I won’t allow my office to be dragged into petty squabbles — Malami To EFCC

Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), says he will not allow his office to be “dragged into petty squabbles” in the midst of burning national issues. 

He said this while refuting the claim that his office leaked the list of those being allegedly probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Kayode Fayemi, minister of mines and steel; Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria; Ngozi Okonjo-Iwala, former minister of finance; Godswill Akpabio, former governor of Akwa Ibom state are some of those on the list.

After the was list leaked, the EFCC said investigation had been damaged.

But in a statement by Salihu Othman Isah, media aide to the minister, Malami said he knew nothing about how the information was made public.

“The honourable attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice wishes to express his displeasure over the unfortunate and unbecoming innuendo by certain persons and agencies which sought to accuse his office of leaking what was termed as classified information to the public,” the statement read.

“This office, therefore, wishes to state categorically, but with absolute repudiation, that it did not at any time leak such information to the media as wrongly alluded by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“The pertinent question to ask is since the EFCC has publicly denied that the honourable chief justice of Nigeria is not under probe or investigation; is it then possible for the same EFCC to have forwarded any classified information on a non-existent probe or investigation of the Honourable CJN to the honourable attorney-general of the federation?

“It also goes to show that the office of the honourable attorney-general of the federation could not have leaked a non-existent classified information on an equally non-existent probe or investigation.”
He also distanced himself from any unpatriotic effort to denigrate his exalted office of the chief justice of Nigeria.

“We therefore use this opportunity to reaffirm our deep respect for the distinguished person and office of the honourable chief justice of Nigeria,” he said.

“We wish to state unequivocally that the office of the honourable attorney-general of the federation will continue to collaborate with his lordship in his efforts to reform the judiciary and galvanise the anti-graft war.

“Indeed the present administration appreciates his lordship for his unwavering support for its anti-corruption drive. We wish to state further that we are neither aware of nor privy to any purported probe or ongoing investigation of the honourable chief justice of Nigeria by any security or anti-graft agency.

“The office of the honourable attorney-general of the federation dissociates itself from the baseless allusion or suggestion obviously made in bad faith to the effect that his lordship is under any form of probe or investigation whatsoever.”

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Diezani rents London flat as £11m asset forfeiture looms

Diezani Alison-Madueke, former minister of petroleum resources, is no longer the woman she used to be. The multi-million dollar jewelry and multi-million dollar houses are fading into history as she comes to terms with the new realities of her life.

TheCable understands that with her UK property worth over £11 million now treated as “proceed of crime” and subject to forfeiture, she has had to “step down” her taste: she now lives in a rented flat in the same London building housing the $2.8 million property allegedly bought for her by Jide Omokore and Kola Aluko, her business associates.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has frozen accounts linked to the former minister, including those belonging to family members and known associates. This makes it virtually impossible for her to access money from any source and she is now living off the goodwill of those who still remember her.

Nigerian courts have already forced Alison-Madueke to forfeit her property at Banana Island, Lagos. It reportedly has 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses valued at $37.5 million.

She was also recently forced to forfeit about N7.6 billion “hidden” in a Nigerian bank, in addition to the temporary forfeiture of property worth $21,392,224 across Nigeria.

Alison-Madueke is expected to report to the Charring Cross Police Station close to Trafalgar Square on September 20 as part of the conditions of her bail after her arrest by the British National Crime Agency in 2015.

£2,800,000 Property at Marylebone Road

This building at Harley House, Marylebone Road, London, is where the former minister currently lives. It also houses her £2.8m flat now subject to forfeiture.

Alison-Madueke has moved from landlady to tenant in the same building

THE £3,250,000 property at Buckinghamshire

The property at 96 Camp Road, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire

The fall of Diezani: The front entrance to 96 Camp Road

£1,730,000 Property at 39 Chester Close North

This property at 39 Chester Close North, London, is now under lock and key

No visitors to entertain at 39 Chester Close North

£3,750,000 Property at Prince Albert Road

Her property here is Flat 5 Park View, 83-86 Prince Albert Road, London

Her flat is in this four-storey building

The street sign

Source: TheCable

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Ethiopian government bids to take over Arik Air

 
Ethiopian Airlines, owned 100 percent by the Ethiopian government, says it has made a bid to the Nigerian government to take over Arik Air, Nigeria’s biggest airline.

In February, Arik Air was taken over by the Federal Government via the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) due to the company’s huge debt profile, which was over N300 billion.

The government immediately dissolved the airline’s management team, and appointed a receiver-manager.

“The airline will now be managed by Capt. Roy Ukpebo Ilegbodu, under the receivership of Mr. Oluseye Opasanya, SAN,” the government said in February.

Speaking at the World Bank/IMF meetings in April, Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, said the government was speaking with some investors on the sale of the flagship airline.
 
She did not disclose the name of the investors, but said “it was a preliminary discussion. They just expressed interest in buying the airlines and we told them that we would look into it”.

“Most of them are interested in investing in Nigeria and they just want to be sure that the timing is right. Some are looking at buying one of the airlines with AMCON and just waiting to be sure that our policies are right.”

Esayas WoldeMariam, Ethiopian’s managing director of international services, told CNN that the airline had made an offer, and was just waiting for the response of the government.

“We have outlined our terms and conditions to the Nigerian government and we are waiting to see if they agree. We are capable and desirous of handling the airline,” she said.

WoldeMariam did not specify details of the offer, but added that he expects to face competition for Arik from international airlines.

Calls placed through to the spokespersons of Arik and AMCON were not answered nor returned.
An insider however told TheCable that he was not aware of any of such deal.

Ilegbodu said two weeks ago that the airline was now gaining stability, and has retaken its place as the biggest in western Africa.

“We can now boast of approximately 4,000 passengers daily in our various flight operations,’’ he had said.


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US probes Chinese oil firm over ‘$100m bribe paid to Nigerians’

US authorities are investigating China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation known as Sinopec over an alleged $100 million bribe paid to some Nigerian officials.

According to Bloomberg, the bribe was aimed at resolving a $4 billion business dispute between the company’s Addax petroleum unit in Geneva and the Nigerian government.

The dispute is said to be related to drilling and other capital costs, tax breaks and a division of royalties between Addax and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as the US department of justice are reportedly looking into allegations.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

In 2009, Sinopec bought Addax in 2009 “for about $7.8 billion” – dubbed one of its biggest acquisition –  in a bid to build a corporate presence in Geneva and to also expand its oil production in Africa, the company had said.

However, the Nigerian government was said to have decided that the side letter agreement which granted it tax breaks and reimbursements for the capital cost should no longer apply. That was in 2014 during which the government also demanded that Addax repay about $3 billion of past benefits, Bloomberg quoted a source as saying.

Addax, however, filed a lawsuit against the government to protest the government’s decision. It also claimed the NNPC had taken more than its share of crude allotments — a practice known as ‘overlifting’, seeking for the reimbursement of “at least $1 billion”.

The bribery allegations followed the disagreement between the two parties then came up in January after Deloitte, an auditing firm, resigned as Addax’s auditor, following claims that there were no “satisfactory explanations” given for $80 million Addax paid to an engineering company for Nigerian construction projects in 2015.

The source said shortly after the said payment was made on May 25, 2015, Addax and the Nigerian government reached a settlement which was approved by a Nigerian high court.

“The agreement validated the original terms of the side letter, effectively nullifying Nigeria’s demand that Addax repay $3 billion,” he said.

On the assumption of office, President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly left the original terms of the letter intact but had also planned to revoke its terms effective beginning from January 1, 2016, “ which would deny Addax at least $1 billion in future benefits and end reimbursement claims”.

FLAGGED TRANSACTIONS

Deloitte had also revealed details of additional payments “exceeding $20 million” made by Addax to “legal advisers” in Nigeria beginning from 2015.

It said it had “received a number of whistle-blowing allegations from within and outside Addax, some of which allege that such payments have been made to bribe foreign government officials and that certain amounts have been embezzled by certain members of management within Addax Petroleum Group”.

Following Deloitte’s allegations, Yves Bertossa, a Geneva prosecutor, then began a probe into the matter which led to series of raids and arrests of Addax’s offices and officials respectively.

The case was however closed barely four months later, with neither the company nor its executives being charged following Bertossa’s claims that “no criminal intent could be established.”

US authorities are now investigating the matter “to establish whether payments handled by an unidentified Nigerian lawyer who is a member of the California bar were used to pay some of the alleged bribes”.

The lawyer in question was reportedly hired to advise Addax executives on the terms of the settlement with the Nigerian government.

Bloomberg said spokespersons of SEC, US Department of Justice as well as Sinopec declined comments on the issue.

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Police commission summons senator who accused IGP of bribery

 
The Police service commission has invited Isah Misau, senator representing Bauchi central, to appear before a committee over the authenticity of his retirement letter.

The police declared the senator a deserter after he accused Ibrahim Idris, inspector-general of police (IGP), of receiving money before he approves postings of commissioners and other officers.

The senator had showed a letter to journalists, dated March 5, 2014, containing the approval of his retirement from the force but the police said the letter was “forged.” in a letter to senator which was signed by O. Adekeye, a retired justice of the supreme court and chairman of the special panel, on Wednesday said it wanted to determine genuineness of “the two letters of retirement supposed to have emanated from the Police Service Commission in connection with this retirement.”

In a letter signed by O. Adekeye, a retired justice of the supreme court and chairman of the special panel, the commission said it wanted to determine genuineness the f “the two letters of retirement supposed to have emanated from the Police Service Commission in connection with this retirement.”
The commission said it received correspondence from the Nigeria police force special investigation panel (SIP) force headquarters dated August 28 relating to the senator’s retirement from the force.

“The Police Service Commission, the only organ saddled with the statutory responsibility of issuing letters of retirement to all Police Officers except the IGP has a vital role to play in determining the authenticity of this letter,” it read.
 
Misau was asked to appear before the panel on September 6 with the original copy of his letter of retirement for authentication.

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Osinbajo commissions BUA’s $1bn cement factory in Edo

 
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has commissioned BUA’s $1 billion Obu cement factory in Okpella, Edo state.

Speaking at the ceremony, Osinbajo said the construction of the factory is a big boost to the Nigerian economy as it would provide thousands of direct jobs.

The vice-president said the development connotes self-sufficiency in cement production.
“I am extremely proud to be a Nigerian and I’m sure that several of us here are. This is a wholly Nigerian enterprise and we know that the planning, the execution and successful establishment of this industrial complex was done by a Nigerian and by a Nigerian team. It is really good to know,” Osinbajo said.

“The construction of this plant is of course, a big boost to the Nigerian economy, it will provide thousands of direct jobs and indirect jobs, both for skilled and unskilled workers from the commencement of the construction of the plant to the smooth-running of the operation processes.
“At the level of production obtain it also means the consolidation of the Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in cement and a big boost to our export capacity.

“I am happy to note that for the construction of power production facility for this plant, the BUA Group has used the most modern and efficient gas turbine which combines low and economically value-cost with a very high degree of reliability.”

Earlier, Abdulsamad Rabiu, chief executive officer of the BUA group, said the BUA has started the construction of another cement plant in Sokoto with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons at a cost of over $300 million which would be commissioned in 2018.

“Today’s event has witnessed the commissioning of one of the best cement plants anywhere in the world. It is engineered to be the most environmentally friendly cement plant in Africa with the most advanced duct emission systems,” Rabiu said.

“We also use natural gas, which is a very clean energy for both our kiln as well as the power plant in addition to having a very green environment.

“Similarly, BUA has started the construction of another greenfield cement plant in Sokoto State with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons at a cost of over $300 million which will be commissioned in 2018.

“Additionally, our investments in the 2 cement lines in Edo State represent the largest non-oil and gas related investment in the whole of the South-Southern region of Nigeria.

“With these, BUA will have invested over $2 billion dollars in the Nigerian cement industry with capacities in excess of over 12 million tons per annum within the course of a decade.”

Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo; Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano; Adams Oshiomhole, former governor of Edo and Okechukwu Enelamah, minister of industry, trade and investment were some of the dignitaries present at the ceremony.


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ASUU strike affecting one of my children, says Ngige

 

Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, says one of his children is affected by the indefinite strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

 Speaking at the end of the federal executive council meeting on Wednesday, the minister said the government is doing its best to reach an agreement with the union and put an end to the strike.
“Students who are supposed to take their exams and promotional exams have been forced by circumstances beyond their control to stay at home,” Ngige said.

“I have one of my child at home as we speak. Government is leaving no stone unturned to make sure that we reach a conclusive agreement with ASUU so that they can go back to the class room.

“This is the first national strike that this government is facing and we want to discuss.

“At council today, the vice-president took over some of the aspects of the negotiations and discussions. So, we are continuing the meeting in his office and when we finish meeting, we will get back to ASUU for another round of meeting and we are hopeful that we will be able to go to an appreciable extent to solve some of the outstanding issues that is preventing them from going back to work.”

Ngige also said the government’s team on the national minimum wage committee is ready, but waiting for other members from the private sector.

“We have on the government side four ministers – ministers of labour and employment, finance, budget and planning, I can’t remember the last one now but we have our team ready,” Ngige said.

“The chairman will be unveiled when we have a full component of the committee. The aspect that is delaying from inaugurating the committee is the organised private sector.
“So we are waiting for these nominations, when they come in the government will nominate the chairman and inaugurate the committee.”

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