By Tony Eluemunor
Subterfuge, deception, lies, and pure tricks (let alone wickedness and
unforgiving spirit) come up when former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s
name is referenced. Obasanjo has been blessed with a long life and is
now either in his 80s or 90s, but he is not about to change from his
well-beaten path of disdaining the truth and frustrating wisdom.
Hey, is there any Nigerian who does not know that the Obasanjo
administration was neck deep in the Third Term scheme or is unaware
that each Senator and House of Representatives member were offered N50
million and N30 million respectively so that Obasanjo would benefit
from a constitutional tenure elongation that would allow the President
to have a Third Term in office? Perhaps, what is not public knowledge
is that five billion dollars (yes, $USD5, 000 000 000) was collected
to drive that scheme. That makes it the most bribery intensive scheme
that has ever defaced Nigeria’s unfortunate history.
Yet, as recently as June 16th this year, Daily Trust reported that
“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has again opened up on his
controversial third term bid, saying some state governors also wanted
tenure extension. Obasanjo had severally denied plans to seek
extension of his stay in office beyond 2007, but blamed some governors
as the brains behind the third term agenda”. But was he involved? Who
started it? The interviewer only smiled and nodded his agreement to
Obasanjo’s words – no wonder why Obasanjo looks down on Nigerian
journalists.
Yet, despite Obasanjo’s denial, it is a fact that the Third-Term plot
started in 2001 (yes, during Obasanjo’s first term). I wrote about it
in my 14-page (two pages daily) All The President’s Men report in
Sunday Independent on Obasanjo first term, May 2004, that a third term
plot was on to elongate Obasanjo’s stay as President, and that it
“will fail”. 19 years later, Obasanjo still denied the obvious.
That brings us to Obasanjo’s evil sermon about Ibori. The Urhobo Times
of 18 June 2023 reported: “Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, has
disclosed that James Ibori, a former governor of Delta State, looted
$200 million but only repaid $15 million of the funds”. In response to
accusations of being vengeful against him by the late former governor
of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, and Ibori, Obasanjo said:
“Ibori was found to have misused about $200 million after an
investigation by the EFCC” and Obasanjo said to him “Go and give the
EFCC $150 million assuming you have already spent $50 million. When
Nuhu Ribadu arrived, I told him to deposit the $15 million in cash in
their account at the Central Bank because he believed he was being
cunning. He was so hunted down and taken to London, where he was put
in jail. Therefore, if that was revenge, I would encourage more
revenge in Nigeria”.
Having shown you Obasanjo’s lies and truths with his blaming the Third
Term debacle on some unnamed state Governors and not himself or his
aides, he has only tried with this answer to wriggle out of the
vindictiveness charge generally held against him. Ribadu has made
almost ten claims of that bribery allegation but Obasanjo has said
that it was no BRIBE BUT RESTITUTION. I say that Obasanjo knows it was
neither bribery nor restitution.
When did Obasanjo become a restitution agent? When did the President
of any nation become a law court? All these questions scream that Aso
Rock cooked up the story and Ribadu played along; and the funds came
from the Third Term slush fund – to blackmail Ibori!
Or did Obasanjo relate so with any other person? His former Minister
of Internal Affairs, the late Sunday Awoniyi and Police Chief, Mustafa
(Tafa) Adebayo Balogun were tried by the EFCC and restitution never
arose. So, was it his great love for Ibori, a man who had told
Obasanjo to his face, “because of your dictatorial tendencies you are
unmarketable, unsaleable and unelectable” that he was disposed towards
giving Ibori any soft-landing? And that was after Aso Rock had wasted
billions in a failed attempt to foist an ex-convict stone on Ibori’s
neck? No!
Unfortunately, Obasanjo has always believed he could say outrageous,
illogical or even totally senseless things and Nigerians would accept
them. He tried it with his Vice-President, splashing him with endless
allegations of corruption. Then, to kill Atiku’s political career, he
set up a kangaroo committee that found Atiku guilty of some spurious
allegations in the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF), and took
it to the Senate to further damage Atiku. There, Atiku showed that
bogus contracts attacked PTDF funds when Obasanjo began to supervise
it.
That was how, Obasanjo promised in his 1999 Independence Anniversary
broadcast that Nigerians should judge him on the implementation of the
plans outlaid in the Presidential Policy Advisory Report a Gen. T. Y.
Danjuma-led Committee produced: “this paper will soon be made public
and shall constitute our operational guidelines”. There are countless
books praising Obasanjo’s administration, but none took the PPAC
report into consideration. Unfortunately, the same Obasanjo who ran a
stunningly inglorious administration, a monumental failure which dug
the ditch which has bugged successive administrations is busy playing
judge over others. Yet, Danjuma himself said at the photo session
after that administration’s last Ex-co meeting: “we failed. We failed
to grow the economy. We failed to create jobs”.
The $15m bribe allegation resulted from high stakes treachery if
Obasanjo’s story is interposed against EFCC operatives’ statements. Or
why should there be several versions of one single event? That would
only happen if some or all the parties involved are lying; Ribadu
himself, Ibrahim Lamorde, James Garba, a central Bank of Nigeria staff
seconded to EFCC, Senator Andy Uba and EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs
(SAN).
Ribadu: “Before the end of (Ibori’s) term, we met at one of his
friend’s house in Abuja. I had brought several of my colleagues from
the EFCC. They witnessed Ibori handing over to me a bag containing
$15m in cash, as a pay-off which I pretended to treat as RESTITUTION
for the monies he stole from his state. (Ribadu’s book: “My Story”,
page 124)” Yes, restitution and NOT BRIBE; this rhymes with Obasanjo’s
claim and points to his role in the scam) but from Wale Adebanwi’s “A
Paradise of Maggots” comes this: “Ribadu claimed that Ibori brought
along a bribe of $15m in cash, ‘in two bags’, Ribadu then called
Lamorde, Ibrahim Magu and five other officers through the mobile phone
to come to Uba’s house to pick up the bribe. Lamorde and his team took
the two bags containing the money and drove straight to the CBN.” Two
books, two versions of the EFCC operatives present when the alleged
bribery was given, and two versions of the number of bags, and
RESTITUTION was gone from a book and as we shall see when we consider
other police statements, two versions of the date the alleged bribe
(or restitution) was given and when it left Uba’s house for the CBN.
Ribadu’s Abuja 12th December 2007 statement: “The money was collected
in my presence at Dr. Andy Uba’s house on the 26/4/07 by Lamorde and
his officers and deposited in the CBN Abuja branch on the same day”.
He wrote the statement AFTER he had arraigned Ibori in a Kaduna court!
Yet, in the London statement of August 26, 2009, Ribadu claimed: “On
that day…my staff on that occasion would have included EFCC Head of
Operations, Ibrahim Lamorde and EFCC Officer James Garba, (now it is
no longer the seven officers mentioned in the book as quoted above but
just two operatives) James (Ibori) was there and his servant or driver
brought out the money from the house, in two (2) massive sacks
containing U.S. $100 dollar bills. The bribe was made on 26th April
2007”.
The 25/4/07 in Ribadu’s 2007 Police statement changed by a day in the
London version. On who handed out the alleged money to the EFCC, and
those present, Lamorde further contradicted Ribadu saying that on
“25th April” Ribadu told him that “there was the sum of $15 million
(USD) in cash given to him and the Commission by James Ibori” (so the
money was for EFCC and not Ribadu). Garba supported this version,
saying that the money was there in Uba’s house on the 25th April 2007,
and he was directed by Lamorde to collect the sum and deposit at the
CBN, so he wrote an authorising letter which Lamorde signed – for
Garba to deposit the money that same 25th April 2007, “but it was
already late to do so”. Ibrahim Lamorde also contradicting Ribadu,
maintained that the money was already in Uba’s residence on 25/4/07
and Ribadu “directed that I should make arrangement to collect it. So
on 26 -04-07, myself and Mr. James Garba, (just two operatives, not
seven as Ribadu claimed, and obviously excluding Ibrahim Magu)
accompanied by Police escort proceeded to Mr. Uba’s residence. We
collected the money”. So, from Lamorde’s statement, Ribadu and Ibori
were not there! They just collected the money from Andy Uba!
About Ibori’s presence in Uba’s house, Garba contradicted Ribadu; “In
the compound, I saw Mr. Andy Uba and he directed some men, to carry a
brownish long bag, very heavy, into the booth of the Director’s
(Lamorde) car. This happened after the Director and Uba had exchanged
greetings on our arrival to Uba’s house”. So Andy Uba directed the
operations! Ibori wasn’t there.
Ribadu claimed in his London statement that he never questioned Ibori
over the alleged bribery, because he enjoyed immunity until he left
office on May 29, 2007. If so, why didn’t EFCC raise that question
when an investigation team questioned Ibori on 4th July 2007 or even
at Ibori’s arrest? Till this very moment, EFCC never questioned Ibori
the alleged bribe.
EFCC’s lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) even contradicted himself:
years after he said in Federal High Court, Kaduna, that EFCC collected
the alleged bribe from Andy Uba’s house, he changed the story at an
Abuja High Court that determined that the money should be permanently
deposited at the CBN; he said the money came from unknown agents of
Ibori. And if the EFCC was so sure that it collected the money from
Ibori, why did it institute the suit to determine who should keep the
money?
Who can explain why a Ribadu would have been given an advance notice
of a bribe and he would not use any devise, even if ordinary mobile
phone, to record it? Yet, on page 103 of his “My Story; My Vision”,
Ribadu claimed a woman attempted to bribe him “during a meeting in a
private house and the conversation was recorded without her
knowledge”. That was in 2003, so why did he not repeat the procedure
in 2007?
Lastly, at Protea Hotel, Ikeja Lagos, Ribadu, as Action Congress of
Nigeria’s presidential candidate for the 2011 election, said Ibori did
not bribe him as Mr. Ikechukwu Amaechi reported in a national
newspaper, and challenged Ribadu to react if he had been lied against.
The challenge still stands. Several other journalists, including Steve
Nwosu of the SUN and Tunde Abdulrahman then of THISDAY were there.
That was in 2011 and Obasanjo engaged in tall devilish tales about
that bribery allegation in 2023.
Specifically, from the Federal High Court, Asaba, comes this from
Justice Awokulehin’s ruling: “Count 66 Charges the 1st
Accused/Applicant with making a cash payment of S15,000,000 (Fifteen
million Dollars) to the officials of the EFCC in order to influence
their investigations and thereby committed an offence punishable under
Section 15(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004. The
evidence in respect of this charge are the witness statements of NUHU
RIBADU, IBRAHIM LAMORDE and JAMES GARUBA. Their statements are to the
effect that the money was collected from one DR. ANDY UBA in his
residence and not from the Accused/Applicant. It is shocking that
there is no witness statement from the said DR. ANDY UBA who can say
whether or not the 1st Accused gave him money and the purpose for
which the money was given and to whom he delivered the money. Yet,
countless commentators leveled all sorts of charges against Justice
Awokulehin!
Nasir-el Rufai wrote in “Accidental Public Servant” (page 335
“President (Obasanjo’s) third term team spent a lot of time raising
huge amounts of money – more than $300m by Nuhu Ribadu’s informed
estimate. And on page 339, El-Rufai added: “ Nuhu directed the
financial intelligence of EFCC to track cash movements, mostly from
the state’s into Abuja, which accounts, most of the money ended up in
and so forth. Most of the money was allegedly going to companies and
bank accounts controlled by Andy Uba”. El-Rufai continued on the next
page: “Most of the money came from Governors friendly to Obasanjo but
some also came from Lagos-based businessmen”. On page 349 El-Rufai hit
the nail on the head: “it was from Andy Uba’s house that payments
emanated from” when the bribery proper started. A well-known Abuja
Minister once said he personally ferried N75 million apiece to
national legislators representing Abuja.
Former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara said in November 2014 “The
Congress Watch”, page 13: “on Thursday the 16th May 2006, by 1.30am
the sum of N250m was brought and I refused the money. So mine was not
even N50m. In fact, it was N250m with a promise, if everything worked
out, they would bring more to me”.
So it is no surprise that the money $15m came from Uba’s house, the
Third Term purser, according to El-Rufai’s book. And EFCC operatives,
Lamorde and James Garba, two EFCC operatives who actually collected
the money said categorically that Ibori was not there when they
collected the money from Andy Uba’s house in Andy Uba’s presence!
August 31, 2012, the Channels TV reported Andy Uba saying “All I know
about this matter is that Chief James Ibori brought some money to the
then EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. The details of the transaction
were undisclosed to me at the time. The money was handed to Mallam
Nuhu Ribadu who invited his then Director of Operations, Mr. Ibrahim
Lamorde, to fetch it”. That is another contradiction because four
years earlier in both Kaduna and Asaba Federal High Courts, Ribadu,
Lamorde and Garba had said that the money was collected from Andy Uba,
in his house, and Ibori was not there. So much for this afterthought
from Obasanjo’s former Man Friday.
Obasanjo should please explain how public agencies and states
contributed for his Presidential Library that is better known for its
lordly hotel, or the PTDF contract bazaar, the shady Ikoyi Houses sale
for which Obasanjo’s “beloved boy” the late Dr. Ojo Adinoyi Onukaba
was beaten black and blue, his face pot-marked by wounds, simply
because he authored a press statement for Atuku Abubakar stating that
Atiku had no hand in the sales. A day to when Mrs. Mobolaji Osomo, the
Housing minister had promised to reveal the documentary evidence
pertaining to the sale of the federal government’s landed property,
Obasanjo sacked her. Case closed. He should explain the drones his
administration bought from Israel which an Israeli newspaper, Haaretz
reported, May 31, 2006: “the President’s Office the President and his
aides were indeed involved in the decision” on the “the $260 million
deal” which “according to the value of the equipment, and even if
Aeronautics profits from the deal reach 100 percent, the scope of the
deal will not exceed $150 million”.
And when will he, a restitution agent, get the refund for Nigeria?
It is worrisome that another base, disreputable, sordid and seedy
matter –a truth-telling challenge -unites Obasanjo and Andy Uba – his
Man Friday.
