Monarch wants NDDC board constituted, Akpabio sacked By Michael Egbejule.

NDDC Ovie of Idjerhe Kingdom, Obukowho Monday Whiskey, yesterday, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, to rescue the Niger Delta people from the alleged failure of the Ministry of Niger-Delta Affairs and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to deliver its core mandate of driving development in the region. The monarch also called for the sack of the Minister in charge of the ministry, Godswill Akpabio, describing his leadership as counter-productive. Briefing newsmen in his palace at an enlarged meeting with palace chiefs, Whiskey said Niger Delta residents had been disappointed by the non-performance of the minister and the NDDC. He said: “Godswill Akpabio is a son of the Niger Delta, appointed to represent the interest of the Niger Delta. Appointed to uplift the economic standard of the people of the Niger Delta. And for three years, he has failed. I have every justification, physical and spiritual, to call for his sack. Since he has refused to perform as expected of him, we are recalling him as a minister. “We are asking that he should be removed and another person appointed to replace him. President Muhammadu Buhari must live up to his responsibility and do the needful by coming to the rescue of the people of the Niger Delta. Akpabio is not the best that we have, if he is not ready to serve his people, remove him and appoint another person. So many NDDC projects are scattered all over the kingdom abandoned. “ The royal father also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to inaugurate the Board of the NDDC as screened and confirmed by the National Assembly to save the ugly situation faced by many in the Niger Delta region.

Last Man Standing: Alhaji Aminu Dantata By Munzali Dantata

Aminu Dantata was one of the eighteen surviving offsprings of Alhassan Dantata when I was growing up in the 1960s. Most of them lived on the same street founded by their father, around 1910, when he relocated to Kano from the Gold Coast, following the emerging groundnut trade in Nigeria. The kilometre long Sarari Street was lined with warehouses on both sides of the road, with few residential houses sandwiched in between. The first house belonged to Alhassan. The houses of his children followed, including that of my late father – Ahmadu Dantata; my uncle and adoptive father – Aminu Dantata, who adopted me after the death of my father in 1960; as well as Sanusi Dantata, the maternal grandfather of Aliko Dangote, who adopted Aliko after the death of his father in 1965. The warehouses on Sarari Street and adjoining alleys of Sarari District were demolished over the years to pave way for more houses as the Dantata family grew. My house today stands on land where a warehouse stood when I was a child. The warehouse was demolished in 1988 to make way for my house, in line with family tradition. Nigeria was the world’s biggest exporter of groundnuts. Kano was the epicentre of Nigeria’s groundnut trade, and the Groundnut Pyramids the trademark of the phenomenal trade. At its peak in the 1930s, groundnut was Nigeria’s leading export. The image of Groundnut Pyramid – on the Nigerian currency, postage stamps and post cards – doubled as the iconic symbol of Nigeria’s agricultural wealth, when Nigeria was a net exporter of agricultural products. The big three – cocoa, palm produce and groundnuts, accounted for over 70 percent of Nigeria’s exports. The Kano-Lagos rail, opened in 1912, was the first transnational rail in Nigeria, purposely built to carry exports of the north to Lagos. Construction of the Apapa Port, begun earlier than the Kano rail, was the first infrastructural project of the colonial administration in Nigeria, conceived as terminus for the Kano to Lagos rail. Nigeria was a tale of two cities, with Lagos as hub for goods from southern Nigeria ferried to Apapa Port by lorries, and Kano as hub of northern Nigeria, receiving goods by lorries from across the north for trans-shipment by rail to Lagos. This arrangement lasted for ten years before the rail was extended to Port Harcourt, Enugu, Jos and other newly built stations across the country. “Last man standing” is a tribute to Aminu Dantata, as he turns 90, as well as a tribute to his generation who participated in the phenomenal exports of colonial Nigeria and the 1960s. Baba Aminu joined the family business in 1948 after leaving school and was posted to Argungu as a dan-gyada (groundnut buying agent). He was promoted to District Manager of Sokoto Province of Alhassan Dantata and Sons Limited, before eventually heading the company in 1960. Alhassan Dantata and Sons Ltd supplied so much groundnuts to the Nigerian Railway Corporation that it became the only indigenous company granted a private railway siding; a privilege enjoyed by the European companies. Railway sidings connected compounds of major exporters to the main grid of the railway for trains to enter and collect cargo directly from their warehouses. One family’s dominance over Nigeria’s groundnut trade continued after the death of the patriarch. Two brothers – Aminu Dantata and Sanusi Dantata – well into the 1960s and 1970s, between them supplied more than half the annual groundnut purchases of Northern Nigeria Marketing Board, the government agency mandated to buy groundnuts, cotton and other commodities for export. The Groundnut Pyramid was the invention of the Kano merchants. It all began as stopgap for storage of groundnuts when an overwhelmed Kano Railway Station – in its second year of operation – shut its gates to groundnuts in 1912. The weekly train to Lagos could not accommodate any more groundnuts. The European companies stopped accepting groundnuts with warehouses full to the brim. More groundnuts were pouring into the city with the harvest season just beginning. Unlike the annual torrential rain that Kano was used to, the ancient city was not prepared for the sudden downpour of groundnuts. The Kano merchants, rather than turn back the precious nut when European companies stopped buying, continued to accept supplies from the farms. They resorted to piling up sacks of groundnuts in heaps, in front of their homes, and on the streets of Kano. They called the heap “Dalar Gyada”, Groundnut Hill in local parlance. The Colonial administration stepped in to create an official standard for the heap – setting its length, width, height, and number of bags – and officially named it “Groundnut Pyramid” after its pyramidical shape. My generation may be the last to have seen the Groundnut Pyramids, buried under the dust of Nigerian history. Growing up in the 1960s, we played around the Groundnut Pyramids that adorned the landscape of Kano as the major economic and touristic icons of the city. Placing the last sack atop the pyramid was the most interesting aspect of the pyramid. It was difficult and dangerous, requiring both strength and guile. A slip could cause the labourer, and the heavy sack, tumbling down to the ground. “Buhun karshe” was always placed with pomp and pageantry, watched by a huge crowd of spectators, including the owner of the pyramid and invited guests. Drummers and praise singers urged the labourer on as he scaled his way up cautiously with a sack on his head. A prize awaited him immediately he came down, usually a bicycle for himself and fabric for his wife. Dapge was Alhassan’s expert, enjoying the rare privilege of placing Alhassan’s last sack. I never saw Dapge in action for he was a frail old man on Sarari Street when I met him in the 1960s. Newly independent Nigeria was a big construction site in the 1960s, reminiscent of a developing country. This prompted Baba to venture into construction business. He got his big break in 1962, a contract to build the old Nigerian Defence Academy complex in Kaduna city. We were driving through Kaduna to Kano from Abuja one day in 1991 when Baba pointed to the NDA buildings with pride and told us that he built the complex, worth half a million pounds, the biggest building contract ever awarded to an indigenous contractor then. His second big break, he said, came two years later in 1964, building the School of Aviation complex in Zaria which consolidated his position as a market leader in the construction industry. Baba was appointed commissioner in newly created Kano State in 1967. He served for five years before leaving in 1973 to return to his business. By then, the business landscape of Nigeria had changed dramatically, from an export driven economy to an economy driven by imports, supported by only one export – crude oil. The Ground Pyramids had disappeared from the landscape of Kano, I was about to complete secondary school, and Dantata Organization was making its debut. NAMCO (Northern Amalgamated Marketing Company Ltd) was a major importer and wholesale distributor of essential commodities such as rice, sugar and fertilizer. Dantata Motors Ltd held a Mercedes Benz dealership importing saloon cars from Germany. Main Line Transport Ltd – a haulage company, imported trucks from Hino Motors of Japan and was Hino’s biggest African customer in the 1980s. They and many more were subsidiaries of Dantata Organization. The group also invested in companies outside its fold, particularly in the manufacturing sector, such as the Flour Mills of Nigeria, manufacturers of Golden Penny products. Dantata Organization also ventured into the down stream oil sector by the 1990s with Express Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd. I never met my grandfather, Alhassan Dantata. He died in 1955, two years before I was born. I hardly know my biological father, Ahmadu Dantata. He died in 1960 when I was barely three years old, three months to Nigeria’s independence. The two were gladiators of the colonial era. My foster father, Aminu Dantata, is a gladiator of both colonial and independent Nigeria. Born in 1931, he is an embodiment of the old and the new Nigeria. He has seen it all. He came to the world a British subject and is leaving as a Nigerian citizen. An entrepreneur par excellence, he has successfully participated in two diametrically opposed business regimes – the economies of the British colony of Nigeria and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. While the British focused on export of raw materials that greased the machinery of industrial Europe, subsequent Nigerian governments came up with industrialization programs, with varying success, to boost local production and satisfy the needs of teeming population.

FG bans 91 billionaires, VIPs’ jets, insists on N30bn duty by Oyetunji Abioye, Okechukwu Nnodim and Adepeju Adenuga

Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ali •Top pastors, business moguls, banks and oil firms’ CEOs affected •NCAA, FAAN, NAMA get letter to ground affected planes •Aviation ministry, Customs on warpath over flight ban directive The Federal Government has directed the Nigeria Customs Service to ground 91 private jets belonging to some wealthy Nigerians over their alleged refusal to pay import duties running to over N30bn, documents obtained by The PUNCH have revealed. As such, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali, (retd.) following a directive from the Presidency, has written a letter to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency asking the agencies to ground the affected private jets with immediate effect. The letter, with reference number NCS/T&T/ACG/042/s.100/VOL.II, which was dated November 2, 2021, was addressed to the Director-General, NCAA, Capt Musa Nuhu. A copy of the letter, which was obtained by one of our correspondents, was also addressed and sent to the Managing Director, FAAN, Capt Rabiu Yadudu; and the Managing Director, NAMA, Capt Fola Akinkuotu. The letter directed the aviation agency regulator (NCAA), the nation’s airspace management agency (NAMA), and airport management agency (FAAN), to ground the private jets by denying them administrative and operational flight clearances indefinitely. Findings by our correspondent revealed that the letters were received by the aviation agencies on November 8, 2021. According to documents sighted by one of our correspondents, the NCS letter to NAMA was delivered with reference code 19755747 by the courier company, while the NCS letter to FAAN was referenced 19755746 by the courier firm. The NCS letter, which was delivered to the NCAA, was also referenced 19755748 by the courier firm. It was titled, ‘Recovery of Aviation Import Duty on Privately Owned Aircraft Operating in the Country.’ The NCAA letter read in part, “The Federal Government in its drive for enhanced revenues has mandated the Nigeria Customs Service to immediately recover from defaulting private aircraft owners the required statutory import duties on their imported aircraft. “You may wish to recall the verification exercise conducted by the NCS, initially scheduled for a 14 day period, but magnanimously extended over a 60-day period from 7th June through 6 August 2021, following a World Press Conference held on 31st May 2021. The outcome of the aforementioned verification exercise is a compilation of all private aircraft imported into the country without payment of statutory import duty. “The Nigeria Custom Service, in line with its statutory functions, is empowered by Part 111 Sections 27, 35, 37, 45,46, 47, 52, 56,63 & 64; Part XI Sections 144, 145, 155, 160, 161& 164 and Part XII Sections 167, 168, 169, 173 & 174 of the Customs and Excise Management Act.” It further read, “In this regard therefore, your full cooperation is being solicited to ensure the success of this initiative and that all such private aircraft owners or representatives are denied administrative and operational flight clearances indefinitely, until an NCS issued Aircraft Clearance Certificate is procured and presented to your organisation as proof of compliance. “For the avoidance of doubt, ALL aircraft operated in accordance with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s regulation for the issuance of Permit for Non-Commercial Flight and those issued with Flight Operations Clearance Certificate and Maintenance Clearance Certificate accordingly are affected by this directive. “Please find attached the list of all verified aircraft and indeed others of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s register, which may not have come forward for your record and necessary action. Strict compliance with this directive is to be ensured. Please accept the assurances of my highest regards and esteem as always.” Independent findings by our correspondents revealed that some of the 91 private jets directed to be grounded belong to the senior pastors of some popular Pentecostal churches in the country, some Tier-1 banks with one of the banks owning two upmarket jets, the chief executive officers of some indigenous oil companies, and the chairmen of some Tier-1 banks. “The 91 private jets owe import duties in excess of N30bn and the Federal Government has directed that the Customs must recover this money. This is why we have sent demand notices to the private jet owners,” a Customs source privy to the development told one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity. Findings by our correspondents revealed that the NCS had in March this year embarked on a review of import duties paid on private jets brought into the country since 2006. Following the alleged discovery that several private jets owners, under the guise of Temporary Import Permit, had failed to pay the statutory import duty to the coffers of the government, the CG of Customs, Ali, set up a verification panel to review all TIPs and the relevant aircraft import documents of all private jets in the country. At the end of the 60-day exercise, 57 private jets, which had licences for commercial charter operations, were cleared and issued Aircraft Operators Certificate by the Customs. However, 29 private jets, whose owners came for the verification were found to be liable to pay the import duty. The Customs also compiled a list of another 62 private jets whose owners failed to appear for the verification exercise but were found to be liable for import duty payment. However, other private jets whose owners have commenced the process of paying their import duty have been given a 14-day ultimatum to clear the debts, while the list of the 91 private jets whose owners have yet to present themselves for import duty payment has been presented to the aviation agencies by the NCS for the immediate grounding of their flight operations. According to independent findings by our correspondents, some of the owners of the 91 jets have written protest letters to the NCS, arguing they cannot pay import duties on the planes because the jets are under lease payments. The Customs, in its response to the letters, queried the rationale for bringing in the planes and allegedly fraudulently exporting them under questionable documentation processes in the past 10 years. However, in a new twist to the development, there are strong indications that the Ministry of Aviation has directed the NCAA, FAAN and NAMA to suspend the grounding of the flight operations of the affected private jets, according to aviation sources. Sources at the aviation agencies said the aviation ministry had directed the CEOs of the agencies to put the implementation of the NCS directive on hold until a clearance from the ministry was obtained. The development could not be verified as of press time on Sunday but findings from the control towers and NAMA by The PUNCH revealed that some of the jets were still being cleared to fly. When contacted on the matter, the Director, Public Affairs, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Dr James Odaudu, told one of our correspondents that he would find out if the letter from the customs was submitted to the ministry. Odaudu said he was not aware of the position of aviation agencies on the matter and promised to make enquiries from the official who might have received the letter. He said, “I cannot respond to that now because I don’t have the information. But if the Customs letter is in the ministry, I will find out tomorrow (Monday). “When I get to the office tomorrow I can find out who is handling it and revert to you.” Meanwhile, there are indications that the Customs may clash with the aviation ministry over the development as sources said the NCS officers might begin to impound the affected private jets any time soon. A cursory look at the list of private jets shows that majority of them are upmarket aircraft. Some of the top brands among the 29 private jets whose owners came for the Customs verification exercise are: Dassault Falcon 7X, Falcon 900EX, Hawker 4000, Bombardier BD 700 1A10, Bombardier Global 5000, Bombardier Global 5500, Bombardier Challenger 605, Gulf Stream Aerospace, Bombardier BD 700,, and Bombardier Challenger 604. Others are Embraer 505, Bombardier Global 6000, Embraer Legacy 600, Embraer Legacy 650, Bombardier INC CL 600-2B19, Challenger 601 3A-ER, Gulfstream G-IVSP, Gulfstream G450, Gulfstream G550, HS125-B50XP, EMB505 Phenom 300, Cirrus SR 20V, and Hawker 800XP On October 13, 2021, the NCS had published a list of 57 private jets cleared for commercial charter in a newspaper publication, following the 60-day verification exercise. It also published a list of 29 and 62 private jets liable to pay import duty. Some of the jets go for over $50m each, according to finding by one of our correspondents. Meanwhile, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quits Aviation Services Limited, Sam Iwuajoku, had on October 13, 2021, said private jets operating in Nigeria ought not to be requested to pay any further levy. Iwuajoku reportedly said the NCS ought to know that aircraft registered outside Nigeria does not operate permanently in the country and therefore ought not to pay the tax. Iwuajoku, whose firm operates the Quits Aviation Services Free Trade Zone, spoke against the backdrop of the publication by the NCS on October 14, 2021, asking private jet owners to pay statutory import duties to the Federal Government. “The amount of money these aircraft make for the Nigerian government is more than the cost of registration. They pay for their services in dollars, including landing and parking. “The services they pay for are done in dollars and government agencies are benefiting, so Customs should look at the larger picture. Even if the money is not going to Customs, other government agencies are getting the money. The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency is paid by these operators in dollars,” he added. However, industry stakeholders say there are regulations requiring taxes to be paid on a private jet inasmuch as the aircraft is domiciled in the country or staying for a relatively long period of time, say 60 days or 180 days, depending on the laws of the country. PUNCH.

Will Tinubu be president? By Wole Olaoye

Bola Ahmed Tinubu Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a redoubtable politician and one of the most dexterous political acrobats in the circus called Nigerian politics. Like him or loathe him, you deceive yourself if you say he is not consequential in determining who becomes Nigeria’s next president in 2023. Right now, Tinubu is one of the issues in Nigerian politics. For good or for ill, depending on which side of the political aisle you are entrenched in, Tinubu, the Jagaban of Borgu and Asiwaju of Lagos, is one of those who will determine who becomes Nigeria’s next leader. And that is putting the matter coyly because the word on the streets is that, this time around, the kingmaker wants to wear the crown himself. How feasible is a Tinubu presidential project? I am not one to dismiss it with a wave of the hand because in Nigeria, even a rookie analyst knows that the first law in Prediction 101 is “Never say never”. To my knowledge, Nigeria is the only country where reluctant candidates are foisted on the people, plucked from either retirement, anonymity or other pursuits and planted in the state house to run the show in accordance with the expectations of those who propped him up. In 1978, Shehu Shagari wanted to be a senator. Indeed, we all thought the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) presidential ticket would go to Maitama Sule, but the godfathers of the party drafted Shagari to contest the presidency. He became president after the 1979 presidential election, albeit a reluctant one. He was a good man, incorruptible, but incapable of reining in the vultures surrounding him. Twenty years later, Olusegun Obasanjo was fervently praying that the death sentence passed on him by Abacha’s kangaroo tribunal would not be carried out. Then Fate intervened. Abacha died. The succeeding military government plucked Obasanjo from jail, tidied him up and catapulted him to the presidency in 1999. He was a competent president in many respects, but an authoritarian one; certainly not a democrat. In 2007 a retreating Obasanjo instructed all other contestants for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket to step down for Umaru Yar’Adua and even foisted Goodluck Jonathan on him as running mate. When President Yar’Adua died in office, Jonathan (former deputy governor who unexpectedly became the governor when his boss was impeached in bizarre circumstances) found himself taking the oath of office as president and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. He completed Yar’Adua’s first term and won another four years in his own right. The most charitable thing one can say about the shy, good-hearted zoologist is that he wasn’t the best president Nigeria ever had. Apparently, governing Nigeria demands more than a good heart. Between 2012 and 2013, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, having done a strategic calculation of how the incumbent President Jonathan could be defeated, approached Muhammadu Buhari, a serial loser in past presidential contests, and offered him the presidential ticket based on a merger of parties and pinching of identified heavyweights from PDP. Buhari’s party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), was controlling only Nasarawa State, while Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) had six governors, six state legislatures, etc. The attraction for Tinubu was Buhari’s cult following by northern voters, who consistently gave him about 12 million votes. The added forces from ACN, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the breakaway faction of the PDP, which called itself the New PDP, teamed up with Buhari’s CPC to clinch victory — and Nigeria has never been the same since. But there are two other discernible groups that don’t want Tinubu. There is suspicion that Nasir el Rufa’i, governor of Kaduna State, would prefer a younger person to Tinubu. If you put your ears to the ground, you’ll hear rumours of alliances between el Rufa’i and some southern politicians, notably Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi. Now, we are on the march again. A group of Tinubu’s admirers led by Senator Dayo Adeyeye have launched a pro-Tinubu group, South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA), calling on their mentor to declare his interest in the 2023 presidential race. If you understand the lingo of Nigerian politics, this is one place where politicians routinely organise huge rallies of endorsement, which they themselves had bankrolled. The fact that a man with boiling ambition has to be ‘begged’ to declare interest in a public office is a uniquely Nigerian art form. But will Tinubu be president? One cannot dismiss the amount of legwork that has been done to realise the Tinubu-for-president project. SWAGA gives you one of the ‘official’ reasons why Tinubu ought to succeed Buhari: “It is indeed payback time for our national leader, who had through his years of service contributed to the lives of many others and today you can see his footprints across the country… We shall continue to appeal to him to contest for the position of the President… We need viable, experienced and a man (sic) who understands the diverse nature of Nigerian economy.” Tinubu’s foot-soldiers have gone round the six zones of Nigeria. In the North, they have not been as loud as SWAGA, but their conspiratorial style has been quite effective. The payback referred to by SWAGA strikes a tune with some northern leaders who feel that Tinubu should be rewarded for his role in making Buhari president. But there are two other discernible groups that don’t want Tinubu. There is suspicion that Nasir el Rufa’i, governor of Kaduna State, would prefer a younger person to Tinubu. If you put your ears to the ground, you’ll hear rumours of alliances between el Rufa’i and some southern politicians, notably Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi. The other group deserving of mention is the Progressive Consolidation Group (PCG), which is backing Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. The group was the first to receive official recognition as a support group of APC from the Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee of the party. According to its leader, Bala Gide, “We deeply appreciate the widening mobilisation and deepening support that PCG and all associated groups working towards an Osinbajo presidency, all our grassroots and national leaders, as well as current governors, federal and state lawmakers along with various labour and professional groups will have further significant roles to play post-2023”. If PDP play their cards right, all they have to do is wait under the mango tree and pray for APC to violently shake it from the top. All that PDP would then have to do is simply bend down and pick the mango. The die is cast. In APC, it will be a straight contest between Tinubu, Osinbajo and a dark horse that may strut into the race course propelled by conspiratorial elements. Given the weaponisation of religion in the country today, the feat achieved by the historic duo of MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe in 1993 with a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket is inconceivable today. Therefore the following conclusion is inescapable to the dispassionate analyst: If Tinubu is paired with a fellow muslim, Christians in the country will vote for the opposing party; If Tinubu is paired with a Christian from the North, Muslims in the North will not vote for the ticket because they would consider that combination as shutting them out of the power equation; The fact that Tinubu’s wife is a Christian will not have any effect on the equation; If the PDP fields Atiku Abubakar, who is probably their best bet in combination with a strong running mate (I’ve heard Nyesom Wike’s name flung around), and if they are contending against a Tinubu/Christian running mate ticket, northern muslims are likely to vote for Atiku massively; To have a chance of retaining power, a pairing of Osinbajo with a Muslim running mate from the North, appears to be APC’s best bet, especially if he secures the full blessing of his boss, Buhari, and his godfather, the Jagaban himself; Osinbajo doesn’t excite serious negative passions in the South-East and South-South, or any other zone of the country; If President Buhari stands aloof, he may be the first and last president from the APC stable; If Tinubu insists on self above party, the house that those legacy parties built together will collapse on their collective heads;

Osita Okechukwu: PDP untrustworthy, can’t rescue Nigeria. By: Ayorinde Oluokun

osita-okechukwu VON DG, Osita Okechukwu A chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC and the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, has faulted claim by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it will plans to rescue Nigeria from the ruling party. He said that going by the antecedents of the PDP, it cannot be trusted to rescue Nigeria . “How can Nigerians trust our sister political party, the PDP, given their antecedents riddled with trust deficit? We know that times are hard; methinks it’s better to allow APC to fix Nigeria. Where do one start from?,” Okechukwu said. He added: “Let’s start from PDP-In-house, by listening to Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo; “I handed over N11 billion in fixed deposit and N800 million in current account when I left as national chairman after seven months. I don’t see what was done with that money. “Millions were raised to finish our national headquarters; we don’t seem to have a trace of where all that money went. Our headquarters is yet to be completed. Today we don’t even have a party account. We have to get back to strict monitoring of our party accounts. “Our internal audit department needs to be strengthened and supported by the party leadership. Very strict sanctions must be imposed on the mismanagement of party funds. “I suggest that we include inviting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to probe erring officers and members and prosecution of those found culpable. This is the only way to create a deterrent,” Nwodo stated in his presentation.” Going further Okechukwu recalled how Kassim Afegbua alerted the EFCC of the monumental corruption in PDP. He said that PDP’s planlessness and squander mania were uncountable. “Can we forget the squandermania of 23 billion dollars Greenfield Refineries – one meant for Lagos, one for KOGI and one for Bayelsa? A golden opportunity cost to our economy. “Recall that on March 19, 2015, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) queried Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, then Minister of Finance thus, “May we under the Freedom of Information Act 2011, request for the full disclosure of transactions concerning the three Greenfield refineries and petrochemical plant contract awarded on May 13, 2010 by President Goodluck Jonathan to Chinese State Construction and Engineering Corporation Limited (CSCEC), at 23 billion dollars meant to be located at Bayelsa, Kogi and Lagos States.” “Secondly, why are they dead on arrival as six years down the line, neither the three Greenfield refineries nor petrochemical plant is under construction. The three Greenfield refineries one understands, on completion were to add 750,000 barrels per day capacity to Nigeria’s refining infrastructure and create over a million jobs. “The Greenfield Refineries fiasco happened when our Excess Crude Account had over 40 billion dollars the China State Construction Corporation even upped their equity to 80 per cent. The unfortunate outcome is that 15 billion dollars is fleeced off our national treasury annually for the importation of refined petroleum products for over a decade.” Asked why APC didn’t embark on the Greenfield Refinery in the last six years, Okechukwu answered that from all indications the company was frustrated by the PDP and we were excited by Dangote Refinery.(NAN)

The Investigation Of Tinubu By EFCC Should Serve As A Stern Warning To Other Politicians

The chairman of the Economic Financial Crime Commission has revealed to the public that Bola Ahmed Tinubu is currently under investigation by the Commission. This announcement by EFCC has generated a lot of mixed reactions from Nigerians. However, the basic idea of this announcement is solely to send a strong message to any politician who is intending to embezzle funds that are meant for the development of the country. The current administration running the affairs of EFCC has taken it upon itself to penalise and go after corrupt politicians who are bent on ruining the country with their embezzlement and greediness. Tinubu being investigated by EFCC will serve as a stern warning to others that they are not above investigation. Most Nigerians know how politically powerful Tinubu is, given that Tinubu is also the National leader of the All Progressive Congress. However, the supremacy of the law has brought him under the EFCC to be investigated. Sadly, most of the Nigerian politicians are only after their selfish interest, hence, public funds that are meant in developing the country is being embezzled by these greedy politicians. The only way to curtail the excesses of these greedy politicians is by going after them with the law and this is what the current EFCC administration is doing. This current EFCC administration, no matter who you're in the Nigerian politics if you are under their radar for any slight misappropriation of funds or corruption you will be invited over for investigation. If the EFCC continue this way, surely, the level of corruption by Nigerian politicians will reduce drastically because these greedy politicians will have it in mind that once they are caught misappropriating funds that are meant to develop the country, they will face the full wrath of the law. The extravagances of some of our politicians are what has brought our dear country to this state of pity where the average Nigerian can barely have 3 Square meal in a day. The money that is meant for the average Nigerian is being embezzled by some greedy politicians. Therefore, it is very commendable that the EFCC will go after any politician no matter how politically powerful that politician is. This will go a long way to serve as a stern warning to other politicians that they are not above the law and if they are caught misappropriating funds they will be dealt with according

Bola Tinubu 49 page $460k Forfeiture For Laundering & Heroin - Naija247news

Snippets of the case and subsequent judgement are presented below. The complete document (VERY LARGE pdf file – 4mb) can be downloaded at the end of this report. The United States of America, by its attorney, Michael J. Shepard, United States Attorney for Northern District of Illinois, for its verified complaint of forfeiture, states as follows: This is a FORFEITURE action under 21 U.S.C , ss88 and 18, ss 981….. The DEFENDANT funds are located in the above-described accounts and were SEIZED pursuant to PROCESS ISSUED BY THIS COURT…. … 4…. beginning as early as 1988, Adegboyega Mueez Akande, WITH OTHERS OPERATED a organiszation (sic) which DISTRIBUTED WHITE HEROIN, a controlled substance under Title 21 of the United States Code. 5…. this DISTRIBUTION OPERATION was conducted on a LARGE SCALE and the PROCEEDS of the operation SUBSTANTIAL. The defendant funds represent proceeds of this OPERATION of property involved in MONEY LAUNDERING. 6…. the defendant funds represent proceeds of NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING … and … MONEY LAUNDERING….. the funds are therefore FOREFEITABLE to the United States…. JUDGEMENT: j… Neither a claim nor answer has been filed on behalf of the defendant funds …. accordingly, it hereby ORDERED that the funds in the AMOUNT of $460,000 in account…. in the name of BOLA TINUBU represents proceeds of NARCOTICS or were involved in financial transactions in violation of 18 U.S.C ss 1956 and 1957 and therefore these funds are forfeit to the United States….. Revealed: U.S Federal Agents Link Bola Tinubu to drug Trafficking Ring in Chicago Facts have emerged that the erstwhile Governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu may have been involved in a white heroin trafficking network which operated in Chicago and some parts of Indiana and led by one Adegboyega Mueez Akande between 1988 and 1993. The source of the white heroine was identified as one Mr. Lee Andrew Edwards who was incarcerated for attempting to murder a federal agent while the agent was executing a search warrant on him. According to the Verified Complaint for forfeiture in case No. 93 C 4483 which was filed on July 26, 1993 before the Hon. Judge Nordberg of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States Government urged the Court to order the forfeiture of funds in accounts Nos. 263226700 held by First Heritage Bank in the name of Bola Tinubu, funds in accounts 39483134, 39483396, 4650279566, 00400220, 39936404 and 39936383 held by Citibank N.A in the name of Bola Tinubu and funds in accounts 52050-89451952,52050-89451952, 52050-89451953 held by Citibank in the name of Bola Tinubu because there was probable cause to believe that the funds in Tinubu’s bank accounts represented proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were monies involved in financial transactions in violations of 18 U.S.C, sections 1956 and 1957 and therefore, was forfeitable to the U.S Government. However, in a tacit defense of the ownership of the funds, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu averred in Court that the funds belonged to himself, his wife, K.O Tinubu and his surrogate mother, Alhaja Mogaji and warranted that they had exclusive right, title and interest to the funds. In an affidavit sworn to by Kevin Moss, a Special Agent with the United States Internal Revenue Service, criminal investigation division in support of the verified complaint for forfeiture of Bola Tinubu’s moneys held in various Bank accounts, the agent gave a vivid account of how he came to the conclusion that the funds were proceeds of narcotics transaction in violation of the U.S law. Mr. Moss averred that prior to and during 1988; the government became involved in the investigation of a white heroin trafficking network operating in Chicago, Illinois and Hammond, Indiana. The investigation disclosed that an individual known as Lee Andrew Edwards was a source of white heroin. The government sources provided information about Lee Andrew Edwards including the identity of a telephone number which activated in electronic pager. This pager according to him was to be called to place an order for white heroin. According to Mr. Moss, this pager was subscribed to by one Adegboyega Mueez Akande who at that time was a resident of Chicago. Mr. Moss further averred that during February 1988, an individual named Abiodun Agbele arrived in the U.S from Nigeria and during investigation by the government, Agbele disclosed that Akande was his uncle who provided him an apartment in Hammond, Indiana. According to Agbele, Mr. Akande returned to Nigeria in1990; however, before he left, he instructed Agbale to serve as a source of white heroin for Mr. Lee Andrew Edwards as a result of which Agbele sold white heroin for Lee Andrew Edwards on numerous occasions. Following a tip off, Agbele sold one ounce of white heroin to a law enforcement agent undercover on November 28, 1990 for $7,000 and was subsequently arrested. After his arrest, Agbele agreed to cooperate with the law enforcement agents regarding the white heroin distribution and network of Akande. According to Agbele, Akande controlled the operation of white heroin from Nigeria in conjunction with other individuals in Nigeria and the U.S. One other individual who worked with Akande according to the affidavit was identified as Bola Tinubu who later became the governor of Lagos state from 1999 to 2007. The investigation also revealed that in December 1989, Akande took Bola Tinubu to First Heritage bank where Bola Tinubu opened an individual money market. In the account opening application, Tinubu, gave his address as 7504 South Stewart, Chicago, the same address used previously by Akande and his company, Globe-Link. This is the same address used as the drop-off point for packages from Nigeria that contained the white heroin. According to bank records, Bola Tinubu also opened a joint checking account in his name and the name of his wife, Oluremi Tinubu. Mrs. Tinubu had previously opened a joint Bank account also in the same bank with Abdrey Akande, the wife of the heroin kingpin, Adegboyega Mueez Akande. Upon opening the account, Tinubu deposited the sum of $1,000 in traveler’s check. However, five days after opening the account, specifically, on January 4, 1990, Tinubu deposited the sum of $80,000 into the account. According to the federal agent, in a credit application dated January 6, 1990, Bola Tinubu disclosed that he resided at 7504 South Stewart and that Mueez A. Akande was his cousin. Tinubu further stated that he was an employee of Mobil Oil Nigeria Limited, Fairfax, Virginia and his take home pay was $2,400 per month. Additionally, Tinubu stated on the application that he had no other sources of income and listed his wife, Oluremi Tinubu as co-applicant for the application for automobile loan. The loan was secured with the certificate of deposit in the amount of $10,000 which Tinubu had purchased with a withdrawal from the $80,000 deposit in his checking account. According to the federal agent, Bank records from First heritage Bank disclosed that in 1990 alone, Bola Tinubu deposited $661,000 into his individual money market account and in 1993; he deposited the sum of $1,216,500 into the same money market account. The agent further avers that in 1991, Tinubu began opening accounts at Citibank in the section known as the world-wide personal banking unit where he transferred the sum of $560,000 from his money market account at the First Heritage Bank. This development prompted the Federal agents to interview representatives from Mobil Oil regarding Tinubu’s employment status and his take-home pay. The Mobil Oil representatives confirmed to the investigators that Tinubu was employed by the Mobil Oil as a treasurer. Mobil Oil further told the federal agents that this position did not involve the transfer of large amounts of money between banking institutions. Mobil oil representatives also stated that under no circumstance would Tinubu be permitted to retain money belonging to Mobil Oil in accounts bearing Tinubu’s name. Finally, Mobil Oil confirmed that the corporation never had any accounts in banks in the southern suburbs of Chicago. On January 10, 1992, the federal agents obtained a court Order freezing Tinubu’s accounts at First Heritage Bank and Citibank respectively. Thereafter, Tinubu contacted the First Heritage Bank to transfer money from his accounts and was advised that the accounts had been seized by the U.S Treasury. On January 13, 1992, Mr. Moss, the Federal agent contacted Bola Tinubu in Nigeria by phone using a number provided to the First Heritage Bank by Tinubu himself. Mr. Moss averred that during the course of the interview, Bola Tinubu confirmed that he knew Mueez Adegboyega Akande. Tinubu further admitted during the interview with the federal agent that he had wire transferred $100,000 to Akande’s bank account in Houston and that the $80,000.00 of the funds used to open the account at First Heritage Bank had come from Akande. Tinubu further admitted that he had other accounts in Fairfax, Virginia and London. Concluding his affidavit evidence, Mr. Moss stated that with all these evidence, there was probable cause to believe that the funds in the accounts held by First Heritage Bank and Citibank, N.A in the name of Bola Tinubu represented property that was involved in narcotics transaction in violation of the U.S law. He therefore, urged the Court to issue an order of forfeiture of the funds. After a protracted litigation in which Bola Tinubu claimed that the monies legitimately belonged to him, his wife, Oluremi Tinubu and his surrogate mother, one Alhaja Mogaji, Bola Tinubu finally opted for a stipulated settlement with the U.S government. According to the settlement Order dated September 15, 1993; Hon. Judge John A Nordberg ordered that the sum of $460,000 held by Bola Tinubu in The First Heritage Bank account be forfeited to the United States Government. The Court also ordered the release of the funds held in the Citibank account and any money held in excess of $460,000 at the First Heritage account to Bola Tinubu in line with the agreement and stipulation reached by Tinubu with the federal agents. Ironically, this case came up at the peak of the struggle against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election by the Gen. Babagida-led military junta during which time Tinubu as a member and one of the leading financiers of the National democratic Coalition (NADECO) made several “pro-democracy” trips to the U.S ostensibly to press for U.S sanctions against the Nigerian junta. It is, therefore, doubtful whether most of those trips were actually connected with the June 12, struggle after all.