ABUJA LAND BATTLE: Patience Jonathan Vs Turai Yar’Adua?

Unknown to most Nigerians, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan is locked in a messy legal battle with her predecessor, Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua over a parcel of land in Abuja.
Street Journal gathered that the Certificate of Occupancy of the disputed land, Plot 1347 at the Cadastral Zone A00, Abuja was awarded to a Non-Governmental Organization, “The Registered Trustee of Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation, WAYE”, a pet project that was initiated by Mrs. Yar’Adua in her time as First Lady after the NGO had paid N184,529,438 as statutory Right of Occupancy. An additional sum of N 76,939,210 was also paid as building plan fees after which the grant and approval of the building plans were made and given in line with the master plan of the Federal Capital Territory.
Trouble however started when the Certificate of Occupancy was revoked by Senator Bala Mohammed, the Minister of the FCT and re-awarded to the current First Lady, Patience Jonathan for the construction of the Secretariat of the “First Ladies’ Peace Mission”.

In a redress seeking bid, Mrs. Yar’ Adua’s WAYE approached the court and in a suit with the number FCT/HC/CV/2591/2010, the Attorney General of the Federation, the FCT Minister and the Abuja Geographic Information System were joined as defendants. WAYE averred before the court that shortly after it engaged a building company, Al-Cooks Nigeria Limited, to develop the property for N13, 516,013,797.58, the FCT Administration requested for a payment of another N 18,529,438 which was paid without delay.
The plaintiffs however found it regrettable after the various payments had been made, the Senator Bala Mohammed, the FCT Minister, without reason, issued a notice of revocation of the said property which it allocated to the plaintiff for the purpose of building public institution (Training/Vocational Centre). It was also stated that the said letter of revocation was backdated with effect from October 27, 2011.
Pursuant to the filing of the suit, the court which was presided by Justice Peter Affen, issued an order barring the FCT Administration, AGIS and the AGF from carrying out further activities at the site. Incidentally, in spite of the subsisting order of the court, the defendants mobilised people to the site to commence construction work, thus defying the court order. .
Innocent Lagi, counsel to the WAYE instituted contempt proceedings against the defendants.
But before the hearing on the charges of contempt commenced, the Attorney General of the Federation, Bello Adoke approached the court for a vacation of the restraining order.
The Attorney General again approached the court on Tuesday and pleaded for an out of court settlement of the matter. He told the court through his counsel that the plaintiffs had been reached and an amicable settlement was already in progress. ,
Justice Affen thereafter adjourned till September 24 to receive the report of settlement.
The Attorney General made it known to the court that “the allocation of the land to the African Peace Mission was carried out in overriding interest.” He also begged for an out of court settlement stating that ”invitations to the members of the African Union’s First Ladies Peace Mission had already gone out and it would be most humiliating for Nigeria in the diplomatic circle to make an about-turn at this time, given, the time constraint to effect any other changes in venue”.
The issue has started generating comments from the populace as many believe the occurrence is a power game which is usually won by anyone in power. In some quarters, insinuations are rife that it is payback time for the former First Lady as her successor was hardly visible in those Yar’Adua days.
Source: Street Journal

SHOCKING: $3 Million Gone, Ibori Lose More Loot In Jail?

James Onanefe Ibori

James Ibori, the convicted former Delta State Governor, loses $3 million to the U.S.
Ibori, who is serving a jail term in London along with his wife, Nkoyo, his mistress and lawyer, having all been convicted of money laundering charges, forfeited $3 million assets in the United States and N2.2billion cash to the Federal Government.
Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the US Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton, announced Ibori’s forfeiture of the assets to the US government, after a judge granted a restraining order to register and enforce two orders from UK courts.
The application, which was filed under seal on May 16 in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, sought to restrain assets belonging to Ibori and Bhadresh Gohil, Ibori’s former English solicitor, that are proceeds of corruption.
Specifically, it sought to restrain a mansion in Houston, Texas and two Merrill Lynch brokerage accounts. U.S. District Judge Lamberth granted the application and issued a restraining order under seal on May 21. The department was notified yesterday that its application to unseal the restraining order was granted.
The US has been working with the UK ‘s Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police Service to forfeit these corruption proceeds.
According to the application, Ibori, who served as governor of oil-rich Delta State from 1999 to 2007 misappropriated millions of dollars of Delta State funds.
He reportedly laundered those proceeds through a myriad of Shell companies, intermediaries and nominees in several jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, with the help of Gohil. Although Nigeria’s Constitution prohibits governors from maintaining foreign bank accounts and serving as directors of private companies, Ibori and his associates accumulated millions of dollars in assets in the UK and the US, according to the application.
Ibori was convicted in the UK of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced by a British court on April 18 to 13 years in prison. Gohil was convicted in November 2010 of money laundering and prejudicing a money laundering investigation to 10 years in prison.
“Instead of working to benefit the people of the Nigerian Delta, Governor Ibori pilfered state funds and accumulated immense wealth in the process,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.
He added: “He conspired with Mr. Gohil to funnel millions of dollars in corruption proceeds out of Nigeria and into bank accounts and assets maintained in the names of shell companies and nominees. Through the Criminal Division’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, our message is clear: the United States will not be used as a safe haven for the ill-gotten gains of corrupt foreign officials.”
Ibori is to forfeit about N2.25 billion ($15m) to the Federal Government
Justice Gabriel Kolawole granted the interim order, following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), yesterday.
Ibori allegedly offered the money to former EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu through an undisclosed source.
Justice Kolawole also ordered for the publication of the interim forfeiture order in a national newspaper to enable any one who wants to lay claim to the money to come before it within 14 days and show cause why the final order of forfeiture should not be made in favour of the Federal Government.
The EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs filed the application pursuant to Sections 17(1), (2), (3) and (4) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other Fraud related activities Act number 14 of 2006.
Listed as Defenfants are the Federal Government, the Attorney General of the Federation and the EFCC as the plaintiffs, and the Central Bank of Nigeria as sole defendants.
Moving the application which was premised on five grounds, Jacobs submitted that the cash in the sum of $15 million was received by the officers of the anti graft agency from an undisclosed agent of the former Delta state governor in 2007 as a bribe to compromise its investigation.
He added that the Commission deposited the said cash into the strong room number one of the Central Bank of Nigeria on 26th April, 2007 and that James Ibori had since denied giving the bribe to the EFCC or any of its officers.
He also stated that the money had since remained unclaimed since April 2007 till date and had remained dormant in the apex bank’s strong room .
A 14-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Mr. Bello Yahaya, a Police officer with the EFCC, supported the application for forfeiture. Bello said that he was one EFCC investigators assigned to investigate James Ibori’s case, and he was, therefore, familiar with the facts of the case.
“While the investigation was on going on 25th April 2007, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the then executive chairman of the EFCC called the investigation team headed by Ibrahim Lamorde, the then director of operations to pick up cash in the sum of $15m given to him and the commission through an undisclosed agent of the said James Ibori,” Paragraph 4 of the affidavit reads.
Yahya averred that the money, if left untouched and unspent in the state it was kept in the apex bank’s strong room since April, 2007, may eventually be destroyed, defaced, mutilated and become useless.
He added that it will be in the interest of justice to, in the interim, make an order of forfeiture to it and allow a publication to be made in a chosen national newspaper to alert any interested member of the public to come out within 14 days to show their interest, failure to which the court will make an order of final forfeiture in government’s favour.
Source: The Nation

TERRIBLE: I Used N50 To Behead The Boy - Suspect

A man arrested by the officials of the Department of State Services (DSS), Joan Yakubu has confessed that he used N50 bread to lure the seven year-old son of his neighbour whom he beheaded.
Yakubu said this after he was arrested by the DSS officials attached to the FCT command at AYA Asokoro alongside his accomplice Ishaya Dukulung, 30.
He said his friend asked him to get a fresh human head to be sold to a client in Abuja who promised him huge amount of money.
According to him “I cut off the head of Danjuma after I persuaded him by asking if he would like to eat bread and he answered yes! So I bought bread for N50 and gave him and while he was eating, I asked him to go with me to a nearby river for a swim which did.
“When we got to the river, I entered the river while he stayed away. I told him to join me while I pretended to be washing my feet. I forced the boy to drown before I cut off the head and left the main body in the river.”
Yakubu said he later concealed the head in a bag and took it to Dakulung before heading to Abuja to meet the buyer.
The Assistant Director Operations, Ibrahim Halilu said the suspects were “arrested at the AYA Junction on July 22 at about 01:30 with fresh human head of boy of about seven years old who was later identified as Samu Danjuma from Anguwan Galadima in Nasarawa Local Government, Nasarawa state. They were arrested while they were looking for a buyer after a tip-off.”
Source: Daily Post

WASTE: FG Buys 200 Cars For First Ladies Summit?

The Federal Government has begun taking delivery of 200 exotics cars ordered for use by guests and officials of the African First Ladies Summit which kicked off in Abuja yesterday, sources involved in the deal told Daily Trust.

First Lady Patience Jonathan is the convener of the event, with the theme “The African Woman: A Voice for Peace,” which is expected to be attended by spouses of African leaders.

The cars comprise 80 units of BMW X3 and X5 series with a market value of N13.5 million each, while the remaining 120 are exotic models of Honda, Jaguar and others.

Sources told Daily Trust that the vehicles were supplied by Coscharis Motors, and 180 units have already been delivered to the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Saturday.

The cars are for use during the 7th African First Ladies for Peace Mission (AFLPM) summit scheduled for 24 to 27 July in Abuja. Already, African first ladies have begun arriving in the country since weekend for the four-day event.

There was conflicting information by last night on whether the cars were bought outright or hired, and no government official was ready to speak with our correspondents on the record for this story.

When Daily Trust contacted spokesman for Coscharis Motors, Mr. Ifeanyi Nihe, by telephone on Monday, he said the company had supplied vehicles to the Federal Government but refused to state the number and cost.

“I am not in the position to give out the real value of the transaction,” he said.

When asked which government agency was handling the transaction, Nihe said, “Our company is still talking with some officials of the government. I don’t know whether it is the First Lady’s office or not.”

Nihe also could not confirm to Daily Trust whether the cars were sold or leased out to the government for the event.

Coscharis Motors is the same company that supplied over 3,000 units of BMW series used during the 8th All African Games also known as COJA in 2003.

A source said the transaction for the 200 cars was processed by the office of the Minister of State for Finance.

Attempts to seek explanation from the office were not successful as a spokesman declined comment while the minister of state, Dr. Yerima Ngama, did not answer calls to his phone on Monday.

Also, attempts to get reaction from the office of the First Lady were not successful. Her spokesman Ayo Adewuyi could not be reached by telephone on Monday and yesterday.

The Federal Government is supposed to be operating a “monetization” policy under which government officials are paid monies in lieu of official vehicles. Ministries and agencies, including the Presidency, are also supposed to maintain pools of limited numbers of vehicles for official activities.

It is not clear what will happen to the 200 cars after the First Ladies conference, but such vehicles usually end up being auctioned at rock-bottom prices to the well-connected or government workers take possession of them.

The main objective of the African First Ladies summit, according to the concept paper, is to “facilitate the flow of authentic conversations and ideas that will create powerful new paradigm for the African woman.”

During the conference, the foundation laying ceremony of the secretariat of Mrs. Jonathan’s First Ladies Peace Mission is scheduled be performed in Abuja.

The foundation is to be laid on the disputed land allocated to former first lady Turai Yar’Adua’s Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF) in February 2010 but revoked by FCT Minister Bala Mohammed in November last year and reallocated to Mrs. Jonathan’s pet project.

The AFLPM was established in 1997 and aims at the prevention and management of conflict as well as the preservation of peace through civil and humanitarian diplomacy.

Source: Daily Trust