The new year 2009 is lurking around the corner and the ever-dopey Nigeria President Umaru Yar'Adua has promised Nigerians that his now Supreme Court legitimized presidency will finally wake up from its slumber. Icheoku says, Mr. President if you must wake up, wake up to some of these high-up corruption scandals as it will give you the necessary boost needed, to once again make your presidency palatable to many Nigerians and the world at large. These are corruption scandals from the highest echelon of the Nigerian society involving the former president Olusegun Obasanjo family and a sitting Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Jubril Aminu! If these corruption cases are not taken care of, the inaction will be interpreted to the untouchable-status of these fellows involved and will once again portray your presidency as either being in the tank with corruption or you, as too wimpy to strike decisively.
1. Iyabo Bello Obasanjo's three (300) hundred million Naira bribery scandal:- the daughter of former president Olusegun Obasanjo was involved in a three (300) hundred million Naira Health ministry bribery scandal and to date, this matter appears to have been swept under the corrupt Nigerian carpet. Why would this be and yet Umaru Yar'Adua purports to be running an anti-corruption government? Icheoku is not saying that the daughter of your mentor must be jailed for dipping her hand in the Nigerian pie, no, but that the investigation into the alleged gratification be concluded one way or another. Nigerians need clarity of purpose as it appertains to this very scandal. First it involves a former first daughter and some accomplice to the crime, former Minister of Health Professor Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku as well as some other officials were fired because of this, so why treat Iyabo Bello Obasanjo differently as an untouchable? This question must be conclusively resolved by your government for its credibility. The 56-Count Criminal Charge of Fraud and Embezzlement of public funds levelled against Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello by the EFCC has not been adjudicated; since the prosecutor, James Binang read it out in court as follows: “That you, Iyabo Obasanjo Bello (now at large) sometimes between December 2007 and March 2008 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of the high court of the Federal Capital Territory while serving as the chairperson, Senate Committee on Health in the National Assembly, dishonestly retained the sum of N10, 000,000 belonging to Federal Government of Nigeria, having reason to believe same to be stolen property thereby committed an offence punishable under section 317 of the Penal Code cap 352, Law of Federation of Nigeria (Abuja)1990.”
2. Senator Jubril Aminu's twelve (12) million dollars Siemens bribery scandal:- This serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from Adamawa State was a co-beneficiary of a twelve (12) million dollar bribery scandal which was extorted from Siemens as a condition precedent for winning some contracts in Nigeria. Ever since the scandal broke, the powers that be in Nigeria have been in an over-drive attempt to wish the matter away but to no avail. Icheoku is calling on Umaru Yar'Adua to show some example with this bribery scandal that no one, including a sitting Nigerian Senator is above the law. In the United States if America a long term Senator from Alaska Ted Stevens was convicted and forced out of office for receiving some gifts but in Nigeria, a senator who demanded and received bribe is still being sheltered by the government of Umaru Yar'Adua as a sitting Nigerian Senator? Siemens paid a total bribe of approximately $12.7m to some Nigerian officials for four telecommunications contracts valued about $130m. Icheoku says that this twelve million dollars bribe was probably the amount by which that contract was extra over-valued as a company like Siemens will not take a loss in a contract - not from Africa, anyways! According to a high ranking official within Siemens Limited Nigeria, corrupt payments in 2000 and 2001 commonly reached 15 to 30% of the contracts’ value. It is instructive to note that Olusegun Obasanjo was the president of Nigeria at this period under review. The Siemens bribery scandal blew open in October 2007, after a Munich court had found the company guilty of bribing government officials in several countries and fined it 201 million Euros in penalties. It is very hypocritical that subsequent to this scandal, the Umaru Yar'Adua's Federal Government of Nigeria "suspended" dealings with Siemens and the EFCC commenced investigations, but as soon as the euphoria died down, the Federal Government went back to doing business as usual with Siemens; without any fine being levied or paid by Siemens as was done in the US and Germany. Icheoku says, this is very instructive as to the seriousness with with Umaru Yar'Adua is fighting corruption in Nigeria; more-so since the implicated Nigeria Senator Jubril Aminu is still a serving Senator and chairs its' foreign affairs committee. Justice must not only be done but must be seen to been done. Senator Jubril Aminu should loose his seat at the senate and face prosecution in the spirit of charity begins at home anti-corruption stance of Umaru Yar'Adua's government. Anything short of this is unacceptable to Nigerians and the world at large who continually views Nigeria as a very corrupt country, where some highly placed government officials are corruption personified and are deemed untouchables. 
3. NigComSat five (500) hundred million dollars junk Chinese satellite contract scandal:- the third in hierarchy of Icheoku's high-up corruption that demands the immediate attention of Umaru Yar'Adua in the new year is the 500 million dollars junk satellite, which failed less than 18months after it launched into orbit? Nigerian Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited in conjunction with a Chinese company embarked on this white-elephant project, fully seized of the fact that it was ill-timed, ill-conceived, ill-equipped, ill-constructed by unskilled artisans, manufactured of sub-standard materials, ill-managed, not space-worthy, defective and not what the Nigerian populace needs at this time of abject hunger, joblessness, insecurity, election-rigging and general malaise pervading the country. The boyish, clean-shaved face T. Ahmed Rufai - the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NIGCOMSAT should be held to account on why he sunk Nigeria's whopping $500 million dollars in such a worthless enterprise. This becomes very imperative because the Chinese contractors to the satellite project has a litany of past sordid projects some of which failed and yet non of this unsatisfactory past performances were factored in before awarding such a huge contract to them.
Icheoku says of all the corruption scandals in Nigeria, including those involving former governors, these three enumerated corruption cases call for rapid attention of the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria. President Umaru Yar'Adua must show Nigerians that he means business with his anti-corruption stance and that no one is untouchable in the fight. President Umaru Yar'Adua, please this is the time to act and act you must and decisively too; in order to validate yourself as a true anti-corruption president of Nigeria. Any other thing to the contrary will only perpetuate the perception that Nigeria is a very corrupt country, run by corruptible and contemptible fellows and yourself, inclusive!
The scam that consumed two ministers
ReplyDeleteBy Agency Reporter
Published: Thursday, 1 Jan 2009
The year is about to end; and for ministries and parastatals, this is a time to be careful, given the development in the Ministry of Health over its unspent funds.
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The embattled Former Minister
A N300m scam blew open on March 25 and it culminated in the forced resignation of two ministers and suspension of the Permanent Secretary and six directors.
The former minister, Prof Adenike Grange, and her Minister of State, Mr. Gabriel Aduku did not only lose their jobs after being in the saddle for just nine months, they were also arraigned in court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
But the height of the whole drama was the revelation that the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Health each collected N10m.
According to the lawmakers involved, the money was meant for a capacity building trip to Ghana.
However, at the behest of the EFCC, the House Committee returned its share but the Senate Committee under the leadership of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello refused to return the money. Attempts to get Iyabo to answer some questions at the EFCC on the matter, forced her to go underground for some days, before she succumbed to pressure to make herself available.
Consequently, Yar’Adua appointed the Minister of Labour, Dr Hassan Lawal to supervise the Ministry until the appointment of Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin and his Minister of State, Dr Aliyu Hong as minister and minister of state respectively, last week.
Siemens Escapes Trial In US Probe Reveals Deeper Nigerian Role In Scandal
ReplyDeleteBy Laolu Akande New York
SIEMENS, the German Construction firm implicated in a large-scale international corruption scandal that included bribes to top Nigerian officials in the last presidency may have escaped serious criminal trial of its officials in the US. This follows the company's admission that it actually paid bribes estimated at $1.4billion across Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East and Latin America.
The German company simply agreed to pay a punitive fine of about $1.6B both to the US and European authorities. Hefty as it is, observers say considering the widespread international bribery that Siemens engaged in, the fine was a smart payoff to avert criminal and other civil suits in the US. Siemens did not question the findings of the US Security Exchange Commission, SEC, that revealed among other things that the company paid bribes to a Nigerian president and his deputy.
Sources at the US SEC maintain that the presidency in Nigeria played an active role in the bribe scandal raising concerns in diplomatic circles on why the current Nigerian government has not started any serious investigation on the matter. Previous reports had linked some former Nigerian ministers with the scandal but the outcome of the US government probe stated categorically that the topmost echelon of the federal executive was involved.
The media in the US had been focussing on the wife of a former Nigerian vice president even as fingers were pointed at the former president. No names have been mentioned so far but the dates (between 2000 and 2007) the alleged bribery was said to been committed have largely helped to limit the searchlight on the immediate past presidency in Nigeria.
According to Ken Silverstein, a US journalist who is the Washington Editor of Harper's Magazine, "Siemens paid millions in bribes to win $130 million in telecommunications contract in Nigeria. He added that "the recipients were likely a former president and vice president of Nigeria, and the Wife of a former Nigerian vice president, a dual U.S.-Nigerian citizen who lives in the United States."
A New York Times report noted that Siemens "telecommunications unit was awash in easy money. It paid $5 million in bribes to win a mobile phone contract in Bangladesh, to the son of the prime minister at the time and other senior officials. According to court documents....(the) group also made $12.7 million in payments to senior officials in Nigeria for government contracts."
Curiously, in the US, Siemens has not technically paid any bribes but has been fined by the US government for paying bribes abroad and violating accounting records. There are now concerns that the Nigerian government, which made commitment to fight corruption has not brought any serious charges against the German firm beyond speculations of possible revocation of Siemens contracts. Also, government has not started any investigation of its officials implicated in the scandal.
Siemens is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which allows the US authorities to subject the firm to the home laws. To stem further damage, the German company quickly agreed to a fine and settled the case out of court. It decided last month to pay what New York Times described as a "record total of $1.6 billion to American and European authorities to settle charges that it routinely used bribes and slush funds to secure huge public works contracts around the world." The paper added that the fine sum "dwarfs the previous high for a foreign corruption."
Siemens has also pleaded guilty in a federal court in Washington to civil charges that it violated a 1977 law banning the use of corrupt practices in foreign business dealings. It agreed to pay $450 million to the US Justice Department, equivalent of the Nigerian Justice Ministry and another $350 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission. By the agreements, Siemens has cleverly averted a long drawn criminal trial that will have prolonged the lifespan of the scandal and possibly sent officials of the company to jail. It also stood the risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange if it had allowed the case to go all the hog.
Investigations described Siemens' bribery schemes as "standard operating procedures for corporate executives who viewed bribery as a business strategy." Linda Chatman Thomsen, the head of the US S.E.C.'s enforcement division, was quoted as saying the schemes were "unprecedented in scale and geographic reach."
At home in Germany, Siemens would be paying fines totaling 395 million euros ($540 million) besides, another $290 million levied by a Munich court last year. US officials said most of the bribe transactions were carried out by middlemen posing as consultants and who delivered suitcases filled with cash to bribe foreign officials including top Nigerian government officials.