Nigeria: OSOPADEC boss arrested

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested Debo Ajimuda, the chair of the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC), over the alleged misappropriation of funds he was tasked with administering. EFCC brought Ajimuda in following several allegations of corruption against him and petitions sent to the anti-corruption commission accusing him of embezzling OSOPADEC funds.

The commission stated that his arrest had become necessary because he had refused to respond to invitations to attend questioning over the allegations raised. Some of the petitions alleged that Ajimuda had failed to undertake any tangible developmental projects for the oil-producing communities in Ondo State since his appointment. The petitioners also accused him of spending funds budgeted for developmental projects for the benefit of people in oil-rich communities on women and expensive cars.

According to reports, about 13 exotic cars, which were found parked in Ajimuda's residence in Akure, Ondo State, were impounded by EFCC operatives. The operatives also carted away several bags of files as evidence. Ajimuda was appointed to head the development commission by the governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, in October 2009.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2012 Menas Associates

Oclabode George and his five co-convicts released

Former chairman of the board of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deputy national chairman for the southwest, Oclabode George, and his five co-convicts were released on Saturday 26th February, from Lagos' KiriKiri maximum security prison where they were serving jail terms for fraud and abuse of office convictions.

George plus the former NPA managing director Aminu Dabo, plus Olusegun Abidoye; Abdullahi Tafida; Zanna Maidaribe and Sule Aliyu, have all reportedly served their two-year jail sentences and are consequently due for release.

In 2008, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned the six men on a whopping 163-count charge for offences related to the award of about N100 billion worth of contracts without adherence to the Public Procurement Act and due process; abuse of office and fraud. They were convicted of inflating contract prices in some instances and also splitting contract sums to evade the requirement for certification by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). George and others were convicted and sentenced in 2009 by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Nigeria: The EFCC drops charges against Cheney

Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has dropped bribery charges against, former US vice president and CEO of Halliburton, Dick Cheney after Halliburton agreed to pay up to $250 million in fines. A spokesman for the anti corruption agency Femi Babafemi said, "There was a plea bargain on the part of the company to pay $250m as fines in lieu of prosecution."

The EFCC met with Dick Cheney's representatives and Halliburton officials in London last week, after filing 16 count charges against Cheney relating to the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant in Niger Delta. Halliburton and four of its subsidies were also charged with allegedly bribing Nigerian officials to secure contracts.

Last year, Halliburton and one of its now former subsidiaries, KBR, pleaded guilty, in a US court, to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices act by paying in excess of $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials. The companies were fined $579 million, the largest fine ever paid under the act.

Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Farida Mzamber Waziri, said that Nigeria will not eradicate corruption until it starts prosecuting those breaching the law irrespective of who they are.

"It's not about profile. It's about breaching the laws of the land," Waziri said.

Prior to the plea bargain Cheney's lawyer, Terrance O'Donnell, issued a statement on his client's behalf saying the charges were “baseless” and further added that the US investigation "found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role of CEO of Halliburton."

Speaking about Cheney's claims of innocence Waziri said, "Dick Cheney was head of Halliburton. There's no way such amount of money would've been moved to bribe Nigerians without his approval and without his knowledge, this is what we're saying."

Several of Nigeria's rights groups expressed disappointment about the outcome. Programme officer at Social Action Nigeria Celestine AkpoBari said, "I would have loved to see Dick Cheney in chains in our court and facing justice in our prisons. That would have been a very big point that would have lifted Nigeria out of its woes."

Sources: Guardian, The Telegraph, ABC News

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

Nigeria: James Ibori awaits extradition to the UK

Dubai's Court of Cassation has ruled that former Nigerian state governor James Ibori can be extradited to the UK to face corruption charges. Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has accused Ibori of stealing in excess of $290 million from state funds while working as the governor of Delta State. The British authorities believe Ibori deposited most of the funds within UK banks.

Ibori, who was detained in May by the global police agency Interpol, denies the charges. The Dubai court ruled that there were no grounds to block the extradition. In 2007, a London court froze UK assets worth in the region of $35 million, believed to have belonged to Ibori but by that point he had already left the country. Ibori, a senior political figure in Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), was first apprehended in Nigeria in December 2007.

In 2009, Ibori was cleared of 170 charges of corruption, by a court in Asaba, who had found no clear evidence to convict him.

Source: BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

Nigeria files bribery charges against Dick Cheney

Nigeria has filed charges against Dick Cheney, over bribery allegations involving a former subsidy of Halliburton energy company. The charges, filed by Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, revolve around KBR engineering firm, which has admitted bribing officials.

Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton and US vice president, denies the allegations which his lawyer called “entirely baseless”. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed 16 charges against Cheney, as well as current Halliburton CEO David Lesar and two other executives. It has also filed charges against Halliburton and four associated businesses.

Last year, KBR pleaded guilty to paying $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials. The company agreed to pay $579 million in fines in the US. Nigeria, along with France and Switzerland, has conducted its own investigation into the case and subsequently filed charges.

Cheney's lawyer, Terence O'Donnell, said US investigators had found no impropriety on Cheney's part and added that, "Any suggestion of misconduct on his part, made now, years later, is entirely baseless". Halliburton denies involvement in the allegations, saying that a raid on its office by EFCC officials was "an affront against justice".

Source: BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

Nigeria issues fraud backlist

Nigeria's Anti-Fraud Police has issues a list of more than a 100 prominent Nigerian figures proclaiming them to be unsuitable to run for political office. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said all those on the list were being prosecuted on corruption charges and discouraged political parties from endorsing them as candidates in next year's elections.

One of those named, Orji Kalu, is running for president but has been arraigned on over a 100 count of fraud charges, estimated to be worth around £21 million. Political figures make up at least 40 per cent of those on the list and include: 13 former state governors, five former ministers, three MPs and two serving senators.

The EFCC is adamant that those on the list, as well as those facing prosecution, should not be endorsed or allowed to campaign. The commission is calling on political parties to select only "credible candidates" and shun those named on the list.

Source: BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.