The fund, they said, would be used for training for community policing, renovation of barracks and other equipment .

Accusations have been made to the person of Chief Kenny Martins who is a brother in -law to obj.

Some of the misappropriations being heaped on Martins by Enwulum include

* N8billion collected from the 776 local governments in the country.
* Foreign loans to the tune of $150 million
* Oceanic Bank guarantee to the tune of N150
* Generating N250 000 daily from sales of tickets printed by Chisco Motors
* Sacking the appointed auditors, Dafinone and Co and bringing a new auditing firm to cover tracks.
* Spending approximately N13billion on cars ranging from luxury BMW cars and jeeps, Mercedes jeeps and Toyota Camry cars purchased from Coscharis Motors. While the true cost of such cars is put at N4m, the price was reportedly inflated to N13m each and many bought were used for the elections.
* Distribution of cars to government and security agencies like the EFCC, the Army, which constitutes a diversion from the original police that the fund was meant for.

All these irregularities and fraud led Integrity International Nigeria of 5B Johnson Street in Maitama, Abuja to investigate the allegations made by Enwulum and they found out, in a petition to President Umaru Yar Adua on the 29th of October 1007, that,


* Sums ranging from N50million to N100million has been paid by each of the 25 banks
* N10b paid by the Federal Ministry of Finance shortly before the demise of the last administration
* N7.7billion paid by 776 local governments
* $500 donated by governments of Chinese and their organisations, etc.

The fraud they found out was the renaming of the Police Equipment Fund to Police Equipment Foundation and the diversion of the N50billion to Kenny Martins pet project, the purchase of two vessels by Kenny Martins from the funds, inflation to the tune of N13billion on the purchase of about 1000 cars without due process, embezzlement of N202.5Million by Kenny Martins and E.I Dumujie on a dinner held on Monday, 28th August at City Mall, Onikan Lagos when the actual cost was N2.6million. The said money was paid by Spring Bank (N45m); Intercontinental Bank (N12.15m); ETB (N5m); Oceanic Bank (N20m); Zenith Bank (N50m); Wema Bank (N20m); First Inland Bank

(N45); First City Monument Bank (N5m); Sponsoring of Bash Ali Boxing fight in Planet One hotel as well as the extravagant spending of money by Kenny Martins during his son’s wedding. All they called for was an investigation.

With a Foundation that has the powerful Sultan of Sokoto on its board, the matter was almost killed in the floor of the House of Representatives when it was brought into the lower house. Attempts by some members to kill the issue failed as hearing on the matter has been slated to begin on 13th of February 2008.

The federal Lawmakers are poised to dig into the matter and ascertain the alleged fraud at the fund and those behind it.

Unlike so many other posts I have seen on this site and in many of the news papers, I have to say this is by far the best when it comes to actually providing details on the source of the money involved. When I first saw the "Naira 50 Billion" in the topic, I thought this was going to be another of those situations where a large amount of money is thrown around but no actual detail on how the report came about that number but poster, I have to say you picked a good article for your post. By the way, what is the source of this information please

nigeria we hail thee
our one and only land
though style and method may differ
4I9 all the same. . . . . . . . . . them de try

I agree with Kobojunkie
Reading this post was refreshing. It was well detailed.

@Kobojunkie, u can find it in the newspaper.

Now with that being said:

WHAT

They even sacked the auditors. Why didn't the auditors report that? If they did, it could have led to investigation. That was bad ethics on the auditors' part

Corrupt is not the correct adjective. Evil aptly describes it.

The most deplorable level of evil. . .

The other side:

PEF denies misappropriating N50bn
By Mudiaga Affe
Published: Thursday, 7 Feb 2008
The Police Equipment Foundation Fund on Wednesday denied recent reports that it misappropriated N50bn that was claimed to have been raised by it.

Although the foundation did not mention the funds it had gathered since inception, it said that it had judiciously utilised the funds it raised.

At a press briefing in Lagos, the solicitor to PEF, Dr. Olatunji Abayomi, said that the foundation did not and had not sustained the loss of any N50bn, but that funds raised by the foundation were used to purchase vehicles for security agencies.

He also denied insinuations that vehicles were bought for any president of the country, either past or present.

He said, “No BMW vehicle was attempted to be donated or donated to any president, past or present or their organisations by whatever name called. Neither did the Fund purchase used-vehicles from any seller.”

According to him, the use of money cannot be termed losses as it was contributed by individuals and government agencies for specific purposes and utilised as appropriated.

Abayomi, who was specifically responding to allegations raised by a Lagos lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, also denied the purchase of two helicopters by the Fund.

He noted that a Ukraine firm already had two helicopters in the country earmarked for sale, adding that the foundation wanted to explore the opportunity to purchase them for the Nigerian Police Force.

He also denied claims that the helicopters were bought for the Federal Government or the police, adding that no money was paid to purchase it.

“No Ukraine helicopters were ever purchased by the Fund or returned after payment,” he said.

Abayomi added that PEF never at any time received grants from the Federal Ministry of Finance and Exim Bank.

When asked if the change of name from Presidential Committee on Police Equipment Funds to Police Equipment Foundation was not an attempt to personalise and siphon public funds by some group of persons, Abayomi explained that the PCPEF was a public-private body that lived while it was possible and was never a government idea.

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2008020623514612

Who is telling the truth?

The source you sited there does not contain the same information that the poster has up there @Oldie,  or are you posting another one @Poster, I would appreciate it if you added source please. I'd like to know what news paper actually posted such an article.

The allegations posted by the poster have been in the news for over 2 months
My post is the response of the PEF to those allegations.
I'll try fo find the link

oh, I didn't realize it was old but I love the way the article provides detail.

The real gist of the allegations:
http://www.tellng.com/news/articles/071113-3/news/nation_saga.html

" In a petition to President Umaru Yar’Adua, dated August 9, 2007, Keyamo alleged that various sums of money collected by PEF had been misappropriated. The funds, he said, include N7.78 billion from the local government councils in the country, as well as banks, state governments, oil companies and government parastatals. The list of allegations also includes misappropriation of loans obtained from foreign sources, as well as trading on cars with motor companies like Elizade Motors, Glove Motors and Coscharis Motors. This, he said, was contrary to the PEF mandate which was only to source funds and hand over to the police-designated authorities after deducting an agreed percentage for running expenses. Martins is also required to account for the sale of tickets printed by Chisco Motors, expected to generate N250,000 daily.
The petitioner said an estimated 2,500 luxury vehicles were purchased from Coscharis Motors at an inflated cost of N13 billion. Some of these cars were alleged to be part of the ones used during the COJA games and not ideal as operational vehicles. A N50 million loan was said to have been obtained from First Inland Bank, Ikoyi, Lagos with a falsified form CO7, among others, prompting his call for an investigation into the activities of the foundation.
PEF is said to have derailed from its mandate by donating cars to other agencies of government like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy, among others, an act believed to be intended to compromise it. If indeed PEF is guilty of forgery and fraud, as alleged, would the security agencies be able to prosecute it?"

Nigerians continue to nurse the hope that the Nigeria Police Force, despite all its imperfections could be rescued and made to serve its constitutional purpose. To this end, there has developed, in recent times, a culture of private support for the funding and equipping of the police. People buy vehicles for police stations, communities and private sector organizations raise funds for the police sometimes out of their own volition, at other times, they are blackmailed to do so. The mobilization of private support for police funding is in itself a problem. It compromises the integrity of the police. When persons and institutions that may be investigated later by the same police directly on their own fund the institution, could there not arise a conflict of interest? There are police stations in this country that are kept going on the fuel of private goodwill. This speaks to the failure of government to provide adequately for the police and to tackle the national security challenge more seriously.

But no other case demonstrates the dangers of private funding of the police than the scandal that has now been reported in relation to the Presidential Committee on Police Equipment Fund, which was set up by the Obasanjo administration in 2006. All the details are sordid. They point further to the abuse of power that characterized the Obasanjo administration. The Police Equipment Fund was a scam from the outset. Three persons: Godson Ewulum, Joseph Agharite and Ibrahim Dumuje reportedly had a brain wave about what could be done to help the Nigerian police so they drew up a proposal on a Police Equipment Fund.

But not knowing how to get this accepted by government, they turned to Kenny Martins, Obasanjo's former brother-in-law and a self-styled man of influence. Martins took over the matter, presented it to his in-law and pronto, a Presidential Committee Police Equipment Fund was set up. This scandal provides useful insight into how certain policies were introduced under President Obasanjo. It will be recalled that when an Austrian company M. Schneider wanted to win contracts in Nigeria, it had to enlist the participation of Dr Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, the President's daughter. And everything went well with their deal-making until there were disagreements over the ownership and control of the business.

The reason the police equipment scandal has also become public knowledge is because of disagreements among the original promoters of the idea: Godson Ewulum, Joseph Agharite, Ibrahim Dumuje, and Kenny Martins. Much of what is known has been thrown at the public by Godson Ewulum. He feels that his other colleagues, Dumuje and particularly Kenny Martins who used family influence to secure Presidential approval for the idea, have short-changed him in the management of the huge wealth at the disposal of the Police Equipment Fund. If Ewulum had been carried along and given his due, I doubt if he would have raised any alarm.

Soon after the Police Equipment Fund was established, local councils across the federation, 774 of them were forced by the Presidency to contribute 7.8 million each to the Fund and the money was deducted at source from the Federation Account, a completely illegal seizure of local council funds. State governments, companies and other institutions also contributed generously to the fund. In 2007, the Fund also took a loan of about $100 million from the US Exim-Bank and another N50 million loan from First Inland Bank. There were also donations from the Chinese government. Soon enough, the Police Equipment Fund had at its disposal a capital base of about N50 billion.

If this amount had been used to improve the welfare of Nigerian policemen, much could have been achieved. But then events moved swiftly. Kenny Martins allegedly turned himself into the main co-ordinator of the fund, Then in due course, he registered the Fund as a Non-Governmental Organisation and created a Police Equipment Foundation. This brazen diversion of the assets of the Presidential Committee on Police Equipment Fund is curious. Ewulum is asking for a probe of the management of the Fund, including where interests on monies kept in the banks are, and how the resources of the Fund have been disbursed. In the past few weeks, the public has been fed with utterly salacious details. According to one report, under the watch of Kenny Martins, N5 billion out of the police fund was spent on the purchase of luxury cars which were handed out as gifts to influential individuals and government agencies. The cars were bought at inflated price and without due process. Another hefty sum of N202.6 million was allegedly spent on a so-called pre-launch dinner. Members of the House of Representatives are angry. The House Committee on Public Petitions is conducting an inquiry into the management and conversion of the Fund.

President Yar'Adua should also take an interest in the matter. Long before Godson Ewulum went to the House of Representatives with his petition, other members of the original Presidential committee had also raised objections about how the Fund was being managed. The present Senate President, David Mark, then the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affiars was said to have complained. But his observations were ignored as were those of others, because we could safely assume, President Obasanjo was in power and his "untouchable" brother-in-law Kenny Martins was the one in charge of the Police Equipment Fund.

The Yar'Adua government must not abdicate its responsibility in ensuring that the N50 billion is accounted for. The individuals who collected car gifts from the Fund should be asked to return them with immediate effect. And this should include the Yar'Adua Campaign Organisation which received 15 cars from the Fund! Kenny Martins is the man at the centre of this storm. So far, his responses to all the allegations levelled against him have been at most contradictory and specious. He and his agents and collaborators should be talking to the police. The EFCC also has a job to do here. Those who donated to the Police Equipment Fund did so as an expression of Corporate Social Responsibility in the honest expectation that the Fund will be used for its advertised purpose. But now, what we are faced with is a case of "obtaining money under false pretence."

If former President Obasanjo wanted to help his brother-in-law he could have found some other appointment for him instead of allowing him to mismanage the Police Equipment Fund. The same Obasanjo had returned the gift of two BMW cars that were sent to him as his own share of the largesse. This means he knew something was wrong with the management of the fund, and yet he did not respond to all the petitions that asked for a probe. This scandal is yet another explosive and embarrassing revelation from the Obasanjo past.

Reading these stories, the average policeman must be seething with anger. What has been done is like stealing from the dead. Political and family connections have been used to defraud society. The security of the lives of over 140 million Nigerians has been compromised. Rather than buy guns and bullet-proof vests for policemen, they were busy buying luxury cars and throwing lavish dinners! The last time anyone checked, policemen were still complaining about being poorly equipped, being poorly paid and being treated unfairly by the state which nevertheless expects so much from them. Lives could have been saved if the N50 billion had been well-managed. This just shows how callous and wicked some Nigerians could be.

But apart from the investigation of the Police Equipment Fund, the appropriate authorities must also begin to ask questions and provide answers to the conundrum of how the police is perpetually cash-strapped. The police receives its due allocations to cover its expenditure. How is this disbursed? Is anyone diverting police resources? These are questions that should be answered. To reduce the Nigeria Police Force to an organisation perpetually living off charity is unconscionable. This is certainly not how to ensure the safety of lives and property in Nigeria.

@viviko

Very good read. but you must know that Obj cannot be seen to directly prosecute his brother inlaw. There is due process. We need a Change in appointing our leaders.

a fool-proof system will not allow this level of abuse of office, where a single entity (in this case mr. martins) is given sole authoritative signatory rights to institutional funds. it should NEVER be allowed except in extenuating circumstances.