A businessman and one of the promoters of Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited, Mr Jide Omokore, has denied being involved in the stealing of $3 billion.
Omokore, through his lawyer, Lawal Rabana, yesterday faulted Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s claim
The statement reads:
“As counsel that are involved in representing Jide Omokore in court, we wish to state as follows:
“That Jide Omokore has not in concert with anybody stolen $3 billion as contained in the statement.
“The relationship between Jide Omokore’s company – Atlantic Energy with NNPC/NPDC is well documented as a commercial transaction of which there has been part performance. There is nothing illegal or fraudulent about the transaction.
“The matter is already before the court of law in a criminal proceeding yet to be concluded and there is no pronouncement of guilt or corruption against our client.
” The rule of law requires that a man is presumed innocent until adjudged guilty through a fair judicial process. Therefore, in this case, we wonder where the emphatic conclusion from the office of the vice President came from.
“In the best tradition of the bar, when a matter is subjudice, as senior counsel, I will not delve into the merit or otherwise of the ongoing trial except to say and caution against prejudicing the public and the entire judicial process.
“We therefore urge the office of the vice president to exercise restraint in branding people as corrupt without a judicial pronouncement to that effect.
“In conclusion, having regard to the facts and circumstances of this particular case, we believe that the office of the vice president has been misinformed.”
The Presidency on Monday accused the trio of former minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, Omokore and Kola Aluko of looting $3 billion from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The Presidency, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande in Abuja, accused the former Petroleum minister and the two others of making away with the funds through a fraudulent oil deal and failure to pay royalties and taxes.
The statement reads: “In a strategic alliance contract by the NNPC, three people, Jide Omokore, Kola Aluko and former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke made away with $3 billion from Nigerian oil that was lifted without paying to the federal government, this is besides the fact that royalties and taxes were not paid.”
“There is an ongoing investigation on this matter. These are publicly known information. None of the three of them has come out to deny.”
Akande, who was reacting to the allegation by the spokesman of former President Goodluck Jonathan accusing Osinbajo of making false corruption allegation against former President Jonathan’s government, said: “We read reports attributed to a media office of former President Goodluck Jonathan.”
The Federal Government, also in a court case, accused Omokore of diverting $1,762,338,184.40.
Court papers in Lagos, detailed how Aluko and Omokore laundered the $1.7 billion from questionable oil swap transactions between them and the NNPC, during the tenure of Mrs. Alison-Madueke.
Some of the money laundered through the United States (U.S.) and which had been used to acquire assets have become the subject of a forfeiture bid by the United States Justice Department.
But the suites filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions (EFCC) in a Lagos court provided details into how the money was laundered.
