http://www.ukpakareports.com/news.php?type_id=1&news_id=1370

A cantankerous fete of deception appears taking form within the administrative offices of the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan government. This is as Nigeria finds herself battling at 50 in her attempt at conducting her first free, fair and credible elections - amidst an already fractured perception within the international community of her inability to conduct elections acceptable to the international community. Ukpakareports.com has unearthed highly sensitive information indicating that the rigging of the 2011 Presidential elections may have begun.

Investigative checks reveal that the reported secret negotiations with a Chinese firm [Lenovo] by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] while subjecting the other 8 selected firms to integrity checks at the State Security Service [SSS] and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] – had the markings of three operatives within President Jonathan’s cabal who had held secret meetings with the Chinese firm – prior to the INEC Chairman’s letter.

According to a report in a major Nigerian News daily [ThisDay], the INEC chairman had written directly to the Chinese firm [Lenovo] a letter referenced INEC/CH/GC/073/Vol.1 and dated August 18th 2010. The letter to the Beijing, China-based Company was said to have been prompted by the China office of the United Nations Development Program [UNDP] - and Lenovo’s address was given as 6 Venture Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China 100085. It was personally signed by the INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega.

It read in part, “Further to the enquiries by the China office of the UNDP on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria regarding the acquisition of hardware for Direct Data Capture, I write to request for additional information from you. In order to complete the procurement process, the government of Nigeria would want to know the prices and delivery timelines for different quantities of equipment”.

A highly placed source prominent in the Abuja power circles informed Ukpakareports.com of the clandestine moves on the offing - against the development of the N87billion voters register. The source indentified the 1st Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Chief of Staff, Mike Oghiadomhe and the Oil Mogul, Emeka Offor as having financial interest in the Chinese firm, Lenovo. Through the makings of Emeka Offor, a close and old friend to President Jonathan, who played the role of a middle man, the Chinese firm was introduced to the Jonathan people in the later weeks of June 2010.

Following the introduction, the Chief of Staff, Mike Oghiadomhe who enjoys a close relationship with Emeka Offor, sought the attention of the President on the clearance on whether to approach the Chinese firm. The Chief of Staff reportedly is said to have the ears of the President more than the 1st Lady does. However ukpakareports.com is not certain whether a clearance was given but it is certain that Mike Oghiadomhe went on to approach officials of the Chinese firm – in the company of the 1st Lady and two other undisclosed Federal Ministers. The meeting took place in the first week of July 2010 with three senior officials of Lenovo - which comprised of the Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Michael O’Neill, Senior Vice President, Emerging Markets, Chen Shaopeng and Senior Vice President, Global Services, Peter Bartolotta.

The Chief of Staff and the 1st Lady who both have been reported by inside sources to have assumed the role of ‘consultants’ to the EFCC for a good number of Governors [past and present], took over the matter. [The Chief of Staff had been reported to have collected the sum of N175million from the Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and the sum of N115million from the Governor of Oyo, Otunba Alao-Akala – while the 1st Lady collected the sum of N150million from the Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva and monthly disbursements from Governor of Abia State, Theodore Afam Orji of N35million – along with other monthly disbursements by PDP Governors.] Both the 1st Lady and the Chief of Staff thus engineered the internal wrangling that resulted to the preference showed the Chinese firm over the other 8 firms.

What appears puzzling and a tad careless is the action taken by the Chief of Staff with only 30days following the meeting with the bigwigs of Lenovo. On Thursday, August 5th 2010, Mike Oghiadomhe signed off on the purchase of N1.3billion property located in Aso Villa with address – 3 Udi Hill Street. A mansion located at the end of Aso Drive and near the former American Embassy and SSS building. The property, which the source indicates will be Mike Oghiadomhe’s new home, is scheduled for renovation. Prior to the purchase of the property, Mike Oghiadomhe lived in Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja – an area that does not compare well, in terms of estate value, with Aso Villa where his new mansion is located.

[Click here to view picture of Mike Oghiadomhe’s Mansion]

Thirteen days after the purchase, the INEC’s letter was drafted and delivered to the foreign based firm. Keen observers familiar with the political development in Nigeria point to the unfolding saga as having a marking resemblance to the Halliburton bribery saga. They also point to the present administration as having traits of political corruption that dates back to Bayelsa – when President Goodluck Jonathan served as the State Governor. A N500million hotel development in Yenogua, the capital of Bayelsa belonging to the 1st Lady of Nigeria is said to pose a worry to the international community who had taken President Jonathan as a corrupt-free politician.

[Click here to view picture of Dame Patience Jonathan’s Hotel]

Prior to becoming the wife of the deputy governor in Bayelsa State, Patience Jonathan had worked as a secondary school teacher – having earned a diploma from a College of Education in Rivers State. Other than her stint at the teaching profession, Dame Patience Jonathan, according to available information, has had no known means of income except from the Government of Bayelsa State. The question as to the source of income to finance the said hotel development remains to be answered.

And so Nigeria finds herself at the choke hold of deception and quagmire.