The Senator Ken Nnamani-led Electoral Reform Committee’s maiden public hearing yesterday began in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Nnamani criticised Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose for “engaging in a brand of criticism that does not require intelligence to carry out”.
He added that Fayose’s criticisms lack wisdom and infringed on people’s rights and freedom of association.
The former Senate President spoke during a stakeholder’s forum at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
Fayose had dismissed the committee as a body whose efforts at electoral reform in Nigeria is “dead on arrival”.
The governor, who was represented by a member of the House of Assembly, Idowu Omotoso, had criticised the committee and called on the chairman to resign on the grounds that he was a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to Fayose, an independent person should lead the committee.
“If this government is actually serious about electoral reform, then the chairman of this committee should resign and allow an independent person take over.
“Senator Ken Nnamani is a Southeast regional leader of APC and hence incapable of rising above primordial and party sentiments to give us anything different from electoral inconclusiveness that we have at the moment.
“The only time this country made an attempt at reliable Electoral Reform was during the tenure of President Umaru Yar’Adua who appointed retired Chief Justice Mohammed Uwais as the chairman.
“This singular move gave the panel credibility, widespread acceptability and massive supports from all over the country and across political divides,” Fayose said.
The governor identified INEC, the police and other security agencies as the “major problems of Nigeria’s electoral system”.
But the ex-Senate president responding to Fayose’s diatribe, said the governor’s criticism makes no sense since the report of the committee would still be debated by the National Assembly, whose membership consisted of people from various parties.
The APC chieftain questioned Fayose’s representative, wondering if the bills passed at the House of Assembly are for PDP members alone since the party dominated the Assembly.
Nnamani said: “It doesn’t require any intelligence to criticise.
“The governor feels that since Nnamani is no more in PDP, he is going to make sure that the report would favour APC, that doesn’t make sense because the report will still go to Mr President and the National Assembly.
“So far, we don’t have independent candidates in the National Assembly. You don’t go there to talk about the party, it concerns the people, it is the people that will legitimise what we agreed upon here.
“The easier thing to do is to criticise, the guy who represented the governor I wanted him to be here since he said he’s the chairman of a committee, I don’t know if they make rules that the bills they pass is purely for PDP..”
Opening the hearing, Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun said the electoral reform was timely considering the fact that INEC had just released its timetable for the 2019 election.
Amosun challenged the committee to come out with meaningful solutions that would ensure the electoral system conforms with global best practices.
THE defection of former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) late last year could not have come as a surprise to many. This is on account of the widely held belief that his conduct, deportment and principled disposition are totally at variance with the questionable image of the PDP. His progressive bent, on the other hand, endeared him to many leaders of the APC who with eager and cheerful readiness accepted him into their fold as soon as he made known his intention to defect.
Many Nigerians live in nostalgia of the mature manner he handled the bid by desperate moneybags to secure for the then President Olusegun Obasanjo a preposterous third term. This they had hoped to achieve by manipulating the upper chamber to endorse Obasanjo’s candidacy for another election. Presiding with the calmness of a dove over the session in which the sensitive and volatile issue was debated, Nnamani sanctioned live television coverage of the debate as senators took turns to state their positions on the matter. In the end, the third term agenda was shot down, ending a development that would have turned the country into a banana republic. While many expected Nnamani to make a political capital of his soaring popularity after frustrating the hugely unpopular third term bid, he took a break from partisan politics and recoiled into his shell.
He followed that up by severing ties with the PDP about a year ago, saying, “I am quitting the party because I do not believe that I should continue to be a member of the PDP as it is defined today. This is certainly not the party I joined years ago to help change my country.” While previous occupants of the coveted seat of the Senate President from Chuba Okadigbo to Evans Enwerem and Adolphus Wabara were enmeshed in various scandals, Nnamani left the hallowed seat as clean as a hound’s tooth after occupying it for two years between 2005 and 2007.
Little wonder President Muhammadu Buhari wasted no time in appointing him the head of the recently constituted Electoral Reform Committee. The factors that motivated his choice by Buhari most probably impelled Governor Rochas Okorocha to also pronounce him the leader of the APC in the South East during a zonal stakeholders’ meeting of the party at the Imo International Convention Centre (IICC) in Owerri recently. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, which included Nnamani and other political heavyweights like Emeka Offor, Ifeanyi Ararume, Tony Eze, Ebuka Onunkwo, Jombo Offor and the Deputy Governor of Imo State, Eze Madumere, among others, Governor Okorocha, who said he had resisted the pressure mounted on him to lead the party in the zone, said: “Now that Igbo leaders are together in the APC, Nigerians will hear us. There is a vacuum of leadership in the South East APC. I am a governor. My brothers, Chris Ngige and Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, are ministers.
Hence the importance of Senator Ken Nnamani coming at this time. I decline the leadership of Ndigbo in APC.” He added: “With Senator Ken Nnamani now with us in the party, the question of who is the leader of the APC in the South East has been answered. Ken Nnamani is the leader of the APC in the South East. Senator Nnamani should then work with other leaders like Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, Jim Nwobodo and a host of others to give Ndigbo political direction.”
Okorocha’s pronouncement was apparently based on his belief that Nnamani had proven himself as a competent leader, particularly in the period he held sway as Senate President, after serving as the Chairman of the Committee on Federal Character and Governmental Affairs and member of committees on Privatization, Federal Capital Territory and Appropriation and Finance. Besides, unlike other South East leaders who are holding ministerial and other cabinet appointments, he is not saddled with an office that would deprive him maximum concentration on his job as South East leader of APC. Surprisingly, Okorocha’s noble pronouncement has sparked outrage in the circle of aggrieved politicians in the region who saw it as a bid by the governor to score a cheap political point.
The opposition to Nnamani’s leadership of the APC in the South East would come as a shock to many who had watched his near-impeccable conduct as senator and Senate president. That much was echoed by a chieftain and founding Vice Chairman of the APC in Enugu State, Chief Anike Nwoga, who in throwing his weight behind Okorocha’s choice of Nnamani, said Okorocha’s move was perfectly in the interest of Ndigbo. Said he: “Some people have been saying why Ken Nnamani? But my response to that is that he is 100 per cent qualified to be the leader of the APC in the South East. Okorocha saw leadership qualities in Ken Nnamani, and that is why he conceded the South-East zonal leadership to him. You should not forget that he was the number three man in Nigeria, having served as the Senate President. “Considering that position, there is nobody in the APC today who is more qualified than Nnamani as the South East leader of the party. Governor Okorocha is a wise person.
He did the most intelligent thing. He has done a great thing for the growth of the APC in the South-East because Nnamani is a great son of Igbo land; a decent man for that matter. “Let us not also forget that since the news of his defection to the APC spread in Nigeria, many people have also been joining the party, not just in the South East but across the country. This is because of Ken Nnamani’s name.
That is why we see other senators, other top politicians also trooping into the party.” Okorocha, a statesman many years ahead his time, believes that a responsibility as huge as the leadership of the APC in the South East requires a man with remarkable antecedents like Nnamani’s, particularly in a regime that has made the anti-corruption war a cardinal mission. But he has to contend with the grim reality that only the back bench is reserved for such credible leadership materials in this clime. Elsewhere, his nomination would draw rapturous applause. It would be seen as a show of appreciation for the clean and meritorious way he conducted the affairs of the Senate after the scandals that rocked the tenures of his predecessors. But ours is a nation that would not acknowledge excellence, much less reward it.
As the three-week registration of Enugu State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) began yesterday, former Senate President Ken Nnamani and former Enugu State House of Assembly Speaker Eugene Odo are among frontline politicians expected to join the progressives.
Although it was not clear last night when the duo would join the ruling party at the centre, sources said they would soon register to become APC members.
The sources said the window to join the progressives would remain open for them throughout the period of the registration.
Besides the two heavyweights from Enugu State, who were chieftains of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), many other top politicians are expected to dump PDP for APC during the registration.
Addressing reporters in Enugu, APC State Chairman Ben Nwoye dismissed reports the party was indisposed to receiving Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, should the lawmaker indicate interest to do so.
He said APC was open to genuine democrats and progressives in the state and Southeast.
According to him, the three-week registration “is open to all and sundry, including Ekweremadu, without any tariff”.
Nwoye said APC’s door was open to all.
He said last Sunday’s meeting was convened to raise awareness among the people on the party’s registration in Enugu and other Southeast states.
Nwoye said those interested in the APC “now have the opportunity of registering through their political wards. Nobody should be barred from registering. The party is for all and sundry and lovers of true democracy”.
The state APC publicity secretary, Mrs. Kate Offor, had on Sunday issued a statement that the party would not admit Ekweremadu, insisting that the Deputy senate president should stay put in the PDP to clear the mess in the party.
But Nwoye said the APC in Enugu state expected the influx of old and new politicians from PDP and other political parties into its fold “because we have worked tirelessly since 2016 to build our structure, as well as convince these politicians to join us for a better Nigerian.
“As it stands, we want the world to know that the PDP is in comatose in Enugu state, and we are fully prepared to wrestle power from them in 2019, because we have the structure.
“You will quite agree with me that all those politicians that made PDP tick in Enugu state in the past, including former governor of old Anambara state and ex- senator, Ifeanyichukwu Jim Nwobodo have all dumped the opposition party, for APC.
A new 24-man committee headed by former Senate President Ken Nnamani has been saddled with the task of reforming Nigeria’s electoral laws. A statement by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, says that “The committee is expected to review the electoral environment, laws, and experiences from recent elections conducted in Nigeria and make recommendations to strengthen and achieve the conduct of free and fair elections…” Dr Nnamani himself gave an indication of what he thought his assignment would be. “I think my basic assignment will be to ensure that we improve on the electoral institutions in this country just as the name implies,” he says. “However, the outcome of that panel will still end up at the National Assembly.” Other members of the committee include Dr. Mamman Lawal of Bayero University, Kano, (secretary), Dr. Muiz Banire, SAN, Dr. Clement Nwankwo, and a representative of the Federal Ministry of Justice, among many others.
In August 2007, ex-president Umaru Yar’Adua also set up a similar 22-man committee headed by Justice Muhammadu Uwais (CJN, 1995-2006) to undertake a review of the electoral system and suggest ways of reforming it. It concluded its job in December 2008, having asked for an extension of the initial one-year deadline on account of the massive number of memoranda it received. The report was thorough, exhaustive and frequently cited by stakeholders as an appropriate and adequate response to the electoral malaise that undermines the stability and development of Nigeria’s political system. In fact in 2010, ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, whose electoral altruism is increasingly coming into sharper relief, forwarded the report to the National Assembly for action. The legislature chose to dither.
Dr Nnamani undoubtedly has the intellect, firmness and integrity to undertake the assignment given him and his committee, especially considering his rich and illustrious legislative background and experience; but Justice Uwais also had a rich and enviable resume to carry out the task assigned him and his equally high-profile committee. So far, however, neither President Muhammadu Buhari, who approved the setting up of the new committee, nor the Justice minister, who implemented the decision, has explained why a new committee is needed when the government has not as much as glanced at the 2008 Uwais report.
The Buhari presidency exists and thrives on the strange paradigm that its predecessors did little or nothing worth anyone continuing with or even regarding, and that if any milestones were nevertheless reached, then they were not worth sustaining or building upon. To President Buhari, Dr Jonathan’s national conference report is a waste of time he would not dignify with the most perfunctory of glances. He astonishingly admitted he had not looked at it, and did not plan to, and much more, was minded to consign it to the dustbin. Why he chooses to approach the weighty responsibility of presiding over the affairs of 180 million Nigerians with that kind of bewildering cursoriness and prejudice is hard to understand. Regardless of the criticisms he has attracted on the national conference matter, the president continues to stand his ground. Having appeared to get away with ignoring the huge work done by Dr Jonathan’s national conference, he has now extended the same attitude to the 2008 Uwais electoral reform committee whose report he has obviously not perused at all. From all indications, he will not look at it.
It is even doubtful whether the Justice minister has looked at the Uwais report. Perhaps no one in the Buhari presidency has checked the files to see what had been done before they assumed office last year. Or perhaps they are not interested. This may account for why on so many matters the government has been slow and hesitant. Rather than build on many of the foundations they met, not all of which were disused or shaky, they have preferred to build new ones, often grudgingly and bad-temperedly. The terms of reference to guide Dr Nnamani’s committee, not to say the objectives of the electoral reform, are virtually the same with that of Justice Uwais’ panel. Perhaps the only concrete difference is the size of the two committees, with Justice Uwais’ being 22 and Dr Nnamani’s being 24. Given the exhaustiveness of the Uwais report, it is hard to see what new grounds Dr Nanamni’s committee would break. There will of course be chronological and political updates, and to some extent differences in priorities and language and concepts; but beyond that, there will be little else.
Many commentators have taken exception to the new task of saddling another committee with reforming the electoral system when the previous one undertaken by the Justice Uwais committee still remains very relevant and comprehensive. Ex-president Yar’Adua would almost certainly have implemented the report had he lived through his first and possibly second terms. Despite the bad publicity curried by the cabal that hijacked power when he became incapacitated by illness, the late president was an altruistic, forward-looking and enlightened politician. Dr Jonathan followed in his predecessor’s footsteps by forwarding the report unedited to the National Assembly. But by setting up a new electoral reform committee rather than examining the unimplemented Uwais report, President Buhari seems bent on wasting time and money. There is really nothing else, or at least little else, to say on electoral reform that the Justice Uwais committee left unsaid.
A brief review of the Uwais report, which many analysts campaigned stridently and vigorously during the Jonathan presidency to be implemented, shows that little or nothing is omitted. Some of the areas covered in the 254-page main report (Volume 1 of a six-volume report) include an executive summary; review of Nigeria’s history with general elections; legal framework for electoral reform, role of institutions, agencies and stakeholders in shaping the quality and credibility of elections; review of electoral systems relevant to Nigeria’s experience; sanitising Nigeria’s electoral system; and general recommendations. The executive summary is a succinct excursion through the Uwais committee’s eight terms of reference. For those too lazy to commit themselves to exhaustive reading, Chapter Two’s executive summary would satisfy their superficial curiosity. It identifies most of the electoral problems and challenges confronting the country, and proffers comprehensive, sensible and implementable solutions to stabilise the system.
In particular, Chapter Two, among other things, looks at the role of institutions and stakeholders in shaping the electoral process; the role of the judiciary; and the Independent National Electoral Commission, subdivided into the reorganisation of INEC, composition of INEC board, etc. A more detailed treatment of the subject is, however, offered in Chapter Five. The question, indeed, is what else the Nnamani committee will be looking at when the subject is the same and the Uwais panellists are also of high quality. Former INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, was in fact a member of the Uwais committee. So, too, were a host of intellectuals, judges, security chiefs etc. What the Nnamani committee seems designed to accomplish is a needless and wasteful repetition.
If President Buhari truly wants to reform the electoral system, and if he is really the frugal leader he is cracked up to be, and if indeed he has no ulterior motive to execute, then he should first call for the Uwais report and examine it to see whether it does not adequately represent his worldview on the subject and much more. He has no reason whatsoever to authorise a new electoral reform committee in an era of financial squeeze when a completed one is already in government hands. He has a duty to the country to look at the Uwais report. More importantly, he also has a duty to go beyond electoral reform to look at the report of the national conference completed under Dr Jonathan. He has no excuse not to, for the country under him cries even much more for restructuring than electoral reform.
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday took his consultations on the crisis-ridden Budget 2016 to former National Assembly leaders.
The meeting with former Senate President Ken Nnamani and one-time Speaker of the House of Representatives and Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari at the Presidential Villa was to enable the President decide how to resolve the budget impasse, it was learnt.
President Buhari declined to sign the budget after identifying various insertions by the lawmakers as well as the exclusion of some “legacy” projects, especially the Calabar-Lagos rail project.
But a statement on Sunday by the Chairmen of the Appropriation Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, Senator Danjuma Goje and Alhaji Abdulmumin Jubrin, urged the lawmakers to end the crisis by reflecting the presidential additions this week.
A meeting between the President and the lawmakers is expected to hold this week.
Nnamani, the senate president who killed the third term bid of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said what he suggested to President Buhari “stands to reason”. He described it as a good way out of the budget impasse.
He said he believed that what he suggested was being studied.
He said: “ Budget is an area where we practise what we call co-management between the National Assembly and the executive branch of government; both of them co-manage the economy through the budget. It’s a peculiar area; both of them will have to cooperate and collaborate for a proper budget to be passed and once it is passed, it becomes law.
“So, as it stands today, the situation is such that the National Assembly has to do what is called introspection. How did we get to where we are now? The year is running out and we are still talking about 2016 budget; where is the fault from?
“Wherever it is coming from, both the executive and the legislature must find a quick solution to it. It does nobody good to drag it any longer. Remember it is an area of co-management; it is not left to the executive alone, it is not left to the National Assembly alone, there has to be collaboration.
“I think it stands to reason, what I suggested is being studied, I think it is appropriate.”
He denied that he had defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after resigning from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). “I will not join a party in secret. When it is time I am joining any party, I will make it public. Today I am bipartisan,” he said.
Governor Masari said the President was right to have withheld his assent.
“You know I am now an executive and I signed budget for Kastina State and before I did that I made sure I knew what I was signing. So take it as I said.”
On what should be the focus of this administration, he said the way to go is to go back to the basics, which are agriculture and natural resources.
He said: “I said it before and I am saying it again, there was a time Katsina State was entirely dependent on its natural resources. Those resources are still there and I believe that we are sensitising the general public and the world to know that there are lots of opportunities in Katsina and in Kastina, with proper investment, we believe we can make it; we believe we can survive on the natural resources and agriculture and other resources that abound in Nigeria.
“So that is why we have tagged this “Economic and Development Summit” but also we are refocusing to encourage our own local investors, those who have N100,000 to invest can make more money than leaving the money in the bank.
“Essentially, our focus will be on agriculture and agriculture of selected crops and we are focusing on the natural ginger,
“We are focusing on the area of irrigated agriculture in the area of rice, cotton and other crops. We also have gold and diamond in Katsina but what we can lay our hands now is in the area of agriculture.”
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met behind closed door with former Senate President, Ken Nnamani and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bello Masari, as part of efforts to resolve the 2016 Budget crisis.
Many grey areas in the 2016 Budget had prevented Buhari from signing the appropriation bill into law.
Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Senator Ken Nnamani said what he suggested to President Buhari is to find a good way out of the Budget impasse.
The former Senate president said that he believed that what he suggested is being studied by the President.
He said: “The issue on budget, well budget is an area where we practice what we call co-management between the National Assembly and the executive branch of government. Both of them co-manage the economy through the budget. Both of them will have to cooperate and collaborate for a proper budget to be passed and once it is passed, it becomes law.
“So as it stands today the situation is such that the National Assembly has to do what is called introspection, that how did we get to where we are now? The year is running out and we are still talking about 2016 budget, where is the fault from?
“Wherever it is coming from, both the executive branch and the legislature must find a quick solution to it. It does nobody good to drag it any longer, remember it is an area of co-management. It is not left to the executive alone, it is not left to the National Assembly alone, there has to be collaboration.
“I think he stands to reason, what I suggested is being studied. I think it is appropriate.”
The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu on Thursday nullified the election of the senator representing Enugu East Senatorial District, Gilbert Nnaji, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).
It ordered that fresh election be conducted in the senatorial district within ninety days.
The tribunal held that the election did not comply with the 2010 Electoral Act as it was marred by irregularities.
Delivering judgment on the petition, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Matthew Adewara, said allegations of alteration of results, mutilations and cancellation were proven by the petitioners and nullified the result.
Relying heavily on the evidence of the forensic expert, who testified on behalf of Nnamani, the tribunal held that irregularities alleged in the conduct of the election were “gross and fundamental.”
The tribunal pointed out that the election did not comply with the rule on accreditation of voters and with proven cases of multiple voting, ballot box snuffing and over voting.
Nnamani, a former governor of Enugu State, had filed the petition at the tribunal, challenging the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nnaji as winner in the election.
He alleged that there were widespread irregularities, malpractices and corruption in the conduct of the election.
He also alleged, in the petition, that the conduct of the election was not in substantial compliance of the 2010 Electoral Act.
He said that his agents in some polling units in Isi Uzo Local Government were intimidated, while there were cases of voting rigging, ballot box snuffing and mutilation of result sheets.
He prayed the tribunal to nullify the result of the election and declare him winner.
Nnamani contested on the platform of People for Democratic Change (PDC).
Speaking after the tribunal’s judgment, counsel to Nnamani, Olusegun Jolawo, expressed satisfaction with the judgment, but said their team would have been happier if his client had been returned as winner.
Counsel to INEC, Mr Wilfred Nwabude, said the commission would look into the judgment and know its next line of action.
Not wanting to offend Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who was part of former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani’s political structure, many avoided making comments on his fate. Still, some wondered at the vastness of Ebeano’s unwholesome taste, reports CHRIS OJI
There is a sense that majority of Enugu State residents are disappointed that their former governor Chimaroke Nnamani stole as much as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the court have established. There is also relief that the guilty are forfeiting something.
But if you expect the people, especially government officials, to shout hurray at the court’s guilty ruling, you will be disappointed.
Why?
Their new govenor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi was part of the political structure, which Ebeano, as Nnamani was called, built.
However, a youth leader Johnbull Agbo endorsed the forfeiture, “if actually they were ill-gotten,” as he put it.
What Agbo frowned at is the forfeiture to the federal government instead of the Enugu State. He argued that the stolen money and properties belonged to the state and that they should be returned to it.
But an Enugu based lawyer and commentator on public affairs, Mr. Nana Ogbodo commended the Lagos High Court for “exercising such unparallelled patience with the delay tactics employed by the former governor during the trial”.
The wheel of justice, he said, “may indeed grind slowly but it definitely gets to its far-reaching destination.
“For Chimaroke Nnamani, even though he is still hiding behind his finger, it should now be clear to him that no matter how far one may choose to go in the wrong direction, the only way out is to go back to the point he missed his way.
“If the companies which are the critical witnesses to the charges against him have all pleaded guilty, it is laughable therefore for him to still wish to be playing the ostrich.”
Ogbodo briefly served as an aide to Nnamani and had his house demolished for resigning.
The lawyer said that reading through the judgment of the court, the devil was indeed in the details. Alarmed at the number of properties being forfeited by Nnamani, he queried: “What for God’s sake did he need all these for?”
Nnamani indeed had his fingers in many pies, among which were 22 duplexes, estates and a raft of other things.
The former governor was in and out of court during this period facing multiple charges involving billions of dollars.
The EFCC had over the years tried all it could to bring him to full trial after successfully conducting intensive investigations into the assets of the former governor acquired mostly through proxies.
Nnamani had always hidden under health excuses to forestall his trial. But the court after incessant and prolonged adjournments, decided to separate the governor and the other accused which included a plethora of his companies from the charge sheets.
•Rainbownet offices, forfeited too
Nnamani was charged alongside his former aide, Sunday Anyaogu and six companies viz – Rainbownet, Hillgate Nigeria, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile Nigeria Limited, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School.
Developed and undeveloped properties of Nnamani in square metres and square miles spread across the Southeast states were ordered by a Federal High Court in Lagos to be forfeited to the Federal Government. Also millions of cash were forfeited.
Among the assets to be forfeited are the biggest IT company, east of the Niger, Rainbownet Limited and its transmission equipment. Assets of Rainbownet include Central Switch Room, Microwave Radio, Rectifier, Microwave Backhaul Transmission among others at various lacations in Anambra, Abia, Imo, Ebonyi and Enugu states.
The court ordered also the forfeiture of 22 duplexes at the Fidelity Estate formerly Ebeano Estate, property of Hill Gate Investment Limited/Cueno Phones Limited and assets of COSMO 105.5FM.
Seven undeveloped plots of Rainbownet at the the choice Independence Layout; 567.96sqm at Abakpa; 574.96sqm at Emene and 2,951.98sqm at Achara layout. In Abia state to be forfeited include thousands of square metres of properties at Ogbor Hill (914.633), Abayi (one and half plots), Port-Harcourt Road (1,856.499), Ariaria (640.32), Unuagari (573.263) and Assanetu (954.396) all in Aba as well as one plot in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state.
To be forfeited in Anambra State include 2,200 square miles of land at Okpuno, Awka, 1,088.644sqm at Nkpor, 465.14 at Awada one plot at Fegge, all in Onitsha.
Rainbownet is also to lose 693.636sqm of an undeveloped plot opposite the War Museum in Umuahia. The shares of the company in Zenith Bank and Guarantee Trust Bank with a combined account balance of N4.6millon as well as money in its bank accounts totaling N34.8million were also forfeited.
A Lagos company, Messrs Diya Fatimilehun and Company had been given the fiat to take charge and administration of the companies pending the trial.
Elder sister to the former governor, Mrs. Chinelo Nwigwe, her husband, Davie and 16 of the companies and institutions alleged to belong to Nnamani challenged this in court unsuccesfuully.
Chinelo and Davie were on the wanted list of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly being fronts of the former governor with regards to the listed companies seized by EFCC and being administered by Diya Fatimilehun and company as directed by the order of a Federal High court sitting in Lagos.
The companies in question include the biggest ICT Company east of the Niger, Rainbownet Nigeria Ltd., COSMO 105 FM, Renaissance University, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital, Mea Mater Elizabeth High School, Rock City Group PLCand Hillgate Nigeria Ltd.
Others are Jefferson LLC, Cookie LLC , Rainbow Associates LLC, Ferguson Group LLC, Jasmine Holdings Corporation LLC, Intercontinental Associates, Capital City Automobile Nigeria Ltd., C & C Project LLC and Elizabeth Group LLC.
Chinelo, her husband and the companies then asked the Enugu state high court to declare that Diya Fatimilehun and Company cannot exercise the power of attorney granted them by the Federal High court , Lagos on behalf of the EFCC to administer and supervise the companies and the institutions pending the determination of the case being faced by Nnamani and Others.
The suit did not scale through and ever since, Nnamani’s sister and her husband were yet to visit Nigeria from the United States where they are currently taking refuge.
Some of the assets
Rainbownet with registration number 385700 had Nnamani’s elder sister Mrs. Chinelo Nwigwe as Managing Director and principal shareholder. Although, the ownership was once shifted to an Enugu-based lawyer and property developer and a very close friend of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the company has since closed its doors to business.
Another is Mea Mater Elizabeth High School, in his hometown, Agbani – an ultra modern co-educational High School worth about N5 billion with Mrs. Chinero Nwaigwe as chairperson of Governing Board.
Renaissance University also in his hometown, Agbani – a state of the art private university said to have gulped billions of naira used to have Mrs. Chinero Nwaigwe as the chairman of the governing council but replaced by a Bishop of one of the first generation churches in Enugu. The two institutions are still in session.
•Cosmo Fm premises forfeited
The Renaissance University Teaching Hospital, Enugu. This is situated on a 20 acre expanse of land covering nearly the entire stretch of one wing of Rangers Avenue, Independence Layout, and for which purpose three ministers quarters built by the legendary Okpara administration of the former Eastern region were demolished and converted to private use.
Work was stopped at the site at the heat of the EFCC investigations in the state and nearly N3 billion including the cost of the demolished buildings have been sunk into the project.
Then the Cosmo 105.5 FM digital Radio Station in Enugu worth N400 million and Marble Castle situate at Forest Crescent, GRA, Enugu worth N1 billion as well as some choice estates scattered across Enugu as well as offshore estates. The Cosmo FM which took Enugu by storm and was becoming the most popular radio station is off the air for more than five years.
A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday ordered the forfeiture of multi-billion naira assets allegedly belonging to a former Enugu State Governor, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, to the Federal Government.
Among the forfeited assets are undeveloped properties and transmission equipment of Rainbownet Limited; property of Hill Gate Investment Limited/Cuena Phones Limited; assets of Cosmo 105.5FM, and 22 duplexes at Ebeano Estate (now Fidelity Estate).
Others are Rainbownet’s shares in Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank, with a combined account balance of N4.6 million; as well as money in its bank accounts worth about N34.8 million.
The balances are in different accounts with GTBank (N313,700); Sterling Bank (N986,958); Ecobank (N24.5 million); First City Monument Bank (N3.8 million) and Zenith Bank (N761,156).
EFCC said it was awaiting details of balances in Rainbownet’s 10 accounts with Access Bank.
Rainbownet’s undeveloped property forfeited include seven plots at Independence Layout; 567.96 Square metres (Sqm) at Abakpa; 574.96 Sqm at Emene and 2,951.98 Sqm at Achara Layout.
Others to be forfeited include thousands of square metres of properties at Abia State, namely Ogbor Hill (914.633), Abayi (one and half plots), Port Harcourt Road (1,856.449), Ariaria (640.32), Umuagari (573.263) and Assannetu (954.396), as well as Abakiliki, Ebonyi State (one plot).
Also, in Onitsha, Anambra State, are Barracks (one plot), Nkpor (1088.644), Awada (465.14), Fegge (one plot); as well as 2,200.06 square miles of land at Okpumo, Awka.
The company is also to lose 693.636 square metres of undeveloped property located opposite the War Museum, Umuahia.
Assets of Rainbownet Communications Limited, including Central Switch Room, Microwave Radio, Rectifier, Microwave Backhaul Transmission, among others at various locations in Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia and Imo states are to be forfeited.
The former senator was charged along with his former aide, Sunday Anyaogu, and six firms – Rainbownet, Hillgate Nigeria, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile Nig Ltd, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School.
Justice Mohammed Yunusa later split Nnamani’s trial from his co-accused as he was abroad receiving treatment.
EFCC re-arraigned them on 105 counts of money laundering and economic crimes involving about N4.5 billion.
Part of the alleged laundered money was from the Excess Crude Oil Funds meant for some local government areas, including Aninri, Enugu South, Agwu, Igbo Etiti and Isi Uzor, which was allegedly transferred to Nnamani’s bank account in the United States (U.S.).
The crime was allegedly committed while Nnamani was governor between 1999 and 2007. The defendants pleaded not guilty.
However, after the trial was split, four of the companies on May 19 pleaded guilty to a 10-count amended charge through their counsel.
The companies are Rainbownet, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile and Renaissance University Teaching Hospital.
They were alleged to have failed to comply with lawful enquiries by the commission.
On June 11, Justice Yunusa adjourned to July 7 for review of facts and sentences after EFCC’s lawyer Kelvin Uzozie told the court that he was still trying to get a list of all the companies’ assets.
Yesterday, he prayed the court to convict the companies in view of their plea after tendering some documents, including the assets’ schedule.
He urged the court to make an order of the assets’ forfeiture, and for the commission to be involved in their management.
The companies’ lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ezeome, during the alucutus (plea for mercy), urged the court to temper justice with mercy since they were first offenders.
Justice Yunusa, who said a company can be treated as a natural person in law, ordered that “the property listed in the schedule be forfeited to the Federal Government.”
He adjourned till November 12 for the trial of the remaining accused persons.
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday asked a Federal High Court in Lagos for more time to enable it amend the charges against former Enugu State Governor Chimaroke Nnamani.
EFCC’s request before Justice Mohammed Yunusa yesterday came exactly 46 days after the court granted the commission’s application to separate Nnamani’s trial from that of the other suspects.
The ex-governor and his co-accused allegedly laundered N5 billion in a secret account, with the aim of concealing its source and failed to comply with the lawful inquiry by the anti-graft agency.
According to the commission, their alleged offence contravened the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, and the EFCC Act, 2004.
Joined with Nnamani in the alleged money laundering case instituted in 2007 are his former aide, Sunday Anyaogu; as well as six firms belonging to the former governor- Rainbownet Nigeria Limited, Hillgate Nigeria Limited, Cosmo FM, Capital City Automobile Nigeria Limited, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School.
According to EFCC, its decision to try the accused persons separately was to prevent the erosion of their assets since the trial had dragged since arraignment without progress as a result of the former governor’s ill health.
On several occasions, Nnamani through his lawyer, Rickey Tarfa (SAN), had sought leave of court to travel abroad for medicare, as a result of complications from a heart surgery.
When the matter came up yesterday, lawyer to EFCC, Kelvin Uzozie prayed for an adjournment to enable the commission amend its processes for separate trial, which the court granted and adjourned to May 19.
