, which should be left to voters to make an intelligent choice from. Rather, politicians often deploy violence to coerce voters to either vote or stay away from voting – towards achieving a determined end. Surely, these can’t be legitimate building blocks of true democracy!

    The pending allegation against the former Petroleum Minister indicate another dimension of the ills of our electoral system: politicians seek to suborn poll officials against the very ethic of their constitutional duty. Officials who give in, of course, do so at their own peril, and must be made to face the law; but they certainly can be helped if they were not subjected to needless pressure with such offers. Former Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, had occasion to berate the tendency in a presentation he made at a Roundtable Conference organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies of the National Assembly in November 2012. Among the many variables he listed as characterising political parties and elections in Nigeria, Professor Jega said: “There is the exhibition of corrupt and corrupting tendencies, deliberately promoted or instigated by the political parties…It is incredible the amount of money that is budgeted. Political parties budget funds in terms of how much money is to be given to security agencies, how much is to be given to INEC or electoral officials and so on. Really, this is a very serious challenge for deepening democracy in our country. Of course, people should resist being induced; and when people resist, all sorts of other tendencies come up. It is very important through legislation, through behavioural changes and through the activities of civil society organizations, that we curb this exhibition of corrupt and corrupting tendencies in the electoral process.”

    Perhaps here is a good opportunity to recall that nearly the most challenging experience of the conduct of the 2015 elections was a fierce campaign by some faceless political support group to discredit the former INEC Chairman ahead of the polls. Full-page adverts were serially placed in national and regional dailies – sometimes more than a dozen newspapers daily, and for days on end – caricaturing the electoral chief and aggressively impugning his credibility. It was suspected that this was a preemptive plot to disable him from presiding over the conduct of the elections, given his reputation for uncompromising integrity. Well, political adverts aren’t cheap – not the least so at the height of an election season. Enormous funds must have been committed to prosecuting that campaign by its sponsors, who apparently preferred such a strategy to courting the support of voters. It would really be enlightening to know where the money came from, and who was doing the spending, just in case that might expose another slush funding scheme.

  • Global coalition against corruption: Diezani, Ibori, Dariye, 57 other Nigerians may lose UK assets

    Global coalition against corruption: Diezani, Ibori, Dariye, 57 other Nigerians may lose UK assets

    Fresh facts emerged yesterday that more than 60 top Nigerians may lose assets and cash laundered in the United Kingdom.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) may soon submit a list of those convicted, under probe, the fleeing suspects and those watch-listed to the relevant agencies in the UK.

    The UK was said to be in custody of over £40 million stolen funds recovered from some Nigerian government officials in 2008.

    This is apart from about £22.5million recovered from the Island of Jersey.

    Of the cash, about £6.8million loot had been traced to ex-Governor James Ibori.

    Some of those likely to be affected  include ex-governors like James Ibori, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, Joshua Dariye, the late Abubakar Audu, Chimaroke Nnamani, Lucky Igbinedion, the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and others.

    Others are about 13 ex-governors on trial for financial crimes, some former ministers either on trial or under investigation, some indicted top bankers during the 2008 financial crisis.

    Six of the ex-governors were  alleged to have acquired assets worth £15million in the United Kingdom, while in office.

    One of the governors allegedly  paid £1.6million at a go in 2005 for a posh mansion in London.

    According to findings, about 60 highly-placed Nigerians, especially politically exposed persons and their fronts, have assets and looted funds in the United Kingdom and Island of Jersey.

    For instance, Ibori’s assets in the UK are said to worth more than $150 million. A former director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) owns a flat in St George Wharf worth about 450 pounds more than 10 years ago, while another top civil servant owns 1.65 million pounds Fulham property.

    It was learnt that the decision of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, to collaborate with the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has dimmed the hope of the affected treasury looters.

    A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “With the pledge of the British Prime Minister, we will just go to our shelf and reel out the list of those with suspected loot and laundered funds in the United Kingdom.

    “Already, we have the dossiers of all these suspects right from the days of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as the EFCC chairman.

    “We can talk of about 60 on our radar, including about 13 governors, former ministers, oil subsidy suspects, indicted top bankers and some of those involved in the $15billion arms deals.

    “We will recover all the stolen funds. In fact, very soon, we may start publishing the photographs of the identified assets of some of these suspects.

    “In fact, the Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, met with the Special Fraud Office in London on Thursday.

    “We can seize these assets under the Interim Forfeiture Order in Sections 26 and 29 of the EFCC Act.

    The section reads: “Any property subject to forfeiture under this Act may be seized by the commission in the following circumstances- (a) the seizure is incidental to an arrest or search; or (b) in the case of property liable to forfeiture upon process issued by the Court following an application made by the Commission in accordance with the prescribed rules.

    “Whenever property is seized under any of the provisions of this Act, the Commission may-(a) place the property under seal; or (b) remove the property to a place designated by the Commission.

    “Properties taken or detained under this section shall be deemed to be in custody of the Commission, subject only to an order of a Court.”

    The EFCC and the Metropolitan Police have been collaborating in the past few years.

    The British government had, in 2008, expressed its willingness to return about £40 million stolen funds recovered from some Nigerian government officials.

    A former Acting British High Commissioner to Nigeria, James Tansley, on September 27, 2007 handed over two cheques for more than $250,000 (£126,000, 29.3m naira) to Nigeria.

    The UK Metropolitan Police had said the amount was only a fraction of the fortunes that the former Governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye, and other Nigerian officials had diverted to London.

    A cheque for $2 million belonging to a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was also returned to Nigeria by the British government.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had during the week pleaded with the UK to return stolen funds to Nigeria.

    “I am not going to demand any apology from anybody. What I am demanding is the return of assets,” Buhari said at a function in London.

  • First Bank admits EFCC investigation over ‘Diezani funds’

    First Bank admits EFCC investigation over ‘Diezani funds’

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating possible lodgement and distribution of the slush political funds distributed by the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, in First Bank of Nigeria.

    FBN Holdings Plc, the parent and holding company for First Bank of Nigeria and its former subsidiaries, at the weekend confirmed that the EFCC is investigating the bank because of alleged connections to Diezani’s funds.

    In a regulatory filing at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday, the company stated that EFCC has invited an executive director of First Bank, Mr. Dauda Lawal in connection with the Diezani’s funds and he has been cooperating fully with the anti-corruption agency.

    EFCC had two weeks ago also visited Access Bank and Sterling Bank in what appeared to be an industry-wide investigation of the use of the banking system to launder and distribute slush political funds. EFCC had earlier arrested the managing director of Fidelity Bank in connection with the ‘Diezani’s funds’.

    Both Access Bank and Sterling Bank had clarified that the visits by the EFCC were not connected to the Diezani’s slush political funds or the alleged diversion of arm funds linked to the former National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd), otherwise known as Dasukigate.

    In a statement to the NSE, Sterling Bank had affirmed that it did not hold account for “the public officer from the previous administration to which this matter (EFCC’s visit to the bank) has been linked either officially or otherwise”.

    Sterling Bank explained that while the reason for the visit by the EFCCwas not immediately clear, it has now been confirmed that the investigation is related to the banking relationship of a non-bank financial institution that is a client of Sterling Bank Plc.

    “We affirm for the public records that the bank does not hold the account of the public officer from the previous administration to which this matter has been linked either officially or otherwise; the non-bank financial institution (Asset Management Company) in question purchased a number of loans on a recourse basis from Sterling Bank Plc on commercially acceptable terms and this is the link of the concern raised by the EFCC to Sterling Bank Plc,” Sterling Bank stated.

  • EFCC traces Diezani’s $115m bribe to stolen oil

    EFCC traces Diezani’s $115m bribe to stolen oil

    Ex-minister, others to face trial

    INEC chiefs’ accounts frozen

    WHO GOT WHAT?

    •Mrs Gesila Khan (for collecting  N185, 842,000 out of a N681m bribe)
    •Fidelia Omoile (Electoral Officer in Isoko-South Local Government Area of Delta State) —N112,480,000
    •Uluochi Obi Brown (INEC’s Administrative Secretary in Delta State)
    —N111,500,000
    •Former Deputy Director  of INEC in Cross River State, Edem Okon Effanga
    —N241,127,000
    •Head of Voter Education in INEC in Akwa Ibom, Immaculata Asuquo
    —N214,127,000

    What is the source of the $115 million bribe for election officials to alter the results of the 2015 presidential election?

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) believes the money came from proceeds of stolen crude oil.

    “Our operatives have discovered that the $115 million came from stolen crude oil. They got it from former Petroleum Resources Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke,” a top EFCC official said yesterday.

    The official pleaded not to be named because of what he described as the “sensitivity of the matter”.

    He added: “We will uncover how they came about the stolen crude oil and those used to siphon the oil in order to deny the nation of revenue.”

    The EFCC has frozen all the accounts of top officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and oil chiefs implicated in the $115m (N23.29b) bribery.

    This, said another source, is in preparation for the arraignment of some suspects, including Fidelity Bank Managing Director Nnamdi Okonkwo.

    Charges might also be preferred against Mrs. Alison-Madueke, who investigators believe is central to the coordination of the huge bribe given to poll officials to alter the 2015 presidential election results.

    Besides, the EFCC plans to arrest owners of oil companies believed to have contributed the cash because they have failed to report for interrogation.

    “Our operatives are on the trail of members of the cartel behind the theft of crude.

    “We have blocked all the accounts of all the INEC officials, bank officials and oil chiefs connected with the poll bribery scandal,” the source said.

    Also yesterday, The Nation learnt that the embattled Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Cross River State, Mrs. Gesil Khan, was granted administrative bail on Sunday.

    She is expected to report at the EFCC office today as part of the conditions for the bail.

    Others have also been granted bail, pending their trial.

    Mrs. Khan is to be reporting to the EFCC’s office on scheduled dates agreed with her.

    On the owners of the oil firms allegedly involved in the scandal, the top EFCC source added: “We have quizzed  Leno Adesanya but it is apparent that we have to arrest others this week because they have refused to show up for interrogation.

    “Certainly, we are closing in on more suspects whom we will pick up before the week runs out.”

    As at last night, the EFCC was finalizing plans to arraign some suspects on the bribery.

    Those pencilled for trial are Diezani (in absentia), Okonkwo and Fidelity Bank’s Head of Operations, Martin Izuogbe, Mrs Khan (for collecting  N185, 842,000 out of a N681million bribe); Fidelia Omoile( Electoral Officer in Isoko-South Local Government Area of Delta State)—N112,480,000 ; Uluochi Obi Brown( INEC’s Administrative Secretary in Delta State)—N111,500,000; a former Deputy Director  of INEC in Cross River State, Edem Okon Effanga—N241,127,000 and the Head of Voter Education in INEC in Akwa Ibom, Immaculata Asuquo—N214,127,000.

    The source added: “Very soon, we will arraign them in court. Some of them have admitted that they shared out of the bribe sum. Having recovered more than  N408.7million from some of the beneficiaries of the slush funds, we are set for trial.

    “As for the bank, it even refunded N49.7m profit made from the deal. With this, the culpability of the bank is not doubtful at all.

    “Since we have blocked  or frozen some accounts, we can recover these ill-gotten cash through court process.”

  • EFCC seizes Diezani’s husband’s passport

    EFCC seizes Diezani’s husband’s passport

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday grilled Rear Admiral Amaechina Alison-Madueke, husband of the embattled former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

    The anti-graft agency seized his travel passport to restrict his movement to Nigeria, pending the conclusion of its investigation.

    About two other ‘business associates’ of the ex-Minister were also said to be in EFCC’s custody’s last night.

    The arrest was said to be in connection with the ongoing probe of the activities of the ex-minister.

    The National Crime Agency (NCA) in the United Kingdom (UK) arrested and quizzed  Mrs Alison-Madueke and four others on October 2, last year for alleged bribery and corruption and money laundering.

    The EFCC has interrogated three to five more suspects since Mrs Alison-Madueke’s invitation by the NCA.

    According to sources, the former Military Governor of Imo State was grilled in connection with alleged money laundering following the screening of his accounts.

    There were conflicting reports on the amount in question last night.

    A source in the commission said: “We have interrogated Rear Admiral Alison-Madueke as part of the ongoing probe of his wife, who is the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources.

    “After interacting with him, he was granted administrative bail. But all his travelling documents are with us. Therefore, his movement has been restricted to the country pending the conclusion of this investigation.

    “Certainly, we will still have another round of interaction with Madueke any moment from now.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “The ongoing investigation of Diezani is extensive because of the sector she managed as a minister.”

    Another source added: “Based on intelligence sharing with investigators in the UK, we interacted with Madueke and some business associates of the ex-Minister.

    “We will release the details as may be necessary for public consumption because this investigation cuts across some countries.”

    The National Crime Agency (NCA) had in October 2015 arrested Mrs Alison-Madueke and four others.

     

  • Diezani at London police station

    Former Petroleum Resources Minister Mrs Diezeani Alison-Madueke yesterday showed up at the Charing Cross Police Station in London as part of the investigation into the allegation of money laundering against her.

    According to a report on Television Continental (TVC), Mrs Alison-Madueke was granted bail on the same condition given earlier and given a June 21 date to return.

    Last October, the former minister was arrested by the UK National Crimes Agency, alongside four others.

    She was accused of fraud and money laundering in the United Kingdom using a network of relatives and businessmen.

  • Embattled Diezani canonizes self

    Embattled Diezani canonizes self

    Dele Momodu’s online publication, The BOSS Newspaper, offered Nigerians two scoops in one fell swoop when it published two Saturdays ago an interview with former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. First was a recent and shocking photograph of her as a once- beautiful woman dealt a cruel hand of fate by breast cancer. And second were her incredibly predictable, if obfuscating, responses to some of Mr Momodu’s unsparing questions about her work and lifestyle. The interviewer did well to ask probing questions; the interviewee, sadly, and on all scores, was less than convincing, refusing to even convict herself for one distressing or self-deprecating moment. Given the extraordinary length she went to paint a patronising picture of herself and her time in office, it would not be far-fetched — though it would be uncharitable — to suggest she meant her unflattering photograph to project or embellish a contrived saintly image.

    No one would deny she was one of the most beautiful women ever to serve the republic, especially in high office. To add to the poignancy of her achievement, she served in what is probably the most visible office in Nigeria, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, as the country’s oil czarina. This was on top of the fact that she also once briefly occupied the office of Minister of Works, helped along by former president Goodluck Jonathan who, rumours suggested, had a dalliance with her. But along the line, fate dealt her a cruel hand, cutting short her exuberance, and etching on her once glamorous and sculpted face the unmistakable expressions of pain, inner turmoil and even horror. She was brave to grant the interview; indeed, she took a great risk; but the value of the interview appears vitiated by the seeming insincerity that was its leitmotif.

    It is doubtful whether there is anyone who read the interview who did not sneer at her responses. By her admission, she was harried by the Nigerian media, and perhaps also distrusted. That distrust may not abate anytime soon. But she is now unlikely to be harried with the same severity as when she was in office. For though Nigerians and their media love blood sport, they like their cornered animals to remain agile, sprightly and generally in fine fettle. In the said photograph, unfortunately, it could be seen that the former minister’s disintegration was rapid and relentless, and open for everyone, even the most sceptical, to see. That disintegration, not to say its precipitateness, will mollify the zeal and the rage with which she is hunted and excoriated. But nothing will lessen the dubiety of her responses in the view of the public.

    Asked, for instance, what accounted for the permanent state of war between her and the former First Lady, Dame Patience, she offered the tendentious reply that their relationship was cordial and, on her part, respectful. What the public didn’t know, she added gratuitously, was that her mother, Mrs Beatrice Agama, played the godmother in the Niger Delta, and everyone, including militants, was perhaps beholden to this matriarch of uncommon means. Does that mean she could not be at daggers drawn with Dame Patience? Or that — though this is not substantiated — she could not trespass on the tempestuous Dame’s connubial rectitude? The interview did not shy away from reflecting popular but perhaps exaggerated opinion of the former minister as a cougar of sorts. But to every question that hinted of her supposed dalliances, she poured scorn.

    So, in effect, Mrs Alison-Madueke is chaste, according to her own testimony. Until anyone has proof of anything contrary, the public must maintain silence on pain of libel. Closely leashed to her saintly portraiture is the answer she gave to a question on what the public believed was her predilection for wealth accumulation. She hinted ominously she was once defamed by some reckless gossipmongers, whom she successfully sued. She owned nothing and lived nowhere other than her husband’s house in Abuja bought by her husband before she became a minister at all, let alone Minister of Petroleum. If anyone thinks otherwise, she says, he is free to publish.

    And most engagingly, she finally addresses the issue of the so-called missing $20bn oil money. Echoing what Dr Jonathan once said angrily to reporters, that kind of money could not get missing without a trace. True. But that is assuming it didn’t get missing in trickles, or was not applied ingeniously to some other purposes, such as politics. However, until anyone or government panel can show proof that such an amount of money or something near it went missing, the public will have to take her word for it.

    Unlike her wrenching photograph, which shocked and probably  dulled public animosity towards her, her responses to the interviewer’s questions, in which she came across at once as guiltless and mendacious, are unlikely to change public opinion of her, whether she is telling the truth or not. But is there a woman in the world who will not give the same answers as Mrs Alison-Madueke?

     

  • Diezani: Jonathan wasn’t my lover

    Diezani: Jonathan wasn’t my lover

    Embattled former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has denied having any intimate relationship with former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Speaking in an interview published by The Boss magazine in London, where she is battling with cancer ,the former minister described the allegation as totally untrue.

    She said it was intended to tarnish her reputation as a successful and happily married woman.

    Mrs. Alison-Madueke, who looks emaciated in the photographs accompanying the interview, also denied dating any of the young businessmen in the oil and gas sector.

    The Jonathans, she said, had been family friends long before the ex-president came into office.

    She said her mother, Beatrice Agama, has always played the role of a godmother in the Niger Delta and is loved by all militants.

    Asked about the relationship between her and Chris Aire, Kola Aluko, Jide Omokore, Tonye Cole, Dapo Abiodun, Wale Tinubu, Igho Sanomi and others, she replied: “I vehemently deny any intimacy or liaison with any of these gentlemen.”

    She explained that some of these men were unknown to her until she became minister.

    According to her, she is happily married and would not do anything to jeopardise her marriage or smear herself in the eyes of her husband, children and family.

    Responding to rumours that her sister had a child for Jonathan, the former minister wondered how anyone could fabricate such tales saying, “That is totally untrue as I don’t have any such sister or relative!”

    On her relationship with former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, Madueke described it as cordial, saying she accorded the former the respect she should give the wife of her boss.

    On the allegation of financial impropriety leveled at her, especially the alleged disappearance of $20billion, Alison Madueke described it as a lie intended to cast aspersions on her person.

    She said: “How can $20billion disappear just like that? Where did it disappear to? Is it possible that such an amount would not be traceable?

    “This is more painful coming from someone I considered a good friend, who should appreciate the gravity of such allegation.

    “I challenge anyone to come forward with facts showing that I stole government or public money. I’ve never stolen Nigeria’s money.

    On allegations that she owns choice properties everywhere in choice capitals of the world, she responded: “It is so sad that anyone could say such about me.

    “Let me say something to you, I live with my husband in the same house we have lived since we married in 1999. Ask anyone who knows us.

    “Our house in Abuja was bought in 2007 by my husband and as an architect and lover of interior décor, I did it up to our own taste.

    “Anyone who tells you I have houses anywhere should feel free to publish them.

    “That was how they said I bought an expensive property in Vienna. I went to court and I won the case. I never saw the house before except in picture.

    “The house I stay in London is rented. As a woman, I love to look good. Some of my dresses and jewelleries are often dumped on me by those I buy from and I pay them when I can.”