HOW DID YOU GET YOUR BILLIONS,MRS JONATHAN- SAGAY

The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has said with the fresh admission by Patience Jonathan that she owns the $5m traced to her accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, means the anti-graft agency has the right to probe her.

According to him, if the former first lady is claiming that she owns the money then she must explain how she earned it.

The discovery of the additional amount, in the former first lady’s Skye Bank account, by the EFCC brings to $20m the total amount so far traced to her.

As part of investigations into a money laundering case against a former Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to ex-President Jonathan, Waripamowei Dudafa, the EFCC had traced four company accounts to him with a balance of $15m.

The EFCC subsequently charged Dudafa and the four companies with money laundering.

The four companies, whose accounts have since been frozen, are Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Globus Integrated Service Limited.

A source at the EFCC said, “While we were investigating Dudafa, we traced the four companies to him. The companies have domiciliary accounts at Skye Bank with a balance of about $15m. So, we obtained a court order and froze the accounts.

“We then traced the directors of the companies who then denied ownership of the accounts. It was later that we were informed that the accounts belonged to Patience Jonathan and that she is the sole signatory to the accounts. She was given a special card which she used in making withdrawals across the world.

“We, therefore, wondered why the accounts were not opened in her name if she had nothing to hide. In fact, we later found out that her personal account, which bears her name, has a balance of $5m. One wonders where a person, who has never held a government position, got the money from. She was not our initial target but she certainly has questions to answer.”

Reacting to the development, Sagay told one of our correspondents on the telephone that the Act establishing the EFCC gave the anti-graft agency the power to investigate anybody who is seen to have more wealth than he ought to have.

The senior advocate wondered how Patience, who was a civil servant and never held any government position, could have billions in her bank accounts.

He said, “The EFCC and ICPC Act have provisions under which they can ask the court to freeze the account of a person if a person’s capacity to earn is below the amount of money that the person appears to have.

“If you are living a lavish lifestyle and it appears you don’t have the means to have acquired the property and the wealth you have, the EFCC is free to probe you.

“If she is claiming the money belongs to her, she has put herself in a position where she must explain how she earned it.”

Attempts to get the comments of the wife of the former president were not successful.

Repeated calls and a text message sent to the Media Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Ikechukwu Eze, were also not responded to as of 8:45pm on Saturday.

TODAY IS ARAFAT DAY

Over two million pilgrims from all over
the world, including Nigerians, will today
converge on Mount Arafat (the mount of
Mercy) as this year’s hajj climaxes in
Saudi Arabia.
The 9th Day of Dul-Hijjah is usually
designated as the Arafat Day when
millions of pilgrims gather at the plain of
Arafat as an obligatory ritual of Hajj. It
commemorates the finality of revelation
of the Holy Qur’an, as well as the
completion of the Ḥajj pilgrimage.
The gathering at Arafat is the largest
assemblage of human beings of diverse
races, status and languages. It is a
reminder that everyone is fully
accountable for their deeds and Allah
(God) will take every person into
account.
According to Islamic tradition, the Mount
Arafat was the spot where Adam and Eve
united after Allah expelled them from
Paradise. Fasting is recommended for
the Muslims on the Day of Arafat.
According to the Prophet (peace be upon
him), “Fasting on the Day of Arafat (9th
Dul-Hijjah) is an expiation for (the sins
of) the previous year and an expiation for
(the sins of) the coming year.” (Muslim).
Following the Arafat gathering, Muslims
around the world will tomorrow observe
Eid al-Adha, an Islamic festival to
commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim
(also known as Abraham) to follow
Allah’s (God’s) command to sacrifice his
son, Ishmael.

MTN SELLS DATA ON CREDIT

MTN Nigeria, is now selling data on credit. Remember, the communication network use to sell airtime on credit.
All you need to do is dial .606# and you are done on airtime or data.

Those Calling For Restructuring Of Nigeria Are Playing Politics – Hagher... ... .. Prof (Amb.) Iyorwuese Hagher is former minister, ambassador, senator and presently the Executive Director of African Leadership Institute, Dayton,Ohio in the United States of America. In this interview with RALIAT AHMED-YUSUF, he discusses the challenges facing the Buhari–led government and the way forward. He also says that those calling for the break- up of Nigeria are doing so for their selfish interests. You were in government at various points (two times minister, a senator and ambassador to two countries). How would you rate this government? I don’t want to rate the Buhari government. It would be patronizing for me without proper metrics to generalize and worse to imagine that being ex-this and that gives me such an authority. I summarize this government with one word:STRUGGLING. The government is struggling to justify its mandate, struggling with the economy, with how to deal with monumental corruption of the Jonathan government, as well as its political ideologically confused predilections. The Government has performed well by degrading the Boko haram terrorist group. This is no mean feat, since evidence shows that the Jonathan administration instead of surging against the terrorists was surging, critical resources meant for overcoming the insurgency, from security votes to private accounts. President Buhari continues to win the admiration of the international community by his exemplary aversion to corruption. What is missing is the absence of outstanding men and women to provide a critical body of well-thought out of policies. I don’t know if Mr. President has an economic adviser like the nation had during one of our worst economic moments- when the west turned its back on Nigeria and General Abacha. Professor Aluko, renowned economist, it was who got Abacha’s ears and using Keynesian economic policies stabilized the naira and the economy. Of course whatever else transpired and is now being labeled “Abacha loot”, is a different topic for another day. President Buhari needs an economic adviser to co-ordinate all opinions that are bombarding him every day, to render them coherent, and impactful otherwise there are so many predators from IMF, World Bank, and other international organizations and local businessmen who are pretending to have all the answers. The government is facing a lot of challenges, the latest being economic recession. What could have been responsible for this? We must not underestimate the effect of the fall of revenue from oil our prime foreign exchange earner. The latter part of the Jonathan government started to witness this dwindling income as the oil glut from OPEC production and the boosting of oil production in the US made the US less dependent on Nigerian oil. The US pulled out its faithful purchases in the same manner they did in 1983, and depressed the economy that made the Buhari-Abacha coup against the NPN government of President Shehu Shagari easy to win popular support. It was the inability of the PDP to pull back from their excessive consumption that collapsed the economy and made the election of Buhari a foregone conclusion. President Buhari inherited an economy that was on the brink of recession, but the lackluster approach of the Buhari’s administration in jumpstarting the economy with an economic team of experts pushed the economy into recession. But it is not only the inability of the Government from identifying and using sound economic advice to enforce sound policies that has pushed us into the abyss of recession. Nigeria has made itself unattractive as a foreign investment destination. In the eyes of the West; Nigeria is a risky place to conduct business. The killing fields of Boko Haram, nomadic terrorism as well as the floodgates of criminality like; kidnappings, and armed robbery compounded by a pathetic infrastructure are enough to drive all, but the foolhardy investor, from coming to Nigeria. What is the way forward? Before any economic blueprint can work for Nigeria the mindset of the people must change. Nigerians must look inwards and realize that salvation cannot come from outside Nigerian shores. We must change the character and culture of excessive consumption. We must also accept that we are really a poor country where the elite that is really less than one percent of the population is consuming our entire national wealth. We are a country of poor people with the world’s richest elite, comprising the politicians, bureaucrats and civil servants. Only very few businessmen in Nigeria can survive without government patronage and without corrupting public institutions like Customs, NAFDAC, the Police etc. The no way forward is to generate IGR, internally generated revenues from the poor for goods and services required for their living standards. The hike in taxes, tariffs and fees for the poor is no way forward. The poor have become more pathetic and desperate while a lie is being fed to them that this is necessary in order to improve their conditions soon. We lack the highly skilled labour force necessary for market-based economies. The sad state of our educational institutions especially where skilled technicians, artisans and professionals are in short supply now and in a foreseeable future means we will have a dysfunctional economy. As a seasoned educationist, what solutions would you proffer for the continued falling standard of education in Nigeria? When we say the educational standards have fallen we really mean that the educational infrastructure is no longer able to provide critical solutions to national needs. Nigerian graduates are unable to function as graduates in the workplace and society. Nigeria’s educational system needs to get back to the drawing board. Our tertiary institutions have been infected by the deadly virus of corruption and can no longer serve the nation. Our educational system should be a fertile soil where our children considered fertile seeds could grow. The country must shift focus to provide functional schools, laying a very strong foundation from crèche through nursery and primary education. Our Secondary Schools should be free up to SS3 and be compulsory. This is the educational level where the next generation of leaders will be recruited. No child should be left behind if we desire a Nigeria of responsible citizens and a viable workforce of citizens who are obedient to the laws of the land and will pay their taxes and create future wealth of the nation. Exam malpractices, sexual harassment, cultism, and corruption by staff and students should be taken as grave crimes and dealt with decisively. It is gratifying that the private sector is now driving tertiary education in the country. Amazing things are happening in private universities and we are growing a robust capacity. What the government needs is to fashion out a research and development and innovation policy where our academicians can now join the rest of the world with new fresh and creative bankable ideas that can generate wealth. Nigeria spends trillions of naira on education abroad with over 100 tertiary institutions in the country. Even the professionals that are trained here prefer to practice abroad (brain drain is on the increase). What do you think can take us out of this nightmare? Take us out of brain drain? This is an interesting question. There is no easy answer. Several factors contribute to brain drain. I remember one of the early TV jingles in the 1984 adverts of the General Buhari’s Military Government, which cajoled Nigerians running out of the country with patriotic cat calls. If you left Nigeria to a foreign land because there was hardship in the land you were the unpatriotic Andrew, who checked out while the rest of us stayed and built the Nigerian university system enduring extreme hard conditions and humiliation by successive military governments. Today like yesterday you cannot stop anybody who can migrate from leaving inhospitable conditions to more favorable conditions. To make matters worse highly developed countries of the world like America, Canada, Australia, and Europe head hunt for intellectuals by giving them favorable terms to live and work in their countries. As the economy worsens we should expect more Nigerian academics to leave Nigeria in order to give their families better quality of lives. With the galloping inflation and the loss of value of the Naira, all the gains of ASUU with new salary structures will become obsolete and new agitations will find expression again. There are calls from various quota to restructure the country? What’s your take on this and how do you think the government should go about it? Those that are calling for the restructuring of the country are playing politics. Many are frustrated by the Nigeria Project and feel that Nigeria needs to break up before they can realize their personal or collective ambitions and aspirations. Others are just plain mischief mongers and grudge collectors. They cry restructure as a negotiating strategy for power sharing. We have been restructuring since independence. The different constitutions brought in new structures. We were a Parliamentary democracy before we became a Presidential democracy. We were even a Republic of Nigeria, a unitary republic without federating units under General Aguyi Ironsi. Nigeria will never stop restructuring. Even in the world’s most celebrated people’s democracy, the United States the federation gets jolts from time to time. Several states signed petitions to pull out of the United Sates Federation when Barack Obama was elected president eight years ago. But the constitution stood strong. They had their say but did not muster a critical mass to deserve a national agenda. The Federal Government must create space for free expression by all Nigerians. A culture of peaceful demonstrations must be tolerated and enhanced so that democracy can grow. There’s uprising in different forms springing up on a daily basis- From BokoHaram to Niger Delta avengers to IPOB and Herdsmen. Do you agree that the federal government should negotiate /dialogue with these groups in the name of peace? Yes. I do. There is no price too great to pay for peace. Without peace we cannot do anything. The Government should establish dialogue and the grounds of the grievance. Such grievances or grudges should then be put through the appropriate organs of state or institutions for attention. But if the uprisings threaten public peace then the Government must first of all re-establish peace, enforce law and order then bring the warring group to discussion table.

Buhari to demand recovery of looted funds at UN Assembly .. . . President Muhammadu Buhari will next week lead the Federal Government delegation to New York, the United States, where he will address the 71st regular session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 21, 2016. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who stated this on Friday in Abuja, explained that the President would use the opportunity to build on his relationship with other world leaders and demand the recovery of looted funds stashed away in foreign countries. According to him, the Federal Government will canvass the election of an Afro-centric UN Secretary-General, who will be pro- developing countries. He stated that Buhari would also push for the candidature of Nigerians into various international agencies which he said had influence on UN policy and programmes globally. Onyeama said it was absolutely important that Nigeria engaged in multilateral relations, noting that it had candidates for positions in International Civil Aviation Authority and the United Nations Human Rights Council. He said the President would also engage the world leaders and seek their support in the areas of security, anti-corruption, governance and the economy where Nigeria is currently facing challenges. The minister said, “It is an opportunity for the President to push for the reform of the UN, a UN that is more inclusive of more countries. It is another opportunity to engage world leaders and push for recovery of illicit and looted funds, address poverty, refugee issues and irregular migrants; this is an issue that is affecting our relationship with European countries.” Buhari, the minister added, would also sign the Paris Agreement on Climate Change which the United States and China, had earlier signed. Onyeama added that during the trip, the President would also lead his delegation to the US-Africa Business Forum, where Nigeria would be the focus. He said, “There will also be a high-level meeting on the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad region, the President is keen on addressing the problem of the Lake Chad which would cost $15bn and we would need to mobilize funding for the project.”

Jonathan’s wife sues EFCC, Skye
Bank over frozen accounts
...
...
Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife,
Patience, has sued the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and
Skye Bank at the Federal High Court in Lagos
over the freezing of her bank accounts.
She is demanding N200million in the
fundamental rights enforcement suit.
Mrs. Jonathan said four of her frozen
accounts with Skye Bank in the name of four
companies have a balance of $15, 591,700.
An aide, Sammie Somiari, deposed to an
affidavit on behalf of the former first lady.
EFCC reportedly placed a No Debit Order on
the four accounts in July in the course of
probing a former Special Adviser on Domestic
Affairs to Jonathan, Waripamo Dudafa.
The EFCC has filed an amended 17-count
against Dudafa and seven others, including
the four companies.
They were accused of conspiring to conceal
$15, 591,700, which the EFCC claimed they
ought to have known formed parts of proceeds
of crime.
Somiari said Mrs. Jonathan was abroad for an
urgent medical treatment.
The deponent said Dudafa helped Patience to
open the four banks accounts which the EFCC
froze.
He said Dudafa, on March 22, 2010 brought
two Skye Bank officers, Demola Bolodeoku
and Dipo Oshodi, to meet Patience at home to
open five accounts.
The deponent claimed that Patience is the
sole signatory to the accounts, adding that
after the five accounts were opened, Mrs.
Jonathan later discovered that Dudafa opened
only one of the accounts in her name while
the other four were opened in the names of
companies belonging to Dudafa.
The four companies, whose accounts have
now been frozen and charged with money
laundering along with Dudafa are Pluto
Property and Investment Company Limited;
Seagate Property Development & Investment
Co. Limited; Trans Ocean Property and
Investment Company Limited and
Development Company Limited and Globus
Integrated Service Limited.
Somiari said: “The applicant (Mrs. Jonathan)
complained about this to Honourable Dudafa,
who at his prompting and instance promised
to effect the change of the said accounts to
the applicant’s name and to effect this
change, Dudafa brought the said bank
manager, Mr. Dipo Oshodi, who purported to
have effected the changes. This was about
April 2014.
“The applicant is not a director, shareholder or
participant in the companies named in the
aforementioned four accounts.
“The bank official, Mr. Dipo Oshodi, as it
would appear did not effect or reflect the
instruction of the applicant to change the said
accounts to her name(s) despite repeated
requests of the applicant.
“Besides, the ATM credit cards bearing the
said companies’ names were brought to the
applicant by Mr. Dipo Oshodi of the 2nd
respondent bank, who promised to replace
them once the cards bearing the changed
names were available but he never did.
“However, since 2010 up until 2014 and
thereafter, the applicant had been using the
cards on the said accounts and operating the
said accounts without let or hindrance.
“Even in May, June and July 2016, the
applicant traveled overseas for medical
treatment and was using the said credit cards
abroad up until July 7, 2016 or thereabouts
when the cards stopped functioning.”
In her fundamental rights action, Mrs.
Jonathan is urging the court to compel the
EFCC to immediately remove the No Debit
Order placed on her accounts.
She also wants the court to order Skye Bank
to pay her damages in the sum of N200m for
what she termed a violation of her rights to
own personal property under Section 44 of the
Constitution.
The case has been adjourned till September
15.

How strange gift of N585m house
landed Jonathan’s Chief of Staff in
trouble
...
...
•EFCC grills ex-Permanent Secretary over
looting of N27b, watch-lists insurance firm
boss
Erstwhile Chief of Staff to ex-President
Goodluck Jonathan, Brig. Gen. Jones
Oladehinde Arogbofa (rted), would have
probably stayed out of trouble today with the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) but for a rather strange gift, The
Nation can now reveal.
Some public officers dipped their hands into
the national purse and stole N27,
188,232,208.20 and then proceeded to
purchase a N585million house which they
presented to him as a gift.
The money was the benefits of deceased
staff of the defunct Power Holding Company
of Nigeria (PHCN).
The deal has now blown into the open with
the EFCC taking Arogbofa into custody.
He was subsequently quizzed following which
he agreed to refund about N150million of the
terminal benefits which was traced to the
property purchased for him.
It was learnt that the anti-graft agency has
also grilled a former Permanent Secretary in
the Ministry of Power who played a role in the
diversion of the cash.
More heads may roll in government on the
diversion of the funds.
Informed sources said those who looted the
dead workers benefits decided to involve top
government officials in the deal to cover up
their tracks.
About 10 of such officials are currently under
surveillance.
The coordinators of the deal were said to
have paid cash to or buy expensive gifts for
the affected officials.
One of the source said: “The perpetrators of
the fraud pretended they were doing Arogbofa
a favour by virtue of his closeness to ex-
President Jonathan. They told him that they
had a gift for him which turned out to be the
N585million house.
“Having trusted those who gave him the gift,
the ex-Chief of Staff did not either ask for the
source of funds for the property or how much
it cost.
“It was at the EFCC that Arogbofa got to
know that the property was bought from the
looted the N27, 188,232,208.20 benefits of the
deceased staff of the defunct Power Holding
Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
“When he met a former Permanent Secretary
in the Federal Ministry of Power, who played
some roles in the diversion of funds, and
others, they started apologizing for roping him
in.
“But it was too late for the former Chief of
Staff and all those implicated in the dirty
deals. The long arm of the law does not
accommodate ignorance.
Responding to a question, the source added:
“We have interrogated the ex-Permanent
Secretary but investigation is still ongoing on
his roles in the diversion of the funds. This is
why we will not disclose his identity to
prevent a cover up by other accomplices.
“Preliminary findings pointed to him as one of
the arrowheads of the fraudulent diversion of
the N27.18billion.
“We have already watch-listed a top official of
Bestworth Insurance Brokers Limited that was
used by the suspects under probe. This
means, INTERPOL or any other international
organisation can arrest him in any part of the
world.”
The source said Arogbofa has agreed to
refund N150million traced to the property
purchased for him.
“In fact, he has made partial payment to the
EFCC and he promised to bring the balance
next week.”
The EFCC had frozen N6, 811, 846,443.05 in
the accounts of some companies belonging to
Mr. Roberts Azibaola, a cousin to ex-President
Goodluck Jonathan and Bestworth Insurance
Brokers Limited in its ongoing probe.
The frozen cash was part of the N27,
188,232,208.20 benefits of the deceased staff
of the defunct Power Holding Company of
Nigeria (PHCN), which were diverted.
Those under probe are Arogbofa; Dikki; Kebna
Studio and Communication Limited; a former
Accountant-General of the Federation, Otunla
Dapo; the Managing Director of Kakatar Group,
Azibaola Roberts; Director of Funds in the
Office of the Accountant-General of the
Federation, Mohammed K. Dikwa,; Innovative
Alternative Limited and a top official of
Bestworth Insurance Brokers Limited, who
was said to be on the run as at press time.
The EFCC said sometime in 2014, the above
named “conspired amongst themselves and
used Bestworth Insurance Brokers Ltd to
divert N27,188,232,208.20 from the Federal
Government of Nigeria through the BPE.