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Showing posts with label Article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Article. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

EFCC traces N47.2 billion, $487.5 million to ex-Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke



N47.2 Billion and $487.5 Million in cash and properties have so far been traced to the former Minister of Petroleum Resources in the Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has said.

“This followed painstaking investigations by operatives of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, “ two staff of the anti-graft agency wrote in an article.



The article, written by Tony Orilade and Aisha Gambari of the EFCC Media department reads:



From time immemorial, precious metals – gold, silver and sparkling stones such as diamonds have delighted women. Relationships have been built and destroyed, wars fought for and reconciliations cemented with gold and precious stones. Not too far back in history, Liberia was the theatre of war over Blood Diamonds.



Unlike Liberia however, the Nigerian nation is not at war. But, it seems Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, until recently, Minister of Petroleum Resources, going by the sheer amount of her acquisition of gold and diamonds, may have been fighting a spirited war against millions of compatriots who are heavily and unevenly yoked by crass poverty. To boot, the former minister is accused of having stolen – in broad daylight – the money that funded her acquisitive binge.
A search of one of Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s palatial residences in Abuja, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) turned up boxes of gold, silver and diamond jewellery, worth several million pounds sterling.



Apart from the jewellery, the EFCC, Nigeria’s foremost anticorruption agency, has traced N47.2 Billion and $487.5 Million in cash and properties to the former Minister of Petroleum Resources in Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.



The former minister who has been in London since the birth of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, has however continued to deny any financial misdeed. She insists she is being severely maligned and persecuted by the EFCC.



But, on the strength of weighty evidences placed before Nigerian courts, there are a string of judicial pronouncements ordering the forfeiture of all allegedly ill-gotten wealth to Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s former employers, the Federal Government of Nigeria.



One of the constitutional requirements to be appointed to public office in Nigeria, is the total declaration of all personal assets. It does seem like that provision was observed more in the breach by Mrs. Alison-Madueke.



The EFCC, in the course of investigation, traced another property valued at $37.5m to the former minister in Banana Island, Lagos. She was said to have purchased the 15-storey building, which comprises 18 flats and six penthouses, between 2011 and 2012from the developers, YF Construction and Real Estate.



The property was allegedly acquired in the name of a shell company, Rusimpex Limited, which is managed by one Afamefuna Nwokedim, Principal Partner, Stillwaters Law Firm, Lagos.
On August 7, 2017, Justice Chuka Obiozor, a vacation judge sitting at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, ordered the final forfeiture of a $37.5m (N11.75bn) (Eleven Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) property on Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos allegedly belonging to Diezani Alison-Madueke.



The order followed an exparte application filed on July 17, 2017 by the EFCC.
At the last adjourned sitting on July 19, 2017, counsel to the EFCC, A.B.C. Ozioko, while moving the ex-parte application, had urged the court to order the forfeiture of the total sum of US$2, 740,197.96 and N84, 537,840.70 respectively found by the Commission in Rusimpex USD account No. 1013612486 domiciled in Zenith Bank Plc suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities. Ozioko had also urged the court to order an interim forfeiture of the assets and property. Ruling on the applications, Justice Obiozor had ordered the respondents- Deziani, Afamefuna Nwokedi and Rusimpex Limited- to show cause within 14 days why the properties should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.



The judge had further ordered the publication of the interim order in any national newspaper for the respondents or anyone who is interested in the property to appear before the court to show cause within 14 days why the final order of the property should not be made in favour of the Federal Government.



At the resumed hearing on August 7, counsel to the EFCC argued that the failure of the second and third respondent, Nwokedi and Rusimex meant that “they are not willing to contest the application”.



In his ruling, Justice Obiozor ordered the final forfeiture of the property to the Federal government, in view of the failure of any interested parties or persons to contest the interim forfeiture order as published in a national newspaper by the Commission. The court also ordered the permanent forfeiture of the sums of US$2, 740,197.96 and N84, 537,840.70 respectively realized as rent on the property.



But, by far the most numbing, record-shattering acquisitions of Alison-Madueke, is to be found in the ritzy, nouveaux riches playground of Banana Island, Lagos. It consists of two apartments at the Bella Vista Court.



The apartments which are Penthouses, are located on Block C-5, Flat 21, Plot 1, Zone N. For them, a $350 Million (Three Hundred and Fifty Million US Dollar) hole was allegedly dug in the Nigerian treasury on November 22, 2011, by Ms. Alison-Madueke.



Also in Lagos, Ms. Alison-Madueke allegedly bought a block of six units serviced apartments at Number 135 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, just a few hundred metres away from the EFCC zonal operations hub. The apartment has a standby power generating set, sporting facilities, play ground and a water treatment plant. The property was bought at the rate of N800 Million (Eight Hundred Million Naira) on January 6, 2012.



Other properties in Yaba, Lagos, also discovered by the eagle eyes of the Commission’s operatives, are located at number 7, Thurnburn Street and 5, Raymond Street. The Thurnburn Street property consists of 21 mixed housing units of eight 4-bedroom apartments, two penthouse apartments of 3-bedrooms each and six 3-bedroom (all en-suite) terrace apartments.
The Raymond Street property is made up of two en-suite 2-bedroom apartments and one 4-bedroom apartment.
The Yaba, Lagos properties, which dug a deep hole of an eye-popping N1 Billion (One Billion Naira), were paid for on May 30, 2012. The same day Alison-Madueke splashed N900 million for the Port Harcourt estate.



In Lekki Phase one, an upscale neighbourhood of Lagos, operatives found a twin four-bedroom duplex. The duplex is located on Plot 33, Block 112, Lekki Peninsula Residential Scheme Phase 1, Lekki, Lagos, with an estimated value of over N200 Million (Two Hundred Million Naira).



Also in Lagos, a large expanse of land at Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos has also been traced to the former Petroleum Resources Minister. The land, which is located in Oniru Chieftaincy Family Private Estate, Lekki peninsular, Lagos and currently being utilized as a dumping site, was bought on February 16, 2012, for N135 Million (One Hundred and Thirty- Five Million Naira).



Plot 8, Gerard Road Ikoyi, Lagos, another property traced to Mrs. Alison-Madueke, is a penthouse on the 11th Floor in the Block B Wing of the building. It was bought for N12 Million (Twelve Million Naira) on December 20, 2011.



On Plot 10, Frederick Chiluba Close, in the serene, upscale Asokoro district of Abuja, lies a tastefully built and finished duplex. In the compound, there are also a Guest Chalet, Boy’s Quarters, an elegant swimming pool, fully equipped sports gym and a host of other amenities.
Investigators have discovered that the property acquired by the ex-minister in December, 2009, at the cost of N400 Million (Four Hundred Million Naira) was never declared in any of the asset declaration forms filed by Mrs. Alison-Madueke.



Also linked to the former Minister in Abuja is a mini estate at Mabushi, Abuja. The estate located on Plot 1205, Cadastral Zone B06, Mabushi Gardens Estate, houses 13 three bedroom terrace houses, each with one bedroom en-suite maid’s quarters. It was purchased on April 2, 2012 at the princely sum of N650 Million (Six Hundred and Fifty Million Naira).



In Aso Drive, Maitama, Abuja, Mrs. Alison-Madueke reportedly acquired a 6-bedroom en-suite apartment made up of three large living rooms, two bedroom Guest Chalets, two bedroom Boys Quarters, two lock up garages and a car park. It was bought on July 20, 2011 for N80 Million (Eighty Million Naira).



Down South in Nigeria’s oil city of Port Harcourt, the former minister’s acquisitive appetite took her to Heritage Court Estate, located on Plot 2C, Omerelu Street, Diobu Government Residential Area, Phase 1 Extension, Port Harcourt.



The Estate which is made up of 16 four bedroom terrace duplexes is equipped with among other facilities, a massive standby power generating set. Mrs. Alison-Madueke did not blink as she shelled out N900 Million (Nine Hundred Million Naira) for it on May 30, 2012.



In neighbouring Bayelsa State, an apartment with two blocks of flats, all en-suite, and with a Maid’s Quarters were also traced to her. The house located on Goodluck Jonathan Road, Yenagoa, is sitting on a large expanse of land. Realtors spoken to by EFCC investigators have placed estimated values running into hundreds of millions of Naira on the property. The apartments have four living rooms, eight bedrooms and gold-plated furniture.



Aside from jewelry and property, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, EFCC operatives charge, has N23,446,300,000 and $5milion (about N1.5billion) in various Nigerian banks.



Based on evidence presented by the Commission before the court, Justice Muslim Suleiman Hassan on January 6 2017, ordered the funds’ temporary forfeiture to the federal government.
The EFCC again, on January 24, 2017, urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to order the forfeiture of yet another N9 billion allegedly laundered by some bank officials for Alison-Madueke.



A month later, on February 16, 2017, Justice Hassan ordered the final forfeiture to the federal government, of N34 Billion naira which has been traced to the former minister.



Earlier in May 2016, the sum of over $100 Million (One Hundred Million US dollars) were traced to the accounts of several Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staffers, who were allegedly bribed by Alison-Madueke to compromise Nigeria’s 2015 general elections.



Justice Mohammed B. Idris of the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on April 27, 2017, ordered the final forfeiture of the bribe money traced to one staff of INEC, Christian Nwosu, who was arraigned on April 5, 2017.



In the course of the trial, Mr. Nwosu pleaded guilty to receiving the sum of N30 Million (Thirty Million Naira) from Mrs. Alison-Madueke. Upon his confession, the court ordered the final forfeiture of his landed property situated at Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State. Also forfeited by Mr. Nwosu to the federal government was the cash sum of N5 Million (Five Million Naira).



Going by the continued unearthing of hard-to-ignore evidences of unexplained acquisitions, coupled with Justice Chuka Obiozor’s rulling on the final forfeiture of a $37.5m (N11.75bn) (Eleven Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) to the federal government, ex-minister Alison-Madueke’s evidence-free counter-charge, that she is a victim of EFCC persecution, may be ringing hollower and hollower.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

We Voted Buhari The Dictator Because We Needed It Tough On Polithiefcians


It appears the boys in the Senate are out to rubbish Baba. They were afraid at the initial time because of the Baba of the old. But now that they know that Baba wants to be seen as a Democrat, they are out to use Constitutional loopholes to trap him.
Unfortunately for Baba he is looking at democracy only from the American mirror, he is yet to understand that democracies come in phases, shades and forms. For a DEMOCRACY like ours, it is still a growing one. With the kind of military experience we had over the years and the criminal tendencies of average Nigerian Politicians, we need a civilian dictatorship driven by a man of integrity with love for country until such a time when everybody have been beaten into shape as it happened in Singapore.
We are not yet ready for the kind of democracy that Baba is practicing. We need speed. There is need to cut a lot bureaucracratic tapes and get things in shape quickly. We are making a lot of excuses with democracy. Ours has to be modeled to suit our needs.
Unfortunately we knew Baba was a tough man before we voted him in. Now If Baba cannot take tough stands, especially against some rascally governors, Ministers, civil servants, judges and criminal junta senators, as Obasanjo did, then the critical reason for bringing him to power is lost.
Imagine how the Senate denied him the opportunity to borrow money to get the economy out of recession. They are seating on a bill that is supposed to speed up war against corruption. They are refusing to open their books and budget for scrutiny and many of them are people who are either running from Justice or are drawing us back from justice.
Why can't we have a civilian dictatorship?
We may complain about tough stands in the beginning but in the end it will pay. Although we should encourage diplomacy and the rule of law but there should be no banters with criminals and those who insist on making the country ungovernable and those who think only about their selfish interest.
With what the way the Senate is playing with Baba, it will be difficult to achieve anything of note or to move speedily. Baba should go to the trenches with these pedestrian Senate and rescue his administration from delays. Some Senators who are supposed to be in jail have highjacked the legislature and are using it to manipulate the system. Baba must bring people like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu closer and make his executive be up and doing. The Senate is making Baba look weak.
I am angry.




By Great Imo Jonathan

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

STATE OF WE IN NATION

My unreasonable written ?



I repeat, PMB is not the problem of Nigeria. Take it or leave it.
WHO ARE THE KLEPTOCRATS?
Read this intriguing and provocative piece; yet Nigerians refuse to be provoked instead holding one man, Buhari, responsible for all their woes!
How far can you push a Nigerian before he reacts like an angry lion?
Isn't it a ridiculous mockery and insult that Nigerians are the only world citizens that when pushed to the wall, spend more energy to break the wall and cross over rather than fight back?
Read this and let's know who our real enemies and shameless oppressors are - GOVERNORS, EX-GOVERNORS, SENATORS, REPS. Can't we do something to get rid of these big thieves that use our power against us?


ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!


NIGERIANS WAKE UP!
A lion never shies away from a fight when it is hungry, neither does it blame the buffalo for resisting or refusing to be eaten.
How come our forefathers dared death and everything to give us a sane society?
Shaaaaaame!!!
Please endeavour to read this very interesting piece!


STATE OF THE NATION
A SELF DECEIVING COUNTRY CALLED NIGERIA


Twenty-one senators currently receiving pensions from government as ex-governors and deputy governors.
The current senators who once served as governors are Bukola Saraki of Kwara, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano, Kabiru Gaya of Kano, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Theodore Orji of Abia, Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa, Sam Egwu of Ebonyi, Shaaba Lafiagi of Kwara, Joshua Dariye of Plateau Jonah Jang of Plateau, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of Sokoto, Ahmed Sani Yarima of Zamfara, Danjuma Goje of Gombe, Bukar Abba Ibrahim of Yobe, Adamu Aliero of Kebbi, George Akume of Benue and Isiaka Adeleke of Osun.
The  former deputy governors in the Senate are Ms Biodun Olujimi of Ekiti and Enyinaya Harcourt Abaribe of Abia. Danladi Abubakar Sani served as the acting governor of Taraba state.
Many former governors are also in Buhari's Cabinet as Ministers. This includes: Ngige, Fayemi, Amaechi and Fashola (SAN).).
In Akwa Ibom State, the law provides that ex governors and deputy governors receive pension equivalent to the salaries of the incumbent. The package also includes a new official car and a utility vehicle every four years; one personal aide; a cook, chauffeurs and security guards for the governor at a sum not exceeding N5 million per month and N2.5 million for his deputy governor.
In Rivers, the law provides 100 percent of annual basic salaries for the ex-governor and deputy, one residential house for the former governor “anywhere of his choice in Nigeria”; one residential house anywhere in Rivers for the deputy, three cars for the ex-governor every four years and two cars for the deputy every four years.
It is alleged that in Lagos, a former governor will get two houses, one in Lagos and another in Abuja, estimated at N500 million in Lagos and N700 million in Abuja. He also receives six new cars to be replaced every three years; a furniture allowance of 300 percent of annual salary to be paid every two years, and a N30 million pension annually for life.
This is the reality for all the 21 ex-governors and deputy governors who are currently serving as senators. This same is also true of ex governors who are now serving as Ministers.


NOW I ASK:

How many years did these guys serve their states as governors and deputy governors? Is it more than 8years? Is that a reason to be entitled to pensions for life? Even if they are entitled to pension for life, must it be so outrageous?
As if that is not enough: HOW on earth can any public servant with conscience collect salaries and allowances as a senator or minister, and still have the audacity to claim pensions equivalent to the salaries of a serving governor in Nigeria?


IT ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE......


Once you are elected a senator or appointed a minister, you must forfeit any pension accruing to you from government at any level until you vacate office. This should also apply to senators collecting military pensions like former Senate President David Mark.
Yet these senators are in the Senate that is inviting the current finance minister to discuss the recession of Nigeria's economy. A senator pockets approximately 30 million naira monthly as salary and allowances. Our "honourables" are not interested to make laws that could restructure our country into economically autonomous federating States/Regions to save the country from sectional agitations that is threatening  to destroy Nigeria. The sad and hopeless situation is that the rest of Nigerians are busy arguing based on party, ethnic and affiliations while these enemies of state continue to rape us.
Do you know that it costs tax payers 290m Naira yearly to maintain each member of our National Assembly in a country where nothing works & 80% of population earn below 300 Naira a day ? A working day earning of a senator is more than a yearly income of a doctor; it's more than the salary of 42 Army generals or 48 professors or 70 commissioners of police or more than twice the pay of the US President or 9 times the salary of US congressmen.
It's high time the country had a referendum on those outrageous salaries of Senators, House of Representative members and other political office holders.




If you are seriously against the looting of our commonwealth in Nigeria, in the name of democracy, you can let this piece go viral by sharing it with as many of your contacts and groups too!










#GodBlessNigeria #OneNigeria
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