The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)

  • Court upholds private lawyer’s right to prosecute Akpobolokemi

    Court upholds private lawyer’s right to prosecute Akpobolokemi

    The Federal High Court in Lagos Wednesday ruled that a private lawyer, Festus Afeyiodion, has the right to prosecute former Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Dr Patrick Akpobolokemi.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Akpobolokemi along with a former Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo).

    EFCC, in the 40 count-charge, said the suspects allegedly diverted N34 billion for personal use.

    Others charged along with them are Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, Odimiri Electricals Limited, Kemi Engozu, Boloboere Property and Estate Limited, Rex Elem, Destre Consult Limited, Gregory Mbonu and Captain Warredi Enisuoh.

    The commission alleged the money accrued from the public private partnership agreement between NIMASA and Global West Vessel Specialist, owned by Tompolo, who was arraigned in absentia.

    The second defendant’s counsel raised an objection that it was Festus Keyamo who was given a fiat to prosecute the case.

    He contended that the fiat given to Keyamo cannot be transferred to another person.

    Afeyiodion said he has the fiat to prosecute the matter. He showed it to the court as well as other defence counsel.

    Justice Ibrahim Buba ruled that the objection to Afeyodion’s appearance in the matter was misconcieved.

    “This is not a case of private prosecution and it is not unconstitutional. Section 106 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) is clear on this issue”, the judge said.

    Prosecution witness Ahmed Ghali, an EFCC investigator, tendered a benchmark report which which was allegedly altered through a verbal instruction by Akpobolokemi.

    The report was tendered by the witness as one of his findings during investigation.

    Ghali said all the defendants volunteered their statements in defence of the allegations against them.

    Copies of the statements written by Akpobolokemi, Elem, and Gregory Mbonu were tendered as exhibits and were admitted in evidence.

    Justice Babs adjourned to February 16 for continuation of trial

  • Contract scam: Absence of witnesses stalls trial of Jonathan’s cousin

    The trial of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin, Robert Azibaola and his wife, Stella was stalled Monday because of the failure of the prosecution to present its witness.

    The couple is being tried before the Federal High Court, Abuja on a seven-count charge of money laundering brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The duo is charged with a firm, Oneplus Holding Limited.

    When the case was called Monday, prosecution lawyer, Sylvanus Tahir told the court that his witnesses were absent.

    He regretted his inability to produce his witnesses, noting that they were key witnesses who were unavoidably absent in court.

    Tahir, who said he had, before the court’s proceedings, informed the defence lawyer about his predicament, sought a fresh date to enable him present his witnesses.

    Defence lawyer, Chris Uche (SAN) did not object to Tahir’s request for adjournment. He confirmed being informed about the prosecution’s predicament.

    Trial judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba adjourned to March 13 and 14 for continuation of trial.

    The prosecution has so far called who have all denied knowing the defendants or having anything to do with their company, Oneplus.

    A retired Permanent Secretary in the former NSA’s office, Ibrahim Mahe had in his testimony on June 28, 2016 said the funds in respect of which the couple was being prosecuted, was duly approved, adding that only the former NSA, Col Sambo Dasuki, retd, could say otherwise.

    Another witness,Boladode Faremo, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, told the court that Azibaola and his wife were “high net worth customers of the bank”.

    He said the inflow of $40m into account of the defendants was inconsequential considering their worth.

    Faremo said no query had been issued against the defendants in respect of their transactions with the bank.

  • Men more corrupt than women – Magu

    Men more corrupt than women – Magu

    Mr Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has said that corrupt tendencies were more pronounced among males than females.

    “Looking at the number of people that have been apprehended by the commission, the number of men involved outnumbers the women,” Magu said on Friday, in Abuja,

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Magu made the statement when the executive committee of the National Council of Women Society (NCWS), paid him a courtesy visit.

    He said, however, that women were not pure or immune to greed, but that were only less corrupt.

    Magu described women as nation builders, stressing that their roles in ensuring the right societal values could never be over-emphasized.

    The EFCC boss stressed the need for collaboration between the commission and NCWS in the fight against corruption.

    He explained that the commission had never undermined the rule of law in its anti-graft fight, adding that the EFCC, aside tackling economic crimes, was working hard to put an end to political corruption.

    “We respect the independence of the judiciary and auditing bodies in our efforts to ensure that the corrupt are prosecuted, while stolen assets are returned,” he said.

    Magu craved women’s support in the fight against corruption, and disclosed that the Lagos zone of the “Women Against Corruption” would be launched on Feb. 22, 2016 to enlist that support in the battle to rid Nigeria of the menace.

    Earlier, Dr. Gloria Shoda, President, NCWS, had said that achieving developmental goals would only be possible when resources in public trusts were properly utilized.

    “Such misuse of resources has always been the problem in the country,” she declared.

    Shoda commended President Muhammadu Buhari’s consistency in the fight against corruption, saying that it had raised the benchmark in public service.

    According to her, the behavioural changes have become evident while compliance to the rules of due process are encouraging.

    She said that EFCC had proved effective in government’s bid to arrest the tide, and expressed readiness to partner with Buhari and EFCC toward restoring Nigeria to the path of dignity and glory.

    The NCWS official challenged the Federal Government to extend the vigour put into fighting corruption, to sectors like education, roads, healthcare and security.

    “We want a Nigeria where our agricultural sector is functional and ranked among the best in the world, not just for the sake of economic diversification,” she said.

     

  • Arrest Fayose now, protesters tell EFCC

    Arrest Fayose now, protesters tell EFCC

  • Subsidy scam: Collapsed oil magnate still in hospital

    Subsidy scam: Collapsed oil magnate still in hospital

    Mrs Ada Ugo-Ngali, the Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, anad the co-defendant of Mr. Walter Wagbatsoma, the Chairman of the company, standing trial for N1.9 billion oil subsidy fraud, was absent in court on Monday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ugo-Ngali was rushed to hospital on Friday after slumping in the dock when her sentence was about to be read to out by Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja.

    Okunnu had found Wagbatsoma and Ugo-Ngadi guilty of an eight–count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretences, forgery and uttering brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The conviction of the duo is the first of its kind since the prosecution of oil subsidy fraud began in 2012.

    Wagbatsoma has been in recent months absent in court as he was reportedly held by the Interpol during a trip to Germany on June 6, 2016.

    He is currently being held in the United Kingdom on charges relating to a 12 million pounds National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Trust Fund fraud.

    During Monday’s proceedings, a medical certificate was presented to the court by the defence counsel and the counsel to the EFCC, Mr Rotimi Jacob, gave the court a status update on the case.

    Jacob said: “On Friday when the convict left the court, she was taken to a private clinic which the prison officials were not comfortable with.

    “Information that I got was that she was doing well and men of the EFCC were there to watch her from Friday to Sunday.

    “Her private doctor had assured us that she would be discharged on Saturday but she was transferred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) on Sunday.

    “My Lordship should take this medical report on its face value, the co-convict (Wagbatsoma) took off to Germany despite the fact that there are able medical doctors here.

    “This might be a ploy to avoid going to prison, the prison officials said that since the convict is in a government hospital, the men of the EFCC should withdraw and they did.”

    The EFCC prosecutor urged the judge to make an order for an independent assessment and should pronounce a sentence in respect of the company.

    Counsel to Ugo-Ngali, Mr Y.A Kadiri, however, opposed to the EFCC’s referring to his client as a convict.

    “Before the law, my client is still a defendant and not a convict.

    “I have read through Section 278 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) and it does not seem to make provisions for sentencing where the defendants are not present in court,” he told the court.

    Justice Okunnu noted the lacuna in the law and that since Ugo-Ngali was a representative of Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd and was not in court, she would not sentence the company in absentia.

    “The medical report from Havana Specialist Hospital dated Jan. 15, 2017 must be accompanied with an affidavit sworn to by the medical director of the hospital.

    “The medical attendant at LASUTH must swear to an affidavit as to her medical condition, the affidavits must be filed within a day.

    “The Commissioner of Police is hereby directed to keep her under watch.”

    The case has been adjourned to Jan. 18 for sentencing hearing.

  • EFCC docks suspected serial ‘land racketeer’ over dud cheque

    EFCC docks suspected serial ‘land racketeer’ over dud cheque

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned an alleged serial land racketeer, Olajide Dele Oyegbami, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    Oyegbami appeared before Justice A. Aderemi of the state High Court on a two-count charge bordering on issuance of a dud cheque, the commission said in a statement.

    The accused person, said to have been arraigned recently for a similar offence, was docked following the conclusion of an investigation in a petition filed by an unidentified person.

    The petitioner, according to the statement signed by EFCC spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, alleged that the accused person sold a plot of land to him sometime in October 2015.

    The statement said, “few weeks after the purchase of the plot of land, and construction work had commenced, Oyegbami allegedly instructed the petitioner to stop work.

    “His reason was that a woman (one Mojirade Adesokan) was in court on the said plot of land, adding that he didn’t know anything about the land dispute until November 2015.

    “Investigation, however, revealed that Oyegbami was privy to the case instituted by Adesokan and actually collected money for the sale of the said plot of land notwithstanding the restraint order placed on it by the court.

    “The petitioner, having invested about N4 million on the land in dispute, approached Oyegbami for a refund.

    “But the defendant, after much pressure, issued two separate cheques for N1million and N1.5million which upon presentation at the bank were dishonoured due to insufficient funds in the account.”

    The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges, after which counsel to the EFCC, Cosmas Ugwu, asked the court for a trial date.

    But the defence counsel, S. O. Sanni, informed the court that he had a pending application dated Jan. 4 which was filed in court and served on the prosecuting counsel same date.

    Moving the application, Sanni prayed the court to admit his client to bail.

    Justice Aderemi granted him bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

    The sureties must be civil servants working in the state and must at least be on GL 10.

    The case was adjourned to Feb 27 to 28 and March 1 for trial, the statement said.

  • IDPs: EFCC signs MoU with WFP

    IDPs: EFCC signs MoU with WFP

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday signed a MoU with the World Food Programme (WFP) to protect the distribution of food aids in the country against fraud.

    EFCC spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, who disclosed this in a statement, said the signing ceremony took place at the commission’s head office in Abuja.

    Under the MoU, EFCC officials are expected to closely monitor the implementation of WFP intervention programmes, including distribution of food aids to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the development is coming amid reports of diversion of relief materials meant for IDPs by government officials.

    In September, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the police to arrest officials accused of involvement in the act.

    The EFCC Acting Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, pledged the commission’s support for WFP to ensure that its donations and those of the government reached their beneficiaries free of corruption.

    Magu stated that the EFCC-WFP partnership would greatly help in alleviating the sufferings of internally displaced people especially in the northern part of the country.

    “We assure you that we will follow you to every nook and cranny of the North Eastern states such as Yobe, Borno and Adamawa.

    “We will be with you whereever you need our attention. If there are no operatives where you are, we will send you operatives from here.

    “We will support and work with your intervention to reach its beneficiaries without any threat of corruption,’’ the statement quoted him as saying.

    Earlier, Mr Bernadin Assiene, the WFP Director of Inspections and Investigations, noted that that the MoU was an important aspect of WFP’s intervention in Nigeria.

    Its main objective, according to him, is to ensure that all the support mobilised by the programme does not only effectively reach the target beneficiaries but also corruption-free.

    Assiene described the MoU as first of its kind and a confirmation that the EFCC was the right partner to help WFP to establish specific assurance mechanisms in Nigeria.

    “EFCC’s expertise, reputation and track record of successful engagements in the fight against fraud and corruption in the utilisation of foreign assistance is well recognised, both nationally and internationally,’’ he said.

    Mr Sory Ouane, the WFP Representative and Country Director, explained how the WFP had provided intervention to the North-East through its intervention programme, assuring that it would continue.

    “The ongoing conflict in northeast Nigeria has the potential to cause further displacement and increase food insecurity.

    “Therefore, WFP is revising its emergency operations to implement a robust scale up and an integrated response to meet the overwhelming needs in northeast Nigeria.

    “We are targeting 1.8 milllion people in Borno and Yobe in 2017,’’ Ouane said, according to the statement.
    While Magu signed the MoU on behalf of the EFCC, Assiene signed for the WFP, the statement added.

  • Money laundering: Court fixes March 6 for Uzor Kalu’s trial

    Money laundering: Court fixes March 6 for Uzor Kalu’s trial

    A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday fixed March 6-10 for the trial of former Abia governor Orji Uzor Kalu charged with money laundering.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on Oct. 31, preferred a 34-count charge of money laundering against Kalu and his former commissioner for finance, Ude Udeogo.However, both accused had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    At the resumed hearing of the case on Tuesday, the Presiding Judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, stood down the suit till 1 p.m for trial to allow a decongestion of the courtroom.

    Meanwhile, when the case was called the prosecution was unavailable, and after waiting for a length of time, the court was compelled to adjourn the case to a further date.

    After adjournment, the Prosecutor, Mr Adeniyi Adebisi, walked in and craved the court’s indulgence for his delay as he was attending to other matters. After series of submissions, the court ruled that further trial is fixed for March 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

    Kalu was alleged to have utilised his company to retain in the account of a First Inland Bank, now FCMB, the sum of N200 million.The sum is alleged to have formed part of funds illegally derived from the coffers of the Abia State Government.

     

    Cumulatively, in all the counts, the accused were alleged to have diverted over N3.2 billion from the Abia state government’s treasury during Kalu’s tenure as governor.

    The offence is said to have contravened the provisions of sections 15(6), 16, and 21 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2005. It is also said to have contravened the provisions of the Money Laundering Act of 1995 as amended by the amendment Act No. 9 of 2002, and Section 477 of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation, 1990.

  • Stolen funds: U.S. reiterates commitment

    Stolen funds: U.S. reiterates commitment

    The United States Government has again reiterated its commitment to assist Nigeria in recovering stolen funds from past administrations.

    Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, Mr David Young, gave the reassurance at an event to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day in Abuja on Thursday.

    “We know the recovery of stolen assets which are in the U.S and in other countries is an important part of that effort.

    “We are committed to partnering with the Nigerian Government, moving forward.

    Young said that the repatriation of the stolen funds was a “systemic effort that would take time adding that there were legal obligations that had to be met.

    The deputy head of mission also reiterated that corruption impacted negatively on governance and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    He further said the government had a variety of means in place to fight corruption and was committed to working with Nigeria.

    He said the event, organised by the embassy, would result in an honest dialogue that would evaluate the country’s progress in the fight against corruption.

    Participants at the event also called on Nigerians not to see the war against corruption as the government’s responsibility alone.

    They also called for enhanced cooperation among institutions responsible for maintaining law and order.

    Mr Gbolahan Latona, Head of the Legal Department, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said fighting corruption should be holistic.

    Latona added that inter-agency cooperation was important in tackling corruption.

    “All hands are welcome to fight this scourge,” he said.

    Commission Secretary, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr Elvis Oglafa, said it was important to have a national anti-corruption goal.

    Oglafa called for strict anti-corruption measures to be put in place to ensure the actualisation of the SDGs.

    “Corruption is not our problem; our major problem is education; we are talking about systems that should work.

    “Corruption is the impediment to SDGs, that’s why we are saying the EFCC, ICPC, Code of Conduct Bureau are not enough.”

    Participants at the event were drawn from the legislature, the judiciary and civil society.

  • Magu’s confirmation moved to Dec. 15

    Magu’s confirmation moved to Dec. 15

    The screening and confirmation of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),Mr Ibrahim Magu, was on Thursday, rescheduled to Dec. 15 by the Senate.

    The Deputy Leader of the Senate,Bala N’allah, made this known while addressing newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said the postponement of the exercise from Dec. 8 to Dec. 15 became necessary to allow for a full house to convene.

    According to him, lawmakers who travelled out of Abuja for official assignments requested the postponement pending their arrival to enable them to participate in the confirmation process.

    “The Senate is normally guided by the time frame of the work. We agreed that today will be the confirmation of the EFCC Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu.

    “But we received a lot of calls from senators who are away, who want to participate.

    “When we looked at the demand and the number we felt it will be wrong for us to proceed, disregarding those calls.

    “We decided to fix it for Tuesday but we were not sure if the President will declare Tuesday as Public Holiday, so we agreed to fix it for Thursday.

    “We have since written an official letter to the acting chairman fixing Thursday as the day for the confirmation hearing of his appointment,’’ he said.

    On why Magu’s confirmation had lingered for more than five months, N’allah said the senate had other matters of priority to attend to.

    “Anybody who is familiar with the normal procedure of governance would have known that there are certain procedures that need to be taken for candidates to be confirmed.

    “Whatever we do is always subject to interpretation but what is important is that a date has been fixed,” he said.

    The Presidency had in July written the Senate seeking the screening and confirmation of Magu as substantive chairman of the commission.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed Magu as acting chairman of the EFCC after the removal of Ibrahim Lamorde on Nov. 9, 2015.

    Before his appointment, Magu was the Head of Economic Governance Unit of the commission.

    If confirmed, Magu will be the fourth head of the anti-graft agency, after Nuhu Ribadu, Farida Waziri and Ibrahim Lamorde.