Alleged missing N59.6bn: Reps summon AGF, CBN, Budget office
Vanguard on March 25, 2014
ABUJA – THE House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts Tuesday summoned the Accountant General to the Federation,AGF, Mr Jonah Otunla, the Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN and the Budget office to explain why the sum of N59.6billion subsidy money meant for Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC allegedly got missing.
The money which the Budget office and Accountant General’s office claimed was disbursed to NNPC was not received by the corporation.
Officials of NNPC told members of the committee that all attempts to make the budget office and AGF do a formal letter stating that the said N59.6bn was not cash backed failed.
At this juncture, Chairman of the committee, Rep Olamilekan Adeola said,”what you are telling this committee is that at no point in time you received any money and that it was not cash backed. ”
“You will do us a formal letter explaining to the committee that at no time you received N59.6bn but Deliotte Accounting firm in its report claimed the fund was disbursed. ”
“Towards this direction, this committee hereby summons the CBN, AGF and Budget office to explain why such sum of money was disbursed without any documentary evidence. ”
“NNPC for now cannot be indicted until otherwise proven when AGF and Budget office come out with evidence that the money was disbursed and cash backed. ”
Adeola explained further that “once it is affirmed that the disbursement was not cash backed NNPC will be left off the hook. ”
The officials of NNPC were excused from the venue of the meeting.
Vanguard recalls that NNPC had earlier met with the committee on March 11 on the issue but the explanation given then by Mr Bernard Otti an Executive Director on the missing fund was not satisfactory.
Mr Otti also appeared before the Committee without the relevant documents demanded by the Committee to justify the need for the amount.
Mr Otti could only inform the Committee that the N59 billion in question was used for the payment of oil subsidy for the months of January to June of 2006,the submission which the Committee rejected over the failure of the Corporation to back up its submission with all relevant documents.
Apparently angered by the inability of the NNPC representative to produce the needed document such as the names of the beneficiaries in the subsidy,the amount involved,the receipts and bank statement Adeola summoned the GMD of the Corporation,Mr Andrew Yakubu to personally appear before it within two weeks with all the relevant document on the transaction.
The Committee frowned at what it described as lukewarm attitude with which the NNPC treated the matter of such a nature that involved such a huge amount of the tax payers’ money.
The NNPC, AGF,CBN and Budget are expected to appear before the committee on April 1.
Our ordeal in B’Haram’s den –Female abductees
The Punch on MARCH 25, 2014
While one who was held captive for 15 days, said she had a marriage proposal from one of the Islamist militants, the other said she was almost turned into a killer.
“They asked me if I am Christian or Muslim. I said I am a Christian,” said 23-year-old Liatu, as she recounted her ordeal in the hands of Boko Haram members to the British Broadcasting Corporation.
“On the 11th day (in captivity), they brought a man to me and said that he liked me and that I should convert to Islam so that he can marry me,” she added in the report published by the BBC on Monday.
Liatu claimed that in Sambisa Forest, Borno State, where she was taken to after being seized at a roadblock last year, she witnessed the killing of 50 persons by the insurgents.
According to her, the insurgents, who had earlier killed Muslims employed by the government, preferred to use knives to slit peoples’ throats than shooting them.
She said, “They were slitting people’s throats with knives. Both women and men were killed, especially the men who didn’t agree to fight for them.
“Those that tried to escape were shot but they hardly ever used their guns to kill. They usually used knives. About 50 people were killed right in front of me.”
Liatu also told the BBC that the terrorists were usually tipped off about any imminent attack by the army.
This, she claimed, allowed the militants to hide in caves and forests close to the Cameroonian border.
Liatu, who refused to eat anything during her days in captivity, added that after being told about the proposed marriage, she made an extremely risky escape.
She said, “One of the captives stood up and said, ‘You only die once. Who is ready to make a run for it?’ Six of us jumped into one of the Boko Haram vehicles in the camp – a Volkswagen Golf.
“They chased us on motorbikes, shooting at the car until we got close to Bama town. Then they left and we got out of the car to continue on foot as there was a curfew in place. It was only then that I realised the three people on the backseat had all been shot dead.”
Like, Liatu, 19-year-old Janet, said she witnessed the slaughtering of people by the militants.
“They went to Gwoza and brought five people to the camp. They started slaughtering them in front of me,” said Janet, who was in the insurgents’ den for three months.
At a point, she added, the insurgents ordered her to slit the throat of one of the captured people but she declined.
“Then they ordered me to slit one of their throats. I refused. I told them I couldn’t do it. Then the wife of the leader of the group killed him instead.” Janet said.
She said she recognised the faces of the men who held her captive as most of them came from her area.
Janet said, “I knew almost all the people in the group I was with. I knew them from my home area.
“I was really angry and when I couldn’t keep quiet any longer, I said to one of them, ‘When we were at home you would even visit me and I respected you. So why are you doing this to me?”
A teacher who survived last month’s attack on a boarding school in Yobe State also narrated to the BBC how the insurgents killed some pupils in the institution.
“I peeped through the window and saw the gunshots coming in… and there was a lot of shouting,” he said, declining to give his name.
The teacher added, “I came back silently and said, ‘Let us lock our doors and pray. If they come in, that is maybe the end of our lives.’ We kept on praying and praying and praying.
“In one house, they even met two children that had been left behind by their parents who had fled to the bush. After coming in, the insurgents saw the children sleeping on their mattress.
“They woke them up asked them to go outside. They put the mattress outside and asked them to sleep. Then they set the house ablaze.
“We cried. Some of them were slaughtered like goats. Others were shot.
“Most of them had high hopes that they would be future leaders. Some of them in class were telling us they would be lawyers and doctors. They were full of ambition.”
We are not mad – Victims of Ibadan horror
The Punch on MARCH 25, 2014
Some of the victims rescued from kidnappers’ den at the Soka area of Ibadan, Oyo State, are gradually regaining fitness and mental ability.
Although they have yet to give the accounts of activities in the forest, they could remember events leading to their departure from their normal life.
One of them, Nafiu Shittu, told our correspondent at the Adeoyo State Hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan, that he was a native pile medicine seller with customers in the business districts of Gate and Iwo Road.
Speaking in an almost inaudible whisper and intermittently pausing for breath, he explained that he was at work when he was kidnapped and taken to the forest.
He said, “I am a native of Ibadan, living in the Foko area of the city. I sold pile medicine to people. I was doing the business on the day I was kidnapped about four months ago.
“After going round the area where I had customers, I felt tired and decided to rest in the Gate area. Suddenly, a bus stopped by my side and two men came out and forced me into the back seat of the vehicle. That was all I could remember.
“When I regained consciousness, I saw myself in a room in the forest, chained to a wall. I was too tired to struggle and as the days passed, I became frail because I was not given anything to eat,” he said.
Asked if he was taken there to be treated for mental illness, Nafiu looked up sharply and protested.
“I am not a mad man. I am a normal human being. I was kidnapped and chained in a room throughout my days in captivity.”
Nafiu said he was aware that he was not the only one in the building, adding that what baffled him was that he heard voices of people passing outside the building regularly.
“There were other people, including young and adult women, who cried daily. I saw dead bodies being taken out frequently, but I don’t know if they were killed. Maybe they died of hunger. People moved around the building, but I don’t know if they knew we were there.”
Other victims, Wale Atoyebi from Ada in Osun State and Michael Ola could only give their names, but Titi Dokpesi explained how she got to the forest.
She said she was 45 years, but she had the look of a woman in her 60s.
She said, “I live at Awolowo compound in Oke Bola, Ibadan. I am not mad and I am not an old woman. Two months ago, I was in front of our house when some men grabbed me and said I was under arrest.
“Before I could protest, I was put in a bus and driven away. We did not go to any police station and I still don’t know how we reached the forest. I had N10,000 with me, but they took it. I am 45 years. In the few months I spent there, I aged quickly for lack of care. We were fed once in a week.”
Asked if she was forced to sleep with the men who abducted them and if truly there were women who gave birth in the house, Dokpesi said she was left alone and was too afraid to notice such activity.
“I was kept in the corner of a room, chained to the wall, so I kept to myself. I spent most of the time praying to God. I don’t know if anyone gave birth there, but people were dying,” she added.
Oyo to revoke horror forest’s C of O
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, on Monday, led members of the State Executive Council and the security agencies in the state to the kidnappers’ den for an on-the-spot assessment of the forest.
The governor, who was conducted round the forest by security chiefs, expressed sadness at what he called man’s inhumanity to his fellow man.
Ajimobi called for a minute silence and led prayers for the repose of the souls of those who died in the kidnappers’ den.
While describing the incident as most unfortunate, the governor announced the immediate revocation of the Certificates of Occupancy of the expansive forest and directed that the bush be cleared.
He said, “We need to clear this place to ensure easy access to whatever had been transpiring in the forest.
“We will also ensure that the entire area is combed by security agencies to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book.
“It is surprising that such a thing existed here for a long time. But now, we have decided to revoke all the C of Os of the owners of the land; government is taking it over immediately. Then we will set up a panel of forensic experts; we will get to the root of the matter and we will find out those involved in the act.”
While urging the people to be security conscious, the governor said it was unimaginable that such evil had been going on in the neighbourhood for over 10 years, while the people living in the area had not alerted security agencies about it.
He advised the people in the area to avoid brigandage, thuggery, violence and all anti-social activities, urging them to provide security agencies with necessary information as regards any strange movement within the neighbourhood.
The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Mohammed Ndabawa, also assured the people that whoever was involved in the incident would be arrested and prosecuted.
Abacha loot: U.S. serves govt $550m forfeiture notice
The Nation On Mar 25th, 2014
United States has written the Federal Government for assistance to serve forfeiture notice on the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s son, Mohammed, an associate of the dictator, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and Dumez Nigeria Plc.
The defendants are to forfeit over $550million and £95,910, 222.84(million) in 10 accounts and six investment portfolios linked to the Abachas in France, the Britain, British Virgin Islands and the United States.
Abacha has up till today(March 25, 2014) to file an application before the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia to either set aside the forfeiture order or vary it.
Failure to file a counter-application or ask for a stay will lead to the automatic forfeiture of the cash and other assets today.
The letter contains a breakdown of some of the accounts and investment firms/ banks where the looted funds were stashed abroad.
The highlights are as follows: Doraville Properties Corporation – $287 million in Account Number 80020796 located at Deutsche Bank International Limited in the Bailiwick of Jersey; HSBC Fund Administration (Jersey) – $12 million in account number S-104460 in the Bailiwick of Jersey; and Rayville International, S. A – $1 million in account number 223405880IUSD at Banque SBA in Paris, France.
Others are: Standard Alliance Financial Services Limited – $144 million in account 223406510PUSD at Banque SBA in Paris; Mecosta Securities – $21.7 million in accounts 10030688 and 100138409 at Standard Bank in the United Kingdom; and HSBC Bank Plc – $1.6 million in account number 38175076.
Also listed are Blue Holding (1) Pte Ltd/ Ridley Group Limited – £6,806,900; Blue Holding (2) Pte. Ltd/ Ridley Group Limited – £21,846,983; Blue Holding (1) Pte. Ltd/ Ridley Group Limited – £10,293,343.58; Blue Holding (2) Pte. Ltd/Ridley Group Limited – £56,962,996.26
In the letter to the Federal Government by the Associate Director, Criminal Division of the Office of International Affairs of the US Department of Justice, Jeffrey M. Olson, the US government said it sought the help of Nigeria in line with January 14, 2003 Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between the two nations.
The letter, which was obtained by our correspondent, reads in part: “The United States Central Authority respectfully requests the assistance of the Central Authority of the Federal Republic of Nigeria pursuant to the Treaty between the Government of the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (the Treaty).
“The United States’ request for assistance stems from forfeiture proceedings by the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (the prosecutor) against property related to the corrupt conduct of Sani Abacha, the former head of state of Nigeria, and the subsequent laundering of corruption proceeds.
“ The United States is required by law to provide notice to natural or legal persons who may have an interest in property that is the subject of forfeiture proceedings, in order to give them an opportunity to file a claim.
“Therefore, the prosecutor requests that the Federal Republic of Nigeria provide notice of the pending forfeiture action to Mohammed Sani Abacha, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and Dumez Nigeria Plc
“ The prosecutor also requests that the Federal Republic of Nigeria serve Mohammed Sani Abacha and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu with the record of proceedings under the United Kingdom Civil Jurisdiction and Judgement Act, which is needed in order to enforce the warrant of arrest in rem issued by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.”
In separate letters to Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu by a counsel, Herbert Smith Freehills(LLP), the defendants were told that they have up till March 25 (today) to “set aside or vary the court order”.
The counsel warned that a breach of the forfeiture order might be punished with a fine or a term of imprisonment.
The letters said: “We act for the United States of America which, on 25 February 2014, obtained a freezing order from Mr. Justice Teare (the “Order”) in relation to assets held in the names of Mohammed Sani Abacha, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Mecosta Securities Inc (“Mecosta”), Ridley Group Limited, Blue Holding (1) Pte Limited and Blue Holding (2) Pte Limited (together, the “Primary Respondents”)
“We enclose, by way of service upon you, a copy of the Order. The Order grants a freezing injunction over specified assets in the names of the Primary Respondents. These include the following assets (the Assets”) believed to be held in your name or in the name of Mecosta (see paragraph 5(1) to (3) of the Order)
“Any money (or other assets) in accounts in the name of Mecosta at Standard Bank Plc, including or traceable to account numbers 100130688 and 100138409.
“Any money (or other assets) in account at HSBC Bank Plc in your name, including traceable to account number 38175076 and
“Any money (or other assets) in accounts in your name at HSBC Life (Europe) Limited including or traceable to account number 37060762.
“You should read the Order carefully and also urgently take legal advice. Under the terms of the Order, you are prohibited from removing from England and Wales or in any way disposing of, dealing with or diminishing the value of the Assets, save with the consent of our client or the permission of the Court.
“We draw your attention to the Penal Notice on page one of the Order, the implication of which you may wish to discuss with your legal representatives. You should understand that breach of the Order may be contempt of court, which may be punished with a fine or a term of imprisonment.
“The Order lasts until 25th March 2014 (the Return Date), although you do have the right to apply to set aside or vary the Order in the meantime (see paragraph 7 of the Order). On the Return Date the applicant will apply for the Order to be continued. However, you must obey the order in its current terms until it has been set aside or its terms varied.
“The Order was made as part of legal proceedings in which you were named as a defendant. We therefore enclose, by way of service upon you, a sealed copy of the Claim Form and a Response Pack, a sealed copy of the Application Notice, the evidence in support at the hearing at which the Order was obtained, and the skeleton argument used at that hearing. A note of the hearing at which the Order was granted is also enclosed.
“We have not included the Bundle of Authorities referred to in the Skeleton Argument. However, please let us know if you require a copy of this.
“We also enclose a sealed copy of the Application Notice for the Return Date hearing in respect of the Order.”
Fayemi accuses Jonathan of influencing Fayose’s victory
The Punch on MARCH 25, 2014
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of foisting a former Governor Ayo Fayose on the Peoples Democratic Party as its governorship candidate with the aim of using him to unleash violence on the state ahead of the June 21 governorship poll.
The governor, who spoke in a statement issued on Monday by the spokesperson of his campaign organisation, Mr. Dimeji Daniels, said that the opposition party wanted to prepare the ground for rigging through violence.
Fayemi said that the President would be held responsible for any act of violence by his party’s governorship candidate.
The governor, however, warned Fayose against violating the law saying he would face the wrath of the people if he caused violence in the state.
The statement read, “masterminding the emergence of the former Governor Ayo Fayose as the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Ekiti State shows clearly that the Jonathan presidency has no strategy other than violence for the June 21 governorship election in the state.
“Fayose was made to win the PDP primaries because of his anti-democratic credentials of violence, a clear pointer that the Presidency and the PDP have perfected strategies to rig the June 21 governorship election.
“What this means is that the Jonathan presidency and the PDP have no sense of history regarding Ekiti people. Ekiti people have been known to resist shady characters. This same man was sent packing with his tails between his legs by Ekiti people when it became apparent that he had no respect for human dignity.
“By throwing up Fayose again in a race that should involve decent people, the PDP is clearly spitting on the grave of Tunde Omojola, who on 28 May, 2005 was mowed down in Ifaki-Ekiti.
“The PDP is also spitting on the graves of Ijan Ekiti-born Dr. Ayo Daramola who was ruthlessly killed on 14 August 2006 because of his governorship ambition and the students of College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti whose lives were cut short on March 16, 2004.”
Fayemi noted that with the case instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Fayose still in court, it would not be a surprise if Fayose eventually ran between his campaign office and various courtrooms where he was facing the charges of murder and corruption.
The governor also reacted to the allegation levelled against him by Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, and described him as an inconsistent person who should be ignored.
But Fayose said that the governor was attacking him because his emergence was causing confusion in the camp of the ruling party.
The former governor said that he remained unperturbed by allegations from Fayemi’s camp adding that he would do the talking during the election.
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