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Tag: looted

  • How N28.2b Ecological Fund was looted, by AGF

    Ecological fund is meant to fight disasters, but looters have dipped their hands into it, report Yusuf Alli and Moses Emorinken, Abuja

    SOME of the abuses of the multi-billion naira Ecological Fund have been laid bare by the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF).

    About N28.286billion was deducted from the fund in 2016 for activities not related to development of natural resources, Mr. Anthony Ayime has said.

    About N74,888,718,334.59 was credited to the fund in 2016.

    The first tranche was N26, 286, 790, 023.51 being 2 per cent deduction from the Federation Account for ecological matters. The second remittance of N48,601,928,311.08 was received into the Ecological Fund as the required 3.0% deduction from the Federation Account for the Development of Natural Resources.

    But the AGF said the N28.286 billion was paid out as a loan to execute unrelated activities.

    About $26,262,667.15 royalties, payable by oil firms, have not been remitted.

    Also, the AGF indicted the nation’s embassies in Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and in Britain.

    The embassy in Germany cannot account for N298.8million.

    These discoveries were contained in the AGF’s 2016 Audit Report, which has been presented to the National Assembly for consideration.

    The report said: “The Ecological Fund was set up for the amelioration of general ecological problems in any part of Nigeria. Examination of records presented for audit revealed that the sum of N26,286,790,023.51 was credited to the Ecological Fund as the required 2 per cent deduction from the Federation Account in the year 2016.

    “Examination of FAAC records revealed that a total amount of N48,601,928,311.08 was received into the Ecological Fund in the year, as the required 3.0% deduction from the Federation Account for the Development of Natural Resources.

    It was observed that N28,239,060,570.89, representing about 58%, was paid out of the Fund as loan for various activities that are not related to development of natural resources.

    “We recommend that henceforth, the Federal Government deploys these special funds only for the stated objectives of the Funds.

    ”We note that the various withdrawals from Funds by the Federal Government are stated to be borrowings.

    “We further observed that the arrangements for the repayment of these funds or borrowings are unclear. For example, the 2017 budget did not include any appropriations for the repayment of these borrowings.

    “We, therefore, further recommend that arrangements are clarified immediately, for the repayment of any funds not disbursed for the prescribed purposes of these Funds.”

    In its review of the activities of the Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR), the AGF accused oil firms of not paying about $26,262,667.15 royalties.

    “A detailed explanation was requested for the outstanding Receivables due to DPR as at December, 2016 and ultimately to the Federation Account.

    “The Director DPR has also been requested to expedite efforts towards the recovery of all outstanding Royalties, and to forward the updated status to this Office for verification,” the report said.

    The AGF also indicted the nation’s embassies in Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and in the United Kingdom.

    The report added: “During the audit examination of accounts and records of Nigeria Embassy, Berlin, Germany, the following observations were made:- (a) Vote books maintained for Personnel Cost at the Embassy, revealed that the total amount received and verified on the US Dollar Account in 2015 was N463,435,150.69, which translates to $2,637,097.66 (two million, six hundred and thirty-seven thousand, ninety-seven dollars, sixty-six cents). The accumulated expenditure recorded under Personnel Cost, as at the last posting date of December 18, 2015, amounted to N164,541,521.04  thereby leaving a balance of N298,893,629.65  which was not accounted for. There was no disclosure in the Vote book, of how this fund was expended.

    “The Permanent Secretary was requested to account for the balance of N298,893,629.65 or refund the amount to Treasury and forward treasury receipt for verification.

    “Audit examination of the US Dollar Account Bank Statement for 2016 Personnel Cost to the Nigeria Embassy, Berlin, Germany revealed funds totaling $1,710,324.35 equivalent to N335,357,629.10, appearing on the specified dates.

    “However, from the funds released, it was observed that:

    • The total expenditure recorded was N242,264,170.58,  hence the Personnel cost was supposed to have had a credit balance of N93,093,458.50  as against an over-expenditure of N69,349,489.08 recorded in the vote book as at the time of audit in November 2016.
    • It was equally observed that out of the 7 (seven) funds transferred, only 3 (three) totaling N170,401,598.03  were posted into the Vote book.
    • The purported over expenditure of N69,349,489.08 would therefore not be accepted as an accurate balance of the Personnel cost.

    “The Permanent Secretary should justify the over-expenditure of N69,349,489.08  or refund the amount to chest and furnish evidence for verification.

    “During the audit examination of the Bank Reconciliation Statement presented by the Nigeria Embassy, Berlin, Germany, the following observations were made:

    (i)  Debits in Bank not in Cash book totaling €25,618.82, which should have been expeditiously cleared through reconciliation, were carried forward over several months in the Bank Reconciliation Statement.

    “This action has led to a situation where the management understates the amount in the

    Banks as indicated below:

    S/N Details Amount (€)

    1 January 2015 54,968.92

    2 February 2015 146,477.96

    3 March 2015 186,919.93

    4 April 2015 221,098.32

    5 May 2015 226,591.89

    6 June 2015 135,026.23

    7 July 2015 230,862.93

    8 August 2015 229,905.59

    9 September 2015 360,096.30

    10 October 2015 389,418.08

    11 November 2015 396,380.05

    12 December 2015 435,012.18

    13 January 2016 420,724.51

    14 February 2016 441,839.70

    15 March 2016 452,205.76

    Grand Total €4,327,528.35

    “As shown above, the management understated the bank balances between January 2015 and March 2016 to the tune of €4,327,528.35. This shows a clear indication of mismanagement of government funds. The cheque numbers indicate that the cheques were purportedly written by the Finance Attaché without appropriate authorisation and without raising payment vouchers for the expenditure. The same sets of cheques continued to feature after it had been deducted from the Cashbook balance in the previous months.

    “This was contrary to the provisions of Financial Regulation 807, which states that “Sub- Accounting Officers will ensure that all outstanding items in the Bank Reconciliation Statement are cleared expeditiously.

    “The Mission failed to prove that the payment did not emanate from it, otherwise bank would have been held responsible and value would have been gotten. Therefore, this was perceived to be fraud and needed to be thoroughly investigated.

    “Some lodgments of funds made to the account were usually not reflected in the cashbook, hence making it difficult to ascertain the total amount received by the Embassy as recorded in the cashbook by the Finance Attaché.

    “The Bank Reconciliation statements were not signed by the Sub-Accounting officer responsible for the preparation of the Bank Reconciliation Statement.

    “The Permanent Secretary was requested to ask the Ambassador, the Head of Chancery and the Finance Attaché to refund a total sum of €4,327,528.35 to chest, with the receipts forwarded to my Office for verification. No response was received.

    “Also, a high powered investigative team should be constituted to conduct an in-depth investigation to ascertain the reasons for the continued understatement of the amount that is standing as balancing figure in the Bank Reconciliation Statement for the period under review. They should be mandated to investigate the way and manner funds are deducted from the accounts of the Embassy without due approval and due process.

    “The Finance Attaché should be properly trained on the preparation of Bank Reconciliation Statement as provided in Public Sector Accounting and Financial Regulations 806 and 807. The Permanent Secretary should confirm action on the above issues.

    “During audit inspection of properties owned and maintained by the Nigeria Embassy Berlin, it was observed that the Federal Government owned a property in Bonn with the following information: Vulkanstr 69, 53179 Bonn Located in District of Mehlem, Plot 154, Compound and Building with 5446 Square Meters.

    “Audit enquiry revealed that the property has not been in use, yet the Embassy continues to incur huge maintenance costs on it.

    “The Permanent Secretary was requested to consider seeking approval from Government to sell off the property located at Bonn and utilise the funds to purchase another property in Frankfurt, or convert the property to an investment under a Public, Private Partnership arrangement (PPP) to generate revenue. The Permanent Secretary should provide an update on measures taken to effectively utilise the property.

    “The issues raised were communicated to the Permanent Secretary through my Audit inspection Report Ref. No. SMEA/OAuGF/AIR/BERLIN/2016/Vol.1/1 dated 25th January 2017. No response was received from the Ministry.”

     Regarding the nation’s embassy in The Netherlands, the AGF said about N40,579million was missing in transit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the mission in The Hague. 

    It said: “During the audit inspection of the books of accounts and records maintained by the Nigeria Embassy at The Hague, Netherlands, the following observations were made:-

    (a)           Funds for Overhead expenditure in 2015 totaling N40,579,035.00  could not be traced to the Mission’s Overhead account. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the release of this amount to the Embassy as follows:

    (i)  N30,434,276.00 – April 2015 Over-head cost with AIE No 226 – 21/4/2015.

    (ii)     N10,144,759.00 – May 2015 Over-head cost with AIE No 341 – 01/07/2015.

    There is an urgent need to investigate properly, the whereabouts of the N40,579,035.00 claimed to have been remitted by the Ministry, but not received at the Embassy, at The Hague.

    The Permanent Secretary was requested to establish the true position of the N40,579,035.00  purportedly transferred, recover the funds to chest and forward evidence for verification. No response was received on this matter from the Ministry.

    (b) The Nigerian Foreign Service Regulation 29 stipulates: “Every Nigerian Diplomatic or Consular post shall be stocked with reference and operational hand books which are designed to serve as works of reference for effectiveness of the missions”. A test for compliance with this regulation revealed that the Nigeria Embassy at The Hague was not complying.

    “A bookshelf found in one of the offices was in a state of neglect and filled with old stocks. There was no evidence that it had been put to use in recent times. The following observations were also made:

    (i)  Books and magazines in the library were not properly stocked.

    (ii) The books were neither indexed nor catalogued;

    (iii)   There was no Register for the few available books. There was gross lack of control and this could give room to pilferages;

    (iv)    The accounting records revealed that N233,993.00 was received between 2015 and November, 2016 for the purchase of books and magazines. The amount was evidently not utilised for the intended purpose.

    “The Permanent Secretary was requested to ensure that:

    (i)    The Mission desists from diverting funds meant for books and magazines;

    (ii)   The Mission updates its stock of books and magazines.

    (iii) All the books are properly catalogued and indexed, in accordance with modern library standards.

    (iv)  A well trained staff is appointed to supervise the library.

    “The issues were communicated to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs through my Audit Inspection report Ref. No. SMEA/OAuGF/AIR/HAGUE/2016/VOL.1 dated 31st January, 2017. The Permanent Secretary should confirm that recommendations (i)-(iv) above have been implemented.”

    The AGF also confirmed that as at 2016 when the audit was carried  out, the Embassy of Nigeria, Dublin, had no bank account in Ireland.

     ”At the Embassy of Nigeria, Dublin, Ireland, the following observations were made:- (a) The Mission did not maintain any bank account in Ireland during the period under review due to foreign exchange regulations and challenges associated with currency conversion from US Dollars to Euros. However, it operated 7 (seven) bank accounts with a commercial bank in London (UK). Documents relating to 5 (five) of the accounts were presented and examined while documents relating to the other 2 (two) accounts were not presented for audit inspection.

    “The Minister/Counselor (Consular), who controls the 2 (two) accounts, insisted that the accounts were not subject to audit, contrary to the provisions of Section 85(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and Financial Regulation 110.

    “I have called for the Permanent Secretary’s reaction to the position of the Minister/Counselor. Accordingly, the Permanent Secretary should provide a status report on this matter.

    “The Vote Books were not well maintained during the 2015 and 2016 financial years. The last entries in the 2015 Vote books were dated 20th October, 2015 – 29th October, 2015. No further entries were made in the Vote books till the end of the year.

    “Similarly, the 2016 Vote books presented for audit were not maintained as stipulated in the Financial Regulations. Only entries in respect of Overhead costs AIE No. MFA/MS/OH/027/2016 and the expenditure arising therefrom, dated 22nd July 2016 were made, but not according to the columns of the Vote Book. Aside these entries, there was no other entry in the Vote book, either before or after 22nd July, 2016.

    “The Permanent Secretary was requested to explain this disregard for controls in government financial management, but no response was received at the time of concluding this Report. Accordingly, the Permanent Secretary should provide an update on this matter.

    “The sum of €113,307.29  (N24,632,019.57) collected by the Embassy between January 2013 – October, 2016 as revenue from Emergency Travel Certificates, Authentication of Documents, etc. was not remitted to J.P. Morgan and Citibank as at the time of audit in November, 2016.

    “The amounts were purportedly borrowed by the mission for payment of local staff and to meet other sundry expenditures. This is contrary to Financial Regulation 223 which emphasizes accountability in full of all revenues received. Hence, the Permanent Secretary was asked to remit these revenues to the appropriate government account and forward the remittance particulars for my verification. No response was received.

    “The monthly wage bill of the local staff of the Embassy which stands at €12,712.00 (Twelve thousand, seven hundred and twelve Euros (N2,763,478.26) fortnightly does not reflect the economic realities of the present times. Where certain services could be obtained as the need arises, the Embassy went ahead to engage them on permanent basis such as legal services where a lawyer was recently employed.

    “ Accounting officers are expected to abide by the provisions of Financial Regulation 415 which requires exercise of due economy in all government expenditures. The Permanent Secretary was advised to disengage these excess staff and revert to hiring their services only when the need arises.

    “As at the time of the audit visit in November, 2016, the Embassy owed its officers and other service providers the sum of €61,179.90 n(N13,299,978.26).

    “The Permanent Secretary was asked to verify these debts with a view to timely settling them, as this is portraying the Embassy in bad light, especially with its service providers.

    “The issues were communicated to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs through my Audit Inspection Report dated 3rd April, 2017. No response was received from the Ministry. Consequently, the Permanent Secretary should provide an up-date of action taken on all the matters raised.

     Findings by the AGF indicated that the Nigerian Mission in the UK, one of the oldest, was not spared of the rot.

    Auditors discovered that the staff strength of the mission was over-bloated and £1,528,171.48 could not be accounted for.

    The report said during the audit inspection of the Nigerian High Commission, London, United Kingdom, it was discovered that the staff strength of the Mission was over-bloated, especially the local staff who numbered 106 as at the time of inspection in November, 2016. Arbitrary and discretionary engagement, deployment and placement of local staff were observed in most cases, among other anomalies.

  • Repatriating looted funds

    •All countries must cooperate to make the global war on money laundering successful

    We identify with the frustration of the Federal Government as expressed by the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, over the challenges it faces in repatriating funds looted from our country by some of the past leaders. Of note, under municipal laws, receiving stolen property with the knowledge that the goods are stolen, exposes the receiver to the same punishment as the thief. Unfortunately, under international law, this is not the same, as some countries duplicitously create the enabling legal regime for laundering of stolen assets.

    Such ignominious lacuna has enabled countries, especially developed countries, to connive with thieving public officials from Third World countries, to create safe havens for warehousing humongous resources stolen from the developing countries. This is sad, and we urge the international community to redress this anomaly.

    Vice President Osinbajo raised Nigeria’s frustration in repatriating looted funds, when he declared open the 18th Ministerial Committee meeting of the Inter-Governmental Action Against Money Laundering in West Africa (also known as GIABA).

    GIABA is an agency established by ECOWAS with the responsibility for facilitating the adoption and implementation of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT) protocols in West Africa. In his address, Osinbajo said: “Permit me to raise a matter of considerable importance to many of our nations. It is the difficulty we experience in repatriating proceeds of corruption from financial institutions of the more developed nations.” Indeed, it is strange that while developed countries harass developing countries to sign the conventions, their conduct over looted funds undermine the objectives of those protocols.

    As noted by the Vice President, the challenges exist despite the numerous international organs established to fight international money laundering. As he noted: “despite numerous mutual legal assistance treaties and conventions, it is obvious that we are not making the sort of progress we expect to see.” He went on: “It is unconscionable to have stolen funds in a bank within the jurisdiction of an FATF (Financial Action Task Force) country and to have to go through a rigorous obstacle to retrieve the funds and even when such funds are to be returned after several years, humiliating conditions are attached.”

    Nigeria has been unlucky with some of its leaders with respect to public corruption. For instance, during the regime of Gen. Sani Abacha, humongous national resources were stolen and siphoned out of the country by the rogue regime, through one guise or the other. Again, some influential Nigerian leaders have perfected the practice of using anonymous corporate entities to salt away the nation’s resources to European countries or other countries that operate opaque tax regimes, in their effort to hide their ill-gotten wealth and avoid payment of taxes. Considering that kleptomaniacs and rogue regimes are not the exclusive preserve of Africans, there is the need for a global approach to find a solution to this menace.

    The view of the Nigerian government as expressed by the Vice President that: “FATF countries must ensure the smooth repatriation of proceeds of corruption to the economies from where they were stolen,” should be made international economic policy and pursued with vigour at all international fora, by all nations. It is double standards when western democracies promote FATF to fight funding of terrorist activities, but create safe-havens for Third World elites to hide the stolen common wealth of their people.

    As observed by the Vice President: “the Panama Papers and now the Paradise papers clearly illustrate the global scale and spread of this problem (dangers posed by anonymous corporate ownership).” As he correctly posited: “We cannot have anonymous ownership of companies, trusts and other arrangements designed to cover ownership of assets and at the same time expect optimal results from anti-money laundering measures.”

  • Looted funds weakening financial system, says ASSBIFI

    Looted funds weakening financial system, says ASSBIFI

    The Association Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) has said looted funds  are affecting the financial system.

    The union said the financial system remained weak in liquidity and undercapitalised because stolen funds were in private vaults and were accounted for in the financial system.

    In a statement signed by its President, Comrade Oyinkansola Olasanoye, the union said the wealth of the nation, the basic infrastructure that the people have been denied, the healthcare that the people lack are in the funds locked up in private vaults of privileged individuals who have their way into the nation’s treasury whether named or not.

    “Nigerians of all tribes and languages have been continually caught by surprise at every instance of cash piles and dollar caches discovered in various private vaults, safes, underground and surface tanks and in private locked up shops across the nation.

    “In some interesting cases, the ownership of the cash is left to the speculation of the public with laughable accusation and counter accusations.

    “The cash which comes in foreign currencies and our local higher denominations was even abandoned at the airport lounge on an occasion in a most dramatic fashion,” she said.

    Olasanoye urged  the government to continue to strengthen the relevant anti-corruption institutions and build a strong system around strong values and beyond personalities, adding  that government should encourage people to speak the truth to power at all levels, whether through citizens’ media or the regular mass media.

    She said  the government should go beyond the financial reward to whistleblowers, and put in place laws that will protect the whistleblowers against any form of retaliation.

    “We also encourage our members in the insurance and banking sector to get involved in the whistle blowing of any person or persons known to them to be involved in the practice of cash racketeering. This is intended to save our system

    “That ASSBIFI shall continue to support the efforts of government to rid the financial system of corruption at all levels. We therefore demand that anti-corruption agencies should intensify efforts into preventive activities by working hand in hand with the financial system operators and regulators in ensuring that access to such cash is prevented at the commercial banks and the CBN.

    “The government must not mistake the shocked silence of the populace for ambivalence as the people shall demand in due course a more proactive approach to anti-corruption as against the present reactionary trend,” she said.

    She said the people shall desire to see a more diligent prosecution of corruption cases and a stem in the tide of corruption cases being lost to lack of diligent prosecution.

  • EFCC: How Ladoja ‘diverted’ part of Oyo’s N4.7b

    EFCC: How Ladoja ‘diverted’ part of Oyo’s N4.7b

    The Federal High Court in Lagos Friday heard how former Oyo State Governor Rasheed Ladoja diverted part of N4.7billion he allegedly looted from the state treasury.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) re-arraigned Ladoja for allegedly converting state funds to his personal use. He was first arraigned eight years ago.

    He was charged along with Waheed Akanbi on eight counts of money laundering and unlawful conversion of public funds.

    Ladoja’s Senior Special Executive Assistant, Mr. Adewale Atanda, while testifying for the prosecution, said the former governor gave directive that Oyo State’s shares be sold.

    He said N634million, which was part of the commission and profit realised by stockbrokers handling the shares’ sale, were used as slush funds to prevent Ladoja’s impeachment.

    The witness said the N634million was delivered to him by the stockbrokers.

    He said he removed N180million from the sum, which he had earlier borrowed and spent on Ladoja’s instructions during the heat of the impeachment saga.

    Part of the N180million, he said, was the N80million he obtained from Wema Bank Plc, which Ladoja used to purchase 22 vehicles for Oyo State lawmakers to prevent his impeachment.

    Another was a loan of N80million, which he (Atanda) obtained from Lagoon Savings and Loans to buy Ladoja a property at Quarters 361, which the Oyo State Government put up for sale.

    He said there was also N13.8million which Ladoja used to buy two Land Cruisers for the state security personnel for his protection.

    Atanda said having deducted the N180million which he borrowed on Ladoja’s behalf, he distributed the balance of the N634million according to Ladoja’s instructions.

    Among the beneficiaries, he said, was Bimpe, to whom he delivered pounds in London in 2007, and Ladoja’s wife, Yinka, who also got N20million, N19.5million and $13,000 on different occasions.

    Other beneficiaries, Atanda said, were lawyers who represented Ladoja in court.

    Explaining the circumstances in which £600,000 was paid to Bimpe, Atanda said: “His Excellency wanted me to pay the money into his account but I had difficulty doing it.

    “I told him and he said he would ask his daughter to contact me. She did and I gave her the money.

    “The money was mostly in £50 notes; I put it in small suitcases and handed the money over to her in London. I think it was in 2007.”

    Under cross-examination by Ladoja’s lawyer, Bolaji Onilenla, Atanda said neither Bimpe nor Ladoja gave him anything to acknowledge the payment of the £600,000 to Bimpe.

    Ladoja was governor from May 29, 2003 to January 12, 2006 when he was impeached.

    On November 1, 2006, the Appeal Court Ibadan, declared the impeachment null and illegal.

    The Supreme Court upheld the decision on November 11, 2009, and Ladajo resumed office on December 12, 2006.

    He, however, lost a re-election bid.

    Justice Mohammed Idris adjourned until April 12 and 13.

     

  • NLNG disowns link to looted funds recovery

    NLNG disowns link to looted funds recovery

    Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) said its attention has denounced  the alleged link with the reported N115 billion loot published in the media, saying it was in bad taste to taint its image.

    According to its General Manager, External Relations Division, Kudo Eresia-Eke, the said media report titled: “N115 billion loot: Ex Air chiefs, politicians top refund list”, was said to have quoted an unnamed public official,  that “$3.1 billion was intercepted in the accounts of NNPC and NLNG and was yet to be moved to the Central Bank of Nigeria in line with the Transaction Single Account (TSA) policy”, defied the ethics of the profession..

    He said: “NLNG views this statement with utmost seriousness and wishes to denounce it as misleading and untrue.

    “To our knowledge, no NLNG’s accounts are the subject of any recovery effort by the EFCC or any other similar authority, more especially as NLNG is a private company and not a government agency or parastatal.

    “We are surprised that these misleading reports continue to be rehashed despite categorical statements by ourselves and third parties, including the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to the effect that NLNG has no outstanding obligations to government.

    “We wish to use this medium to appeal to all concerned stakeholders to take the necessary care of checking the accuracy of information before publication.”

  • Delta community, military trade words over ‘looted’ N370m property, cash

    Residents of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri Southwest Local Government Area of Delta State and the military have traded accusations over alleged looting of the communities’ property and cash estimated at N370 million.

    The residents accused security operatives who participated in recent military operations in their communities of stealing property and cash.

    They said the military personnel robbed Oporoza, the kingdom’s headquarters, of property estimated at N300 million and N70 million cash.

    But the Army described the accusation as unbelievable and lacking in logic.

    The Armed Forces recently carried out a cordon-and-search operation in some communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom, following renewed attacks on oil and gas facilities in the area.

    In a statement by the Chairman of Kokodiagbene community, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, Gbaramatu residents claimed that property estimated at N300 million were looted from homes in Oporoza and N70 million cash stolen from the king’s palace by the security personnel on the mission.

    The community’s spokesman urged the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, to investigate, recover and return the allegedly looted property and cash to the communities.

    He said Army’s failure to do so might force the kingdom to take a legal action against the Armed Forces.

    Mulade said: “It’s worthy to stated that the Army looted valuable goods worth over N300,000,000 and about N70,000,000 cash meant for the completion of the Pere’s palace. We are appealing to the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Burutai, to probe his men and recover the looted items from the palace and other residents and kindly return them to the law-abiding citizens of Oporoza.

    “We believe the Army has the capacity to thoroughly investigate and bring the looters to book for the image of Army… As law-abiding citizens, we have no option than to institute a suit against the authority to recover our items, if the authority fails.

    “According to the Joint Task Force (JTF), the operation Cordon and Search was aimed at unmasking the militants and vandals. The authority has failed to arrest and parade any of the Avengers. Rather, it has been parading innocent youths in the Niger Delta to cover up its failures. They continue to perpetrate the heinous crimes by destroying our environment and causing untold hardship.”

    But spokesman of the 4 Brigade of the Army in Benin, the Edo State capital, Captain Jonah Unuakhalu, noted that the allegations were unfounded.

    He expressed surprise at the claims, wondering how soldiers on such operation, within the limited time could cart away property worth N300 million on gunboats.

    Unuakhalu said: “I don’t believe that any such thing happened. But my own is that first I’m in Benin, not in Warri. So, maybe I’ll have to put a call through to know what went down there. However, I just believe all these are fictions because you said property worth N300 million. How would they have moved such? “Let’s both look at it. How did they move it? This is a creek we are talking about and these people move in gunboats. How would they have moved property worth N300 million? I don’t know if you are getting my simple analogy.

    “I read in one of the papers that five of the people we paraded the other time are Senior Secondary School (SSS) 2 pupils. I mean: why do people just come out with stories that do not make any sense?

    “Let’s be realistic: N300 million worth of property? Haba! They even claimed military personnel were raping women. These are all stories coming out of their imaginations just to give the Army a bad name. They are just being funny and economical with the truth.”

  • Breakdown of recovered looted funds, assets

    Cash Recoveries
    Serial Items Naira US Dollar GB Pounds Euro
    1 EFCC Cash at hand 39,169,911,023.00 128,494,076.66 2,355 11,250
    2 Royalty/tax/payment to FGN account in JP Morgan account New York 4,642,958,711.48 40,727,253.65
    3 ONSA Funds Recovery Account in CBN 5,665,305,527.41 8,000,000.00
    4 VAT recovered from companies by ONSA 529,588,293.47
    5 EFCC Recovered Funds Account in CBN 19,267,730,359.36 455,253.80
    6 ICPC Revenue Collection Recovery in CBN 869,957,444.89
    7 Office of the Attorney General 5,500,000,000 5,500,000
    8 DSS Recoveries 47,707,000.5 1,943,000.5 3,506,000.46
    9 ICPC Cash Asset Recovery 2,632,196,271.71
    Total 78,325,354,631.82 185,119,584.61 3,508,355.46 11,250
    Recoveries Under Interim Forfeiture
    Serial Items Naira US Dollar GB Pounds Euro
    1 Cash in bank under interim forfeiture 8,281,577,243.92 1,819,866,364.73 3,800.00 113,399.17
    2 Amount frozen in bank 48,159,179,518.90 7,131,369,498.49 605,647.55
    3 Value of properties under interim forfeiture 41,534,605,998.00 77,844,600.00 1,875,000.00 190,000.00
    4 Value of cars under interim forfeiture 52,500,000.00
    5 ONSA Funds under interim forfeiture 27,001,464,125.20 43,771,433.73
    6 Value of Assets Recovered by ONSA 512,000,000.00
    7 ONSA Assets under interim forfeiture 260,000,000.00
    8 DSS Recoveries Frozen in Banks 658,929,000.00 226,476.20
    9 EFCC Cash in Bank under final forfeiture 103,225,209.41 17,165,547.00
    Total 126,563,481,095.43 9,090,243,920.15 2,484,447.55 303,399.17
    Grand Total 204,888,835,727.25 9,275,363,504.76 5,992,803.01 314,649.17
    Funds Awaiting Return From Foreign Jurisdictions
    Jurisdiction US Dollar GB Pounds Euro
    1 Switzerland 321000000
    2 UK 6900000
    3 UAE 310501 11826.11
    4 USA 6225.1
    Total 321,316,726.1 6,900,000 11,826.11
    Non Cash Recoveries
    Serial Items Quantity
    ICPC EFCC ONSA
    1 Farmland 22
    2 Plot of Land 4
    3 Uncompleted Building 1
    4 Completed Building 33 145 4
    5 Vehicles 22 3
    6 Maritime Vessels 5

  • AGF denies frustrating recovery of looted funds

    AGF denies frustrating recovery of looted funds

    •Malami replies Buhari’s query

    Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami has denied allegation that he was frustrating moves by the Federal Government to recover looted public funds.

    Malami’s position is contained in his response to a query issued to him in relation to a petition written against him to President Muhammadu Buhari by a security expert, George Uboh, of Panic Alert Security System (PASS).

    Uboh was engaged by the AGF on February 9 to recover public funds stashed away by individuals in different Nigerian banks and some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The minister revoked Uboh’s appointment through a letter dated March 24 on the grounds that he exceeded his brief.

    Angered by the development, Uboh petitioned the President, alleging among others, that the minister had allegedly entered into an unholy alliance with authorities of the affected banks.

    He was particular about the case of Access Bank Plc, alleging that a senior official of the bank called him, few days before Malami revoked his contract, that the AGF has agreed to prevail on him to soft pedal.

    Uboh’s petitions are captioned: “AGF Malami’s failure to recover over N300 billion traced by our firm within 27 days; AGF worked against us” and Abubakar Malami’s failure to allow us trace the N1.993 trillion EFCC failed to remit to the FGN, while promising to set up a phantom committee to investigate EFCC.”

    Malami described as false Uboh’s claims that he deliberately frustrated him in his (Uboh’s) effort to recover the over N300 traced to some Nigerian banks, and that he (Malami) made an unholy alliance with the banking sector mafia not to cooperate with PASS, and/or that he promised Access Bank that he would call Uboh to soft pedal on the bank.

    The AGF said: “I must state that the above allegations are untrue, incorrect, false, a figment of the imagination of the author and a smear campaign by Dr. Uboh to tarnish my name.

    “I did not make, never made and will never make any alliance with anyone in and outside of the banking industry to frustrate PASS or any firm from recovering any FGN’s funds stashed/trapped in the listed banks or any bank or company in Nigeria or elsewhere.

  • Ex-DG okayed ‘looted’ funds, witness insists

    Ex-DG okayed ‘looted’ funds, witness insists

    An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness, Mrs. Olamide Odusanya, yesterday insisted that a former Director-General (DG) of the Nigeria Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi, approved N498,200,000 and N318,000,000 part of which were allegedly looted.

    Odusanya, an assistant director in the Financial Services Department of NIMASA, testified before Justice Raliat Adebiyi that the N498,200,000 and N318,000,000 were not retired by the former DG.

    The witness affirmed that the N498.2 million was approved in 2014 for the implementation of the Voluntary International Maritime Organisation Member State Audit Scheme (VIMSAS) project by NIMASA.

    Akpobolokemi and six others are alleged to have diverted N754,740,680 meant for the implementation of Voluntary International Maritime Organisation Member State Audit Scheme at NIMASA.

    The others are Captain Ezekiel Agaba, Ekene Nwakuche, Governor Amechee Juan, Vincent Udoye, Captain Adegboyega Sahib Olopoenia and a company, Gama Marine Nigeria Limited.

    Led in examination-in-chief yesterday by prosecuting counsel Rotimi Oyedepo, Odusanya said by a letter to the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) on April 15, 2015, Akpobolokemi obtained approval for the N498.2 million from the President.

    She affirmed that the process was repeated for the N318 million and that both funds were released “in preparation for the implementation of the VIMSAS project.”

    However, under cross examination by first defendant’s counsel Dr. Joseph Nwobike, the witness admitted that she was not a member of VIMSAS committee and was neither aware of how it negotiated with contractors nor the process leading to payments made by the committee.

    Odusanya said on the face of documents presented to her, the first defendant, Akpobolokemi, acted “in lawful exercise of his duties as chief accounting officer” when he directed the second defendant, Captain Agaba, to disburse the funds.

    She further admitted under questioning by Agaba’s counsel E.D. Onyeke that the NIMASA Financial Services Department received a memo to clarify that the expenditure of N498.2 million and N318 million “were security related and did not require retiring.”

    Odusanya added that she could not tell if the projects for which the funds were approved were implemented.

    Justice Adebiyi adjourned till today for continuation of trial.

  • ‘Looters should return looted funds’

    ‘Looters should return looted funds’

    Former Deputy Senate Minority Leader Olorunnimbe Mamora is excited by the anti-graft war of President Muhammadu Buhari. In this interview with LEKE SALAUDEEN, he speaks on the renewed anti-corruption battle, the performance of the National Assembly, the Biafra agitation and national security.

    Are you surprised by the revelations from the investigation of $2.1 billion arms cash?

    I am not surprised but only surprised with the magnitude of the revelations, it is mind boggling. The President Goodluck Jonathan administration appeared not to have put anyone in doubt as to the level of impunity under it; it was an administration riddled with impunity. I am sure the Dasukigate is just a tip of an ice berg. Definitely, there are more other gates that are yet to open. Let’s see how many gates President Buhari will open. Buhari made it clear that fight against corruption is one of the cardinal programmes of his administration and it is being pursued relentlessly.

    Do you think the beneficiaries should be pardoned, if they refund the money?

    One is tempted to sympathise with them because they don’t know the source of the money, particularly those of them who are hitherto men of respect in the eyes of the public. But lawyers will say ignorance is not an excuse in law. In that case, the suspects will still have to explain themselves before the court of law, if it gets to that stage to exonerate themselves. Even where some of them had the foreknowledge of the source of the money, they would still take it because it was an era of impunity.

    The most important thing is that those who benefitted from the sharing of $2.1 billion arms cash should return the money. We need the money to prosecute government programmes. Pardon will have to come under the prerogative of mercy of Mr President. If he’s convinced that certain individuals collected the money in error, he will not hesitate to pardon them. However, each case should be taken on its merit; it should not be a blanket cover in granting pardon.

    Are you impressed that the Senate passed only one Bill and none by the House of Representatives in six months?

    We should take a kind of holistic approach in assessing the National Assembly’s performance, especially the Senate where I served as the Deputy Minority Leader. I have always argued on the need of the people out there, especially members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm (the press) to educate the public on the functions of the National Assembly. Passage of Bills is just one out of the numerous functions of the Assembly. There are other responsibilities like oversight function, legitimising role, confirmation of appointments, consensus building, policy incubation etc. So, we should not base their performance on law making alone.

    It is only fair to assess the 8th National Assembly on the basis of its shaky start, especially on how the leadership emerged. It was a long drawn battle. The delay in finding its feet; it took time to smooth rough edges and to stabilise the foundation. You can’t build an edifice on faulty foundation. We should bear with this Assembly. Let’s give it time to put its act together with a view to perform its functions.

    I will expect the National Assembly to know that it constitutes the ears and eyes of the people. It is expected to give effect to the yearnings of the people. The National Assembly is the first hope of the common man. I had expected the Senate would ask for the portfolios of ministerial nominees so that the nominee will be asked relevant questions about the ministry he or she was nominated to serve.

    I consider the establishment of 55 committees in a Senate of 109 members wieldy. It will definitely task the efficiency of the Senate. Nine members of the House of Representatives have sued the Speaker on the rules of the House.  It is an indication that all is not well with the House. There is need for members to resolve their differences amicably in the interest of the country at large. A house that is divided against itself cannot stand. Such a situation will be sending wrong signals as to the stability of the House.

    If you look at the present National Assembly, less than 20 per cent are old members. It will take new members time to learn the rope of legislating.

    The federal troops have technically defeated Boko Haram, but we are still faced with suicide bomb attacks. What else can the Federal Government do?

    President Muhammadu Buhari is doing his best to rout the Boko Haram insurgents. Yes, Boko Haram has been technically defeated because their capacity or ability to wreak havoc or disaster in a similar way they used to do has been drastically reduced. I want to commend members of our Armed Forces for what they have been doing so far. Every day, they play to us the captured depots where Boko Haram manufactures their weapons and those of them apprehended. That is not to say it is all over.

    There was a time the Federal troops could not penetrate Sambisa forest. Cross border activities is now possible unlike before when Boko Haram ran over communities and hoist their flags. Boko Haram is an insurgency war, it is a global war, it is a war of attrition and a guerrilla war. They won’t give up immediately. That is why they now go to Internally Displaced People (IDP) centres, Churches, Mosques and motor parks to wreak havoc.

    Over time, they will be completely routed. Government should continue to give support to the fighting soldiers in terms of provision of arms and ammunition and boost their morale.

    Do you think the Biafra agitators are pursuing their goal in the right channel?

    Any move that attempt to undermine the sovereignty of Nigeria is not patriotic. Biafra agitation is not patriotic. It is largely political. Some powerful interest groups are behind the agitation, using the youths as cannon fodder. Anyone who has witnessed war will not pray it should happen again. If you have a goal that is not rightly being pursued, you will lose. The agitators may just be seeking attention. It should be done in a right way not through violence that threatens the peace of the land.

    I am happy to say that I have not seen any major Igbo group associating with these separatist groups like MASOB and IPOB. Rather they have come out to condemn their action. No governor in the South-east has come out to support the agitators. I want to plead that the Federal Government should listen to them. If people rightly or wrongly felt a sense of marginalisation, the best thing is to reach out to them to have a dialogue, constructive engagement, explaining issues to create a sense of belonging. We should not apply sledge hammer over their agitation.

    If the Federal Government extend olive branch to them, they will reason to come to the round table to discuss issues involved. There is strength in number. Nigeria is referred to as giant of Africa because of our population.  Our capacity, diversity and resources are derived from the strength of our population. We can maximise them if we manage them appropriately. Sometime, people act in ignorance but through dialogue they will know the truth.

    Are the Niger Delta militants vandalising the oil and gas pipelines doing this country good?

    The militancy of Niger Delta which started sometime ago should be seen as one of the ills of our society. Happily, the Yar’Adua administration introduced the amnesty programme for the Niger Delta militants. It was continued by the Jonathan government. Happily too, the Buhari administration did not stop it. That is to show to the whole world that the government of Buhari means well. It has brought a better management as shown by re-engineering the management of Amnesty Programme.

    The ex-militant should not over reach themselves but should co-operate with the government as some ex-militant leaders have called for co-operation and support for President Buhari.