Pages 15 ff of Tribune of Friday 29 November, 2002 "NZERIBE'S ASSETS WORTH GBP 925 MILLION [STERLING]" In the eighties, in furtherance of my ambition at that point in time to contest for the Governorship of Imo State, I published a booklet entitled "IMO MARSHAL PLAN CHARTER 90: HOW ARTHUR WILL GOVERN IMO STATE.":

That booklet was circulated to almost every family in the then Imo State which included the present Abia State. I know that most people relished and preserved that publication. At page 4 of the booklet, I published a resume of my family resources irrevocably available at my disposal I funding amongst other needs my personal political endeavours for life. An extract from that publication is hereby made available.
QUOTE

The NZERIBE TURST and the AGUNZE TRUST which were set up in 1979 with GBP175 million sterling and in 1983 with GBP200 million sterling respectively remain unarguably the clear source of my political funding. As at 1st March 1988, the Auditors, the Chartered Accountants, the appropriate government regulatory bodies, for tax purposes agreed that the Net Asset Value of the Agunze Trust was worth GBP 400 million sterling. (Four hundred million pounds sterling).

The Nzeribe Trust was GBP525 million (Five hundred and twenty five million pounds sterling) as clearly stated on page 7, Item No. 15 of the Charter document. Similarly, Obiora Monu & Co., Chartered Accountants based in Nigeria had put the Net Asset Value of the Nigerian Investments at N181,080,750.00 (One hundred and eighty million, eighty thousand, seven hundred and fifty naira) as also stated on page 7, item No. 17 as at 31st December, 1988.

The above facts were reflected in my sworn affidavit at the Lagos High Court dated 18th April, 1988 on page 8. On page 7, item No. 18, it was clearly summarized that the total Net Value of Nzeribe Family Trusts and the Agunze Trust Worldwide including other investments was in excess of N12, 206,080,750 (Twelve billon, two hundred and six million, eighty thousand, seven hundred and fifty naira) using an exchange range of N13.00 to GBP 1 sterling (One pound sterling) applicable at that time, and the current exchange rate of about N200.00 (Two Hundred Naira) to GBP 1 sterling has not been applied. I wish to state that no revaluation has been carried out since 1988. You may wish to imagine the present Net Asset value of the Trust investment worldwide.

The point I wish to make is that I was never and will never be for sale as my detractors are always anxious to portray. Probably, I have been at fault for not defending this plant of the cheap propaganda of my detractors. You cannot buy me. Indeed, like any other family member beneficiary, I also render account to the Trust's management who I have to apply for funds when needed. At the risk of sounding immodest during my sixtieth birthday event, I made a publication that I had by then invested over N10,000,000,000.00 (ten billion naira) in politics in Nigeria without deriving any financial reward directly from politics. This is the simple truth and I am yet to be contradicted. Also till date, the disclosures I made concerning the TRUSTS, the supporting affidavits and their Statements of Affairs and Certificate of Net Assets remain uncontradicted. These Certificates and Statements of Affair s were issued by professional and regulatory bodies both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. These are exhibited in the booklet.) In my political journey in Nigeria so far, I have been able to play a publicly acknowledged financial role in the defunct Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) etc. It is common knowledge that I was a financial pillar of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). I ran effortlessly the activities of the party in the entire Eastern States from funds made available from the Trusts. It was an irrefutable fact that I financed candidates nationwide both in the NRC and SDP at all levels of candidature including State Governorships. It was my political ingenuity and serious financial commitment that helped the cognomen "CARIA STATES" make the remarkable impact that the SDP made in all the Southern States. This represented the thrust of my financial commitment to that political party.

It is also evident that I was the sole financier of the unregistered political party, the National Democratic Party (NDP) which was adjudged one of the best 8 (eight) of about 18 (eighteen) associations that sought registration during the transition programme of the Babangida Administration.

In the recent past, I single-handedly handled financed the activities of the defunct Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), the pressure group that legitimately and constitutionally went to court under the due process of law and obtained the judgement restraining the conduct and eventually the non-release of the results of the presidential elections of that year [JUNE 12 ELECTION RESULTS] by the electoral commission. The association did not receive any iota of financial assistance from the Babangida Administration. There are living witnesses amongst the top echelons of that regime who should feel free to contradict my position. All the funds expended in realizing the objectives of the association were provided by me from the funds made available or provided by the TRUSTS at my own request. In the same vein are the activities of the defunct Union of Democratically Elected Representatives of Nigeria (UDERN) and the present MONAC.

Therefore, if I spent millions of naira of my own money to promote ABN and other such pressure groups which I believed in, why is it difficult to believe that I am spending my own millions of naira now to support Obasanjo by opposing an underserved impeachment intrigue? It is in the light of the above facts that I am amused by the uncharitable or unreasonable suspicion that in trying to make my political conceptions and projections a reality, it must surreptitiously be "to make money." I, however, agree that part of the burden of living in a corrupt society is to explain everything away in monetary terms. Certainly, that is not my style. In this context, it is on record that I had in the past been reported as criticizing Nigerian public officials for "stealing what they do not need." I am convinced that with the material resources at my disposal, provided by the TRUSTS. I can sustain my standard of living for life, and do exactly what I want to do politically, legally, any time, any place, based on my conviction. Monetary inducement does not motivate or excite me, I have seen it all. Conviction motivates and excites me sometimes; I am driven to be more catholic than the Pope.


While funds for my political activities may not literally be "a river that never runs dry", I do not require to look for sponsors for any political budget that I wish to implement. That is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I always pick up my political bills.



In Summary
=================
Summary of Nzeribe's Riches, Investments and Their Political Usage The NZERIBE TRUST - established 1979 - GBP175 million sterling The AGUNZE TRUST - established 1983 - GBP200 million sterling Net Asset Values As at March 1, 1988:
NAV of Nzeribe Trust - GBP 525 million sterling
NAV of Agunze Trust - GBP 400 million sterling (acc. To auditors)
As at March 31, 1988:
NAV of the Nigerian Investments - N181,080,750.00
His pro-Obasanjo, anti-impeachment lobbies:
Gift and donation from the AGUNZE TRUST - US$125,000,000.00
Amount drawn so far:
(a) US$3.5 million - on September 10, 2002
(b) US$3.5 million - on September 12, 2002
(c) US$10 million - on November 14, 2002
TOTAL - $17 million
At a parallel conversion rate of N141 to one US dollar-
TOTAL - N2,397,000,000



References: http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/sarticles/senator_francis_arthur_nzeribe_w.htm

n Summary
=================
Summary of Nzeribe's Riches, Investments and Their Political Usage The NZERIBE TRUST - established 1979 - GBP175 million sterling The AGUNZE TRUST - established 1983 - GBP200 million sterling Net Asset Values As at March 1, 1988:
NAV of Nzeribe Trust - GBP 525 million sterling
NAV of Agunze Trust - GBP 400 million sterling (acc. To auditors)
As at March 31, 1988:
NAV of the Nigerian Investments - N181,080,750.00
His pro-Obasanjo, anti-impeachment lobbies:
Gift and donation from the AGUNZE TRUST - US$125,000,000.00
Amount drawn so far:
(a) US$3.5 million - on September 10, 2002
(b) US$3.5 million - on September 12, 2002
(c) US$10 million - on November 14, 2002
TOTAL - $17 million
At a parallel conversion rate of N141 to one US dollar-
TOTAL - N2,397,000,000