Halliburton: How millions of dollars bribe money were wired

ABUJA — Following a directive by President Goodluck Jonathan that the $180 million Halliburton bribery scam be reopened and the principal suspects re-arrested for prosecution, Our sources has uncovered a list of some of the foreign banks through which huge sums running into millions of dollars were wired to prominent Nigerians.
According to sources, such principal suspects like a former military head of state (names withheld), used the American Express Bank Annex at the Towers World Financial Centre, New York, the Seaway National Bank, Chicago, and the Bank of New York to wire over $37.5 million of the bribe money.
Accounts used by the former head of state between 2002 and 2003 include A/C No 187765 Chips VID 250517, Maizubi Holdings, Minna, A/C No 0074952045, Rooting No 071001216, Foundation Inc. A/C No 9800263826 Swift/Sort Code GHBAGRAA001 and A/C No 0039342923-21 Rooting No 052001533.

Another principal suspect through who the British/Israeli lawyer, Jeffrey Tesler wired huge sums to prominent Nigerians is Air Vice Marshal Abdul Dominic Bello and the banks/ account numbers through which over $68 million were wired are Lloyds Bank of London, A/C No 736827, Tri-Star, Bank of Credit and Commerce International, London, Tri-Star, American Express Bank, A/C No 2101653,Tri-Star, HSBC, A/C No 31505024, and Lloyds Bank, A/C No 0737041, Tri-Star.
It was gathered that these huge sums of bribe money were shared with the active knowledge and connivance of the Company Secretary of the NLNG then, Mrs. Sena Anthony, hence her arrest, detention and interrogation for days during the first investigation and subsequent conclusion that she is key to unraveling the complete list of the bribery beneficiaries.
Concerning another former head of state (names withheld), We learnt that a total of about $39 million was collected on his behalf by cronies over a period of time using a construction giant as go between and purporting that the huge sums of money were invested in a prominent political party whereas, only a minute fraction actually got to the party.
The source disclosed that Malabo Oil owned by a former minister of petroleum benefitted from the bribery scam to the tune of about $2 million; Umaru Shinkafi, through the American Express Bank in London and in a Joint account he operated with Ashiru Bisiji Aliyu, got wired $1. 65 million.
For the brother of former head of state, Abdukadir Abacha, various sums amounting to about $13 million through account names—Headway Eng. Ltd. A/C No 68579222; Strategic Ind. Ltd-A/c No 76434366; and Action Invt. Intern Ltd.
Ibrahim Aliyu, a former federal permanent secretary, among many other transactions, used Union Bank Plc London office at Copt Avenue with account No 02101/01/010 312/Swift Address UBNIGB31A.
Mr. MG Bakari owner of SHERWOOD used various accounts acting for himself and a former head of state to wire huge sums and they include Bank HSBC, Euston Road, London, A/C No 39067293 Sort Code 40-04-07, Swift Code MIDOGB; A/C No 024002112100; Monument Trust, Channels Island, Sherwood A/C No 024002112001 through which the sum of Euro 664, 020. 83 were wired to Sherwood.
Recall that the decision of President Jonathan to order the re-opening of the case of Halliburton bribery scandal involving prominent Nigerians, for prosecution followed the insistence by the US authorities that the about $130 million presently in the US government coffers, will only be returned to Nigeria if the prime suspects are prosecuted.
Consequently, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, directed the office of the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge Force Criminal Investigations Department to resuscitate the investigative report of the CP Ali Amodu-led panel that investigated the scandal and submitted its report in 2010.

Meanwhile, Report gathered that the whereabouts of the $26. 5 million returned by construction giants, Julius Berger, in a plea bargain arrangement, to avoid prosecution, is yet to be located and handed over to the police, as nobody, including the police, knows where the money was paid or deposited.

200-yr-old Iroko tree kills 2, injures 8

A controversial 200-year-old Iroko tree at the market square at Ifite-Dunu, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Sunday, fell, leaving two persons dead.
Also, eight people that got injured in the incident were said to be receiving treatment in hospitals in the town.
The Iroko tree was said to be the abode of the goddess of sands (Ajani), while its leaves and roots were reported to help fertility and quick delivery of babies.
Narrating the incident to the Nigerian Tribune, traders and eyewitnesses said on the day of the incident, they noticed a sudden vibration around the tree.

One of the eyewitnesses, Mr John Ikeme-funa, said he raised the alarm which attracted people in the market, adding that shortly afterward, the tree collapsed and killed two persons instantly.
“It is a miracle, the collapsed Iroko tree is not for nothing, the elders of the town will consult oracles to unveil the cause,” he said.
However, the Ajani chief priest, who preferred anonymity, said he had consulted oracles, adding that the goddess had given him permission to cut down other old trees at its abode in the market.

Corruption: Pastors, Religious Leaders Should Go To Jail —Bakare

The convener of Save Nigeria Group, SNG, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has accused some pastors and religious leaders of aiding and abetting corruption in the country, saying that they should all be locked up in a Nigerian prison in order for them to feel the pulse of the common man on the street. Tunde Bakare The Latter Rain Assembly pastor, who said this during the group’s State of The Nation Lecture 2 held at NECA Building, CBD, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, called for a revolution, which he said should start from the churches and mosques. Bakare called on the people to begin to cleanse the corrupt system by moving against religious leaders across Christianity and Islam who are using their positions to enrich themselves, and maintain ostentatious lifestyles, including buying private jets. “All General overseers and religious leaders must go to prison, so they can feel the Nigerian situation. Lock Pastor Adeboye, Oyedepo, Kumuyi, myself and others up in a Nigerian prison, may be if we come out we will change and put the interest of our people first. “This is not the first time I am saying it. I know I will be quoted tomorrow. If the revolution does not begin in the church or mosque, Nigeria will not change. Dubai (United Arab Emirates) once came to Nigeria to borrow money; what stopped six Dubais from happening in Nigeria is the corruption of our leaders. “Preaching greed is sin, we have the confidence of millions of people and continue to fail them. That must change. Let’s take stones to the churches and mosques. Let the revolution start from there. Ask your religious leaders were they get the money they are spending lavishly from. Ask them were they get the wealth they use in purchasing private jets from. “Except these institutions change, the country would not move forward. If revolution does not start from the churches and mosques, it would not spread. They are the ones controlling millions of followers. Any preacher who takes advantage of the people has the hottest place in hell reserved for him,” he said. Bakare, who also called for a revolution against corruption and bad leadership, added that except Nigerians rise up against their corrupt and bad leaders, the citizens would continued to be taken for granted. He urged them to immediately take to the streets and bring an end to corruption and bad governance, which he said were seriously threatening the survival of the nation. The fiery preacher also took on former President Olusegun Obasanjo who reportedly expressed the fear at the weekend that a revolution was imminent in the country. He declared that the former president would be one of the victims of the revolution, just as he challenged him to explain the source of his wealth. “Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo called for revolution and it is going to fall on his head. He should tell us where he got the money he used to build his house in Abeokuta from and his farm at Ota. He should tell us how much he was paid as a military man. “I mentioned him specifically because he was the one that called for a revolution. All the pastors who gathered around him in 1999, praying that God should give him wisdom to rule this country are the ones that led us to the sorry state that we are in now,” he said. Calling for protests to immediately begin, Bakare noted that almost everywhere in the world, democracy was preceded by revolution, and development, just as he agonised that Nigeria had put the cart before the horse. The guest speaker at the event, Pius Adesanmi, an Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Literature at the Carleton University, Canada, while speaking on the topic, ‘What Nigeria Owes the Tortoise,’ described the wanton greed and selfishness of the political class in Nigeria as the bane of the nation’s progress. He said that Nigerian leaders and the elite had over the years been behaving like the selfish tortoise of Yoruba traditional folktales, which always by trickery attempts to corner what belongs to the community for his exclusive use. According to him, the idea of a “national cake,” being perpetually shared, and never baked was at the heart of the corruption and laziness that now define Nigerian life. Former Minister of the Federal Capital territory, FCT, Nasir el-Rufai, said the country was at a crossroads, warning that the situation would degenerate if the people did not rise up to tackle the misdeeds bedevilling the nation. He noted that creating what he called “Nigerian elite enclave mentality” would not shield anyone from the impending crises if the people refused to act now. According to him, people below the age of 20 currently constitute the majority of the country’s population, but that they are faced with hardship and excruciating poverty. He bemoaned the decadence in the social structure, which he said had led to an unending cycle of violence and blood-letting, stressing that all these problems manifesting in form of violence and terrorist attacks, were products of corruption, lack of adequate education, as well as the high unemployment rate in the country. Democratic People’s Alliance, DPA, governorship candidate in the 2007 general elections, Jimi Agbaje, said that the only way to improve the quality of the country’s leadership was by building civil society by the citizenry so as to know the kind of people they elect to represent them. He noted that the fight against corruption in the country could only succeed with the collective responsibility of both the leaders and the led, calling on Nigerians to resist corrupt leaders or they would be constantly pauperised by them. The President of Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, said the idea of always wanting to share the “national cake” had remained an obstacle to the nation’s development and urged the government to prosecute all the parties found culpable in the controversial oil subsidy scam. “Gathering here is to prove a point that Nigeria belongs to all of us and we cannot fold hands and watch corruption tear us apart,” she said. The Chairman of the Ikeja chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association, Monday Ubani, said the country had failed but still working for those responsible for it. He called for a synergy between the public and the press to chart a new course for the nation in the fight against corruption. Former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, said the country’s problem is mainly corruption, as 60 per cent of the nation’s budgetary allocation goes to mismanagement and corruption. He said the country was at the “emergency ward” and would go to the “intensive care unit” if the people did not act.

Breaking News: Kwara’s political titan, Olusola Saraki is dead

Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, the Waziri of Ilorin and father of the immediate past governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki died today in Lagos after a brief illness.
The news of the death was announced by the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed.
According to a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulwahaab Oba, the Governor said the political icon died this morning at his residence in Lagos and will be buried Wednesday in Ilorin according Islamic rites.
The governor urged community, religious and political leaders to troop out en masse to receive the remains of this illustrious son and Nigeria’s political icon later today at the Ilorin International Airport.
Abubakar Olusola Saraki (17 May 1933 – 14 November 2012) is a Nigerian politician and tribal nobleman who was a Senator of the Nigerian Second Republic (1979-1983). He served as the Waziri of the Ilorin Emirate.
His mother was from Iseyin in Oyo State and his father was from Ilorin. His paternal ancestors were Fulanis who came from Mali about 150 to 200 years earlier.He was educated at Eko Boys High School. He attended the University of London, and St George’s Hospital Medical School, London. He worked as a medical officer at the General Hospital, Lagos and the Creek Hospital, Lagos.[1]
He first entered politics when he ran in the 1964 parliamentary election for Ilorin as an independent, but failed to win.[3] After the election, he returned to his medical practice in Lagos, only returning to party-politics in 1978/79.
In 1977, Olusola Saraki was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly that produced the 1979 constitution. In 1979 he was elected a Senator of the Second Republic, and became Senate Leader. In 1983 Saraki was re-elected into the Senate on the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform.
In 1998, Olusola Saraki became a National Leader and member of the Board of Trustees of the All People’s Party (APP), contributing to the APP success in Kwara and Kogi States. He assisted Mohammed Alabi Lawal in becoming Governor of Kwara State.[1] In 2001 he was head of a team from the Arewa Consultative Forum, a Northern cultural and political group, sent to meet and discuss common goals with Northern state governors and other leaders.[4] Later Saraki switched allegiance to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and in the 2003 elections supported his son Bukola Saraki as candidate for governor of Kwara state in April 2003, and his daughter Gbemisola R. Saraki as senator for Kwara State Central in April 2003.

In March 2003, the Societe Generale Bank (SGBN) of which Saraki was chairman was investigated by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for alleged money laundering. Later, SGBN was investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under Nuhu Ribadu, and its license was temporarily suspended.

Lagos 2013 Budget Not Achievable, Says State Assembly

Lagos 2013 Budget Not Achievable, Says State Assembly
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have described as unrealistic a major part of the financial projections in the 2013 budget estimate of the state as presented to the House by Governor Babatunde Fashola two weeks ago.
The lawmakers, who deliberated extensively on the budget proposal of N497. 277 billion during plenary yesterday, maintained that the amount pegged by the executive arm to be derived from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) were mere figures which cannot be achieved.
According to the lawmakers, the executive arm had put the IGR at N23 billion, but their concern stems from the fact that while they do not actually know how much is derived as IGR, experience from past budgets, especially that of the 2012, had shown that such IGR projections had never been achieved.
As a result, the executive arm of the government often resorts to applying for re-ordering of the budget deep into the year or even going ahead to borrow in order to finance the budget.
The lawmakers said it was time to guard against this practice of re-ordering which the executive arm was already turning into a norm.
One of the lawmakers and Chairman, House Committee on Works, Rotimi Olowo, told his colleagues that there was a disconnect between what the lawmakers thought and how the executive arm thinks it can achieve the revenue generation to fund the budget.
He described the budget as having a lot of aspirations that would better the state and its residents, but added that, “talking alone cannot provide food.
“We must appreciate the fact that the 2012 budget has not been well financed and we do not even know how much is coming in from IGR. So one can express fear concerning the 2013 budget.”
Corroborating Olowo’s argument, Chairman, House Committee on Transport, Commerce and Industry, Bisi Yusuf, disclosed that in the 2012 budget, the Ministry of Local Government could only generate N1 billion out of the N11 billion projection it had.
He also said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry generated only N19 billion out of the N70 billion projection for 2012.
“If you look at this situation, you would realise that they are only giving us figures that are not realistic,” Yusuf said.
Mrs. Adefunmilayo Tejuosho and Dayo Saka Fafunmi also supported the lawmakers and urged the House committees to thoroughly scrutinise documents presented by ministries, departments and agencies in defence of the budget.
Chairman of the House Committee on Budget, Mudashiru Obasa, said though the government has good plans for the state, he is “not convinced that the revenue for the budget can be managed, but we will discuss this at the Committee level.”
He also lamented the debt profile of the state which the House said was not added in the budget.
Obasa said though the governor had proposed that the budget financing for 2013 was N34.061 billion, the House had discovered that the actual financing requirement was N132.348 billion, arguing that even though the bond requirement would be N34.061 billion as it was claimed in the budget, the state would require an addition of N98.287 billion to offset the debt.
Deputy Speaker Taiwo Kolawole, who presided over the sitting, asked the Committee on Budget to liaise with the state Ministry of Economic Planning to fashion out a repayment plan for the debt owed by the state as well as know how prepared the state is concerning issues raised about the budget.