1) Tijani Babangida annoyed me very much when he played for Roda JC Kerkrade. He would get the ball, dribble and run with speed down the flank, which was very good, but it was as if he didn't know what to do when he got to the byline and he would always lose the ball.
However, he matured and improved significantly when he moved to Ajax Amsterdam. That was when he began running directly at goal and scoring great goals. He was part of the Atlanta '96 gold medal winning team and the 2000 Nations Cup silver medal winning team.
2) Ibrahim Babangida was another wonderful winger who was in the Japan '93 world cup winning Golden Eaglets and who played for my club, Stationery Stores, before moving to the Netherlands.
3) Everybody initially thought that Haruna Babangida was going to be a superstar. Why else would Barcelona sign him to their youth team? But he never fulfilled that potential.
May Ibrahim Babangida's soul rest in peace and may Tijani Babangida and his wife have speedy recoveries.
What really led to the dispute? Is it connected to a rumour or news of the Enigies visit to Ooni of Ife? Also, are you aware of many fake stories and posts of anarchy orchestrated by people who are claiming Be ins superiority over Yorubas? As if Yorubas are responsible for Benins life or struggles? Are you aware such post can bring chaos in future cos it's like some Benins or so e kinda sponsored agents (suspecting the north) are provoking Yorubas?
This has got absolutely nothing to do with Ooni of Ife or Yorubas. It's a dispute between two Enigies and the Oba of Benin over Benin Traditional Council.
By tradition the Oba of Benin is the chairman of the Benin Traditional Council. However, two Enigies allegedly wrote to the Edo State Government that it should create another Benin Traditional Council.
The people of the areas that the Enigies oversee wrote to the Oba of Benin to complain about the behaviour of the Enigie. The Oba of Benin summoned the Enigies to his palace to find out what the problem was. The Enigies did not go to the palace, so the Oba of Benin suspended them.
The Enigies then sued the Oba of Benin and the Edo State Government. They say that the Oba has no power to suspend them and only the government can suspend them.
On Wednesday night, Obidients began circulating a rumour that the Edo State Government had sued the Oba and summoned him to court. This forced the Edo State Government to release a statement on Thursday that it has no lawsuit against the Oba and in fact, it is a defendant in the case.
Video: Massive crowd at the High Court as chiefs, priests and many other people try to enter the court.
Court Joins Traditional Council in Suit against Oba of Benin
*Edo govt says no hand in raging dispute
The Edo State High Court in Benin City, has admitted the Benin Traditional Council (BTC) as a party in a suit instituted by suspended Enigies (dukes) against the Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin.
Two suspended Enigies of Evbuobanosa and Egbaen Siluko dukedoms in Benin Kingdom, Prof. Gregory Akenzua and Chief Edomwonyi Ogiegbaen had on behalf of others, sued the Oba of Benin at the Edo State High court, challenging their suspension from office.
Besides, the duo on behalf of others, had claimed that it was only the State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and not the monarch who can pronounce them suspended or remove them from their positions.
Ruling in a motion on Thursday May 9, 2024, Justice Peter Akhihiero granted the 1st defendant its plea to include the Benin Traditional Council as the 3rd defendant in the suit marked B/250os/2023, while Oba Ewuare II and Edo State Government, were the 1st and 2nd defendants respectively.
The ruling was in response to an application filed by the 2nd defendant’s lead counsel, Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN), Prof. Edoba Omoregie and his team against the claimants.
Justice Akhihiero directed parties in the suit, Edo State Government represented by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), Oba Ewuare II, Akenzua and Ogiegbaen, who were both represented by their counsel led by Dr. Osagie Obayuwana who had objected to the motion through the Counsel of Oba Ewuare II, to amend their relevant documents in the case to reflect the decision.
While other parties in the suit aligned with the position of Oba Ewuare’s counsel to join Benin Traditional Council in the suit, the claimants Akenzua and Ogiegbaen through their counsel, Obayuwana prayed the court not to list the traditional council as a party in the suit. He urged the court to award cost against Oba of Benin in favour of the claimants.
The judge, however, turned down the prayers, and held that Obayuwana should not worry about the timing, insisting that: “The race is not for the swift, or the battle for the strong”.
“If they were bringing in the traditional council as necessary, I don’t see this as a problem since you people have brought the Oba to court. “I don’t think I can shut down any party. Let them come in and file their processes”, Justice Akhihiero said, before adjourning hearing in the case to July 15, 2024 in the absence of any objection.
Meanwhile, the Edo state government yesterday said it was not involved in the suit involving the Oba of Benin and Enigies in the state. The government also noted that it was only a defendant in the suit like the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II and as such has no interest in the matter as being insinuated in some quarters.
The state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, who stated this in a press briefing in Benin City, on behalf of the government, called for out-of-court settlement.
However, Nehikhare said that government was concerned that such a matter among brothers could be allowed to degenerate to the extent that it has become a court case.
According to him: “The Edo state government has appealed to the parties involved to reach a peaceful settling out of court”.
Nehikhare also promised that government would like to be part of resolution of the ongoing dispute, so as to bring the matter to an amicable resolution.
Picture 2) The former assistant secretary for African affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, visited the AES Barge power plant. Mrs Thomas-Greenfield is now the US ambassador to the United Nations.
naptu2: Chief Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo, the Baba Adinni of Nigeria
The late Baba Adinni of Nigeria, Chief Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo, was a member of the donation circuit. He was one of the wealthiest Nigerians of the 1970s, '80s and 1990s and he donated enormous sums of money to charity. He also had a noticeable impact on the development of Lagos State, both through his business activities and through his philanthropy.
Chief Folawiyo attended the University of North London in 1951, where he read Management, specialising in Ship Brokerage. In 1957, he founded Yinka Folawiyo & Sons, which has become the parent company of the Yinka Folawiyo Group of Companies. The group imported cement and sugar from the former Soviet Union, then later introduced building materials from Romania and Bulgaria into the Nigerian market. In 1967, the firm was incorporated as a limited liability company. When Folawiyo and Sons' revenues increased, the firm began chartering vessels to bring in commodities including cement, building materials, frozen fish and fertilizer.
Shipping
To provide logistics support for the firm's trading operations, the group established Maritime Associates (International) as a vessel chartering, clearing and forwarding company. The company was later invited to bid for shipment of agricultural produce from Nigeria to Europe. In 1972, the group established Green Lines shipping company when demand for chartering of ocean liners increased. M.V. Ahmodu Tijani, a 10,826 dead-weight ton carrier was purchased in 1973 as the first ocean liner. By 1980, the firm owned six vessels and had joined the UK/West Africa Lines Joint Service and the Continental West Africa Conference. In the 1970s, regular service was provided between Hamburg/Antwerp and Lagos. The firm later acquired M.V. Bello Folawiyo and M.V. Yinka Folawiyo in the mid 1980s.
Trans-Atlantic International Lighterage was established in the 1970s, it operated within the Lagos Port Complex providing lighterage service with the use of pontoons and barges.
This (shipping) was the business that Folawiyo was most famous for.
Other businesses
In 1971, the United Property Development Company was founded as a real estate investment vehicle. The Nigerian Spanish Cement Company was founded as a bulk cement bagging operation with its own deep water berth. The firm also invested in farming projects across the country including a rice farm in Rivers State which was established as a cooperation between the group and the Rivers State government. The firm also owned farm estates in Oyo involved in livestock and cultivation of fruits.
Electricity and the Lagos Power Project
In 1999, Yinka Folawiyo Power, a subsidiary of the group entered into a partnership with Enron for the development of an independent Power Project. This was the first privately funded power project in Nigeria since the country's independence and after legislation liberalized the sector in 1998. The 270 MW plant became operational in 2001, by then Enron had sold its remaining equity to AES and the Folawiyo Group.
The power plant is located on a barge which is moored off the shores of Ikorodu, near the Egbin Power Station. It is a thermal power plant and it receives gas from the Escravos-Lagos pipeline system. At the time only the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) was permitted by law to sell electricity to consumers. The Lagos State Government said that it had a deal with NEPA that the power that was generated on the barge would be distributed in Lagos. However, the power was actually fed into the National Grid when the plant became operational.
Crude oil and the Lagos Aje Oil Field
In 1982, the group incorporated a natural energy company, Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum, to focus on gas recovery and gasoline sales. In June 1991, the company was granted an Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 309 as a Sole Risk Contract under the Nigerian government's Indigenous Allocation Programme, put in place to encourage the development of a locally owned and operated Nigerian upstream Oil industry.
Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum owns a 60% interest in the Aje Oil and gas field on OML 113, 24km offshore of western Nigeria. The field is located off the coast of Badagry in Lagos State.
In 2016, Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum announced its first production of crude oil from the Aje Field, the first producing field outside of the Niger Delta in Nigeria.
As a result of the good standing of the company and its commitment to develop the gas potential of the field, the authorities renewed in August 2018 the OML 113 license for a further period of 20 years.
Video: The managing director of the Folawiyo Group, Mr Tunde Folawiyo, visited Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at Lagos House Marina in 2016 to inform him that production had started at the Aje Oil Field and that Lagos had become an oil producing state.
Folawiyo Energy is a midstream Oil and Gas Company focusing on delivering storage solutions for refined fuel products through its privately owned deepwater jetty in Lagos, Nigeria.
Enyo Retail & Supply was established in 2016, following the growing liberalization and evolution of oil and gas industries in Nigeria. It owns a chain of fuel stations across the country.
Philanthropy
Chief Wahab Iyanda was a member of the Donation Circuit.
naptu2 post=69122609:
The donation circuit was not a formal organisation, but it’s the way that I refer to a phenomenon that occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s (the Babangida era).
Some of Nigeria’s wealthiest men were often invited to specific events in which they donated large sums of money. These events included fund raising in churches and mosques, university convocations, book launching and fund raising activities by universities, secondary schools, community development associations and charities.
It was usually the same set of people that were invited to these events. The president was usually the special guest of honour (when he was invited), the governor was usually the chief host, the head of the institution was usually the host, Chief Abiola was usually the chief launcher and other members of the donation circuit were usually special guests.
There was a day that I watched the 9 o’clock news and there was an advert for one of these events and the invited guests were listed. There was another advert immediately after and the list of invited guests was almost exactly the same as the list in the previous advert.
The members of the donation circuit included Chief MKO Abiola, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Chief Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo, Chief Sunny Odogwu, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Chief Razak Okoya, Prince Adedapo Tejuosho, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, Prince Adekunle Ojora, Chief Onwuka Kalu (Onwuka Inter-Biz), Chief Michael Ibru, Dr Alex Ibru, Chief Sunny Okogwu, Chief Francis Arthur Nzeribe, Alhaji Isyaku Rabiu, Dr Olusola Saraki, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, etc.
Chief Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo donated huge sums of money to schools, charities and similar causes. He endowed the professorial chair in Physics at the University of Lagos, and contributed to virus research at the University of Ibadan. Folawiyo, in June 1998, also became the first private individual to put together a physical structure at the University of Lagos when he upgraded the University's Health Centre to a full-fledged hospital complete with an X-ray Unit. In sports, he was the sole philanthropist of the Yinka Folawiyo U 15 Athletics Championships and the National Amateur Wrestling Championships. He also funded the Bab Es Salam Home for orphans in Lagos.
Lagos Central Mosque
Chief Folawiyo contributed almost 90% of the funds that was used to rebuild the Lagos Central Mosque. The new mosque, which was opened in 1988 by President Ibrahim Babangida, was several times bigger than the old mosque which was built in the early 1900s. He was also instrumental in the construction of the Surulere Central Mosque and the Sultan Bello Mosque in Kaduna.
Folawiyo also sponsored very many Islamic programmes on radio and television during Ramadan.
Honours
Chief Folawiyo was installed as the chancellor of the Lagos State University, Ojo in 1999. He was given the national honours of Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) by President Shehu Shagari in 1982 and Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) by President Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000.
He was also honoured by many universities, for example, he was given the honorary degrees of Doctor of Law by the University of Calabar in 1991, Doctor of Letters by the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1992, Doctor of Science by the Lagos State University, Ojo, in 1998 and Millennium Award of Doctor of Science by the University of Lagos.
He was given the key to Dade County, Florida, in the U.S. and he was also a patron of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce.
He was (obviously) the Baba Adinni of Nigeria, he was the Grand Patron of the Nigerian Muslim Council and he also served as the chairman of the Executive Council of the Lagos Central Mosque
Personal life
Princess Abba Adesanya was one of the most popular fashion designers in Nigeria in the 1980s and early 1990s. Her fashion house, Labanella, was probably the biggest fashion house in the country and they made expensive clothes for the elite. She had been married to Segun Awolowo (the son of Chief Obafemi Awolowo) in the 1960s and she bore a son, Segun Junior, for him. However, Segun Awolowo Senior died in a car crash on the Lagos-Ibadan Road before his son was born. He was 25 years old at the time (this was in 1963).
She got married to Evangelist Lagun Adesanya in the 1970s, but they later separated.
Rumours emerged in the early 1990s that Chief Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo, was dating Princess Abba Adesanya. It was in all the gossip magazines, but the pair denied that they were dating. However, a few months later, it was announced that they were married. The marriage lasted until Chief Folawiyo's death in 2008.
The Baba Adinni of Nigeria, Chief Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo, passed away at his home on Queen's Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos in the early hours of 6 June 2008. He was buried the same day at the cemetery of the Lagos Central Mosque (which is usually reserved for imams).
Chief Folawiyo's son, Mr Tunde Folawiyo, took over the running of the company after his death. There was an extremely funny thread about Tunde Folawiyo on Nairaland. King Sunny Ade celebrated his 70th birthday in 2016 and as part of the activities that were held to mark the occassion, his guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, was auctioned. Tunde Folawiyo bought it for 52.1 million naira. People on the Nairaland thread said that he must have made a mistake and that he must have regretted paying that amount of money for the guitar. They obviously did not know who Tunde Folawiyo was.
LASG TO SET UP FIVE ADDITIONAL HUBS FOR ALTERNATIVE POWER SUPPLY
… Receives Over N3.78bn As Oil Derivation
As part of measures to sustain its drive for an effective 24-hour economy, the Lagos State Government has concluded plans to set up five additional power hubs across the metropolis in a bid to give residents other alternative sources of clean energy.
The state government said that these additional power hubs earmarked would complement the six solar POCs (Proof of Concept), giving Lagosians a better alternative to power supply across Lagos.
The Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Biodun Ogunleye, who disclosed this on Wednesday during the 2024 Ministerial press briefing held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja, stressed that renewable energy is the cornerstone of the government’s clean electricity plans for Lagos.
Ogunleye added that there are plans to develop One Gigawatt of grid-scale solar energy capacity for the clean Lagos electricity market and over 10 sites considered for the project including Egbin thermal plant site, Ikorodu, Badagry, Agbara, Ogudu and others.
Aside from this, the Commissioner further disclosed that the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has distributed over 10,000 gas tubes to petty traders to reduce their dependence on firewood and other unclean sources in Lagos.
He said: “We have distributed over 10,000 gas tubes to the residents to abandon other unclean energy. We believe that this source is better and healthy for the traders and other Lagosians patronising them”.
“While we are encouraging this, the government will be intensifying enforcement to curb haphazard establishment of gas plants and shops in the state. This is to ensure that everyone adheres to safety”.
The Commissioner revealed that the Lagos state government would be partnering with the Federal Government to ensure both gas and fuel stations do not cause harm to the people in the state. We want to ensure that our people are safe in Lagos”.
Ogunleye stated that the government would be embarking on other research works to discover new mineral resources that could boost Lagos’ revenue annually.
He noted that the oil discovery in Lagos has assisted the state to join oil producing states and receipt of derivation from the Federal Government.
He said: “Between 2018 and 2019, the state government received from the Federal Government N131 million as part of oil derivation. Also, within 2020-2021, the Lagos state government received N3.78 billion.
“However, presently, the owners of the assets have been having issues among themselves. And as long as they could not produce, there would be no money for Lagos. The state government is engaging them to ensure that they return to the field. And we hope that before the end of the year, they will find new technical partners and they can go back to production”.
OPL 245 saga: Italian prosecutor demoted for ‘lack of impartiality and fairness’
Fabio De Pasquale, the Italian prosecutor who tried Shell and others over the OPL 245 saga, has been demoted by the country’s Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) for his role in the proceedings.
According to Ilgiorno, an Italian newspaper, De Pasquale was demoted for “lack of impartiality and fairness” in the way he handled the prosecution at the Court of Milan.
The court eventually discharged all persons and companies accused of fraud and bribery in the OPL 245 transaction between Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, Royal Dutch Shell and Eni/Agip.
De Pasquale had been accused of hiding critical evidence that would have exonerated the defendants and is facing a separate hearing over the allegation.
The failure to confirm De Pasquale as a deputy prosecutor means he will lose that role and return to being a simple substitute.
He will not be able to apply for further management positions in the future.
Mohammed Bello Adoke, the Nigerian attorney-general when the OPL 245 resolution agreement was signed in 2011, was recently discharged by an FCT high court over allegations of bribery and corruption in the transaction.
Also discharged and acquitted by the court are: Aliyu Abubakar, a businessman; Rasky Gbinigie, Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd’s company secretary; Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd; Nigeria Agip Exploration (NAE); Shell Ultra Deep Nigeria (SNUD) Ltd; and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company (SNEPCO) Ltd.
The court chided the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for wasting four years over the case without a shred of evidence of crime.
‘NEGATIVE OPINION OF JUDICIARY’
De Pasquale, who was assistant prosecutor at the Court of Milan with semi-managerial prosecuting functions, was rejected by 23 of the 27 members of the CSM, including its vice president, Fabio Pinelli, while four members abstained from voting.
Based on the resolution approved by the plenum and drawn up by the Fifth Commission of the CSM, “it is therefore demonstrated that De Pasquale lacks the prerequisites of impartiality and balance, having repeatedly exercised jurisdiction in a manner that was neither objective nor fair with respect to the parties as well as without a sense of proportion and without moderation”.
The judges said his style projected “a negative prognostic judgment” on the possession of the prerequisites of impartiality and fairness also for the purposes of confirmation in the magistrate in semi-managerial functions.
De Pasquale is on trial in Brescia for omission of official documents while disciplinary proceedings and an official transfer procedure due to “environmental incompatibility” have been opened against him at the CSM.
Both proceedings against him are still ongoing.
THE OPL 245 CASE
Shell and Eni had, in 2011, paid $1.1 billion to acquire OPL 245 after Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, the original allotee, relinquished its entire interest in the oil block.
This followed a settlement brokered by the Nigerian government to end a 10-year legal dispute on the acreage, which is considered to be one of the richest in Africa.
The oil companies also paid a signature bonus of $210 million to the Nigerian government. It is the biggest signature bonus in Nigeria’s history.
However, transparency watchdogs alleged that the $1.1 billion paid to Malabu was intended to bribe government officials.
In 2018, De Pasquale launched a criminal case against the oil companies, their executives, agents and some Nigerians, including Dan Etete, former minister of petroleum resources.
The government of Nigeria joined the suit as the civil “injured” party, while Royal Dutch Shell, ENI S.P.A., Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, Shell UK Ltd, and Shell Exploration and Production Africa Ltd were listed as “parties liable for civil damages”.
After a trial that lasted for nearly three years, the Court of Milan, presided over by Marco Tremolada, determined that the allegations of fraud and corruption were not proven.
In July 2022, an attempt to appeal against the verdict was terminated by the attorney general of Italy who said the case “must finish today because it has no basis… in fact, it should have finished earlier”.
Two defendants — including a Nigerian middleman — who had been convicted and jailed in a fast-tracked aspect of the trial were freed after winning on appeal.
WHAT DID DE PASQUALE AND SPADARO ‘HIDE’?
It came to light in June 2021 — three months after Shell and others were discharged and acquitted — that some vital pieces of evidence in the possession of the prosecutors were hidden from the Court of Milan.
This was considered to be a professional misconduct and is now being treated as a criminal act.
The judges of the Milan court said it was “incomprehensible” that the public prosecutor chose “not to file among the proceedings a document which contains extraordinary elements in favour of the defendants”.
One, there was a secretly recorded video in which the former Eni manager, Vincenzo Armanna, who was a defendant in the trial and whose witness statements formed a large part of the prosecution’s case, spoke with Piero Amara, a former lawyer of Eni.
According to the judges, Armanna disclosed an intention to blackmail Eni’s top management and launch a devastating media campaign against them. He hoped to turn to the prosecutor to get them covered in “an avalanche of s***”.
Two, Paolo Storari, the Milanese prosecutor, had sent to De Pasquale and Spadaro chats found on Armanna’s phone suggesting that he had paid $50,000 to Isaak Eke, a Nigerian witness, to make accusatory statements against some co-defendants.
Three, Armanna had also produced purported WhatsApp conversations with Claudio Descalzi, Eni CEO, and Claudio Granata, chief of staff, in 2013 seeking to prove that they asked him to recant his allegations of corruption in the OPL 245 case so that he could be re-hired by the oil company and be helped to make money through a Nigerian firm.
However, it turned out the chats were fabricated after a technological analysis was done in 2021.
The Vodafone numbers attributed to the two top Eni executives were not active in 2013 and did not have any call records.
In January 2023, Christian Colombo, the judge in the preliminary hearing at the Court of Brescia, indicted De Pasquale and Spadaro and remanded them for failing to file the evidence.
Colombo accepted the evidence provided by Brescia prosecutors — Francesco Milanesi and Donato Greco — and decided that the indicted prosecutors should go on trial.
He said De Pasquale and Spadaro had a duty not to conceal from the defence and from the court the facts and evidence at their disposal.
WHAT DOES DE PASQUALE WANT?
De Pasquale styles himself as an anti-corruption hunter and was celebrated for getting Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister, convicted over tax fraud in 2012.
He had also been looking to get Eni convicted over allegations of corporate fraud. The OPL 245 case provided him an opportunity to prosecute what transparency campaigners described as “the biggest corporate fraud in history”.
In November 2015, De Pasquale visited Nigeria and had meetings with senior government officials, including Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, over the OPL 245 affair.
TheCable understands he suggested that Nigeria could get back the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and Eni to Malabu by criminalising the 2011 settlement agreement so that he could pursue a criminal case against the key entities and persons in Italy.
Adoke alleged in his book, ‘Burden of Service’, that the EFCC was asked to go after him by putting him on trial and getting a conviction to serve as proof of corruption in the deal.
This was expected to strengthen De Pasquale’s case in Milan.
Adoke was not in trial in Italy, but the EFCC filed several cases against him in Nigeria and his name was constantly mentioned in the Milan court, although the court did not make any adverse pronouncement against him in its verdict.
One of the cases filed against Adoke was that he collected a $2 million bribe from the $1.1 billion paid to Malabu and bought a property in Abuja, an allegation he denied and for which he has been cleared.
‘DE PASQUALE HIDING VITAL EVIDENCE’
In May 2018, when the Milan trial was on, Adoke alleged that the Italian prosecutors had hidden vital evidence from the court which would have exonerated him of alleged bribery in the transaction.
In June 2021, he also wrote a petition to the Italian minster of justice to complain about the prosecutors.
Adoke alleged that they deliberately concealed his failed N300 million mortgage transaction with Unity Bank from the Milan court just to create the impression that it was a bribe.
He also alleged that an email purportedly sent by him from the account of a property company mentioned in the OPL 245 payments was forged.
Adoke further alleged that a phone conversation was stage-managed to implicate him.
In it, somebody posing as Adoke was heard saying he knew the OPL 245 deal was “a presidential scam”.
Following a petition by Adoke, the Nigerian police quizzed and indicted Olanrewaju Suraju, chairman of HEDA, over allegations of forgery.
HEDA is the Nigerian partner of the international campaigners who helped the Italian prosecutors in the OPL 245 trial.
The Corner House, Re:Common and Global Witness worked with HEDA to generate global media publicity around the trial.
Suraju was charged to court by the federal government over the forgery allegations.
The government later decided to terminate the case, reportedly because it was relying on the same disputed evidence in its civil claims against JP Morgan over the OPL 245 deal.
Suraju was then discharged but not acquitted by the Nigerian court.
Nigeria still lost the JP Morgan case as the commercial court in London ruled that there was no evidence of fraud in the OPL 245 deal.
Photo 2) De Pasquale and Spadaro face charges of professional misconduct and attempt to pervert justice
Photo 3) Suraju, an anti-corruption campaigner who worked closely with De Pasquale in the OPL 245 case, was charged to court by the Nigerian government for allegedly circulating doctored evidence against Adoke. The case was terminated before trial could start
Extra-Territorial Jusrisdiction and US corruption laws.
In many parts of the world the jurisdiction of a court is tied to a specific territory, but US courts often have jurisdiction in cases that involve Americans, even if the act was committed outside the United States.
1) A foreign company can be prosecuted if it gave bribes to a foreign government in order to win a contract or a license, because that bribe could have prevented an American company from winning that contract or license.
2) An American company can also be prosecuted if it gave bribes to officials of a foreign government.
3) And in a new law, officials of foreign governments can also be prosecuted if they received bribes from American companies or if they prevented American companies from winning contracts and licenses due to bribes that they received from competitors.
Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 is an oil block in the Niger Delta.
In 1998, during the Abacha era, the oil block was awarded to Malabo Oil. Malabo Oil is owned by Dan Etete, who was petroleum minister at the time. It is also believed that Malabo Oil was partly owned by Mohammed Abacha, son of General Sani Abacha, who was head of state at the time.
On July 2, 2001, former President Olusegun Obasanjo revoked Malabu’s licence and assigned the oil block to Shell — without a public bid.
Malabo Oil then sued Shell, the Government of Nigeria and other entities involved in the oil block. Ownership of the oil block reverted to Malabo Oil in 2006, after they reached an out of court settlement with the Federal Government.
Shell then instituted arbitration proceedings against the Federal Government.
It seemed like the crisis had been resolved during the Goodluck Jonathan era when Shell and Eni agreed to buy the oil block from Malabu for $1.1 billion. The two companies also paid $210 million as a signature bonus to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
However, activists claimed that the deal was fraught with corruption. They claimed that the $1.1 billion that Shell and Eni paid to Malabo Oil was actually destined for Nigerian officials. Basically, they claimed that Shell and Eni bribed Nigerian government officials to get the oil block.
The Buhari Administration filed several lawsuits against Shell and Eni in courts in Italy and the United Kingdom. The Italian justice system also prosecuted Eni, while the EFCC prosecuted Mohammed Bello Adoke, who was minister of justice in the Goodluck Jonathan administration. There were lots of testimonies, especially in the Italian cases, which suggested that President Goodluck Jonathan and Mohammed Adoke had received bribes. However, the government lost virtually all the cases.
President Bola Tinubu ordered that the remaining lawsuits should be withdrawn and an out of court settlement should be reached with Shell and Eni. He said that government had not received any money from OPL 245 for a very long time because of the court cases. He said that the Nigerian economy needed the revenue from that oil block. He said that government had spent a lot of money on lawsuits and lost most of the cases and therefore, it was better to reach an out of court settlement.
Meanwhile, it has just been revealed that the prosecutor in the Italian case hid some evidence from the court and he has been demoted by the Italian Government.
Members of the United States Congress have now asked the US Department of Justice to investigate the matter.
US lawmakers order investigation of Shell, Eni for allegedly bribing Nigeria’s ex-President Jonathan, others
The United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services has asked the Department of Justice, DOJ, to reopen the Foreign Corruption Practice Act into Shell and Eni’s 2011 purchase of the rights to Oil Prospecting Licence, OPL, 245, one of Nigeria’s most lucrative oilfields.
The lawmakers said evidence available implicated Shell and Eni for bribing some Nigerian government officials, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, to the tune of $1.1 billion.
According to the lawmakers: “Available evidence implicates both companies in a scheme that resulted in the payment of $1.1billion in bribes to Nigerian government officials, including then President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Shell and Eni, both registered with the US Security and Exchange Commission, continue to profit from the deal in violation of FCPA.”
Tinubu Resumes Office A Day After Returning From Foreign Trip
The President walked from his residence to his office accompanied by his security aides, his Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and other aides.
By Emperor Simon Updated May 9, 2024
President Bola Tinubu has officially resumed work at the Villa, a day after returning from his trip abroad.
The President walked from his residence to his office accompanied by his security aides, his Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and other aides.
President Tinubu traveled to the Netherlands on the 23rd of April at the invitation of the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. While in the Netherlands, he also met with the Nigerian-Dutch business community.
He proceeded to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the World Economic Forum (WEF) where he engaged global leaders with the view to winning more investors in Nigeria.
After the meeting in Saudi Arabia, President Tinubu was said to have proceeded to Europe on a private visit.
He returned to the country on Wednesday, after over two weeks of being away.
The governors of Kaduna and Plateau states, Uba Sani and Caleb Mutfwang paid a visit to the President on Thursday.
The reason for their visits could not be ascertained at the time of filing the report.
Sports / Re: Ibrahim Babangida Dies In Accident, Tijani Babangida & Wife Hospitalized by naptu2: 8:02pm On May 10
How many posts up there are from people that didn't even read the article and don't even know what the thread is about?