Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been a blow-hot agency with so much rhetoric and drama but without any recorded conviction so far. What manner of agency is this that bandy about their photo-up effort to eradicate corruption in Nigeria with little or nothing to show for its' effort all these years. Maybe they should look west to America to see how it is done - it is called jail time for corrupt officials or persons. Jack Abrmoff is going to the big house for four years for corruption as well as the halibuton official accused of bribing Nigerian officials.Now read the two stories: -
1. US lobbyist jailed for corruption
Abramoff's assistance led to other corruption convictions. Former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption. Abramoff had pleaded guilty in a Washington court to charges of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favours. The case caused a scandal in Washington and sparked off a wide-ranging public corruption probe. Abramoff is already serving a six-year term for his role in an unrelated fraudulent Florida casino deal. 'Changed man' The court had heard how Abramoff made tens of millions of dollars by steering clients to consultants who charged excessive fees and then split the profits with him. Abramoff had faced a possible 11-year sentence but was shown leniency because of his cooperation in other corruption cases. In 3,000 hours of interviews with the FBI, he gave information leading to the conviction of a string of lawmakers and high-profile political figures, including one member of Congress. Abramoff told the court that he was "a broken man" and pleaded for leniency, saying it was "amazing for me to see how far I strayed and how I did not see it at the time". He said that much of the activity of Washington "lives in the loopholes" but that he had "blundered farther than even those excesses would allow". The BBC's Richard Lister in Washington says that the scandal was a disaster for the Republican party, leading to their loss of control in Congress in 2006. But, our correspondent says, the case is unlikely to have any impact on the current race for the White House. Abramoff's current jail term relates to the faking of a wire transfer to obtain loans to buy a fleet of casino boats.
Abramoff's assistance led to other corruption convictions. Former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption. Abramoff had pleaded guilty in a Washington court to charges of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favours. The case caused a scandal in Washington and sparked off a wide-ranging public corruption probe. Abramoff is already serving a six-year term for his role in an unrelated fraudulent Florida casino deal. 'Changed man' The court had heard how Abramoff made tens of millions of dollars by steering clients to consultants who charged excessive fees and then split the profits with him. Abramoff had faced a possible 11-year sentence but was shown leniency because of his cooperation in other corruption cases. In 3,000 hours of interviews with the FBI, he gave information leading to the conviction of a string of lawmakers and high-profile political figures, including one member of Congress. Abramoff told the court that he was "a broken man" and pleaded for leniency, saying it was "amazing for me to see how far I strayed and how I did not see it at the time". He said that much of the activity of Washington "lives in the loopholes" but that he had "blundered farther than even those excesses would allow". The BBC's Richard Lister in Washington says that the scandal was a disaster for the Republican party, leading to their loss of control in Congress in 2006. But, our correspondent says, the case is unlikely to have any impact on the current race for the White House. Abramoff's current jail term relates to the faking of a wire transfer to obtain loans to buy a fleet of casino boats.
2. Ex-KBR executive in guilty plea
KBR has been among firms involved in reconstruction in Iraq.The former chief executive of US construction firm KBR, Albert Stanley, has pleaded guilty to charges of corruption relating to Nigerian deals.Mr Stanley faces a seven-year prison sentence and must pay $10.8m (£6.07m), said the US Justice Department. He and others were accused of gaining construction deals worth more than $6bn by bribing Nigerian officials. KBR, which has caused controversy for its role in Iraq's reconstruction, had been part of Halliburton. Mr Stanley was accused of breaching anti-bribery rules under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over a decade-long period. Today's plea demonstrates that corporate executives who bribe foreign government officials in return for lucrative business deals can expect to face prosecution," said Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney general.As well as criminal charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made civil charges against Mr Stanley. Along with others involved in the scam, Mr Stanley "determined it was necessary to pay bribes to individuals within the Nigerian government in order to obtain contracts to build liquefied natural gas facilities in Bonny Island, Nigeria," said the watchdog.
Nigeria's EFCC, Icheoku asks, when is your effort going to yield a prison term for a
ll those insanely-corrupt officials in Nigeria including those implicated in the Siemens bribery scandal? The whole world is getting tired of all the road-shows being put up by your agency in the guise of fighting corruption in Nigeria and it is time you delivered or pack up your tent and go home. It is incredible as it is stupendous the pandemic corruption in Nigeria as well as the lip-service effort at eradicating it!
ll those insanely-corrupt officials in Nigeria including those implicated in the Siemens bribery scandal? The whole world is getting tired of all the road-shows being put up by your agency in the guise of fighting corruption in Nigeria and it is time you delivered or pack up your tent and go home. It is incredible as it is stupendous the pandemic corruption in Nigeria as well as the lip-service effort at eradicating it!
Multi-billon naira LNG scam: FBI hunts govt officials
ReplyDeleteBy Ike Nnamdi
The Sun Reporter, New York
Friday, September 12, 2008
•Federal Bureau of Investigations
Photo by: Sun News Publishing
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Agents of the elite American Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) are on their way to Abuja on the trail of several former top Nigerian officials implicated in a multi-billion dollar scam at the Liquified Natural Gas project.
The agents, dispatched by the Justice Department are to gather more evidence, as well as probe into assets of the affected officials to be used in their impending trial.
All the officials served in three previous administrations from 1994 to 2004.
Washington said the agents will also provide "the smoking gun evidence" to officials of the Nigerian Ministry of Justice to sign off on a proposal to try all the officials in American courts.
Already, the administration has prepared grounds for the trial by approving for the case to be tried in the U.S District Court of Houston, Texas.
Court records showed that the officials whose names remain sealed until the case begins, allegedly connived with foreign businessmen to siphon over N21 billion set aside for the LNG project.
Already the alleged mastermind of the scam, American businessman, Jack Stanley, has been jailed for the crime, but has pledged to cooperate with investigators for a reduction in his sentence.
"This act reached up to the highest levels of the Nigerian government, but all those involved will be brought to trial," an official stated.
But the State Department has expressed scepticism that Nigerian officials will allow the affected officials to be tried in the U.S. "We hope the Nigerian authorities will cooperate with us to investigate this matter and bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. This will show the government is serious about its war on corruption.”