Alleged N166m debt: Why NDIC topshots blackmailed Okiro

• How Ogunleye, Fortune Bank interim managers swindled depositors of N7 billion • The unpublished investigation report

By BEN OBI JR.

TRUTH is the daughter of time. No matter the stringent attempt to bend the truth, the five-letter word will eventually stand erect.

National Daily investigation has revealed the real reason why some Senior Staff of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) embarked on a desperate mission to blackmail the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro over an alleged N166million debt.

The NDIC Senior Staff, sources said, were prompted by the self-serving desire to raise unsubstantiated allegation against the immediate past IGP so as to avenge his role in exposing their fraudulent activities in the NDIC particularly in the case of swindling unsuspecting depositors of the failed Fortune International Bank Plc to the tune of about N7 billion.

Specifically, the names of the senior staff of the NDIC allegedly involved in the blackmail antics were given as Ganiyu Ogunleye (the Managing Director of the NDIC), Professor Peter Umoh (Executive Director), Dr. Joe Emerson, Innocent Ilozumba, Adedapo Agboola and Pius Obeleke.

These identified culprits were at the time of media report of Okiro's alleged indebtedness facing trials before an Abuja High Court Judge for alleged offence of false information, Criminal misappropriation and stealing.
National Daily sources disclosed that The NDIC MD Ogunleye and his colleagues believed that by spreading unsubstantiated allegation against Okiro they will wriggle out of their criminal case before the court especially now that Okiro has retired from the force.

“You know, the accused persons were excited that Okiro was leaving the Force because the IGP had recommended their trial for duping helpless failed bank depositors of some billions of naira. Their calculation was to raise the bogey allegation at the time the IGP will be pre-occupied with the nitty-gritty of his retirement formalities” said an informed source, adding that:

“The desperadoes were chasing their own shadows because Sir Mike Okiro has nothing to hide. He has adequately responded to the major issues in their allegation explaining that it was his wife not himself who transacted business with Agip. But she was not in any way indebted to the oil company.”
Ogunleye and his colleagues at NDIC were suspected to be the source of the media stories accusing Okiro of contributing to the insolvency of the Lead Bank Limited by failing to repay the loan of N166 million obtained from the bank between 2000 and 2001.

However, Okiro in his response said it was his wife's company, Hekiro, who got the loan from the bank to finance a contract awarded to the company by Agip. He dismissed the NDIC's allegation as unfounded and claimed instead that it was the bank that owed his wife's company because Agip, the awardee of the contract on which the loan was spent had paid $2.5 million into Lead Bank's account with the National Bank.
Informed sources explained that a contract of $4million was awarded to Okiro's wife, a former banker, who collected a loan of N100 million from Lead Bank to finance the project.

The sources further said that part of the conditions for granting the loan was that the contract sum would be paid by AGIP directly into a Lead Bank account from where the loan and accrued interest would first be deducted before Hekiro would get the difference. AGIP was to pay in the money based on the assessment of the job “until they (Lead Bank) had problems and were subsequently suspended by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Prof Chukwuma Soludo's leadership, from engaging in any forex activities, because then it was obvious they were going into liquidation,

As a way to secure ongoing foreign exchange based transactions they (Lead Bank) decided to open a dollar account with National Bank.”
It was gathered from a source within the NDIC that AGIP had “started to pay money into the National Bank account opened by Lead Bank without the knowledge of Okiro's wife.”

It took Okiro's wife's private investigation to discover that an account was opened in National Bank by Lead Bank for her contract and by the time she knew about this $2.5 million had been paid into the account. This was also confirmed from the AGIP accounts department. By this time, it was learnt, Okiro's wife's company had closed business because it had invested its funds in the contract and therefore could not continue its business activities.
Our sources said since Lead Bank was liquidated Okiro's wife approached NDIC to pay her the balance of her money.

However, NDIC claimed in its allegation that out of the N166 million loan collected by Okiro, the wife paid N5million in April 2009 after so many reminding letters.
But Okiro debunked this assertion by the NDIC Managing Director, Ganiyu Ogunleye and challenged him to make public any document he (Okiro) signed on behalf of the company as a Director to prove the allegation that he forged a signature of his wife or anybody.

The out-going IGP showed reporters a document containing the list of debtors or borrowers from the failed banks which had been compiled and forwarded to the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions on June 27 last year.

Okiro said neither the names of his wife, his wife's company nor himself was on the list as a debtor or a borrower, alleging that the allegation by NDIC was an after-thought.
Inside sources told National Daily that Okiro is unruffled by the allegation saying he is prepared to defend himself wherever he is called upon.
National Daily learned that Ogunleye and his colleagues are still sweating to extricate themselves from the criminal charges pending at an Abuja High court.

Their imminent road to jail and apparent contempt for Okiro began sometime in March 2009 when the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions requested the Inspector General of Police through a letter dated February 2, 2009 for “Assistance on public/investigative Hearing on the agonies of depositors of Failed Banks and Financial Institutions” particularly the case of Fortune International Bank Plc and Suffolk petroleum.

The letter was signed by the committee chairman, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu.
The IGP was mandated to investigate the circumstances surrounding the $30millin (N4.5 billion) recovered by EFCC on behalf of Fortune Bank and Suffolk petroleum. The committee further requested the IGP to investigate the whereabouts of N1.5billion naira recovered by the NDIC/interim managers on behalf of Fortune Bank. The amount was the sum total of loan and accrued interest granted Nassarawa State government by the defunct Fortune Bank on the Karu International Market.

Okiro responded to the request and promptly directed the Special Investigative Unit of the Force to conduct detailed investigation into the matter.
He submitted his report in a letter to the Senate Committee dated June 2, 2009.

Details of the report signed by Sir Mike Mbama Okiro disclosed that two interim Managers of Fortune Bank, Dr. Joe Emeson and Innocent Ilozumba fled their homes and offices to evade the investigative police team.
However, they were later arrested and during a search carried out on the order of the Court, the investigative team recovered some documents that were vital to the matter being investigated.

Some of the recovered documents included funds with Fidelity Bank Plc, documents on the $30 million recovered by EFCC in respect of Fortune Bank and the Suffolk Petroleum, other document on Agency agreement on rents accrued from Fortune Towers.

The Police report stated that investigation was carried out at the office of NDIC, the supervisory institution. Two interim managers, the Managing Director, Ganiyu Ogunleye and the Executive Director, Professor Peter Umolu were invited and questioned in connection with the matter officials of Fidelity Bank who took both funds of $30 million and N1,058 billion as deposits were also invited and interrogated.

The investigation according to the report was extended to Fortune Towers, the magnificent building of the defunct bank on yearly lease of N120 million since 2006. The two interim managers of Fortune Bank failed to account for over three years of rents of about N360 million that accrued on the edifice.

The police report noted that one of the remarkable issues in its discovery was the purported waiver of N500 million naira granted Nasarawa State by the NDIC over Karu market project.

“From the Examination of relevant documents the initial claim of Fortune Bank against the State government was N2.5 billion naira. This amount was reduced to N1.5 billion after due reconciliation of the account by both parties. Due to unexplainable reasons, NDIC decided to waive the sum of N500 million in favour of the State government despite protest from the interim managers of Fortune Bank the report stated, adding that:

“The claim of NDIC of having obtained ministerial approval for their action was found to be untenable as documents recovered have shown that the waiver had taken place before the approval was sought as a cover up. The management of NDIC under Ganiyu Ogunleye failed to adduce any cogent reason why the fund should be waived under such circumstances while the innocent depositors wallowed in poverty.”

The then IGP as part of the efforts to recover the misplaced funds obtained court orders which directed that the Karu market fund of N1.058 billion lodged with Fidelity Bank should be terminated immediately and document conveying the amount forwarded to the police.

The Police investigators summarised its finding by stating that Fortune International Bank was one of the banks that failed to meet the N25 billion naira consolidation target of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2006 and was therefore liquidated. Interim management committee was set up for the defunct bank under the direct supervision of NDIC.

In order to harness both the liquid and physical assets of the bank, Fortune Bank liquidated accounts were opened with the CBN where all monies that accrued to the bank were supposed to be deposited.
However, “instead of paying the recovered funds to the designated account, the interim managers in collision with NDIC decided to take the monies to Fidelity Bank under the guise of investing the funds with the said bank. Police investigation revealed that both the $30 million recovered from Shell Petroleum and the N1.058 billion from Nasarawa State government were lodged with Fidelity.”

The police investigators noted that “the $30 million recovered from Shell due to Suffolk petroleum indebtedness to Fortune Bank was ridiculously paid into the account of Suffolk with Fidelity Bank and withdrawn under the watchful eyes of EFCC and NDIC. Fortune Bank the rightful owner of the fund was by-passed.”

It was further discovered that “the sum of N1.058 billion recovered from Nasarawa State government was lodged with the same Fidelity Bank under a ridiculous low interest rate and the managers drawing monthly brokerages to be shared among the interim members of the (management) committee and officials of NDIC.”

The police report stated that the N500 million naira waiver granted by NDIC was effected before the so-called ministerial consent was sought. Police investigation was extended to the Federal Ministry of Finance to ascertain whether or not the minister can approve a waiver of that magnitude without recourse to the Federal Executive Council.

In conclusion, the Police investigators submitted that “It is glaring from the investigation conducted that there were criminal infractions committed in the running of the affairs of Fortune Bank in liquidation. Instead of performing their statutory duties the officials of both institutions (NDIC/Fortune Bank Interim managers) decided to enrich themselves to the detriment of the actual depositors whose fund has been trapped since 2006”
The investigators continued in their submission:

“The MD of NDIC, Ganiyu Ogunleye, the Executive Director, Professor Peter Umoh and four others have been arraigned before the FCT High Court on a seven-count court charges of conspiracy, criminal misappropriation and giving false information with intent to misleading public servant. The case has been adjourned to 22/06/2009 for hearing…”

The evidence at the disposal of National Daily suggests that Sir Mike Okiro's accusers may be motivated by the quest for self-preservation and vengeance. Ganiyu Ogunleye and his co-travellers could be on a wild goose chase which eventually may see them embracing the iron cast gate of one of the nation's squalid prisons.
(Related Documents and full investigation report to the Senate Committee are available on our website www.nationaldailyngr.com).