REVEALED: THE INTRIGUES,THE CONSPIRACY & POLITICS OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF NIGERIAN POLITICIAN – CHIEF BODE GEORGE
*The Ibori, Tinubu, Aodoanka’s secret deal
*Ribadu, Farida ‘s role, ….*the Borisade angle
* Investigation by Abdullahi Bello &Akin Akindele, Whistleblowers Monitors
(Barely two years after serving a jail term handed over by a Lagos
High court presided over by Justice Bunmi Oyewole, fresh facts have
emerged on how a web of intrigues and political maneuvering at the
highest levels conspired in turning one of Nigerians mercurial
politicians-Chief Olabode George into an ex convict!.)
The Background …….
Not a stranger to intrigues with fatal consequences,Bode George
popularly referred to as BG was a retired Commodore in the navy. During
the Sanni Abacha regime he had as Principal Staff Officer (equivalent of
Chief of Staff) to the then Chief of General Staff Gen Oladipo Diya
rtd,escaped by whiskers from the torment of his boss who was enmeshed in
a coup saga that led to his sentencing to death.Diya is only alive
today by divine providence, following the strange death of Gen Abacha
himself,the supposed executioner.BG ran into exile in London and was
only able to return during the preparation for the return to Democracy
and he became one the frontline supporters of the Obasanjo Presidency.
His rise within the People’s Democratic party PDP saw him as the
National Vice Chairman (SW) of the party and later the National Deputy
Chairman in quick succession.He was a notable political engine room for
Obasanjo which saw him playing a key role in the sweeping of the votes
of the South West for the PDP and Obasanjo in the 2003 elections thus
displacing the Alliance for Democracy(AD)
Governors who held sway in the region.Thus Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti
came under the PDP governance leaving only Lagos under the stranglehold
of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (a.k.a BAT)
BG was made the Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) ,one of
the cash cows of the Federal Government, giving him a huge empowerment
platform with which the PDP hoped to wrestle Lagos from the Tinubu
political behemoth. Meanwhile,the creation of New local governments by
Tinubu brought him in collision course with the Presidency which was
insisting on the unconstitutionality of the creation. This led to the
withholding of local government funds of Lagos by Obasanjo.The whole
matter was later settled at the Supreme court which held that the local
councils were inchoate and was not Constititional but also held that it
was unconstitutional to withhold the state funds.The political backlash
was dumped on BG who was seen as the arrowhead of the attempt to
strangle Tinubu’s financial power as a ploy for a final onslaught to win
Lagos state for the PDP.Also the gruesome murder of Engr Funso
Williams, a well respected politician from whom Tinubu snatched the
Governorship of Lagos, by yet unknown assassins, brought some hues and
cry from the Lagos PDP family led by BG with fingers pointed to the
Lagos Political warlord.The insinuations did not go down well with BAT
who secretly hatched a revenge.
ENTER NUHU RIBADU……. the anti corruption czar.
As part of his fight against corruption and financial crime ,and to
meet up with international convention on economic crimes, Obasanjo set
up the EFCC and appointed a young Deputy Commissioner of Police Nuhu
Ribadu as the Executive Chairman.Ribadu knew early his war could only be
fought with the support of the Media and pro democracy activists whose
penchant for rushing to court to challenge any infringement on
fundamental rights had become notorious .The fraudsters and 419ers,awash
with cash and loot of their crimes were able to procure the media and
lawyer activists to fight their battle and sway public opinion against a
seeming iron fist Organisation that EFCC was growing into. Ribadu went
after activist lawyers like Femi Falana,( now a senior advocate,) Keyamo
and the likes and swiftly made them prosecution Counsel for EFCC with
irresistible financial largesse to the tow. He also sought the comfort
of the media.Sources within the organisation hinted that the initial
funding received from the NNPC support fund running into millions of
naira was splashed on the media and human rights activists.One of the
media organisation’s wooed early by Ribadu was a Lagos based magazine
The News. A key staff of EFCC had introduced a top Managing editor of
the magazine (who is currently a top politician with the ACN), to Ribadu
and the magazine benefited from several exclusive news leaks of anti
corruption cases. This led to a series of other collaborative efforts.
……Ribadu and the Corrupt Governors
At some point between 2001-2002, Foreign governments and agencies
were alarmed at the rate of the siphoning of funds out of the country by
Governors and key public officials. Obasanjo was thus derided at
international fora over his weak anti corruption programme.A visibly
angry Obasanjo who was also looking for opportunities to keep the
governors under political control tasked EFCC and ICPC to beam its
searchlight on Governors whose penchant for Foreing tours after
receiving their federation allocation had become legendary. Afterall,
the governors were not immuned against prosecution, the courts have
held.,neither their accomplices who could be tried while waiting for the
Governors to end their tenure.Ribadu’s dragnet caught a large haul of
governors. In an address to the National Assembly,Ribadu reeled out
names of 19 Governors who have been enmeshed in high level corruption.
Listed In the ignoble club was Bola Tinubu (BAT)) of Lagos whose case,
Ribadu said,had international dimension.others included James Ibori (now
convicted in London), Lucky Igbinedion,Orji Kalu,Ayo Fayose, Ladoja,
Joshua Dariye,Nnamani etc. The nation was jolted.However the likes of
Tinubu and Ibori hatched a plan to cage Ribadu, a move that later paid
off under the Yar Adua regime.
Ever a political strategist, Tinubu moved to plant an insider in the
EFCC who would perform a twin assignment of steamrolling any move
against Tinubu while also turning the tide on Obasanjo loyalists.An
unsuspecting Ribadu who was having his image ballooned in the media,
appointed one of The News founding editors,Dapo Olorunyomi as his Chief
of Staff,who then had access to the inner workings of the EFCC. Perhaps
unknown then to Obasanjo ,Ribadu and the general public, Tinubu was the
major financier
of The News Magazine, and this accounted for why despite all the
corruption in Lagos, The magazine had not had the temerity to publish
any single exposé on it,with it’s focus mainly on the Federal
Government, National assembly, PDP chieftains and Obasanjo.Anyone close
to ACN or Tinubu has immunity against negative publication from the
stable while Nigerians read voraciously, scandals upon scandals
concocted and salaciously promoted weeks after weeks of other public
officials.
With this strategic move of appointing an insider, it was not strange
that Tinubu escaped any further onslaught from EFCC even after leaving
office. Ribadu later benefited out of office as he became the
Presidential candidate of ACN led by the same man he had accused of
humongous corruption.Sources inside EFCC confirmed that Tinubu”s files
had disappeared from the Organisation and that the current helmsman
Ibrahim Lamorde was one of the beneficiaries of the Ribadu -the
News-Tinubu alliance,hence the larger than live image of TINUBU Inspite of the corruption dossier in the public domain.
…..How BG’s trouble began
The trouble for BG was thus hatched when one petition surfaced on
EFCC and Obasanjo’s table drawing attention to billions of naira
contracts being awarded by the NPA and that the Organisation had become a
cesspool of corruption under the him.Before the petition could settle
on the Presidents table,The NEWS came out with an exclusive story on the
petition which jolted the President who in an attempt to play the even
handed leader without bias for friend or foe directed Ribadu to conduct
an investigation on NPA.The initial report submitted by Ribadu though
confirmed some rot in the management of NPA didnot indict BG and the
board members of any financial sleaze but drew attention to some
administrative lapses in not following some Federal Government circular
on limits of the Board
approving authority. The Minister then, Ojo Madueke was tasked to
reorganize the management of the Ports Authority. The report was kept in
the cooler until Obasanjo left. However, BG eager to clear his name
then sued The News for libel and the case before Lagos High Court
dragged on which perhaps was his undoing.
…..Enter Yar’ Adua, Ibori, Aodoankaa and Tinubu
With Obasanjo’s exit and the election of President Yar adua, a new
power play emerged with different actors jostling for control of the
Presidential space.James Ibori who had emerged as a major financier of
the Yar Adua campaign moved quickly to stamp his feet in the
Presidential villa.Also despite being an opposition leader to PDP it was
common knowledge that Tinubu was a close ally of President Musa Yar
adua whose relationship dated back to the PDM era under the senior Sheu
Yar adua .On another side were some Obasanjo loyalists who played key
roles in the emergence of Yaradua. For instance the duo of Ribadu and El
Rufai had participated in screening of some Governors who Obasanjo
wanted as successor.Their rating of Yar Adua above others paved the way
for his emergence,hence they expected to be power brokers in the
regime.Also was Bode George who was the Director General of the Yar adua
Campaign.There was also former Education Minister Prof Babalola
Borisade,who was an ally of the Yar adua family dating back several
years,who the President had also been consulting to play a major role.
An Inside source who was privy to the high wire politics in the Villa
said that Ibori quickly hatched a plan with Tinubu and Igbinedion,that
Obasanjo’s men must be prevented from having any leverage in the Yar
Adua regime. Ibori worked fast on the Yar adua boys from Katsina (Tanimu
Yakubu ‘TY’ etc..) in concert with the voluble Attorney General
Emmanuel Aodonakaa SAN, to remove Ribadu and replaced him with Mrs
Farida Waziri a retired police officer from Benue state,the same state
of the Attorney General .While Ribadu was hounded into NIPSS from where
he had to run into exile, El Rufai also was frustrated out. With
Andoakaa /Waziri in charge, Tinubu and Ibori’s case went into the
cooler.But for Ribadu’s proactive step of giving information to the
British authorities which later resurfaced,Ibori’s case was as good as
dead!
As information got to the grapevine of the intention of President Yar
adua to appoint BG as Chief of staff, Ibori moved against it having
also eyed the position. A web of intrigues was at play which sources
said united, the former Cos Gen Mohammed Abdullahi with Tanimu
Yakubu,Ibori,Muktar (NSA)and Kingibe. Tinubu also saw an opportunity to
pounce on BG. The plot was hatched for EFCC to dust up the earlier
investigation against the Bode George led NPA and for his arrest and
trial,to checkmate the President’s plan.
On Borisade ,it was also decided that he should be framed up on a
phoney Aviation contract deal and arrested by EFCC to scutlle his
relationship with Yar adua.Despite pushing a 6 billion naira allegation
in the media,Borisade was charged to court by Farida for collecting air
ticket and hotel accomodation from Avstel,a contractor for the Aviation
Trackon, a project that was cleared by Due Process and successfully
executed!
Our sources stated :”Frustrated by the “orchestrated” scandal on all
his potential appointees,the President decided to scrap the position of
COS and downgraded it as Principal Private Secretary.Ibori still had his
way as he plugged in,his former Finance Commissioner,David Edevbie”
Why BG was charged before Lagos Court…….
Meanwhile,knowing that it may be difficult to get the Federal High
Court to nail BG in view of the tardy investigation and the
administrative lapses which was not a criminal offence,the plot was to
take
them for trial under the Lagos High court where Tinubu had control of
the judiciary.He could get any judgement against anyone with a snap of
the finger.Sources close to the inner workings of the Lion of Bourdillon
indicated that a coterie of senior lawyers on his beck and call who
ensured that Tinubu got all he wanted at any level of the judiciary
included,Prof Yemi Osibajo (his former AG),Rotimi Akeredolu, Femi
Falana,Prof itse Sagay,Dele Adesina, Niyi Akintola and Dapo Sasore .Also
a former Justice of the supreme Court and wife of a former Chief
Justice of Nigeria,also run errands for him.
Another hurdle for Aodoakaa /Farida was lack of jurisdiction of Lagos
Court since NPA was a Federal institution for which only Federal High
Court could adjudicate, But the wheeler dealer Aodoakaa,was to obtain a
fiat of the Attorney General of Lagos state to try the offence in
Lagos,in what legal pundits see as a judicial aberration with sinister
motive.To compound Bode George’s woes, Lagos law was applied which made
disobedience of government circular a criminal offence.When the
investigation pointed to the management of the NPA as the culprit, the
prosecution stated that Bode George and other members should be held
“vicariously” liable for the offence of the Management.In a curious
trial, the Executive Director Engineering of the NPA who was accused of
making the recommendation said to have resulted in contract splitting
,was not tried along with them despite being a director.
The case was tried by Justice Bunmi Oyewole, one of the known
judicial allies of Tinubu.Several objections by the Defence team was
over ruled by the judge in a trial that lasted over 6 months.While
delivering his over 2 hours judgement, Oyewole held that although Bode
George and the 5 other directors “did not benefit financially from the
contracts, they were held vicariously liable for the breach of
administrative procedure and disobedience of Government circulars”. He
sentenced them each to 2 year jail term without option of fine.
The propaganda machinery of Tinubu and the ACN was unleashed on the
public space befuddling the real issues of the convicts’ fall under a
heavy veil of political intrigues. Little consideration was given to
the technical judicial pronouncement which sends a citizen to prison,
even when it is shown that he had not benefited from the alleged crime.
The Court of Appeal to which BG took his case was not better being a
haven of influence of the Tinubu political machine,under Justice Isa
Salami,who is presently under suspension .The court presided over by
Justice Clara Ogunbiyi ruled that Bode George having not raised the
issue of jurisdiction early in the lower court, his appeal on the issue
of lack of Jurisdiction of the court that tried him was too late in the
day and it was dismissed prompting the present Appeal pending before the
Supreme court.
Legal experts claimed that Ogunbiyi”s judgement does not represent
the position of the law which is that complaint on Jurisdiction of a
court can be raised at any time ,even after judgement has been given. A
judicial activist, Nduka Nwosu said it was obvious BG was railroaded
into prison to prevent the PDP onslaught in Lagos and stop him from
entrenching his political career.
Commenting on whether the issue of Jurisdiction was raised late
,Nduka stated ” no this is not the position of law .The law is settled
in the case Okereke v Yar adua (2008 )that ” A party s right to raise
the issue of jurisdiction is available to him at all times and that
gives credence to the immutable principle that the issue of Jurisdiction
can be raised at any stage of the proceedings at the court of trial
or in the Appelate court ”
He said even though Bode George is a member of the
political class who must also share the blame of the corruption infested
polity, his trial does not accord with proper judicial process being
vindictive and politically motivated, saying that “the danger of
supporting such maltreatment is that other innocent people could also be
subjected to the same maltreatment in future including those who today
may be unconcerned or gloating on the fall of their perceived enemy”. He
said the judiciary has been a willing tool and has become polluted
saying : ” Can you imagine a recent situation where the Pension Director
who had confessed to stealing 23 Billion naira was jailed for two years
and given option of fine of N750,000, and here was BG who the court
said didnot benefit financially and was only liable vicariously,and he
was sentenced to 2 years without option of fine. is that justice in the
same country?”
Meawhile Bode George had already served his full term and had become a free citizen however
with a tag of ex convict for an offence which should at best earn him a
sack from the board as a part time Chairman.Whether his conviction would
be quashed or not at the Supreme Court is in the womb of time!
Speaking on his travails in a recent interview with Vanguard
Newspapers, Bode George lamented his travails as part of a grand plot to
silence him politically:
“What were we charged for? What were the charges? One, that we
disobeyed Federal Government circular. There is no criminal law against
that at the federal level. Our enemies provided their own law in Lagos
State that we disobeyed Federal Government circular and so a law made by
Lagos State House of Assembly was now applied against us; federal
officers, part-time chairman of NPA. I disobeyed Federal Government
circular? Isn’t that a joke? Even the state attorney-general, Dapo
Sasore, who is married to my cousin, now gave the then Federal
Attorney-General, Andoakaa, fiat to try Bode George.
The second charge was that we split contract. In his judgment, he
said, yes, he agreed that we didn’t do it directly but vicariously that
we gave the people the plan of what we wanted, that they did it in a
department and to the Board. The man who presented the memo to the board
was not even arrested. The contractors were not brought. Nobody was
brought to say, yes, we benefited from the contract or any of the
members who owned the company. But in their judicial wisdom, we were
sent to jail. Let Nigerians judge.
I was in civil service for over a quarter of a century, over 25
years. I served at a high level and retired as a general (commodore in
the Navy). I have been in public service all my years. I had a lot of
exposure, thanks to this beautiful country that gave me the opportunity
to have been to so many colleges; internationally renowned colleges, to
know what formulation and execution of policies are all
about. I had managed a state at that level to understand the legislative
arm of a federated system. The state assembly made a law for their
public officers. But Lagos State judiciary, Oyewole in particular, now
expanded that public officers to mean federal public officers. Is NPA
under Lagos State government? So, tomorrow, this same Oyewole can be
arraigned in Sokoto on the laws made by Sokoto State and be put in
prison. Let them think. And as long as there is injustice in the land,
there would never be peace.
“The circular “was about the expenditure level. There was a law; 1991
Decree where the managing director of NPA, barring all other process in
his office, can award up to N10 million; the executive directors can
award up to N5 million; all of them sitting together as management can
award up to N20 million or N25 million and then the Board N50 million.
They now said there was a circular in 2001 which never came to us
because it bore the stamp of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources. If
it was meant for NPA, it would bear the stamp of the Federal Ministry
of Transport and the Minister of Transport by the Act of NPA is the
legitimate minister who can direct the NPA because the NPA is not just
an organ, it is like transient parastatal. After NNPC, NPA is next.
This is the same parastatal we put in place, conceptualised and
recommended the new operational scheme; where there is a concession,
given to established companies to manage the operations of the terminals
on behalf of the NPA. The amount of money the NPA makes from that
operation from little inputs is almost one thousand percent of what they
were making before we did it; the same Board. Today, we are being
vilified. Today we are culprits because they said we split contract.
Which contract?The Board’s minutes are so clear: Some firms were
recommended to be awarded the contract but we gave the job to the
company that
quoted the lowest. We didn’t cut it into two. So he (Oyewole) said
‘vicariously’. There was no proof of any benefit. He just pronounced us
guilty because we must be sent to prison. Yes, they think they achieved
their aim but they are not God. And God is God of vengeance.
They wanted to drown Bode George. The political achievement that I
have garnered which they are envying me for is as a result of a mission,
not my personal mission. We will liberate our people from the hands of
these people.
But I, personally, because when they criminalise your name, they
label you, they want to sink you. They didn’t create me. They didn’t
create my family. They should go into record and find out ‘Who is Bode
George?’ ‘Where does he come from?’ Both from my father and mother in
this Lagos, let them find out their names.”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?: the losers ..the gainers
During our investigation we attempted to reach out to many of the
dramatist personae who were fingered in this intricate web of politics
and intrigue ,solely devoted to entrenching political interest of “Lagos
owner” a. k.a Tinubu and the Presidency of Yar adua which had
frittered away by divine providence!.all attempts have proved futile.
for instance we reached out to Tinubu”s phone line 08034240000 and
despite answering the call he suddenly dropped the line when we
introduced the topic muttering some lines like “which BG pls ….”.Also
Chief Aodoakaa now a low profile lawyer refused to be drawn into
discussion on the matter when contacted.
The Gainers
Tinubu: still waxing strong as the número uno of Lagos state and with
4 states added to the kitty for plundering and personal enrichment.His
corruption profile has however been on the rise despite growing
resentment. He has been able to eswhich any arrest or possible trial
through
a political and financial “bully”strategy and a purported secret
alliance with Jonathan Government on the political control of the South
West.
Ribadu: He has been able to achieve a rise in political profile with
the pay back from Tinubu and the News.His alliance with the media and
pro democracy groups has paid off.
The Losers
Ibori: despite having his way as a power broker in the Yar adua
regime, Ibori is presently languishing in jail in London for corruption
related offence and many of his proprties are being confiscated.It was a
twist of fate of a kind,as the hunter now became the hunted.
Aodonakaa : The voluble and discredited Attorney General who went to
great length to desecrate the office is presently enjoying the lowest
ebb of his career having been under watch in America as a corrupt
person.His SAN privileges has also been suspended.Despite insiders
acknowledgement of his stupendous wealth, he is
however no longer in public glare and suffers poor reckoning in the polity.
Farida Waziri: Removed under unclear circumstances ,the EFCC under
her suffered serious image crisis which discredited the efforts of the
anti corruption agency .At the height of it, the American Secretary of
State, Mrs Clinton gave a poor rating of the organisation and
indications that it was a corrupt organisation was rife. She is
currently enjoying her illgotten wealth in a low profile.
Justice Bunmi Oyewole: is also now on the spot on account of the move
to transfer him to Osun state as Chief Judge to jump over almost 8
seniors above him,in a compensatory move by the ACN leadership on
account of perceived loyalty to Tinubu.He has been fingered in the
property sale scandal allegation being investigated by the NJC over
petition by chief Emman Nwude.A Senior Advocate of Nigeria is currently
under trial by EFCC in the case JD/102C/2006 FRN vs Ricky Tarfa
The News Magazine: the public acceptance of the magazine has waned
considerably with more realisation of its status as a megaphone of the
Tinubu political machine.Most of its founding editors though have become
wealthy pursuing their personal interests in politics and business.One
of them Babafemi Ojudu is a senator under the banner of ACN.
* Investigation by Ibrahim Abdullahi and Akin Akindele for Whistleblowers Monitors Inc.
News+Rescue
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