2016 Budget’ll Diversify Nigeria’s Economy – PMB

President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated that the 2016 national budget is being fashioned in a manner that would accommodate fresh policies and measures to encourage rapid diversification of the Nigerian economy away from its current over-dependence on the oil and gas sector.
The president hinted this during a meeting with the president of the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF), Mr. Pierre Gattaz, and a delegation of French investors.
LEADERSHIP recalls that following Buhari’s visit to France last month, firms under MEDEF had offered to visit Nigeria between October 4 and 7, with a view to exploring its business climate for possible investment in the country.
The president had got this assurance at a meeting with French firms and investors who had converged at the Nigerian-France presidential business forum held at the headquarters of MEDEF in Paris three weeks ago.
Buhari’s visit to that country may have started yielding results, as the umbrella organization of French investors, made up of 800,000 French manufacturing firms and businesses, met with him behind closed doors at Aso Rock, Abuja, yesterday.
At the meeting, Buhari stated that policies being evolved by his administration to boost domestic manufacturing and attract greater investment in Nigeria’s agricultural and mining sectors would be given full effect under the 2016 budget.
The delegation of the French investors that met with President Buhari included over 50 companies with interest in manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure development and other areas.
The president’s senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, noted in a statement after the meeting that the president urged Gattaz and the French trade mission to return to Nigeria again next year in order to take full advantage of the new policies.
Buhari also assured the French investors that, under his leadership, Nigeria will not fall short of international standards in the protection of foreign investments and the repatriation of returns on such investments.
According to Shehu, the president admitted that domestic security and the inflow of foreign investment were intrinsically linked, and gave the assurance that his government was taking all necessary measures to overcome Nigeria’s security challenges.
The presidential aide quoted the president as saying, “Our government came into office at a time when many people had abandoned the country’s manufacturing, agricultural and mining sectors.
“We are doing our utmost best to encourage diversification into these sectors which can employ a lot of people and we will welcome your support in this regard. Ultimately, reducing unemployment will also help to improve security because unemployment and insecurity are inseparable.”
Buhari further said that Nigeria would also welcome more French investment in its power sector because the availability of steady power would lead to the reopening of closed factories and the creation of more jobs.
He also assured the delegation that his administration was tackling corruption with vigour to ensure greater probity in the management of national resources.
Earlier, MEDEF president, Gattaz, who spoke on behalf of the French investors, had sought assurances from President Buhari on the safety of their planned investments in Nigeria and the easing of bureaucratic bottlenecks.
He noted at the business forum that the organisation’s delegation that would embark on the trade mission to Nigeria next month would consist of prospective investors with varieties of interests in area like agriculture, mining, automobile, energy, skills development, light manufacturing, food processing, military and civilian transportation services and “business to consumer” products among many others.

Buhari confirms plan to reduce ministries

• To retain a minister per state
• ‘Badly’ privatised public assets to be
revoked
• MDAs to receive zero budgeting framework
AS part of measures to reduce redundancy
in public service, President Muhammadu
Buhari is working on reducing the number
of federal ministries which currently stands
at about 28.
He intends to merge those with similar
functions.The Guardian had recently
reported the plan to reduce ministries.
Also, state-owned enterprises dubiously
allocated to friends or relations under the
guise of privatisation are to be reviewed
and reclaimed by the Federal Government
while those that went through transparent
and credible processes are to be retained by
their investors.
However, to abide by the provisions of the
Nigerian Constitution that each state shall be
represented by a minister at the federal
cabinet, the President will still recommend
36 ministerial nominees to the Nigerian
Senate for consideration.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo revealed these
plans of the Buhari-government in a chat
with The Guardian and two other media
organisations in Abuja at the weekend.
The implication is that most of the ministers
to be appointed would serve as Ministers of
State to the few senior or supervising
ministers.
Osinbajo explained that the plan is part of
an overall strategy to reduce waste of public
resources and channel same to human
capital investment and key infrastructural
revival.
The Vice President was responding to
questions during the chat on the Federal
Government’s economic agenda.
He said: “Definitely, we are not going to
have as many ministries as we have now
and there is no question at all about that.
The President has made it quite clear that he
intends to work with fewer ministers and of
course you may not have fewer ministers
because the constitution says you must have
a minister from every state. But surely we
must have fewer ministries. That’s
definitely what the President has said not
once or twice and I believe that we will
overcome.”
On the privatisation of public assets,
Osinbajo said: “Obviously, there is no
intention whatsoever to roll back
privatisation. Government generally must
honour the obligations because government
is a continuum. But suppose what has
happened in some cases, for example, is that
there was no bidding process and if it was
just mere allocation? Some of the noisiest
people who complain about policies that
would not favour them are people who have
benefitted from the system where things
were not done properly.
There is no reason why anybody will
interfere with the process that was done
properly, but if you were just allocated a
major government facility without due
bidding process, then, it is the duty of
government to ensure that you are put
through the right process. When individuals
have been allocated resources that are very
beneficial and there was no due process,
then, it cannot be allowed to stand.
Look at the bidding process that took place
for telecoms in 2001 and even some of the
bidding processs for some of the National
Independent Power Project (NIPP) plants
although that was stalled and we have to
reopen it. People would come forward and
make completive bids. That’s the way
government grows its resources and you
can’t give people gifts that belong to
everybody. Privatisation must have
integrity, must be transparent and must be
proper.
As chairman of National Council on
Privatisation (NCP) I very, very strongly
believe in privatisation in the first place
and I believe that it’s the way to go. I also
believe that the process must be strictly
transparent and it must be clear to all that
there are no entries through back-doors or
anything not transparent. It must be stated
that there is no intention to roll back any of
the privatisation process that has already
taken place,” he reassured.
Speaking on the preparation of the 2016
Fiscal Plan of the Federal Government,
Osinbajo said efforts were already on, just
as he expressed the hope that the budget
would not suffer too much delay as the
framework will be submitted to Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on
Tuesday for their input.
His words: “What we are doing at the
moment is on the Medium Term
Expenditure Framework (MTEF) in
particular and we expect that it would be
submitted to the House of Representatives
very shortly.
‘‘We also have many ministries already
working and by Tuesday we would be
sending guidelines for the zero budget
process and all of that. We have tried to
sensitise the heads and have held several
meetings between the revenue generating
agencies and the Budget Office, the National
Planning Commission (NPC) all the revenue
generating agencies, like Customs, Federal
Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and others.
We are basically meeting and working out
the parameters for the new budgeting
system and would by Tuesday, be sending
the guidelines to the MDAs. We are trying to
work round the clock, holding meetings
daily. It’s a rigorous process and I don’t
want to commit to any timeline or dates and
anyway very soon we are going to have our
ministers in place.”
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the
NILS, Dr. Ladi Hamalai, who has been
talking on the place of the institute and its
relevance in the overall contribution to the
political and economic growth, regretted
that the bill seeking the establishment of the
Budget Office of the National Assembly in
Nigeria suffered a set back leading to it’s
being thrown out.
She gave assurance, however, that NILS, as
part of the research base of the National
Assembly would spearhead the
representation of the bill and push for its
passage.
Hamalai explained that the passage would
correct the erroneous perception by a
section of the population that the National
Assembly was not productive enough.
She said: “We are working on it and very
soon we will re-present the bill for the
Budget Office of the National Assembly
because of its importance to even the
lawmakers and for the speedy passage of
budget proposals by the executive."

By : Godwin Onoghokere

VERY REVEALING!!! HOW NIGERIA'S EX - MINISTER OF PETROLEUM MADUEKE LAUNDERED LOOTED MONEY, HER ACCOMPLICES REVEALED

An investigation by SaharaReporters has revealed
some of the ways in which former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, and her network of accomplices, family members, and shell companies sought to conceal and launder an astonishing amount of the former minister’s corruptly acquired wealth. The laundered funds are the focus of twin investigations by British and Nigerian anti-corruption agencies.
Last Friday, the International Corruption Unit of the
British National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested Mrs.
Alison-Madueke and four other suspects in London.
SaharaReporters has exclusively obtained intelligence
documents and briefing on financial information
regarding Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s extensive acts of
corruption and money laundering. Our investigation
also involved interviews with several individuals in
possession of highly sensitive information about the
illicit flow of funds to the former minister’s front
companies and individuals.
An intelligence analyst with intimate knowledge of the
embattled ex-minister’s family and business network
told SaharaReporters that UK investigators were
focusing on several real estate properties in the United
Kingdom. The source added that “[Diezani Alison-
Madueke] was most likely aware that the Crown
Prosecution [in the UK] was investigating her
properties going back as early as 2013.”
SaharaReporters learned that British prosecutors
decided to be low-key about their investigation of Mrs.
Alison-Madueke’s suspicious ownership of real estate
assets in the UK because the UK Foreign Office and
security establishment did not want to unsettle UK-
Nigerian ties by going after the former minister during
the administration of former President Goodluck
Jonathan.
Sources in the Nigerian government and law
enforcement told SaharaReporters that the National
Crime Agency (NCA), which arrested Mrs. Alison-
Madueke and four other suspects last Friday, did so
unilaterally and without the cooperation of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
However, once the EFCC read media reports about
Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s arrest, their agents moved
swiftly to search her residences in Abuja and
elsewhere in Nigeria. The EFCC’s action led to media
reports, now established to be misleading, that UK and
Nigerian authorities were coordinating their
investigations of the former minister.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke was the most powerful minister
in the Jonathan administration, and had long been
linked to shady deals and policies in Nigeria’s oil
sector. She fled Nigeria in May, days before the
official end of her tenure as Minister of Petroleum and
the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration.
Earlier in May, SaharaReporters reported that Mrs.
Alison-Madueke booked herself a seat on the same
flight in which then President-elect Buhari was
traveling to London, and made awkward attempts to
strike up a conversation with Mr. Buhari. A source on
the flight told SaharaReporters that Mr. Buhari quietly
ignored the former minister during the flight.
A Nigerian who met Mrs. Alison-Madueke in the UK said the former minister claimed she was receiving medical treatment.
HOW ALISON--MADUEKE LOOTED NIGERIA AS OIL MINISTER:
Two of our sources said that the former Petroleum
Minister acquired an astonishing sum of looted funds
through shady dealings that included theft of kerosene
subsidy payments, manipulation of fuel subsidy
payments, so-called swap deals in which she used a
number of personal and corporate fronts to sell
Nigerian crude oil that was meant to be refined and
brought back for local consumption, fraudulent
acquisition of marginal oil fields and allocation of other
lucrative oil field to fronts.
Our sources disclosed that Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s
most daring fraudulent deals were her strategic
partnership agreements with two respective companies
officially owned by her most notorious fronts, Jide
Omokore and Kola Aluko. The agreements were worth
over $6 billion, according to one source. He added that
another avenue of money laundering by the former
minister was the controversial Malabu deal in which
she, former Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke, and
President Goodluck Jonathan may have pocketed close
to $2 billion between them.
Our financial intelligence source said Mrs. Alison-
Madueke was able to get away with her deals and
schemes in the oil industry because she was “one of
[former President] Jonathan’s money managers.” The
same source pointed out that the Jonathan
administration had designed the Petroleum Industry
Bill (PIB) to give Mr. Jonathan and Mrs. Alison-
Madueke “sweeping discretionary powers to award
contracts, licenses, and leases for the Nigerian
petroleum industry.”
ACCOMPLICES AND COMPANIES IN MRS. ALISON-- MADUEKE'S ORBIT:
SaharaReporters learned that several key individuals
helped the former minister to hide her loot. Two
separate intelligence reports identified one Donald
Chidi Amamgbo as a key figure in Mrs. Alison-
Madueke’s money laundering activities. Mr. Omokore,
Mr. Aluko and Walter Wagbatsoma were also named
as close collaborators in the former minister’s
suspicious web of financial activities.
Mr. Aluko, who went to near-anonymity to become a
flashy, high-flying and yacht-owning “entrepreneur,”
was identified as a “money-launderer” for Mr.
Jonathan and Mrs. Alison-Madueke. Our source
claimed that Mr. Aluko recently bought several real
estate properties in Los Angeles and New York ranging
between $8 million and $23 million. Recently, rap
mogul, Jay Z, and his wife, Beyoncé, spent their
vacation on a $50 million yacht owned by Mr. Aluko.
According to our source, Mr. Aluko’s flamboyant
lifestyle led Mr. Jonathan and Mrs. Alison-Madueke to
decide to use more discreet fronts. Besides, the
source added, Mr. Aluko also fell out with the former
Petroleum Minister Diezani when he absconded with
funds he was supposed to have laundered for her and
the former president.
Mr. Aluko’s Atlantic Energy, formerly known as Atlantic
Energy Drilling Concept Limited (AEDCNL), was one of
the major corporate entities used to stash away the
former minister’s looted funds. Mr. Aluko established
the company in Zug, Switzerland, along with Nigerian
national Temidayo Adeoye Okusame and British
national Oscar Seda Mbeche.
In July 2015, SaharaReporters had published an
investigative report that revealed connections between
Mrs. Alison-Madueke, Nigerian Petroleum Development
Company (NPDC), and Atlantic Energy. This website
reported, “on July 19, 2010, Atlantic Energy Drilling
Concept Limited (AEDCNL) was incorporated as a
portfolio company,” adding that this was barely three
months after Mrs. Alison-Madueke assumed office as
the Minister of Petroleum Resources. The report
continued: “Atlantic Energy, even without prior record
of successful experience in the oil and gas sector,
announced that it had entered into a Strategic Alliance
Agreement (SAA) with the Nigerian Petroleum
Development Company (NPDC) in April 2011. That was
exactly six months before AEDCNL was legally born.”
One oil industry expert told SaharaReporters that there
was widespread shock when Mrs. Alison-Madueke
awarded an unknown company like Atlantic Energy a
strategic agreement with the NPDC “without following
any process as stipulated in the government
procurement laws and policy.” The stated that oil
industry operators knew that the deal between Atlantic
Energy and the NPDC “was an unholy arrangement”
between the former minister, top NPDC officials, Kola
Aluko and Jide Omokore. He identified Mr. Omokore as
a “controversial business mogul” and political
financier.
According to a report published by the Natural
Resource Governance Institute, Atlantic Energy had
entered into strategic alliance deals with the NPDC for
at least five oil blocks or oil mining leases.
Walter Wagbatsoma, also listed as a “money manager”
for the former Petroleum Minister, runs several
companies that investigators found to be entangled in
Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s financial activities. An
intelligence report discussing Mr. Wagbatsoma’s
business dealings found that “he holds a private plane,
said to be bought by [Mrs. Alison-Madueke], probably
in 2011, in trust for the Petroleum Minister.”
However, Mr. Wagbatsoma is associated with a
shadowy energy company named Ontario Oil and Gas,
which trades Nigerian crude on international markets
and whose directors are currently facing money-
laundering trial in Nigerian courts. According to the
Berne Declaration, an independent watchdog
organization, Ontario Oil and Gas continues to export
Nigerian crude despite accusations by the Nigerian
government that the company misappropriated more
than 4.2 billion naira—and arrests of the firm’s
executives by the EFCC. According to the company’s
own website, it exports at least 2 million barrels of
crude oil a month.
The Natural Resource Governance Institute reported
that Ontario Oil and Gas, along with another company,
Aiteo, saw “their shares of the Nigerian crude and
products markets grow rapidly under the Jonathan
government,” despite their very limited experience. The
report also noted: “Ontario relied on a few foreign
traders to take its [petroleum] allocation to market.”
Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s third accomplice, who was
described as such in two separate intelligence reports
leaked to SaharaReporters, is Donald Chidi Amamgbo.
Mr. Amamgbo reportedly studied law at Howard
University in Washington, DC at the same time Mrs.
Alison-Madueke was studying there as a student of
architecture. It is believed that they met each other in
DC.
According to biographical information available in
intelligence reports, in January 2012 Mr. Amamgbo was
suspended from practicing law in California, where he
relocated, for one year. However, his main focus
seemed to have already turned to managing three
companies under his ownership, specifically Tidax
Energy, Mezcor SA, and Lynear SA.
Tradax, Mezcor, and Lynear are all based out of
Geneva, Switzerland and all three are connected to a
Portuguese national, Daniel Roy Joanes, and an
American national, Richard Levinson. The Natural
Resources Governance Institute characterized Tridax
as an example of suspicious conduct because the
firm’s “corporate structures stretch outside Nigeria.”
The report found that Mr. Amamgbo owned 49% of
Tridax with the remaining 51% of the ownership
belonging to Tridax Oil domiciled in Switzerland.
Further tracing the corporate structure of Tridax, it
was revealed that 100% of it is owned by a sister
company based in Malta, with 99% of that company
owned by Calpenergy Fund in Gibraltar, with 67% of it
owned in turn by Daniel Roy Joanes, with the
remaining 33% owned by Turicum Private Bank also
located in Gibraltar. This kind of circuitous ownership
arrangement often typifies an attempt by a corporate
entity’s real owners to hide their identities.
SaharaReporters obtained an intelligence report that
stated, “Mezcor SA is clearly the lead company of the
three run by Amamgbo.” Mr. Amamgbo also owns 49%
of Mezcor, with the remaining 51% owned by Mr.
Joanes and Mr. Levinson. Mr. Joanes, who previously
worked as an asset manager for Clariden Leu, later
worked for Bank Hapoalim. He also owns NFS
Partners, which is co-located in the same office as
Mezcor in Geneva.
Mr. Levinson is described in one report as having “a
scandalous past” and has the dubious distinction of
owning one of the first companies to be suspended by
the US government for fraudulent activity during
reconstruction after the Iraq War in 2003. According to
the Wall Street Journal, “a [US] federal jury in
Alexandria, VA found that Custer Battles [owned by
Levinson] defrauded the US government of $3 million
by filing faked invoices.”
US authorities later discovered that Mr. Levinson’s
companies billed the American government $10 million
for work estimated to actually cost only $4 million. In
a curious corporate sleight of hand, Mr. Levinson sold
Custer Battles to Danubia Global Inc., a company
based in Bucharest, Romania, for one dollar. It turned
out that he owned Danubia as well.
One intelligence investigation found that Mr. Levinson
“acts as a director of the five companies [in which]
Daniel Roy Joanes is also a director.”
According to another investigation, Tridax is a
beneficiary of one of “38 contracts for 1,179,000
barrels per day crude lifting awarded by the [Nigerian]
Federal Government last year.” The NNPC, which
awards these contracts, also awarded a contract to
Mezcor SA and two companies it worked with—India
Oil Company and Fujairah Refinery.
These companies’ ties to Mrs. Alison-Madueke extend
beyond questionable crude oil lifting contracts and her
relationship with Mr. Donald Chidi Amamgbo.
Investigators showed SaharaReporters documents that
established that Timi John Agama, the former
Petroleum Minister’s younger brother, has a financial
stake and is a part owner of both Mezcor and Tridax.
THE Madueke-Agama FAMILY BUSINESS NETWORK:
SaharaReporters has learned, from profiles of Mrs.
Alison-Madueke’s sons, brothers, and nephews, that
the family’s core businesses are suspiciously located
at a single address: Unit 8, Quebec Buildings,
Manchester M3 7DU in the United Kingdom. The main
business is listed as Hadley Petroleum Solutions Ltd.
But other corporate entities registered at the same
location include Ryan and Bell Solutions Ltd., Callserv
Ltd., Parrot Mobile Ltd., Mail Express Ltd., and Stone
International Ltd.
All these companies are associated with close
members of Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s family, including
nephews Abu Fari, Abiye Agama, Somze Agama, and
her son, Ugonna Madueke. According to one
intelligence report, “key in the Diezani Alison-Madueke
family business structure is her elder brother, Doye,
who is a Pentecostal Archbishop based in Manchester,
UK. SaharaReporters learned that in addition to his
business activities with the Madueke-Agama family,
Bishop Agama presides over the Apostolic Pastoral
Congress located in Manchester, UK.
Before becoming part of the clergy in 1994, Mr. Doye
Agama worked as a telecommunications consultant to
the oil industry, central and local government and the
emergency services.
Investigators told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Alison-
Madueke owns a number of properties in the United
Kingdom and the United States, under a variety of
names, often those of her family. One property,
located in London at 22 Parkwood, St. Edmunds
Terrace, St John's Wood, London, NW8 7QQ is
registered in the name of her mother, Beatrice
Agama. Her younger brother, Timi John Agama, has a
property registered under his name at 67, Wades Hill,
Winchmore Hill, London, N21 1AU.
The former minister’s elder brother, Bishop Agama,
has a property located at 27 Tavistock Square,
Holburn, London, WC1H 9HH registered to his name.
Winihin Ayuli-Jemide, a younger sister to Mrs. Alison-
Madueke, is active in organizing a series of
conferences ostensibly to empower African women.
Her seminars are called the Winihin Jemide Series.
Curiously, her conferences and seminars are often held
in cities like London and Vienna where her elder sister,
Mrs. Alison-Madueke, is suspected to have business
interests. The former minister was often invited to
speak at the conferences.
In the United States, the former Petroleum Minister
owns three properties that are registered under her
maiden name, Diezani K. Agama. They include a posh
apartment located at 1220 West Highway, Silver
Spring, Maryland, with the zip code of 20910. Her son,
Ugonna Madueke, has at least three properties
registered in his name, two in Virginia and one in
Maryland. The former minister’s son’s properties in
Virginia are located at 11711 Scooter Lane, Fairfax, VA
22030, and 4227 Summit Manor Ct, Fairfax, VA 22033.
His property in Maryland is at 13116 Silver Maple Ct,
Bowie, MD 20715.
The former minister’s husband, Admiral Alison
Amaechina Madueke, was Nigeria’s former Chief of
Naval Staff. On retiring, Mr. Madueke went into the
maritime services business, serving as the chairman or
director of numerous companies, including Radam
Maritime Services Ltd.

By : Godwin Onoghokere

CSNAC Petitions EFCC Over N67.2b Illegal Withdrawal UNDER Jonathan

The Civil Society Network against Corruption (CSNAC), has petitioned the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the movement of N67.2billion from the
Central Bank of Nigeria under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In a petition written by the coalition’s chairman,
Olanrewaju Suraju, and made available to
journalists, the group said it is demanding a swift and
thorough investigation into these allegations in order to
recover the nation’s dwindling resources at the hands
of unscrupulous elements and the deserved
punishments meted out where necessary.
“In its publication of the 19th day of September, 2015,
the Premium Times, an online newspaper reported that
the former President Goodluck Jonathan, authorized
the withdrawal of a whopping N67.2 billion in cash
from the Central Bank of Nigeria between November
2014 and February 2015 for what was called ‘special
services’ during the lead up to the 2015 general
elections. Insiders at CBN said the huge cash was
carted away in bullion vans.
“The report further states that one of the withdrawals
was made through a memo which originated from the
office of the former National Security Adviser Sambo
Dasuki, while the second was generated by the
National Petroleum Investment Management Services
(NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation in charge of the Federal
Government’s investment in the petroleum industry.”
Furthermore, the report states ‘the first memo dated
November 2014 contained a request for the withdrawal
of $47 million cash out of N10 billion earmarked for
release for an unbudgeted ‘special services’. In the
memo with reference number NSA/366/S and titled:
’Request for Funds for Special Services’, an official
from Mr Dasuki’s office had drawn the CBN’s
governor’s attention to a previous discussion and
requested the release of the said funds by the bank’.
“The balance from the N10 billion the memo directed
was to be paid out in Euro, while a certain Director of
Finance and Administration with the name S. A. Salisu,
was authorized to sign and receive the haul of US
Dollars and Euro in cash, on behalf of the NSA’s office.
"It remains unknown for what purpose the ‘special
services’ fund was utilized.”
While stating that the huge withdrawals violate the
Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 which was
signed by the ex-president, the group noted that the
transaction was a brazen disregard for the rule of law
and due process that should be condemned and
discouraged. “From the foregoing, this is another case
of high profile corruption and money laundering that
deserves a thorough investigation to identify the key
players and circumstances surrounding the movements
of such huge sums of money.
“One would wonder how a President who signed an
important act such as the Money Laundering Act into
law will now be responsible for flouting the same
enactment, whether personally or through his stooges,”
the petition said.
THE FULL PETITION CAN BE FOUND BELOW:
23rd September, 2015
The Chairman,
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
No. 5, Fomella Street,
Off Adetokunboh Ademola Crescent,
Wuse II, Abuja.
Dear Sir,
REQUEST FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THE
CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE MOVEMENT OF
N67.2 BILLION FROM THE CBN UNDER THE FORMER
PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN ADMINISTRATION
FOR “SPECIAL SERVICES”
Civil Society Network against Corruption (CSNAC) is a
coalition of over hundred and fifty Anti-corruption
organizations whose primary aim is to constructively
combat corruption vigorously and to ensure the
effective monitoring of the various Anti-graft agencies
in the fight against corruption and contribute towards
the enthronement of transparency, accountability,
probity and total commitment in the fight to eradicate
corruption in Nigeria.
In its publication of the 19th day of September, 2015,
the PremiumTimes, an online newspaper reported that
the former President Goodluck Jonathan authorised
the withdrawal of a whopping N67.2billion in cash
money from the Central Bank of Nigeria between
November 2014 and February 2015 for what was called
‘special services’ in the build up to the 2015 general
elections. Insiders at CBN said the huge cash were
carted away in bullion vans.
The report further stated that one of the withdrawals
was made through a memo which originated from the
office of the former National Security Adviser, Sambo
Dasuki, while the second was generated by the
National Petroleum Investment Management Services,
NAPIMS, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation in charge of the Federal
Government’s investment in the petroleum industry.
Furthermore, according to the report, ‘The first memo
dated November, 2014 contained a request for the
withdrawal of $47 million cash out of N10billion
earmarked for release for an unbudgeted ‘special
services’. In the memo with reference number
NSA/366/S and titled:’Request for Funds for Special
Services’, an official from Mr Dasuki’s office had
drawn the CBN’s governor’s attention to a previous
discussion and requested the release of the said funds
by the bank’. The balance from the N10billion, the
memo directed, was to be paid out in Euro, while a
certain Director of Finance and Administration with the
name S. A. Salisu, was authorised to sign and receive
the haul of US Dollars and Euro in cash, on behalf of
the NSA’s office. It remains unknown for what
purpose the ‘special services’ fund was utilized.
Also, the second memo raised by NAPIMS and dated
February 25, 2015 conveyed an instruction to the
Director Banking and System Payment Department of
the CBN to urgently pay in cash, the sum of
$289,202,382 (N52.7 billion) to the National
Intelligence Agency (NIA). ‘Upon receipt of this
mandate, please pay urgently the under listed
beneficiary the cash amount indicated. Please debit
CBN/JVCC Foreign Account No. 000000011658360
with the JP Morgan Chase New York and advise (sic)
as soon as the payment is made’. The payment
instruction in favour of the NIA was signed by one
Okonkwo Godwin, General Manager, Finance, NAPIMS,
with staff no 18526 on February 25, 2015. However,
sources claimed the funds were taken away at night
with bullion vans under heavy security cover. When
contacted, according to Premiumtimes, "the CBN’s
Director, Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Muazu
declined comments as well as former spokespersons
of the former president. However, a senior official of
the bank on the condition of anonymity confirmed the
report. He said ‘My brother, the report is true. Every
detail is on point but since they claimed the
withdrawal was for security services, anything could
have been referred to as such. Nobody knows”
These huge withdrawals violate the Money Laundering
(Prohibition) Act 2011 which was signed by Mr.
Jonathan. According to Part 1, Section 1 of the law,
“No person or body corporate shall, except in a
transaction through a financial institution, make or
accept cash payment of a sum exceeding- (a)
N5,000,000.00 or its equivalent, in the case of an
individual; or (b) N10,000,000.00 or its equivalent in
the case of a body corporate.”
Section 16(d) of the Act says anyone who makes or
accepts cash payments exceeding the amount
authorised under this Act shall upon conviction be
liable to a forfeiture of 25% of the excess above the
limits placed in section 1 of the Act.
From the foregoing this is another case of high profile
corruption and money laundering that deserves a
thorough investigation to identify the key players and
circumstances surrounding the movements of such
huge sums of money. One would wonder how a
president who signed an important Act such as the
Money Laundering Act into law will now be responsible
for flouting the same enactment, whether personally or
through his stooges. This is a brazen disregard for the
rule of law and due process that should be prosecuted
appropriately to serve as deterrent.
In the light of this, CSNAC is therefore by this petition
demanding that a swift and thorough investigation be
launched into the allegations as contained above, in
order to recover the nation’s dwindling resources in
the hands of unscrupulous elements and the deserved
punishments meted out where necessary.
Thank you in anticipation of your cooperation.
Yours faithfully,
Olanrewaju Suraju
Chairman.

By :  Godwin Onoghokere

UK Court seizes 27,000 pounds from former petroleum minister, Alison- Madueke

UK Court seizes 27,000 pounds from former petroleum minister, Alison- Madueke
The Westminster Magistrate’s Court on
Marylebone Road, London, on Monday
granted an application for seizure of 27,000
pounds seized from a former Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-
Madueke.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke was arrested and later
released on bail on Friday for alleged
corruption-related offences.
The cash was seized under Section 295 of
Proceeds of Crime Act 2012.
By granting the application, which was filed
by the UK’s National Crime Agency, the
money would be held in the custody of the
court until April 5, 2016.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that although the
former minister did not appear today in
court, her mother, Beatrice Agama, and
another woman, Melanie Spencer, appeared
in today’s sitting.
Reports also said a separate application was
also made against Ms. Agama for the seizure
of an undisclosed amount of money.
PREMIUM TIMES learned that there were
indications the money seized by the court
was found recently with Mrs. Alison-
Madueke as the National Crime Agency
applied for the seizure within 48 hours.
PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported
the arrest of Mrs. Alison-Madueke alongside
four others in London on Friday, for
offences related to bribery, corruption and
money laundering.
An overview of the Proceeds of Crime Act
says “The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
(“POCA”) sets out the legislative scheme for
the recovery of criminal assets with
criminal confiscation being the most
commonly used power.
“Confiscation occurs after a conviction has
taken place. Other means of recovering the
proceeds of crime which do not require a
conviction are provided for in the Act,
namely civil recovery, cash seizure and
taxation powers.
“The aim of the asset recovery schemes in
POCA is to deny criminals the use of their
assets, recover the proceeds of crime and
disrupt and deter criminality.
“Since 2010, more than £746 million of
criminal assets has been seized (to 2013/14)
across all four methods of recovery – a
record amount.
“Over the same period, assets worth more
than £2.5 billion have been frozen denying
criminals access to these resources and £93
million has been returned to victims,” said
a factsheet.