In a very clever and systematic way
of recovering outrageous looted billion of dollar from Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation, President Muhammadu Buhari may have have parleyed the
indicted former minister of petroleum, Mrs. Alison Diezani Madueke, Sahara
Reporter’s report indicates.
According to SH, President Muhammadu
Buhari has resorted to unusual strategies for recovering some of the funds
stolen from Nigeria’s treasury through a series of shady deals between former
Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and a group of indigenous oil
companies and oil marketers she and former President Goodluck Jonathan favored.
An investigation by SaharaReporters
discovered that President Buhari’s administration has begun the difficult and
complex process of retrieving some of the missing petro-billions. One approach
so far adopted by the new president is aimed at addressing the fuel scarcity
that has harmed the Nigerian economy and threatens to paralyze the country’s
economic activities, according to highly placed officials in the government.
But one exception involves Mr.
Omokore whose Atlantic Atlantic Energy Oil Company was involved in the
controversial concession of oil wells. A source at the Presidency told
SaharaReporters that Mr. Omokore had volunteered to return $500 million to the
Federal Government. However, the source added that President Buhari nixed the
deal based on information that Mr. Omokore, believed to be a front for Mr.
Jonathan and Mrs. Alison-Madueke, is in possession of $4.5 billion of funds
that should have been deposited in the federation account.
The sources told SaharaReporters
that the government’s immediate strategy involved targeting oil marketers and
companies “caught red-handed in stealing huge sums of oil subsidies and oil
revenues.” The government has pressured these companies and their owners to
agree to repay the stolen monies traced to them by immediately importing more
fuel into Nigeria.
The sources said the Buhari government has recorded significant early success in getting some oil marketers and their companies to accept the fuel-for-funds deals. “A number of them have agreed to import massive levels of fuel in lieu of the funds they received in shady transactions during the Jonathan administration,” one Presidency source claimed.
The sources said the Buhari government has recorded significant early success in getting some oil marketers and their companies to accept the fuel-for-funds deals. “A number of them have agreed to import massive levels of fuel in lieu of the funds they received in shady transactions during the Jonathan administration,” one Presidency source claimed.
Another source revealed that the
administration had started out by putting pressure on former Petroleum
Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. She was reportedly quick to deny
responsibility for the illicit deals with the oil marketers. Instead, she
squealed on her subordinates in the NNPC, accusing them of structuring and
doctoring the deals that robbed Nigeria of billions of dollars.
“The (Buhari) government got her to write a formal account of her allegations against some NNPC officials and oil companies. What she put down gave a picture of how some of the funds went missing. The document was then forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the form of a petition,” one source said.
“The (Buhari) government got her to write a formal account of her allegations against some NNPC officials and oil companies. What she put down gave a picture of how some of the funds went missing. The document was then forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the form of a petition,” one source said.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s “petition”
reportedly named all the persons involved in the massive fraud in the oil
sector, including some past and serving officials of the NNPC. Our sources said
those she implicated in the NNPC include the current General Managing Director
(GMD), Haruna Momoh, a former GMD, Austen Oniwon, Reginald Stanley and Sam
Okeke, a former Group General Manager, New Business Division of the NNPC. An
EFCC source said that a crack team of investigators was currently working on
the former minister’s petition. He said the document had revealed new facts
previously unknown by EFCC agents and Nigeria’s intelligence officials at
Department of State Services (DSS). Among the scams disclosed by the former
minister is information that at least four companies involved in an oil swap
deal had not accounted for huge sums that should have been remitted to the account
of the Nigerian government.
Among the companies implicated in
her “petition,” Transfigura was reportedly unable to account for $80 million,
Televeras $111million, while Aiteo apparently gulped down $150 million. Other
oil firms named in the defrauding of the Nigerian people are Ontario, which
failed to account for $135 million, and Sahara Energy, accused of skipping the
payment of $120 million to the government.
Our EFCC source revealed that two companies, Transfigura and Sahara Energy, had made some gesture towards paying back some missing funds. However, a source at the Presidency told our correspondent that “so far the reconciliation has involved just paperwork and has not scratched the heart of the scam.” Investigators described Aiteo and Ontario as particularly problematic because they have completely cooked their records. An investigator also disclosed that the two companies are most directly linked to Mrs. Alison-Madueke and former President Jonathan. Both Ms. Alison-Madueke and Mr. Jonathan are currently in the UK, with the former Petroleum Minister reportedly undergoing a weeklong cancer therapy. Some of the companies have agreed in principle to return the funds by bartering imported fuel for the funds they acquired illegally.
Our EFCC source revealed that two companies, Transfigura and Sahara Energy, had made some gesture towards paying back some missing funds. However, a source at the Presidency told our correspondent that “so far the reconciliation has involved just paperwork and has not scratched the heart of the scam.” Investigators described Aiteo and Ontario as particularly problematic because they have completely cooked their records. An investigator also disclosed that the two companies are most directly linked to Mrs. Alison-Madueke and former President Jonathan. Both Ms. Alison-Madueke and Mr. Jonathan are currently in the UK, with the former Petroleum Minister reportedly undergoing a weeklong cancer therapy. Some of the companies have agreed in principle to return the funds by bartering imported fuel for the funds they acquired illegally.
Our sources disclosed that other
downstream companies caught in the storm of missing and stolen funds include
Forte Oil, owned by businessman Femi Otedola, Folawiyo Energy, and, Oando,
owned by Wale Tinubu and Honeywell Oil Company owned by Oba Otudeko.
Officials of the Buhari
administration declined to give official confirmation of the stolen assets
recovery process relating to other officials of the Jonathan Presidency.
0 comments:
Post a Comment