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SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

June 20, 2016 Times
The All Progressives Congress on Monday said it would investigate the alleged case of forgery against some principal officers of the Senate.
The National Chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun, made this known to journalists on Monday in Abuja.
He said the investigation would ascertain the truth in the allegation.
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu and some officers of the upper chamber were accused of forging the Senate’s Standing Rules in 2015 in June last year to facilitate their election as presiding officers of the upper legislative chamber.
Mr. Saraki is a member of the APC while Mr. Ekweremadu belongs to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
“At this stage I don’t think there is anything to say. In fact everything is still a guess work,” Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said.
“Nobody has said yes or they have been arrested or asked to make statement or whatever. As a party we do not think it is the business of the party to interfere in judicial matters of that nature.
“`We will just wait and see as we are also making investigations to be sure what the situation is.”
On allegation that the party leadership wanted the Senate leadership removed for lack of cordial relationship with the executive, the chairman said: “No, no, no; this is the kind of problem that the press always causes.”
He added, “You are now taking the sensational aspect. You are forgetting the nitty-gritty. Did what they say really happen? That is what you should look at.
“Take the two copies (the new copy and the old copy) of the Senate rules and see if there is a difference. If there is a difference, at what formal meeting was it approved and adopted?
“You should start from this so that when you are commenting it would not be sensation, it would be based on fact and reality.
“You see, we have to change the way we do things in this country; we have to start telling people what is right and what is wrong and to choose what is right as against what is wrong.
“This is where I expect you to start. Don’t start making it party versus them issue. The point would be: was an offence committed? Establish that first and then you can move on.’’
(NAN)

http://www.timesng.com/news/top-news/205629-apc-set-probe-saraki-alleged-forgery.html

June 20, 2016
The Trade Union Congress has strongly condemned the proposed life pension for principal officers of the National Assembly describing it as ungodly and disgraceful.

The President and Acting Secretary General of the TUC, Messrs Bala Kaigama and Si‎meso Amachree respectively, also flayed the proposed immunity for the National Assembly leaders in a statement on Monday.

The labour leaders said that it was shocking for the lawmakers to make such demands with the current economic situation which had caused job losses and increased poverty in the country.

They also stressed that those found to have violated the laws of the land should be made to face the law.

‎”The Trade Union Congress condemns and describes as unfortunate the proposed life pension for presiding officers of the National Assembly after their tenure in office, even at a time the economy has collapsed and brought about massive job losses and unprecedented poverty.

“We also insist that those who violate the law no matter how highly placed should face the wrath of the law,” they said.

The labour leaders said that it was ridiculous that if the lawmakers were not acquiring 108 jeeps, they would be increasing their allowances or awarding ‎contracts to themselves and their cronies.

They described as unfortunate the decision of the National Assembly to come with the proposal at a time the sex scandal involving some of the House of Representatives ‎during a trip to the US, was still raging.

Kaigama and Amachree wondered if the lawmakers were abreast to the nation’s economic situation or the international community’s perception of their actions.

‎”Is it not unfortunate that while we are yet to recover from the shock caused by some lawmakers who molested some white ladies in a hotel in the US, another drama is unfolding with the latest proposal of life pension for Senate president, deputy, Speaker of House of Representative and deputy?”

The labour ‎leaders argued that the benefits of the principal officers of the National Assembly were too juicy for them to demand more.

They said that the excessive privileges for the ‎lawmakers was responsible for their desperation to cling onto their positions and should be reduced.

They said that it was odd that a senator who did not initiate a bill in a year would earn more that the President of the US.‎

http://punchng.com/tuc-condemns-life-pension-immunity-nass-leaders/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

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June 18, 2016 Times
Senators and speakers of some state Houses of Assembly on Saturday proposed immunity for presiding officers of the legislature.
The decision was taken at a two-day retreat on constitution review, organised by the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Constitution Review, with the theme, “Towards Ensuring Governance ability in Nigerian federalism.’’
If the proposal succeeds and is inserted in the constitution, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who is being prosecuted for false and anticipatory assets declaration as well as alleged forgery, may enjoy some reprieve.
His deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, may also have the forgery case against him dropped.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 21 lawmakers voted in favour of the proposal while 15 voted against.
The lawmakers argued that presiding officers in the legislature ought to enjoy immunity since the executive and judiciary were enjoying it.
The Chairman Senate Committee on Works, Kabiru Gaya, said the essence of immunity was to guard some public office holders against any form of distraction while discharging their duties.
He said, “there are three tiers of government and only two arms enjoy immunity.
“See what is happening to the President of the Senate now. We are not saying the case in court should be stopped.
“But even yesterday we read in the papers that there is a fresh case of forgery of Senate Standing Rule against the presiding officers and some other persons and all is to destabilise us.’’
Also, the Leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, who is being tried for allegedly aiding the Boko Haram sect, ed the proposal for immunity for all presiding officers in the three arms of government.
However, he argued that such immunity should be limited to civil offences committed by the officers.
According to him, “for criminal issues there should be no immunity but for civil offences there should be immunity. Whoever it is that is involved in a criminal matter should be prosecuted.’’
The Minority Leader of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, proposed that all National Assembly and Houses of Assembly should be given immunity.
He explained that elected officers, who were saddled with the responsibility of ensuring good governance should be allowed to carry out their functions without any form of interference.
“I propose that all principal officers of the House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate, should enjoy immunity like the executive.
“So all parliamentarians who have criminal cases can be investigated but they should serve their punishment after office,’’ he said.
However, the Deputy Senate Leaders, Bala Ibn N’ Allah, argued that Nigerians might misconstrue the proposal for immunity for the legislature to mean that they were arrogating so much power to themselves.
He suggested total removal of immunity from all arms of government, adding: “Let us remove immunity from everyone and let there be balance.
“If you give immunity to everybody, a legislator may rape a lady and wait to finish his tenure before being prosecuted because he has immunity,’’ he said.
In a similar development, the lawmakers agreed on rotation of governorship positions among different ethnic groups in states.
They arrived at the consensus with 15 lawmakers voting in favour and seven against.
The lawmakers also proposed that independent candidates should be allowed to vie for political offices and voted against diaspora voting.
Section 308 of the Nigerian Constitution provides for immunity from prosecution for persons holding the offices of President , Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor.
The section reads, “(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Constitution, but subject to subsection (2) of this section –
“(a) no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a person to whom this section applies during his period of office;
“(b) a person to whom this section applies shall not be arrested or imprisoned during that period either in pursuance of the process of any court or otherwise; and
(c) no process of any court requiring or compelling the appearance of a person to whom this section applies, shall be applied for or issued:
“Provided that in ascertaining whether any period of limitation has expired for the purposes of any proceedings against a person to whom this section applies, no shall be taken of his period of office.
“(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to civil proceedings against a person to whom this section applies in his official capacity or to civil or criminal proceedings in which such a person is only a nominal party.
“(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of President or Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor; and the reference in this section to “period of office” is a reference to the period during which the person holding such office is required to perform the functions of the office.”
(NAN)

http://www.timesng.com/news/headlines/205506-nigeria-lawmakers-propose-immunity-prosecution-saraki-others.html

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

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Sex Scandal: U.S accuses Nigerian lawmakers of attempted rape, soliciting prostitutes
June 16, 2016 Hassan Adebayo

The United States government has raised serious allegations of sexual misconduct and attempted rape against Nigerian lawmakers.
The U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, made the allegation in a letter sent to the Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on June 9.
The accused are Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom), Mohammed Gololo (APC, Bauchi) and Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue).
The petition says they attempted to commit rape, and solicited sex from prostitutes during their recent trip to Cleveland, United States, for the International Visitor Leadership Program.
In the petition, obtained by New Telegraph, Mr. Gololo was reported by a hotel house keeper to have grabbed her and sought sex.
Messrs Ikon and Gbillah, allegedly, sought the assistance of hotel park attendants to help them get prostitutes.
Mr. Dogara’s spokesperson, Turaki Hassan, confirmed the Speaker received the petition to TIMES.
The petition read, “It is with regret that I must bring to your attention the following situation. Ten of the Nigerian National Assembly recently travelled to Cleveland, Ohio as participants in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance. We received troubling allegations regarding the behaviour of three of the delegation to the U.S. Government’s flagship professional exchange programme.

“The U.S. Department of State and the Cleveland Council on World Affairs received reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel where the representatives stayed, alleging the representatives engaged in the following behaviour: “Mohammed Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited her for sex.
“While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Representative Gololo. Mark Terseer Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly requested hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit prostitutes.
“The U.S. Mission took pains to confirm these allegations and the identities of the individuals with the employees of the hotel in Cleveland.
“The conduct described above left a very negative impression of Nigeria, casting a shadow on Nigeria’s National Assembly, the International Visitor Leadership Program, and to the American hosts’ impression of Nigeria as a whole. Such conduct could affect some participants’ ability to travel to the United States in the future.
“While the majority of Nigerian visitors to the United States do behave appropriately, even a few Nigerians demonstrating poor judgement leads to a poor impression of the Nigerian people generally, though it is far from accurate. Such incidents jeopardise the ability of future programming and make host institutions and organisations less likely to welcome similar visits in the future.”
“I request, in the strongest possible , you share this message with of the National Assembly so they understand the seriousness of these issues, and the potential consequences of their actions, not only for themselves as individuals, but also for the future of such programmes designed to benefit Nigeria,” Mr. Entwistle wrote.
The accused lawmakers denied the allegations.
“It’s an affront on the National Assembly” – Gbillah
Mr. Gbillah, who was accused of soliciting prostitutes alongside Mr. Ikon, said the allegation was a calculated attempt at rubbishing the National Assembly and vowed to demand compensation from the U.S. for defamation of character.
He explained that that they did not speak to park attendants, basing his argument on the ground that they did not go with cars, and asking, “So how could we have spoken with attendant.”
“So, at Cleveland Renaissance where we were, opposite the Quicken Loan Arena, the Cleveland Cavalier Basketball team played a match and many people came to lodge at the same hotel, and they claimed that we spoke with car park attendants. We didn’t go with cars, so how could we have spoken with attendants?”
“I saw the ambassador (Entwistle) and went to greet him and he told me how a few of us tarnished the image of the House. I advised him to make it formal so that we can know who was involved and what actually happened.
“It was after this encounter that they called us to their premises and said they were identified by their accs in a group picture. This is curious. No video footage. They didn’t accost us while we were in US. We suspect this is a calculated attempt to rubbish the National Assembly. Is this how they would have investigated their congressmen? Do they know that there were other black people who came to watch the match? How could they have identified us in a picture without our knowledge?”
He said the affected lawmakers had challenged the U.S. government, demanding footage of their stay in the hotel and that they should be provided access to their accs for identification.
Mr. Gololo, in a letter to the American envoy on June 13, obtained by TIMES, said “these are totally false, unfounded and baseless allegations against me. I categorically deny that any such incident happened. I never grabbed any housekeeper or solicited sex”.

“I also take this matter very seriously not only because I am an honourable member representing a hallowed institution but because I am husband and father. How will my family and in-laws react to this wild and grave allegation.”
He demanded “video or any such evidence of my alleged misbehaviour.”
Nkole Ndukwe, another lawmaker who was on the trip, expressed shock at the allegation and asked for substantiation from the U.S.
The United States Embassy in Nigeria declined comment on this story.

http://www.timesng.com/news/headlines/205395-sex-scandal-u-s-accuses-nigerian-lawmakers-attempted-rape-soliciting-prostitutes.html

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

Queen Elizabeth of England will present a Queen’s Young Leaders Award to three exceptional young people from Nigeria at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London on Thursday 23rd June.
As the Commonwealth celebrates The Queen’s 90th birthday, this year’s Award winners, including Olanrewaju Adeloye, Imrana Alhaji Buba, and Olumide Femi Makanjuola, all aged between 18 and 29 have been recognised by The Queen for taking the lead in transforming the lives of others and making a lasting difference in their communities. As a Queen’s Young Leader, they will be representing Nigeria as they winners from 45 different Commonwealth countries in London for five days of high-level engagements, all designed to help them further their life-changing work.
Before receiving their Queen’s Young Leaders Award at Buckingham Palace, the winners will visit 10 Downing Street and the UK headquarters of global social networking company Twitter, and meet with senior executives at the BBC World Service. They will also meet the Commonwealth Secretary General, take part in workshops at the University of Cambridge, have meetings with UK business leaders, and visit projects that are changing the lives of vulnerable people in the UK.
Selected from a competitive process where thousands of young people from all over the Commonwealth applied to be a Queen’s Young Leader, Olanrewaju Adeloye said: “I am so happy to be a recipient of The Queen’s Young Leaders Award. To be recognised for my work and be presented with an Award by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace is such a huge honour. I can’t wait to meet all the other winners in London and get involved in all the exciting activities that are taking place throughout the week.”
This year’s Award winners are working to others, raise awareness and inspire change on a variety of issues including education, climate change, gender, mental health and improving the lives of people with disabilities.
The application process to become a 2017 Queen’s Young Leader opens at 8:00pm BST on Friday 24th June 2016. The programme is looking for people aged between 18 and 29 who are dedicated to creating positive changes to the lives of people in Nigeria.

http://www.timesng.com/news/more-news/205004-british-monarch-honour-4-nigerians-queens-young-leaders-award.html

Published on June 9, 2016 by
Most commercial banks operating in Ekiti have placed embargo on further granting of loans against salary to workers in the state.
Dependable bank sources revealed in Ado Ekiti on Thursday that granting of loans to workers was stopped more than two months ago.
According to a source, who pleaded not to be mentioned, the banks took the decision when it became apparent that those with old loans could no longer fulfill their monthly repayment obligations to their banks.
Further investigation revealed that some of the banks have been finding it difficult to cope with the situation, hence their decision to adopt the strategy.
Some of the affected civil servants, who did not want to be named, confirmed that their applications to banks for top-up loan were declined while fresh applications were left unattended to.
A staff of one of the first generation banks disclosed that the embargo was from their corporate headquarters, adding that it did not target Ekiti alone but affected other states with record of backlog of unpaid salaries.
According to the bank source, those categorised as financially credible to obtain loan for now are federal workers, private individuals, traders, businessmen, contractors as well as artisans with records of fidelity.

http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2016/06/09/banks-stop-granting-loans-to-ekiti-workers-over-irregular-salary/

Corruption Trial: Tribunal chairman threatens to jail, throw pro-Saraki senators out of court
June 7, 2016 Samuel Ogundipe

The Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar, on Tuesday threatened to jail senators attending court sessions in solidarity with Senate President Bukola Saraki and throw them out of the tribunal.
The chairman got angry over ‘rude’ comments from senators and other ers of Mr. Saraki.
The individuals, seated in the court gallery, had repeatedly asked Rotimi Jacobs, prosecution counsel, to “sit down.”
This immediately infuriated Mr. Umar, who said the Senate President’s ers’ conduct was becoming unbearable in his court, adding that they should “keep quiet.”
“If I hear anybody ask the counsel to sit down, I will deal with the person and nobody can question me about it. In fact, I will hold the person in contempt and sentence the person to hard labour and nobody will question me.”
The trial of Mr. Saraki for alleged anticipatory and false asset declaration resumed Tuesday (today), after weeks of rescheduling at the instance of prosecution team. The session is currently underway.
The tribunal is hoping to conclude the cross-examination of prosecution witness, Michael Wetkas, this week, counsel in the case said.
The cross-examination began in April, and has prolonged till now, a situation that has angered the prosecution team which has accused the defence of unnecessarily slowing down the trial

Both teams are currently sparring over the significance of questions being asked by the defence. Paul Usoro, counsel to Mr. Saraki, had been grilling Mr. Wetkas, an EFCC official, for weeks, over evidences he tendered against the top lawmaker before the court.

http://www.timesng.com/news/headlines/204823-corruption-trial-tribunal-chairman-threatens-jail-throw-pro-saraki-senators-court.html

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION

Saraki's Case Not Adjourned Indefinitely, Prosecutor Says Case Will Likely Come Up Next Week

A prosecutor at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Wednesday told SaharaReporters that contrary to rumors in the media the corruption trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki had not been adjourned "indefinitely" are completely untrue.

The source who didn't want to be named said the reason trial could not come up today was due to a conflict in another trial involving the former governor of Jigawa, Sule Lamido before Justice Ademola Adeniji at the Federal High Court in Abuja. He also stated that a second member of the tribunal called in sick making it impossible to get a new date yet.

The source said the witness for the prosecution, Michael Wetkas, was giving witness in the Lamido case over two days in the trial that commenced yesterday against the former governor. Another case is also scheduled for the Court of Appeal in Abuja tomorrow involving the prosecution team against Saraki as the Court did not sit yesterday due to lack of quorum.

"We are looking at commencing trial again next week as soon as the second member of the tribunal could be reached to give us a new date", the source said.

http://saharareporters.com/2016/06/01/sarakis-case-not-adjourned-indefinitely-prosecutor-says-case-will-likely-come-next-week

A private radio station in Akwa Ibom State on Monday abruptly ended a live interview with the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Ita Awak, after the guest mentioned the name of the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke on air.
Mr. Awak believed he was discharged from the ‘Team Nigeria’ programme on Planet 101.1FM because authorities feared he might proceed to criticise Governor Udom Emmanuel and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
The APC spokesman said he was well received by the host of the show but that 10 minutes into the programme, the interview was discontinued immediately he mentioned Mr. Luke’s name.
Mr. Awak said he referred to Mr. Luke in context, while trying to recall what the speaker’s opinion was on looted funds so far recovered by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The station stopped airing Mr. Awak’s interview, and started playing music in its place.
Mr. Awak said even before the interview started, he was warned by the station’s General Manager, Sunday Edet, not to talk about Governor Emmanuel, the Peoples Democratic Party, the Akwa Ibom state government or anybody within the state government.
“He told me since I am an APC spokesman I should only talk about the federal government that is being led by the APC.
“I challenged him on that. I said how can I, being an APC spokesman, talk about 17 years of democracy in Nigeria, without localising it?”
After the first interruption, the General Manager, Mr. Edet, negotiated with him to commit not to refer to any official of the state government during the programme.
When he felt a compromise had been reached, Mr. Edet gave permission for the interview to resume.
But Mr. Awak did the unexpected.
When the interview resumed, Mr. Awak told listeners, “Ladies and gentlemen, that break in transmission was caused by the censorship I am experiencing right now in this studio. The manager is prevailing on me not to mention anything about Akwa Ibom State government.”
Mr. Edet, who was standing in the studio to personally monitor the interview, immediately shut down the broadcast again.
Mr. Awak said when he asked why, Mr. Edet told him it was wrong for him (Awak) to have informed the listeners that he was being censored.
“So, you stand here to censor me, and you don’t want me to tell the public about it?” Mr. Awak told the GM, and then left the studio in anger, when he realised that the station would not allow the interview to resume.
The presenter of ‘Team Nigeria’, Aniekan Udosen, corroborated Mr. Awak’s claims, and added that the general manager of the station even ordered a studio assistant out of the studio when the interview was going on.
“It’s unprofessional for a station manager to stand inside the studio to monitor how an interview was being conducted,” Mr. Udosen said.
“The general manager told me he was there in the studio to protect his station, and I asked him ‘protect your station from who?’
“In broadcasting, we are guided by the code provided by the National Broadcasting Commission. There is absolutely nothing that Ita Awak said that is prohibited by the code.
“It’s politics, we know.”
Mr. Awak, who said he would brief the APC leadership in the state, and then wait for them to decide what action to take, said he almost had a similar encounter with the federal-owned Atlantic FM station in the state, a few days ago.
“The GM of Atlantic FM received phone calls from some persons within the Akwa Ibom State government, and became very restless about me being interviewed in the station.
He tried everything possible to make sure I didn’t criticise the state government.
“For me, this is very ominous signs.”
Mr. Edet, the GM of Planet FM, declined to comment for this story, when TIMES ed him.
Sampson Akpan, the special assistant on electronic media to Governor Emmanuel, said no one should blame the governor for what happened to Mr. Awak.
“Planet FM is a private radio station, no government has the right to interfere it its running,” Mr. Akpan said.
This is not the first time Planet FM would be involved in controversy bordering on censorship.
In 2014, the station discontinued a live interview with the then senator representing Akwa Ibom North West, Aloysius Etok, who at the time had deep political disagreement with the Governor Godswill Akpabio.

http://www.timesng.com/news/top-news/204390-protecting-governor-emmanuel-pdp-radio-station-halts-live-interview-apc-chieftain.html

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to arraign the current Chief of Logistics, Defence Headquarters, Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Atewe, for his alleged role in an N8.5bn scam involving the Nigerian Maritime istration and Safety Agency.

Atewe was, until last year, the Commander of the t Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

The EFCC is also set to re-arraign a former Director-General of the NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi; Kime Engozu and Josephine Otuga, alleged to be Atewe’s co-conspirators.

It was learnt that the four suspects would be charged before a Federal High Court in Lagos on 11 counts of stealing and money laundering

Akpobolokemi, who claims to be sick, is currently standing trial before a Federal High Court in Lagos for an alleged fraud of N2.6bn.

However, investigators of the anti-graft agency were said to have been stunned by the latest discovery.

A reliable source at the EFCC told our correspondent that NIMASA, under the leadership of Akpobolokemi, approved billions of naira to several military personnel, who were in charge of patrolling the creeks to prevent pipeline vandalism and illegal bunkering.

He explained that when NIMASA released funds to these top military personnel for maintenance of equipment and fuel, the senior officers diverted the cash into private s, owned by firms, under the guise of rendering one service or the other.

The source added, “The suspects used five companies to divert the money. The sums of N2,006,270,930.67, N1,147,723,362.42 and N250,315,000.00 were at different times diverted through Jagan Trading Company Limited.

“A second company, Al-Nald Limited, was a channel through which N905,208,064.00 was stolen, while a third company, Paper Warehouse Limited, was used in diverting N605, 645,750.00.

“A fourth company, Eastpoint Integrated Services Limited was used in siphoning N1,871,795,679.14 while a fifth company, De-Newlink Integrated Services, was used in siphoning N68,293,199.29 and N86,198,462.54 at separate times.

“Akpobolokemi was believed to usually receive kickbacks from these military officers after releasing the money.

“This is probably what put us in this mess today. With the Niger Delta Avengers and other militant groups springing up, it has become difficult for the military to fight them efficiently because the funds meant for equipment have been diverted.”

One of the charges, which was obtained by our correspondent from the Federal High Court, read in part, “That you, Patrick Ziadeke Akpobolokemi, Major-General Emmanuel Atewe, Kime Engozu and Josphine Otuaga, sometime in 2014, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this court, with intent to defraud, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence, to wit: Conversion of the sum of N8,537,586,798.58 (Eight Billion, Five Hundred and Thirty Seven Million, Five Hundred and Eighty Six Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ninety Eight Naira, Fifty Eight Kobo), property of the Nigerian Maritime istration and Safety Agency, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”

http://www.punchng.com/akpobolokemi-gen-fresh-n8-5bn-nimasa-fraud/

SARAKI, THE FACE OF CORRUPTION