Nigeria ex-president's daughter charged with graft
Tue 8 Apr 2008, 16:45 GMT
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL08848853.html

ABUJA, April 8 (Reuters) - A daughter of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and two former health ministers were charged in court on Tuesday with embezzling around 470 million naira ($4 million) of public health funds.

President Umaru Yar'Adua, who took over from Obasanjo in May after winning a turbulent election, has pledged a campaign of "zero tolerance" against graft in Africa's top oil exporter, which is rated among the world's most corrupt states.

With a parliamentary commission probing allegations that billions of dollars were squandered on shady unfinished power projects during Obasanjo's rule, calls have increased for the former president to be called to testify in the enquiry.

The charges brought by prosecutors at the High Court in the capital Abuja against his daughter, Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, who chairs the Senate health committee, were the first to be made against a member of Obasanjo's family since he stepped down.

The two ex-ministers charged, Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku, were forced to resign last month after the scandal over misuse of Health Ministry funds emerged in February. They had been serving as the minister and minister of state for health and were the first cabinet casualties of the new administration.

The former ministers and nine top health officials pleaded not guilty in court to the 54-count charges levelled against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which says a total of 471 million naira was embezzled.

Obasanjo-Bello, who was not present in court, was accused of illicitly receiving 10 million naira of the money.

In comments to Nigerian media, she has denied wrongdoing, saying she collected the money to pay for the travel expenses of the Senate health committee members for a visit to Ghana.

The judge ordered the other 11 accused to be remanded in EFCC custody. He adjourned their case until Friday when he would hear applications for bail and set April 29 as the trial date.

YEAR-END SPENDING SPREE

Nigerian media reported in February the EFCC had questioned the ex-ministers and senior officials for allegedly spending several hundred million naira of the ministry's 2007 budget on dubious contracts and Christmas gifts before the year-end.

This spending contravened a direct order from Yar'Adua for all government agencies to return unspent monies from the 2007 budget to the federal treasury in a new anti-graft drive.

Under the previous administration, government officials had often embarked on end-year spending sprees to exhaust all budgeted funds, with large amounts of money being shared out by top government officials as bonuses.

Yar'Adua, who has already acquired a reputation as a cautious and low-key ruler, has come under domestic and international pressure to crack down hard on corruption.

Foreign investors and donors are closely watching Nigeria's efforts to improve management of public funds and oil profits.

Yar'Adua has said he will protect nobody and would let the EFCC go after anyone found to be corrupt.

The anti-corruption body has charged eight out of the 36 state governors from the previous administration, including two of Yar'Adua's main financiers during last year's election campaigning. The prosecutions went ahead after the targeted governors' tenures ended in May and they lost their immunity.

Some anti-graft campaigners fear the trials will drag on for years since the cases have hardly made any progress over the past few months and the ex-governors have been freed on bail. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Writing by Tume Ahemba; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Mary Gabriel)

I have stopped wasting my time with all this charges. At the end, all you get is they are asked to pay a fine or it finally dies into the history of unresolved charges.


Total waste of time.

Mr. Pataki:

I have stopped wasting my time with all this charges. At the end, all you get is they are asked to pay a fine or it finally dies into the history of unresolved charges.


Total waste of time.

Whatever happened to former Mrs Speaker and her almost N640m embezzlement. Died a natural death, and all the money too.

The anti-corruption body has charged eight out of the 36 state governors from the previous administration, including two of Yar'Adua's main financiers during last year's election campaigning

huh, this would have been big news in the US

why did OBJ and wife name their daughter Iyabo of all names
That name is so
why didn't they pick a trendier name like Omolara,Toyin or Tosin,even Seun and tokunbo sef are better.
Iyabo 
Tufiakwa!

_{apology to the Iyabos on nairaland,that name dey me one kain}

@Nwando
I beg wetin Iyabo mean? Some spoilt rotten brat, able to chop money?

naijaking1:

@Nwando
I beg wetin Iyabo mean? Some spoilt rotten brat, able to chop money?

honestly I have no clue what Iyabo means just that if I had married a Yoruba man that is one name we will not be naming our daughter!

I actually agree with you osisi

It's a horrible name. Make syou feel very old. Most people hardly use it now though as Iyabo and Yetunde means the same thing and Yetuinde is a way better name. Both rerfer to the "coming back of a mother".

I have a good friend by the name, her middle name is also Adoeoti so she just asks people to call her Ade lol instead of Iyabo.

And this Iyabo lady was just elected Senator last year ! What a shame !!

What a nation we have, another sad news to make a man wanna puke and make a man wanna have a running stomach.
Nigeria i hail thee

Hi all,
Please, please, let's not trivialise this important topic. The matter at stake is that she has finally been declared wanted by the EFCC, and she'll be picked up and arraigned the moment she steps foot on Nigerian soil again after she returns from Cuba. Methinks it's a good sign, whether she's named Iyabo, Iyabe, Yetunde, or even Angel. Issue is that if she had done Nigeria proud like the Ngozi Iweala's and the Dora Akunyili's, many would have loved to name their lovely kids Iyabo!

Now for the big catch: baba himself still has to appear and answer for his deeds.

I cant blv that someone could even talk about the legacy of OBJ, I have asked and i am still asking, and no one could tell me what obj's legacy has been, apart from all te money stolen and his stupid handover, i am still yet to see anything achieved by his administration.
The guy should be made to answer all the questions as to how he spent all the money meant for taking nigerians out of the darkness.

Iyabo arraignment in court not a breaking news to me. Na Baba Iyabo arraignment and sending to prison for looting go be breaking news to me because he always feel say he is Mr white and above the law.

More on this from Vanguard


N300m scam: Grange, Aduku, 11 others charged E-mail
Written by Ise-Oluwa Ige
Wednesday, 09 April 2008

*Remanded in EFCC custody till April 11

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arraigned former Health Minister, Prof Adenike Grange; former Minister of State for Health, Gabriel Yakubu Aduku, an architect; and 11 others on a 56-count charge of graft involving about N300 million.

But the name of the daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Iyabo, which was mentioned as having partaken in the graft, was missing on the list of the accused persons charged to court yesterday.

The EFCC told the court that Iyabo was currently at large and could not be arrested for prosecution but would be arrested and brought to justice once found.

Iyabo, according to count 56 of the charges between December 2007 and March 2008 in Abuja while serving as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health, dishonestly received the sum of N10 million belonging to the Federal Government having reason to believe that same was stolen. Her action is said to have constituted an offence punishable under Section 317 of the Penal Code Act Cap 352, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) Abuja.

Other accused persons arraigned by the anti-graft agency were the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, Prof. Simon Ogamdi; Director of Administration, Dr. H.B. Oyedepo; and Director of Finance, Hanafi The Great Prophet.

Also arraigned were another Director, Mr. M. S. Hamid; a Chief Accountant, Abdulrahaman Ambali; a Principal Administrative Officer, Mr. Donald Ekanem; and a Principal Transport Officer, Mr. Donatus Iyang.

The rest were Olomo J A, Obanla Emmanuel Olatunbosun, Henry Onyeagwalam and Edem Augustine Bassey.

Of the 56-count charge, Prof Grange’s name appeared in 15. Adiku’s name also appeared in 15 counts while the name of the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, Prof Ogamdi featured in 40.

The EFCC said it had an iron cast case against them.
Mr James Binang, the lead prosecution counsel, told Vanguard that the commission had lined up 17 witnesses to testify against the accused persons.

Read More:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6389&Itemid=0

Although it has been shown and stated over and over that Prof Grange did not receive a single kobo of the loot, I
still don't understand why she signed off on the contracts sent to her by the permanent secretary despite a presidential
directive that all unspent monies by federal ministries should be refunded back to the treasury.

Her approval despite the presidential order is what I really have a problem with.

The permanent secretary and other top civil servants in the health ministry are simply crooks. We just have to wait and see if these
people will eventually go to prison or not.

Mr. Pataki:

I have stopped wasting my time with all this charges. At the end, all you get is they are asked to pay a fine or it finally dies into the history of unresolved charges.


Total waste of time.

Pataki, I understand your stand given our past history regarding "fighting corruption", but it appears Yar 'Adua
really means business. Even Iyabo, a seating senator that many regard as an "untouchable", has been charged
to court. I think this is really unprecedented.

Pataki, I understand your stand given our past history regarding "fighting corruption", but it appears Yar 'Adua
really means business. Even Iyabo, a seating senator that many regard as an "untouchable", has been charged
to court. I think this is really unprecedented.

I like the way Iyabo was chjarged but i suspect a little tribalism in these arrests because it seems that Yaradua is only concentrating on westerners.

Again, the speed at which they arrest and arraign erring women in the Nigerian govt makes me wonder whether men that commited the same crime are treated the same way.

$$Rhino:

I can't blv that someone could even talk about the legacy of OBJ, I have asked and i am still asking, and no one could tell me what obj's legacy has been, apart from all te money stolen and his stupid handover, i am still yet to see anything achieved by his administration.
The guy should be made to answer all the questions as to how he spent all the money meant for taking nigerians out of the darkness.

Haba, why do some Nigerians talk like this. Obasanjo may have done some wrong, but I don't think we've to condemn his adminstration completely. At least, he intiated the EFCC that his unfortunate daugther got nabbed in.
When we will have a leader we'll appreciate?His war against corruption was known all over.

Hello all,

The 419 thing has finally been publicized by the most popular black woman in the world. Oprah winfrey on her show with Brian Ross of ABC news in her show and said all Nigerians are fraud stars. The topic of the show was "Internet scams by Nigerians"
At the moment in the world today Nigerians are at great disadvantage. In Australia they do not allow wire transfers to Nigerians. In the US Daily Times and New York Times they always warn American citizens about having to do anything with Nigerians.
Several times on ABC news, they have focused as a topic on their 2020 investigations on Nigerian scams. Infact they have come to lagos before to arrest yahoo boys in cafes! Straight from New York. If you need the link on the youtube video let me know i will send it.
There are a lot of issues and this is spreading like a cancer. Comments please on this this thread.
Here is a link http://www.news24.com/News24/Entertainment/Celebrities/0,,2-1225-2108_2186033,00.html
Check out the comments on Oprah's statement from people from all over the world.
I don't support what oprah has said. But Yahoo boys and our corrupt leaders have messed all your good buisiness and creative minded Nigerians up.
You need real hard work to get to the top!

I am a forex trader and when i was going into the business some 9 months ago, i was told that using robot will do all that is needed in forex trading, but up till today all the forex robot being sold that i have bought none seems to have performed that magic as was actually widely advertised, i don't know if there is anyone that has a better suggestion to this. FOREX ROBOT!!! DO THEY WORK?

Did this Iyabo commit the embezzlement after Ribadu? If not
Ribadu himself should be arrested immediately.

Ozzigi you need to shut the phuck up about robots, since one is evidently poking you in the butt and thus disabling your already limited cognitive abilities.

My money is on Iyabo parking her 300-kilogram buttocks in Cuba or wherever she flees to after that, while she hurriedly sends payment instructions to credit the bank accounts of all the Nigerian law enforcement officials she can think of in the hopes of getting this criminal indictment quashed or placed on the back burner till it all goes cold.

If Nigeria's current laws stipulate the penalty for armed robbery in Nigeria to be public execution by rifle fire, then a far more gruesome and savage fate ought to be prescribed for big-time industrial scale embezzlers like Iyabo and Segun Obasanjo BECAUSE their diversion of money intended for the generation of electricity in Nigeria ultimately claims more victims than all the country's armed robbers combined, even if those gangs were to embark on a renewed rampage of mass murder that lasted for the next few decades.

An accurate count will never be collated to quantify the number of people who lost their lives in Nigerian hospitals as a direct result of sudden power blackouts, and neither will a tally ever be compiled on the the number of Nigerians who got barbecued in adulterated fuel explosions that took place as diesel and gasoline generators were being fueled up to create electricity that SHOULD have been provided by the state.  Similarly there is no way to know how many people died at the hands of criminals who chose violent crime as a livelihood because the state failed to provide electricity that is the core requirement of ALL industry which SHOULD have kept most of the country's work-force employed.

My suggestion to end this charade and set an example for all future embezzlers-to-be who find their paws in Nigeria's state treasury :    Track down that fat phuck Iyabo with the help of Interpol, then deport her foul ass back to Nigeria for a quick trail followed by public disembowelment with the assistance of a pack of semi-trained and adequately starved hyenas.   Naturally her dad should be forced to watch the extermination before being ushered into the cage to accept his own just reward for looting 16 billion DOLLARS earmarked for the resuscitation of Nigeria's long-dead power grid.

Kill them ALL and let God and the devil cooperate to sort out the saints from the sinners in hell.

Frizy:

Haba, why do some Nigerians talk like this. Obasanjo may have done some wrong, but I don't think we've to condemn his adminstration completely. At least, he intiated the EFCC that his unfortunate daugther got nabbed in.
When we will have a leader we'll appreciate?His war against corruption was known all over.

The war he was fighting while helping himself to the till? He was nearly bankrupt at the time he came out of prison in 1998 to contest and his campaign was bankrolled by those who have become his chief enemies in the pursuit of power. Now he is a mega billionaire receiving honours even from churches while we remain mega paupers in darkness. Na so them dey fight corruption
How will you describe a basket of 10 oranges with only one that is good in the whole lot?
Is it a basket of good oranges or bad oranges?

cgem:

I don't support what oprah has said. But Yahoo boys and our corrupt leaders have messed all your good buisiness and creative minded Nigerians up.
You need real hard work to get to the top!

Beyond your hard work we need to be concerned about the values we honour and respect in our society. If our majority continues to seek connections with those who are stealing us into darkness, poverty and misery so we can get our share of the national cake in one way or another then our individual success through hard work will be dimmed out by the reputation of our fellow citizens and country.
Would you buy vegetables, no matter how fresh looking they are, once you know they were grown on a refuse dump?
If we continue to shrug off stories like the one in this link:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-125856.0.html

then we should expect our nation to continue groping in physical and spiritual darkness for a long time to come still.

Needlelady:

I like the way Iyabo was chjarged but i suspect a little tribalism in these arrests because it seems that Yaradua is only concentrating on westerners.

Again, the speed at which they arrest and arraign erring women in the Nigerian govt makes me wonder whether men that commited the same crime are treated the same way.

I think you should read your post again and check the facts of the case.
12 people are arraigned. the junior minister's name does not sound yoruba and he definitely is not a woman. I am sure there are many more among the 12 who are non-south westerners and also male.
In any case, they should not have made the job of those targeting them, if that is the agenda, easy by stealing OUR money while people die in hospitals that have become consulting clinics.

who is talking about obasanjo's legacy,what legacy,do you know the meaning of legacy,do you really understand the implication of legacy,do you know what nigeria must have liked like if obasanjo has legacy.ooh i dont know what to say,u see,obasanjo 8years rule shattered the whole nation,it was more or less like a military regime,he chooses court orders to obey and the ones not to obey,he is the father of all acient and modern corruption,obasanjo is a disgrace to human hood,an old man who is supposed to go and relax is still looking for power,who does he want to rule.when you talk about legacy,you talk about the likes of MARTHIN LUTHER KING JNR(USA),MAHATMA GHANDI(INDIA),NELSON MANDELA(SOUTH AFRICA),TONY BLAIRE(UK) and possibly y'aradua.

Obasanjo's chickens are coming home to roost (pun intended, )

Jakumo, ur post made my day, the hyenas are gathering oh!.

presido,abeg ask obj and im daughter wetin dem dey carry our money do for this country abi dem 4get say dem go die.gbam.

Jakumo:

Ozzigi you need to shut the phuck up about robots, since one is evidently poking you in the butt and thus disabling your already limited cognitive abilities.

My money is on Iyabo parking her 300-kilogram buttocks in Cuba or wherever she flees to after that, while she hurriedly sends payment instructions to credit the bank accounts of all the Nigerian law enforcement officials she can think of in the hopes of getting this criminal indictment quashed or placed on the back burner till it all goes cold.

If Nigeria's current laws stipulate the penalty for armed robbery in Nigeria to be public execution by rifle fire, then a far more gruesome and savage fate ought to be prescribed for big-time industrial scale embezzlers like Iyabo and Segun Obasanjo BECAUSE their diversion of money intended for the generation of electricity in Nigeria ultimately claims more victims than all the country's armed robbers combined, even if those gangs were to embark on a renewed rampage of mass murder that lasted for the next few decades.

An accurate count will never be collated to quantify the number of people who lost their lives in Nigerian hospitals as a direct result of sudden power blackouts, and neither will a tally ever be compiled on the the number of Nigerians who got barbecued in adulterated fuel exposions that took place as diesel and gasoline generators were being fueled up to create electricity that SHOULD have been provided by the state. Similarly there is no way to know how many people died at the hands of criminals who chose violent crime as a livehood because the state failed to provide electricity that is the core requirement of ALL industry which SHOULD have kept most of the country's work-force employed.

My suggestion to end this charade and set an example for all future embezzlers-to-be who find their paws in Nigeria's state treasury. Track down that fat phuck Iyabo with the help of Interpol, then deport her foul ass back to Nigeria for a quick trail followed by public disembowelment with the assistance of a pack of semi-trained and adequately starved hyenas. Naturally her dad should be forced to watch the extermination before being ushered into the cage for his own just reward for looting 16 billion DOLLARS earmarked for the resuscitation of Nigeria's long-dead power grid.

Kill them ALL and let God and the devil cooperate to sort out the saints from the sinners in hell.

Nice piece Jakumo, what I like is that EFCC says that they have an iron-clad case, which means irrefutable evidence. I hope they nail them real hard, especially Iyabo. They should all serve time with no option of a fine, if the existing laws allow the option of fines. If they do, it should be made law that fine options do not apply in cases of corruption and embezzlement.

Tonim:

Pataki, I understand your stand given our past history regarding "fighting corruption", but it appears Yar 'Adua
really means business. Even Iyabo, a seating senator that many regard as an "untouchable", has been charged
to court. I think this is really unprecedented.

Yar 'Adua himself has done the worst corruption by still remaining in power even when it is glaring that his election was based on fraud and acts of terrorism during the last polls conducted.

While I like the way, he is trying to handle the situation now, his election as the President of Nigeria is fraud and smells of the most irritating odor to any common sane man. If he wants to fight corruption, let him do so with a clean slate.

But nevertheless, Iyabo and the rests should be dealt with.

However, I am not going to waste my emotions and time to know the outcome of how this situation turns out to be.

Needlelady:

I like the way Iyabo was chjarged but i suspect a little tribalism in these arrests because it seems that Yaradua is only concentrating on westerners.

Again, the speed at which they arrest and arraign erring women in the Nigerian govt makes me wonder whether men that commited the same crime are treated the same way.

From tribalism to gender attacking. What exactly is the problem now? If women are not in power, you shout that women can do better than men. Now they are in the seat of power, every time it is one corruption or the other. The former finance minister did it, asking for her pay in foreign currency, a Nigerian for that matter. Etteh did the same thing. Now Iyabo is even doing worse than that. And it all boils to pecuniary reasons.

If our men are erring, I expect it is the women who should set us back in the right path. Unfortunately that does not seem to be happening at the moment in Nigeria.