An Airline inception (arik air)
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ARIK AIR (inception)
NIGERIA: Gov. Peter Odili Plundered $500M To Set Up Arik Air
Former Rivers State Governor, Peter OdiliDetailed draft charges that never made it to the courts regarding the brazen looting of Rivers State treasury by the state’s former governor, Peter Odili have been obtained. The documents show how Mr. Odili used a combination of government officials and personal companies disguised as fronts to fleece Rivers State to the tune of N100 billion between 2004 and 2007.
Analysis of the draft charges, which were prepared by well-known Nigerian lawyer Festus Keyamo on behalf of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under the chairmanship of Mrs. Farida Waziri, reveal that, between December 2004 and September 2006, Emmanuel Nkatah, a personal staff of the governor operating at the Rivers State liaison office in Abuja, alone withdrew over N4 billion naira from Zenith Bank account No. 6010916567 which belonged to Rivers State Government House.
The 220-count draft indictment targeted Mr. Odili and 24 others regarding allegations of theft, conspiracy to commit theft, money laundering and fraud. The draft charges listed other accused persons and beneficiaries of Mr. Odili’s extensive looting. The list includes founder of Arik Airline, Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, former Minister of Aviation, Babalola Borisade, two former People’s Democratic Party chairmen, Ahmadu Alli and Barnabas Gemade.
Also listed as co-accused are Pauline K. Tallen, Mrs. Olufemi Agagu, Ike Nwachukwu, a retired general, and Ukandi Damanchi, a professor. The businesses named in the charge sheet include Courage Communications Ltd, Attn Ltd, Ragolis Water Ltd, M/S Wetland Health Services Ltd, Transky Ltd, Foby Eng. Ltd, First Medical/Sterile Company Ltd, Habila Resources Ltd, Rockson Engineering Co. Ltd, Ojemai Farms Ltd, Ojemai Investments Ltd, and Godsonic Oil Company Ltd, an oil company owned by Peter Odili which also has business interests in the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Zone (JDZ) Block 4.
The documents reveal, for instance, that between January 2004 and December 2006, Mr. Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, the alter ego of Rockson Eng. Ltd, received over N60 billion from the accounts of the Rivers State government. Also between September 2005 and the year 2006, Mr. Borishade was the beneficiary of an illegal diversion of over N4 billion in the guise that it would be used to rehabilitate Port Harcourt International Airport. On March 3rd and March 10th 2006, then Governor Odili withdrew the sum of $2 million U.S. dollars for personal use but in the guise that the money would be used to sponsor senior government officials on a trip abroad.
As his tenure as governor drew to a close, Mr. Odili intensified the questionable withdrawals. On March 16, 2007, he withdrew another $2 million for the same purpose of sponsoring senior government officials on a foreign trip. On April 20th 2007, he withdrew another $2 million for the same purpose. On May 23, 2007, days before he left office, he withdrew another $1 million. Of particular interest in the indictments is Mr. Odili’s corrupt entanglement with several major media organs. The charge sheet listed some media companies that received huge sums of money from Mr. Odili’s loot. SaharaReporters learnt that the dole-outs to the media were designed to buy their silence.
The biggest chunk of the payoffs went to Nduka Obaigbena’s Leaders and Company Ltd, the publishers of ThisDay newspapers, Raymond Dokpesi’s Daar Communications PLC, owners of African Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM, John Momoh’s Channels Television Ltd, and Newswatch Communications Ltd, publishers of Newswatch magazine whose chief executive is Ray Ekpu.
In particular, the charge sheet stated that between 2004 and 2007, Gov. Odili channeled almost N2 billion to Daar Communication, over N300 million to Leaders and Company, N50 million to Channels Television Ltd and over N100 million to Newswatch Communications Ltd. all received part of the loot from Mr. Odili’s slush fund.
In addition, Mr. Odili was notorious for doling out cash to numerous prominent editors, columnists and reporters. Thanks to his policy of bribing the media, he received little or no negative publicity during his eight-year rule. “Governor Odili presided over Rivers State at a time when a lot of revenue was rolling in here,” said a Port Harcourt-based politician. “Yet, the state capital, Port Harcourt, was in very bad condition and the state had no good roads or other infrastructure. Where did all the money go? Why did members of the press not ask questions?”
Sometimes, Mr. Odili splashed cash on party officials as well as other notable figures. Among those who received N20 million each were Mr. Ahmadu Ali, Mrs. Olufemi Agagu, Mr. Barnabas Gemade, and retired General Ike Nwachukwu. The documents indicate that the scale at which public funds were converted to private use was staggering. There was clear evidence of money laundering and blatant stealing of Rivers State funds for the personal use of the governor and his cronies. Mr. Odili’s legal trouble started on October 31, 2006 when a petition came into the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The commission launched investigations into various allegations of corruption and financial crimes leveled against Mr. Odili and other officials of the Rivers State Government. On December 12, 2006, the EFCC issued an interim investigative report and prepared a draft of 223 charges against the governor. In a counter-move, the then Attorney-General of the state, and later Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs minister, Odein Ajumogobia, on February 23, 2007 sued the EFCC, the then Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rotimi Amaechi, and other defendants in a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.
In the suit, Mr. Ajumogobia asked Justice Ibrahim Nyaure Buba of the federal High Court in port Harcourt to bar the EFCC from investigating, prosecuting or ever harassing Mr. Odili and officials of his administration. In the suit (number FHC/PH/CS/78/2007), the then Attorney-General claimed that the EFCC had no powers to investigate the state government and that such a move went contrary to provisions of Nigeria’s Constitution which gave such power to the State House of Assembly. The suit asked the court to bar the EFCC from sharing whatever information it had gathered with the media or coercing the State House of Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings on the governor.
On March 20, 2007, Justice Buba granted the Rivers State government all that the state’s Attorney-General prayed for in what is now called a perpetual injunction. Upon leaving office, Mr. Peter Odili again went to court and asked that he should be made a beneficiary of the perpetual injunction granting him permanent immunity from prosecution. Again, Justice Buba’s court agreed. The judge imposed “a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from arresting, detaining and arraigning Odili on the basis of his tenure as governor based on the purported investigation.”
In 2007, the Nuhu Ribadu led EFCC claimed they immediately file an appeal but the court of appeal never assigned the case as Mary Odili was a judge with enormous powers at the Court during the period. Again in 2008, the EFCC filed an appeal against Justice Buba’s ruling. In the brief, the EFCC argued that the commission had the right under the statute that created it to investigate economic crimes allegedly committed by the state government and Mr. Odili. It also argued that the Buba Court was wrong in proceeding with an “Original Summons when it was obvious that the parties were in serious contentions on the facts.”
The appeal described Justice Buba’s action as “at best incompetent”, insisting that the court “lacked jurisdiction” to hear the case. It concluded that “the judge was wrong to have issued the declaratory orders and injunctions against the Appellant (EFCC) which amount to prohibiting the EFCC from carrying out its statutory functions and setting aside its report when in fact the report was not even placed before him.” Five years after, the EFCC’s appeal is still at the Appeal Court of Nigeria in the Port Harcourt judicial division waiting for the lower court’s verdict to be vacated.
Meanwhile, Mr. Odili also went to the same court and on January 27, 2011 won a ruling that he should be joined as an interested party in the substantial case. However, no date has been set for the hearing. Sources close to Saharareporters said that the administrations of former President Umaru Yar’Adua and incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan have had no interest in seeing Mr. Odili tried. “Both President Yar’Adua and now President Jonathan subtly encouraged the no-action status quo,” a legal source in Abuja said.
In fact, while Mr. Odili’s charges had been prepared and awaiting filing at the Federal High court, President Jonathan nominated his wife, Mary Odili, to the Supreme Court in May 2011. Several sources told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Odili played a key role in the plot to scuttle the wide-ranging indictment against her husband. After governing the oil-rich Rivers State from 1999 to 2007, Mr. Odili ran for president in 2007. But he was forced to withdraw when some interests within his party confronted him with the numerous allegations of embezzlement of government funds during his governorship.
In his autobiography, Conscience and History, published last year, Mr. Odili acknowledged that he negotiated the charges against him with then President Olusegun Obasanjo. Mr. Odili offered to drop his presidential bid in exchange for a sort of soft landing that initially included being offered the Vice-Presidential slot. That slot was later given to Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. Former Governor Odili is one of the nine governors whose corruption cases are in perpetual limbo in the courts. Others are James Ibori of Delta State, currently serving jail time in London for corruption, Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State, Joshua Dariye of Plateau State, Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia state, Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State, Saminu Turaki of Jigawa State, Boni Haruna of Adamawa State, and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State.
In spite of the swirl of corruption around Mr. Odili, he had no difficulty persuading Lincoln University, one of America’s most prestigious historically Black colleges, to accept donations from him, a fact noted by Human Rights Watch. By the end of 2006, Mr. Odili had become one of the school’s largest donors, with at least $1.64 million in donations. During that year, the university bestowed a controversial honorary degree on Mr. Odili. Lincoln held a luncheon in his honor, and named a building after him, actions that drew outrage from Nigerian groups as well as Human Rights Watch.
Political sources in Abuja said that several factors have helped Mr. Odili evade prosecution so far. One factor is his wife, whose position as a justice of the Supreme Court makes her an insider who is able to ensure that her husband will not face a no-nonsense judge. Another factor is that Mr. Odili was very close to former President Obasanjo, and was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Mr. Obasanjo’s failed plan to change the Nigerian constitution in order to continue as president.
Besides, since the end of his tenure as governor, Mr. Odili has moved to Abuja where he maintains a quiet profile, making as little political noise as possible. After years of feuding with his successor, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Mr. Odili and the Rivers State governor had a kind of reconciliation in 2011, just as Mrs. Odili was elevated to Nigeria’s apex court. In a country where political considerations are often paramount, Mr. Odili has ensured that he is not perceived as a political threat to President Jonathan and other powerful political interests while his businesses which are proceeds of corruption booms.
Former Rivers State Governor, Peter OdiliDetailed draft charges that never made it to the courts regarding the brazen looting of Rivers State treasury by the state’s former governor, Peter Odili have been obtained. The documents show how Mr. Odili used a combination of government officials and personal companies disguised as fronts to fleece Rivers State to the tune of N100 billion between 2004 and 2007.
Analysis of the draft charges, which were prepared by well-known Nigerian lawyer Festus Keyamo on behalf of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under the chairmanship of Mrs. Farida Waziri, reveal that, between December 2004 and September 2006, Emmanuel Nkatah, a personal staff of the governor operating at the Rivers State liaison office in Abuja, alone withdrew over N4 billion naira from Zenith Bank account No. 6010916567 which belonged to Rivers State Government House.
The 220-count draft indictment targeted Mr. Odili and 24 others regarding allegations of theft, conspiracy to commit theft, money laundering and fraud. The draft charges listed other accused persons and beneficiaries of Mr. Odili’s extensive looting. The list includes founder of Arik Airline, Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, former Minister of Aviation, Babalola Borisade, two former People’s Democratic Party chairmen, Ahmadu Alli and Barnabas Gemade.
Also listed as co-accused are Pauline K. Tallen, Mrs. Olufemi Agagu, Ike Nwachukwu, a retired general, and Ukandi Damanchi, a professor. The businesses named in the charge sheet include Courage Communications Ltd, Attn Ltd, Ragolis Water Ltd, M/S Wetland Health Services Ltd, Transky Ltd, Foby Eng. Ltd, First Medical/Sterile Company Ltd, Habila Resources Ltd, Rockson Engineering Co. Ltd, Ojemai Farms Ltd, Ojemai Investments Ltd, and Godsonic Oil Company Ltd, an oil company owned by Peter Odili which also has business interests in the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Zone (JDZ) Block 4.
The documents reveal, for instance, that between January 2004 and December 2006, Mr. Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, the alter ego of Rockson Eng. Ltd, received over N60 billion from the accounts of the Rivers State government. Also between September 2005 and the year 2006, Mr. Borishade was the beneficiary of an illegal diversion of over N4 billion in the guise that it would be used to rehabilitate Port Harcourt International Airport. On March 3rd and March 10th 2006, then Governor Odili withdrew the sum of $2 million U.S. dollars for personal use but in the guise that the money would be used to sponsor senior government officials on a trip abroad.
As his tenure as governor drew to a close, Mr. Odili intensified the questionable withdrawals. On March 16, 2007, he withdrew another $2 million for the same purpose of sponsoring senior government officials on a foreign trip. On April 20th 2007, he withdrew another $2 million for the same purpose. On May 23, 2007, days before he left office, he withdrew another $1 million. Of particular interest in the indictments is Mr. Odili’s corrupt entanglement with several major media organs. The charge sheet listed some media companies that received huge sums of money from Mr. Odili’s loot. SaharaReporters learnt that the dole-outs to the media were designed to buy their silence.
The biggest chunk of the payoffs went to Nduka Obaigbena’s Leaders and Company Ltd, the publishers of ThisDay newspapers, Raymond Dokpesi’s Daar Communications PLC, owners of African Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM, John Momoh’s Channels Television Ltd, and Newswatch Communications Ltd, publishers of Newswatch magazine whose chief executive is Ray Ekpu.
In particular, the charge sheet stated that between 2004 and 2007, Gov. Odili channeled almost N2 billion to Daar Communication, over N300 million to Leaders and Company, N50 million to Channels Television Ltd and over N100 million to Newswatch Communications Ltd. all received part of the loot from Mr. Odili’s slush fund.
In addition, Mr. Odili was notorious for doling out cash to numerous prominent editors, columnists and reporters. Thanks to his policy of bribing the media, he received little or no negative publicity during his eight-year rule. “Governor Odili presided over Rivers State at a time when a lot of revenue was rolling in here,” said a Port Harcourt-based politician. “Yet, the state capital, Port Harcourt, was in very bad condition and the state had no good roads or other infrastructure. Where did all the money go? Why did members of the press not ask questions?”
Sometimes, Mr. Odili splashed cash on party officials as well as other notable figures. Among those who received N20 million each were Mr. Ahmadu Ali, Mrs. Olufemi Agagu, Mr. Barnabas Gemade, and retired General Ike Nwachukwu. The documents indicate that the scale at which public funds were converted to private use was staggering. There was clear evidence of money laundering and blatant stealing of Rivers State funds for the personal use of the governor and his cronies. Mr. Odili’s legal trouble started on October 31, 2006 when a petition came into the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The commission launched investigations into various allegations of corruption and financial crimes leveled against Mr. Odili and other officials of the Rivers State Government. On December 12, 2006, the EFCC issued an interim investigative report and prepared a draft of 223 charges against the governor. In a counter-move, the then Attorney-General of the state, and later Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs minister, Odein Ajumogobia, on February 23, 2007 sued the EFCC, the then Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rotimi Amaechi, and other defendants in a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.
In the suit, Mr. Ajumogobia asked Justice Ibrahim Nyaure Buba of the federal High Court in port Harcourt to bar the EFCC from investigating, prosecuting or ever harassing Mr. Odili and officials of his administration. In the suit (number FHC/PH/CS/78/2007), the then Attorney-General claimed that the EFCC had no powers to investigate the state government and that such a move went contrary to provisions of Nigeria’s Constitution which gave such power to the State House of Assembly. The suit asked the court to bar the EFCC from sharing whatever information it had gathered with the media or coercing the State House of Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings on the governor.
On March 20, 2007, Justice Buba granted the Rivers State government all that the state’s Attorney-General prayed for in what is now called a perpetual injunction. Upon leaving office, Mr. Peter Odili again went to court and asked that he should be made a beneficiary of the perpetual injunction granting him permanent immunity from prosecution. Again, Justice Buba’s court agreed. The judge imposed “a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from arresting, detaining and arraigning Odili on the basis of his tenure as governor based on the purported investigation.”
In 2007, the Nuhu Ribadu led EFCC claimed they immediately file an appeal but the court of appeal never assigned the case as Mary Odili was a judge with enormous powers at the Court during the period. Again in 2008, the EFCC filed an appeal against Justice Buba’s ruling. In the brief, the EFCC argued that the commission had the right under the statute that created it to investigate economic crimes allegedly committed by the state government and Mr. Odili. It also argued that the Buba Court was wrong in proceeding with an “Original Summons when it was obvious that the parties were in serious contentions on the facts.”
The appeal described Justice Buba’s action as “at best incompetent”, insisting that the court “lacked jurisdiction” to hear the case. It concluded that “the judge was wrong to have issued the declaratory orders and injunctions against the Appellant (EFCC) which amount to prohibiting the EFCC from carrying out its statutory functions and setting aside its report when in fact the report was not even placed before him.” Five years after, the EFCC’s appeal is still at the Appeal Court of Nigeria in the Port Harcourt judicial division waiting for the lower court’s verdict to be vacated.
Meanwhile, Mr. Odili also went to the same court and on January 27, 2011 won a ruling that he should be joined as an interested party in the substantial case. However, no date has been set for the hearing. Sources close to Saharareporters said that the administrations of former President Umaru Yar’Adua and incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan have had no interest in seeing Mr. Odili tried. “Both President Yar’Adua and now President Jonathan subtly encouraged the no-action status quo,” a legal source in Abuja said.
In fact, while Mr. Odili’s charges had been prepared and awaiting filing at the Federal High court, President Jonathan nominated his wife, Mary Odili, to the Supreme Court in May 2011. Several sources told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Odili played a key role in the plot to scuttle the wide-ranging indictment against her husband. After governing the oil-rich Rivers State from 1999 to 2007, Mr. Odili ran for president in 2007. But he was forced to withdraw when some interests within his party confronted him with the numerous allegations of embezzlement of government funds during his governorship.
In his autobiography, Conscience and History, published last year, Mr. Odili acknowledged that he negotiated the charges against him with then President Olusegun Obasanjo. Mr. Odili offered to drop his presidential bid in exchange for a sort of soft landing that initially included being offered the Vice-Presidential slot. That slot was later given to Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. Former Governor Odili is one of the nine governors whose corruption cases are in perpetual limbo in the courts. Others are James Ibori of Delta State, currently serving jail time in London for corruption, Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State, Joshua Dariye of Plateau State, Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia state, Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State, Saminu Turaki of Jigawa State, Boni Haruna of Adamawa State, and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State.
In spite of the swirl of corruption around Mr. Odili, he had no difficulty persuading Lincoln University, one of America’s most prestigious historically Black colleges, to accept donations from him, a fact noted by Human Rights Watch. By the end of 2006, Mr. Odili had become one of the school’s largest donors, with at least $1.64 million in donations. During that year, the university bestowed a controversial honorary degree on Mr. Odili. Lincoln held a luncheon in his honor, and named a building after him, actions that drew outrage from Nigerian groups as well as Human Rights Watch.
Political sources in Abuja said that several factors have helped Mr. Odili evade prosecution so far. One factor is his wife, whose position as a justice of the Supreme Court makes her an insider who is able to ensure that her husband will not face a no-nonsense judge. Another factor is that Mr. Odili was very close to former President Obasanjo, and was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Mr. Obasanjo’s failed plan to change the Nigerian constitution in order to continue as president.
Besides, since the end of his tenure as governor, Mr. Odili has moved to Abuja where he maintains a quiet profile, making as little political noise as possible. After years of feuding with his successor, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Mr. Odili and the Rivers State governor had a kind of reconciliation in 2011, just as Mrs. Odili was elevated to Nigeria’s apex court. In a country where political considerations are often paramount, Mr. Odili has ensured that he is not perceived as a political threat to President Jonathan and other powerful political interests while his businesses which are proceeds of corruption booms.
Last edited by BLUEJuice; 27th Feb 2013 at 17:21.
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@ BLUE JUICE
I weep at the state of corruption in Nigeria
It is even at the highest levels of government
Nigerian's are living with no food, housing or clothing
Nigeria's healthcare system and basic infrastructures such as electricity is in a state of paralysis yet some MEN are sitting on the riches of a nation.
To each man his own as that last day is coming when all shall stand before the throne and give account of his/her life.........All i can say is WE NEED CHANGE.
It is even at the highest levels of government
Nigerian's are living with no food, housing or clothing
Nigeria's healthcare system and basic infrastructures such as electricity is in a state of paralysis yet some MEN are sitting on the riches of a nation.
To each man his own as that last day is coming when all shall stand before the throne and give account of his/her life.........All i can say is WE NEED CHANGE.
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Another News Article Pertaining to ARIK AIR
Arik, AIT, Other Beneficiaries Of Odili’s ‘Stolen’ N100bn Keep Mum-PREMIUMTIMES
Posted: February 27, 2013 - 16:48
Posted by siteadmin
caption: Peter Odili , Mary Odili and several Nigerian judges
By Nicholas Ibekwe
The alleged beneficiaries will not refute or confirm if they accepted Odili’s ‘stolen’ funds.
All the parties involved or mentioned in the N100 billion allegedly stolen from the treasury of Rivers State by former governor, Peter Odili, as reported by citizen journalism outfit, Sahara Reporters, last Sunday, declined to comment on the alleged scam when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES.
Last Sunday, the New York based organisation, reported that it has obtained draft charges that were never presented in court and prepared by activist lawyer, Festus Keyamo, for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, during the tenure of Farida Waziri as the commission’ chairman.
The charges showed how Mr. Odili, using 24 other prominent government officials, media owners, and businessmen, carried out the widespread plundering of the state’s treasury.
Mr. Keyamo, who still represents the EFCC in several other corruption cases, did not deny that the charges existed or whether he did prepare them for the commission. He, however, declined to comment.
“I have no comment about it. You can find out from Lamorde (EFCC Chairman),” said Mr. Keyamo in a telephone chat with PREMIUM TIMES.
Just like Mr. Keyamo, the EFCC was also non-committal on the charges, neither confirming nor denying its authenticity.
The commission’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said he cannot comment on the charge as the said charge was written during the tenure of Mrs. Waziri, immediate past chairman of the commission. When pressed for more details, Mr. Uwujaren referred us to Mr. Keyamo.
Arik, largest recipient keeps mum
The document shows that between January 2004 and December 2006, the Arik Air boss, Arumemi-Ikhide, received over N60 billion from the River State’s account, making the airline boss the largest beneficiary of the fraudulent sum.
Sources say Mr. Odili used the money to buy into Arik Air although he is not listed as one of the owners of the airline.
When PREMIUM TIMES asked Arik if it indeed received the money from the politician and what it was meant for, the airline’s spokesperson, Ola Adebanji, declined to comment.
Daar Communications, others keep mum
Just like the originators of the charges, the alleged beneficiaries of the state funds would also not comment.
The managements of media house alleged to have benefitted from the lush fund refuse to speak about their alleged involvement in the fraud.
According to the charge sheet, between 2004 and 2007, Mr. Odili gave about N2 billion to Raymond Dokpesi, founder of Daar Communications PLC, owners of AIT and Raypower FM; over N300 million was given to Nduka Obaigbena, owner of Leaders and Company, publishers of ThisDay Newspapers; John Momoh, proprietor of Channels Television Ltd, allegedly collected N50 million; while over N100 million was given to Newswatch Communications Ltd.
Prominent editors, columnists and reporters were also alleged beneficiaries of Mr Odili’s stained fund.
Mr. Obaigbena did not answer his calls and refused to reply to text messages sent to his mobile phone. Channels Television’s Controller of News, Ambrose Okoh, told PREMIUM TIMES that he is not aware of any money given to his organisation. He immediately disconnected the call and refused to answer other calls made to his telephone number.
The Executive Director News of Daar Communications Plc, Imoni Amarere, would not respond to our enquiries on what the money the company got was meant for.
“I’m not Daar Communications spokesperson. Talk to the company’s public affair department,” he said in a telephone conversation. The email message sent to the public affairs department of the company as put on its website was not responded to.
Sources say the money Mr. Odili gave to Daar was what helped the company survive during its financial crisis during the Obasanjo administration. It is not clear if the company knew the money was actually state funds.
Senior PDP members also implicated
Saharareporters stated that the 220-count draft indictment revealed how Mr. Odili and 24 others, including former People’s Democratic Party, PDP, national chairmen, Ahmadu Ali and Barnabas Gemade; former Minister of Aviation, Babalola Borisade; retired army general, Ike Nwachukwu, partook in misappropriating the funds. Others allegedly included are: Pauline Tallen, Olufemi Agagu, and a professor, Ukandi Damanchi.
The name of businesses included in the charge sheet are Courage Communications Ltd, Attn Ltd, Ragolis Water Ltd, M/S Wetland Health Services Ltd, Transky Ltd, Foby Eng. Ltd, First Medical/Sterile Company Ltd, Habila Resources Ltd, Rockson Engineering Co. Ltd, Ojemai Farms Ltd, Ojemai Investments Ltd, and Godsonic Oil Company Ltd, an oil company owned by Peter Odili which also has business interests in the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Zone (JDZ) Block 4.
Mr. Odili also wasted state funds on party officials. Mr. Ali, Mrs. Agagu, Mr. Gemade and Mr. Nwachukwu allegedly got N20 million each.
Between September 2005 and 2006 over N4 billion was paid to Mr. Borisade in the guise that the money will be used for the renovation of the Port Harcourt Airport, according to the document.
The affidavit shows that on March 3 and March 10, 2006, Mr. Odili withdrew $2 million (N300 million) for personal use claiming the money was meant to sponsor senior government officials for an overseas trip. Towards the end of his tenure in office, Mr. Odili allegedly intensified his looting. On March 16, 2007, he withdrew another $2 million under the same guise of sponsoring state officials for a foreign trip. A month later, on April 20, he did another withdrawal of $2 million for the same purpose, On May 23, 2007, six days before his tenure expired, Mr. Odili withdrew another $1 million, the document stated.
Also Mr. Odili, through an aide, Emmanuel Nkatah, posted to the state’s liaison office in Abuja, allegedly withdrew over N4 billion from the state’s Zenith Bank account No. 6010916567.
Perpetual injunction
In 2007, Mr. Odili obtained a perpetual injunction shielding him from prosecution or investigation for corruption by anti-graft agencies. The injunction was granted by Justice Nyaure Buba of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt. Mr. Buba has now been transferred to Lagos.
After Nigerians and the international community condemned the EFCC’S non-prosecution of Mr. Odili, the commission picked up gusto in prosecuting the former governor for the various allegations, and appealed against the injunction.
Five years after the appeal was filed, the Court of Appeal is yet to sit to hear the suit. Mr. Odili’s wife, Mary, was a judge of the Court of Appeal until February 2011, when President Goodluck Jonathan approved her promotion to a justice of the Supreme Court.
Group reacts
The Chairman of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, Debo Adeniran, said Mr. Odili treated the state treasury like a personal purse while he was governor. He said state funds went to “private hands” and Mr. Odili “presided over the sharing.”
Mr. Adeniran said he is not surprised that some media houses were alleged to have received some of the money:
“Most of the media houses are compromised. Remember Odili and Ibori (convicted ex-governor of Delta State) are major shareholders in many media houses. They own the largest percentage of media houses today. It is easy for money bags to buy them (media houses) over,” he said.
Mr. Adeniran exonerated Mr. Keyamo from any blame saying as a consultant he can only do what his client (the EFCC) directs him to do.
Posted: February 27, 2013 - 16:48
Posted by siteadmin
caption: Peter Odili , Mary Odili and several Nigerian judgesBy Nicholas Ibekwe
The alleged beneficiaries will not refute or confirm if they accepted Odili’s ‘stolen’ funds.
All the parties involved or mentioned in the N100 billion allegedly stolen from the treasury of Rivers State by former governor, Peter Odili, as reported by citizen journalism outfit, Sahara Reporters, last Sunday, declined to comment on the alleged scam when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES.
Last Sunday, the New York based organisation, reported that it has obtained draft charges that were never presented in court and prepared by activist lawyer, Festus Keyamo, for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, during the tenure of Farida Waziri as the commission’ chairman.
The charges showed how Mr. Odili, using 24 other prominent government officials, media owners, and businessmen, carried out the widespread plundering of the state’s treasury.
Mr. Keyamo, who still represents the EFCC in several other corruption cases, did not deny that the charges existed or whether he did prepare them for the commission. He, however, declined to comment.
“I have no comment about it. You can find out from Lamorde (EFCC Chairman),” said Mr. Keyamo in a telephone chat with PREMIUM TIMES.
Just like Mr. Keyamo, the EFCC was also non-committal on the charges, neither confirming nor denying its authenticity.
The commission’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said he cannot comment on the charge as the said charge was written during the tenure of Mrs. Waziri, immediate past chairman of the commission. When pressed for more details, Mr. Uwujaren referred us to Mr. Keyamo.
Arik, largest recipient keeps mum
The document shows that between January 2004 and December 2006, the Arik Air boss, Arumemi-Ikhide, received over N60 billion from the River State’s account, making the airline boss the largest beneficiary of the fraudulent sum.
Sources say Mr. Odili used the money to buy into Arik Air although he is not listed as one of the owners of the airline.
When PREMIUM TIMES asked Arik if it indeed received the money from the politician and what it was meant for, the airline’s spokesperson, Ola Adebanji, declined to comment.
Daar Communications, others keep mum
Just like the originators of the charges, the alleged beneficiaries of the state funds would also not comment.
The managements of media house alleged to have benefitted from the lush fund refuse to speak about their alleged involvement in the fraud.
According to the charge sheet, between 2004 and 2007, Mr. Odili gave about N2 billion to Raymond Dokpesi, founder of Daar Communications PLC, owners of AIT and Raypower FM; over N300 million was given to Nduka Obaigbena, owner of Leaders and Company, publishers of ThisDay Newspapers; John Momoh, proprietor of Channels Television Ltd, allegedly collected N50 million; while over N100 million was given to Newswatch Communications Ltd.
Prominent editors, columnists and reporters were also alleged beneficiaries of Mr Odili’s stained fund.
Mr. Obaigbena did not answer his calls and refused to reply to text messages sent to his mobile phone. Channels Television’s Controller of News, Ambrose Okoh, told PREMIUM TIMES that he is not aware of any money given to his organisation. He immediately disconnected the call and refused to answer other calls made to his telephone number.
The Executive Director News of Daar Communications Plc, Imoni Amarere, would not respond to our enquiries on what the money the company got was meant for.
“I’m not Daar Communications spokesperson. Talk to the company’s public affair department,” he said in a telephone conversation. The email message sent to the public affairs department of the company as put on its website was not responded to.
Sources say the money Mr. Odili gave to Daar was what helped the company survive during its financial crisis during the Obasanjo administration. It is not clear if the company knew the money was actually state funds.
Senior PDP members also implicated
Saharareporters stated that the 220-count draft indictment revealed how Mr. Odili and 24 others, including former People’s Democratic Party, PDP, national chairmen, Ahmadu Ali and Barnabas Gemade; former Minister of Aviation, Babalola Borisade; retired army general, Ike Nwachukwu, partook in misappropriating the funds. Others allegedly included are: Pauline Tallen, Olufemi Agagu, and a professor, Ukandi Damanchi.
The name of businesses included in the charge sheet are Courage Communications Ltd, Attn Ltd, Ragolis Water Ltd, M/S Wetland Health Services Ltd, Transky Ltd, Foby Eng. Ltd, First Medical/Sterile Company Ltd, Habila Resources Ltd, Rockson Engineering Co. Ltd, Ojemai Farms Ltd, Ojemai Investments Ltd, and Godsonic Oil Company Ltd, an oil company owned by Peter Odili which also has business interests in the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Zone (JDZ) Block 4.
Mr. Odili also wasted state funds on party officials. Mr. Ali, Mrs. Agagu, Mr. Gemade and Mr. Nwachukwu allegedly got N20 million each.
Between September 2005 and 2006 over N4 billion was paid to Mr. Borisade in the guise that the money will be used for the renovation of the Port Harcourt Airport, according to the document.
The affidavit shows that on March 3 and March 10, 2006, Mr. Odili withdrew $2 million (N300 million) for personal use claiming the money was meant to sponsor senior government officials for an overseas trip. Towards the end of his tenure in office, Mr. Odili allegedly intensified his looting. On March 16, 2007, he withdrew another $2 million under the same guise of sponsoring state officials for a foreign trip. A month later, on April 20, he did another withdrawal of $2 million for the same purpose, On May 23, 2007, six days before his tenure expired, Mr. Odili withdrew another $1 million, the document stated.
Also Mr. Odili, through an aide, Emmanuel Nkatah, posted to the state’s liaison office in Abuja, allegedly withdrew over N4 billion from the state’s Zenith Bank account No. 6010916567.
Perpetual injunction
In 2007, Mr. Odili obtained a perpetual injunction shielding him from prosecution or investigation for corruption by anti-graft agencies. The injunction was granted by Justice Nyaure Buba of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt. Mr. Buba has now been transferred to Lagos.
After Nigerians and the international community condemned the EFCC’S non-prosecution of Mr. Odili, the commission picked up gusto in prosecuting the former governor for the various allegations, and appealed against the injunction.
Five years after the appeal was filed, the Court of Appeal is yet to sit to hear the suit. Mr. Odili’s wife, Mary, was a judge of the Court of Appeal until February 2011, when President Goodluck Jonathan approved her promotion to a justice of the Supreme Court.
Group reacts
The Chairman of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, Debo Adeniran, said Mr. Odili treated the state treasury like a personal purse while he was governor. He said state funds went to “private hands” and Mr. Odili “presided over the sharing.”
Mr. Adeniran said he is not surprised that some media houses were alleged to have received some of the money:
“Most of the media houses are compromised. Remember Odili and Ibori (convicted ex-governor of Delta State) are major shareholders in many media houses. They own the largest percentage of media houses today. It is easy for money bags to buy them (media houses) over,” he said.
Mr. Adeniran exonerated Mr. Keyamo from any blame saying as a consultant he can only do what his client (the EFCC) directs him to do.
Last edited by BLUEJuice; 27th Feb 2013 at 17:26.
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Unfortunately this has been public knowledge for quite some time...however it's more informative to see the breakdown of all parties involved. Only the few will ever see these types of articles as most media houses as stated lie in waiting for handouts. Just in the last paraphrases it states that the president has approved of Odili's wife to now sit as a Supreme Court Justice? Is there hope of recompense in that at all?
Last edited by BLUEJuice; 27th Feb 2013 at 17:28.
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14th January 2017:
Pilots and cabin crew members still waiting salaries for August/September/October/November and December 2016...
Come and join us, Arik is looking for you!
Pilots and cabin crew members still waiting salaries for August/September/October/November and December 2016...
Come and join us, Arik is looking for you!
Last edited by Masteroftheplane; 14th Jan 2017 at 16:39. Reason: Error
Nigerian In Law
BLUEJuice,
Odili's involvement was strongly suspected when Arik was established. When OBJ went to Port Harcourt to officially open the new power station which was actually an empty warehouse in Trans Amadi his place in the annals of Nigeria's long and tragic history of corruption was assured.
Odili's involvement was strongly suspected when Arik was established. When OBJ went to Port Harcourt to officially open the new power station which was actually an empty warehouse in Trans Amadi his place in the annals of Nigeria's long and tragic history of corruption was assured.
