EFCC sets up four-man panel to probe Alison Madueke.

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has commenced a full investigation into the activities of the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

It was learnt on Sunday that the commission constituted a four-member committee of crack detectives to probe all the NNPC accounts which were supervised by the former minister.

It was learnt that the committee was led by a Superintendent of Police, who was seconded to the commission.

Investigations revealed that the other three members of the committee were pioneer civilian operatives of the commission with high capacity for investigation.

Inner room had on Sunday reported that the ongoing probe of the immediate-past administration by President Muhammadu Buhari was to beam its searchlight on the alleged purchase of three mobile stages, costing $6.9m, by former President Goodluck Jonathan and two of his officials.

According to a document, which was obtained from the Presidency on Saturday, the deal, which is now a subject of investigation, was allegedly carried out by Jonathan; his Chief Security Officer, Mr. Gordon Obuah; and Alison-Madueke.

The fund was said to have been withdrawn from one of the numerous accounts of the NNPC.

The $6.9m (about N1.37bn) was said to have been withdrawn for the purpose of buying three pieces of 40-feet mobile stages for use by Jonathan during the campaign.

Besides the latest allegation, it will be recalled that a group, Crusader for Good Governance, had petitioned the EFCC accusing the former minister of squandering million of dollars of public funds to charter private jets.

The petitioners also accused her of spending $300,000 on an average international trip.

The group also alleged that the NNPC, a government agency she oversaw, maintained a Challenger 850 Visa jet which serves the former minister’s needs as well as those of her family. The cost of running the jet is $500,000 per month.

She was also accused of going to a meeting of the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries in Austria in a private jet.

It was gathered on Sunday that the committee set up by the EFCC had since commenced probing the NNPC accounts and activities of the former minister.

A top operative of the EFCC, who confided in The PUNCH, said, “I think the commission has commenced investigation into this Diezani issue. It is not just about inviting her, the commission has set up a four-man team of crack detectives to investigate her operations in the NNPC.

“The terms of reference of the committee include to look into all the NNPC accounts which were under the supervision of Mrs. Alison-Madueke.

“The committee has since commenced work; they are still working. I think a very senior police officer, a Police Superintendent, is leading the other operatives in the probe of Diezani and multiple accounts of the NNPC.” The source said.

When our correspondent contacted the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, on the activities of the EFCC Special Committee on the NNPC, the calls to his mobile telephone line did not connect.

But Uwujaren had earlier said that he was not aware if the commission had commenced a probe into the allegation that $6.9m was spent on campaign stages.

Uwujaren said that he had not been briefed on any such investigation.

“I am not aware of such a probe; I have not been briefed on such a probe,” he said.

Meanwhile, Obuah has denied the allegation of purchase of three mobile stages, costing $6.9m, for public appearance of the then President.

Obuah, who spoke through his lawyer, Mr. Andrew Tsekiri, in a telephone conversation with one of our correspondents on Sunday, said the allegation was false and challenged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to produce evidence instead of putting him on trial in the media.

Tsekiri said his client had been confronted with the allegation while in the detention of the Department of State Services, which he said investigated it and found it to be untrue.

The lawyer said, “Let me tell you, nothing like that exists. Obuah did not make demand for that money for any stage. Let them show to Nigerians evidence that he took the money. When Obuah was in their (DSS) detention, they investigated this particular matter and found out that it was false.

“He was confronted with the allegation. Mr. Obuah told them that he knew nothing about it, and they found that the allegation was false. They released him, why are they bringing it up again,

He said since the release of the former President’s CSO from the DSS detention in July, he had not been contacted over the allegation by any government agency since then.

He said, “They have investigated the allegation and they found out it was false, since then no government agency had contacted or invited Mr. Obuah.

“They should show how Diezani authorised the payment of the money and how it left Citibank to Zenith Bank, to Access Bank to Sterling Bank and they should show how it ended in Obuah’s account.”

Tsekiri said the outcome of the allegation would soon show that the Buhari Administration was not interested in governance but to frame up allegations against people.

“They are just lying against Diezani and Mr. Jonathan. That is what they are doing. Let me tell you what they want to do. They will charge Obuah to court, make all the noise about the allegation that has been published, knowing full well that the matter will not be decided in about a year or two, and by then, the public would have forgotten about it but they would have spoilt your name.”

Anti-corruption war not negotiable - Buhari tells Jonathan's ministers.

The Presidency on Sunday said the current war being waged against corruption by the present administration is not negotiable.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja.

He was reacting to an earlier statement by ministers, who served under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Shehu asked the affected persons, who he described as “members of the country’s latest trade union formation, the Association of Ex-Jonathan Ministers”, to do a bit of self-reflection on the sort of government they handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29.

He said such self-reflection would make the former ministers to decide if it would have been right for any incoming government to ignore the issue of the brazen theft of public assets, which he said appeared to be the first of its kind in the country.

Shehu added that earlier statements that there was no witch-hunt or malice against anyone in the pursuit of the county’s stolen assets, still stood.

He said, “This war against corruption knows no friend nor foe.

“There is no intention to deny anyone of their good name where they are entitled to it and  President Buhari reserves the highest regards for the country’s former leaders including Dr Goodluck Jonathan, who he continues to praise to high heavens for the way and manner in which he accepted defeat in the last election.

“That singular action remains a feat that has earned the former President and Nigeria as a country befitting commendations all over the world, the latest coming from Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who visited a week ago.

“For the purpose of emphasis, the issue of fighting corruption by President Buhari is non negotiable.

“It is sine qua non to the overall reconstruction of the economy and social systems  which suffered  destruction and severe denigration under the last administration.

“President Buhari will not be deterred or blackmailed into retreat and surrender.”

Shehu said nobody in the Peoples Democratic Party could accuse Buhari of undermining the economy when all they handed over to him was at best, “a tottering economy hobbled by corruption and the absence of due process.”

He said things had become worsened by the continuing fall in the price of oil, which is expected to fall even further with the imminent full return of Iran to the market.

The President’s spokesman added that all the President had been doing while around was to put things together, organising to defeat Boko Haram, paying outstanding salaries, cleaning up the mess left behind, improving security and restoring the country’s relationships with neighbours and the world.

Jonathan, Alison Madueke fingered in new $6.9m scandal.

•Security agencies probe purchase of mobile stages
•How NNPC secret account was used

Security agencies are now probing   how the administration of  former President Goodluck Jonathan allegedly withdrew $6.9million (N1.460b) from a secret account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) to buy three  12 meter (40 feet)  mobile stages for use at public events.

The cash was said to be part of the unremitted funds into the Federation Account by NNPC.

The purported purchase, according to investigation, did not pass through due process and was known only to Dr. Jonathan, his then Chief Security Officer, Mr. O.J. Obuah and former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Obuah, it was gathered, raised a memo to his boss for the purchase and the release of the money to that effect.

Jonathan allegedly gave his approval and authorized the former minister to disburse the fund.

Shedding light on how the deal was struck on October 17, 2011 through a curious memo from Obuah, a source familiar with the development said preliminary investigation suggested that there was no record of purchase of the said stages.

It was learnt that the $6.9million was paid into a company’s account after NNPC directed that the money be taken from one of its accounts in New York CITIBANK with sort code CITIUS 33, and Routing number 021000089.

The affected company, J. Marine Logistics Limited, Abuja, was purportedly registered by Obuah.

The source said: “Between himself, his Chief Security Officer and the former Petroleum Minister, former President Goodluck Jonathan spent in just one shot deal a whopping $6.9 million dollars to buy three 40-feet mobile stages for use at public speaking events.”

Federal government investigators and security agencies, sources added, believe this is just one of the tons of alleged corrupt practices frequently engaged in and condoned under the last president.

“Besides the fact that the sum for the stages was incredibly inflated, according to mobile stage industry experts, government investigators say there is no evidence yet that any stage was purchased at all,” one source said, citing several documents.

One of the documents says: “At the centre of the fraudulent financial ring was the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. O.J. Obuah who initiated a memo to the former president on October 17, 2011 asking for the purchase of three mobile stages.

“He said in that memo to the former president that this is regarding “my earlier discussion with Your Excellency on the security implication of your public appearances and your subsequent directive on the need to procure a secured presidential platform.”

“And on the same day without any financial advice or purchase order reviews, the former president minuted his approval of the request to buy the three stages to the then Minister for Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.

“In his minute, the president said ‘we have discussed this, please deal.”

“Right after that okay from the president, on the same October 17, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administrative Matters, Matt Aikhionbere did another letter on the strength of the president’s approval requesting the Petroleum Minister to take action on the request to purchase the stages for $6.9m.

“By the next month, an NNPC payment voucher number 3840336 was already in place revealing that the money was released. NNPC directed that the money be taken from one of its accounts in New York CITIBANK with sort code CITIUS 33, and Routing number 021000089.

“It was first routed from the US bank to an NNPC account in Zenith Bank account number 5000026593, Maitama branch in Abuja, from where the money was sent to a private account. The sum of $6.9m was then credited to a Sterling Bank account of one J. Marine Logistics Limited, Abuja, a company investigators say was registered by Obuah.”

Responding to a question, the source said: “The $6.9miilion in question was promptly paid on November 29, 2011 into a private account belonging to the former CSO.

“The former president approved the procurement of the mobile platforms without due process and bye-passing the Procurement Act neither was there an appropriation in the 2011 budget for such facility.

“Neither the minister of Finance nor the Director-General of the Budget Office was aware of the deal.

“There are no records of this purchase which was carried out late 2011.”

The preliminary findings also indicated that the cost of the stages might have been inflated.

The source said:  “According to the investigators, the cost of mobile stages depends on size and designs; only outlandish rock star musicians in Europe and the US spend hundreds of thousands on their huge stages way bigger than the 40-feet stages.

“Even then, those musicians and super stars would not pay over $2m per stage, according to industry sources.

“The process of procurement of the three mobile stages was not known to extant Nigerian laws and due process regulations, nor were the offices of the Auditor-General and the Accountant-General in the know.”

It was learnt that the deal was one of the issues  for which the ex-CSO was grilled quizzed by the Department of State Security(DSS) during his recent arrest and detention.

One of the officials handling the investigation added: “ The CSO himself according to investigators has not been able to show proof of the purchase and his memo irked his bosses at the SSS that he took the initiative to request  for the stages, an action which officials say was way above his pay grade.

“It is not the duty or responsibility of the CSO to make the determination on that purchase. He was meant to have informed the service, which will then review the situation and act accordingly.

“What has happened here is that the former president and the former minister with the collusion of the CSO decided to use public funds for other purposes since no one has found the stages as we speak.”

“This is just one of the several instances where the Jonathan administration used secret NNPC accounts to fund questionable projects and for alleged personal financial aggrandizements.”

It was gathered that some of these embarrassing issues were part of the matters raised by Jonathan with the National Peace Committee headed by the former Head of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar.

The committee later facilitated a secret parley between President Muhammadu Buhari and ex-President Jonathan.

But at the session, Buhari insisted that the law must take its course with  anyone found guilty of corruption.

Prince Abubakar Audu emerges Kogi APC governorship candidate .

A former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Abubakar Audu, has emerged candidate of the All Progressives Congress ( APC) in the state governorship election slated for Nov. 21.

Audu emerged winner of the APC governorship primary which was held in Lokoja between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

He polled 1, 109 votes to beat his closest rival, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who scored 703 votes.

A former Senator, Alhaji Nurudeen Abatemi, scored 400 votes to place third .

Another aspirant, Alhaji Sanusi Abubakar, scored 309 votes, while Hajia Hadiza Ibrahim, the only female among the 28 aspirants, scored four votes.

Out of the 3,548 delegates, 3,044 were accredited by the Electoral Panel, while 29 votes were declared invalid.

Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, the Chairman of the Electoral Panel, commended the aspirants for their maturity and commitment to the ideals of the party.

El-Rufai urged the Audu and other contenders to quickly close ranks and work together to ensure the victory of the party in the coming election.

In his response, Audu thanked members of the electoral panel for making the election transparent , free and fair.

He called on other aspirants to accept the result in good faith and work with him in harmony in the interest of the party.

“ Letus work together in harmony , we have serious task ahead. To unseat an incumbent is not easy but we can do it, “ he said.

Audu described the result of the election “as no victor, no vanquished’’ and praised all the aspirants for their courage and comport before and during the primary election.

Bello, who spoke on behalf of the other aspirants, described the primary election as transparent, free and fair and lauded the members of the electoral panel for their efforts.

He advised Audu to live up to his position as a leader and father, describing APC as a big family.

Bello, also advised the winner to carry all aspirants and stakeholders along , pledging that they would work with him to win the election.

Go and defend yourself - Gov Wike tells Ameachi.

RIvers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has called on his predecessor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to go and defend himself at the judicial commission of inquiry.

Wike, who was reacting to Amaechi declaration on Saturday that he (Amaechi) would not appear before the Justice George Omereji panel of inquiry, said it was wrong for the former governor to describe the commission as illegal even when the court had ruled that the panel was in order.

The governor, who spoke on Sunday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Sir Opunabo Inko-Tariah, said he would not join issues with Amaechi over the setting up of the judicial commission of inquiry.

Wike stressed that it was necessary for Amaechi to defend himself on certain issues concerning how the state was managed like former governor, Dr. Peter Odili, did in the past.

It will be recalled that Wike had set up the panel to probe the sale of state’s assets and other related matters by the immediate past administration.

Amaechi had told his supporters and members of the All Progressives Congress in Port Harcourt that Wike failed to comply with the laws setting up an administrative panel and as such would not appear before it (panel).

Wike explained that the former governor was put to shame when the court pronounced that nothing was wrong with the setting up of a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the immediate past administration.

“‎It is laughable that Amaechi will call a panel that has already been declared lawful by a court of law illegal. This means as of when he questioned its proprietary in court, he thought the court will declare it illegal but was shamed.

“This is no media trial and the government (Rivers) will not be embroiled in any war of attrition. He (Amaechi) should go and defend himself just like Dr. Peter Odili did during the Kayode Esho’s panel,” Wike said.

He, however, dismissed the allegations against him by Amaechi, adding that trying to whip up sentiments in the media will not help the former governor.

According to him, “Media trial will not vindicate him (Amaechi as the sentiments he is trying to whip up has failed. Wike has no skeleton in his cupboard to unearth. 

“We will not join issues with a contradiction of Paradox like Amaechi who claims he left 7.5billion in one forum and in another, he said 10billion.

“He (Wike) is concerned with the development of the state and getting rivers people to enjoy the dividends of democracy, which he promised them and for which they freely and gleefully gave him their mandate.”

Appointing a new PDP chairman, waste of time and energy - Fayose tells PDP factions.

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said appointing a new chairman for the Peoples Democratic Party is a waste of time, saying what the party needs is a caretaker committee.

He called on notable PDP leaders in the South-West to be prepared to contest for the National Chairmanship position next year.

In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, on Sunday, the governor said “since the PDP will pick its presidential candidate from the North in 2019, the South-West that has not produced the party’s National Chairman should take the position next year.”

The governor, who maintained that installing a new chairman from the North-East for the party at this time was a waste of time, advocated for the appointment of a caretaker committee to pilot the affairs of the party at the expiration of the tenure of Chief Uche Secondus as Acting National Chairman.

“I think the party needs a caretaker committee by November rather than a substantive chairman. It will be more desirable that a Caretaker Committee is put in place by November to pilot the affairs of the party and organise a National Convention that will usher in a new National Working Committee early next year.

“What can anyone achieve as National Chairman in less than five months?

“The time and resources being devoted to securing the party chairmanship position for just less than five months should rather be devoted to getting the presidential ticket,” Fayose added.

On why the South-West must produce the next chairman, the governor said, “Since the presidential candidate will come from the North, the chairman will naturally come from the South.

“The South-East already had its tenure as the party chairman and the South-South just left the presidency.

“Therefore, it is fair for the next National Chairman of the party to come from the South-West and it is my plea that those who are interested in the position should start reaching out now.”

BPL: Swansea beat Man'U 2-1 to go fourth on the table.

Swansea City’s third successive victory over Manchester United takes them above Louis van Gaal’s side, who have lost for the first time this season.

Two second half goals from Andre Ayew and Bafetimbi Gomis cancelled Juan Mata’s volley on the 48 minute mark.

Swansea are fourth with eight points, United are fifth with seven points. That means the top four are Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Swansea.