Aondoakaa Extorts N1.1 million from each departments of the Ministry of Justice for Press briefing

Last View on Tue 3rd June, 2008
Last Modified on Tue 03rd June, 2008 4:20:37 pm
Author: Posted by Admin Sahara
Saharareporters, New York
Click Here for a Copy of the Extortion Memo>>>

Michael Aondoakaa, Umar Yar'adua's attorney general and minister of justice, has been caught red-handed in an extortion scheme in the Ministry of Justice. Mr. Aondoakaa, who has established a reputation as an ally of corrupt serving and former governors and ministers, is apparently turning his eye towards his ministry’s funds.

Saharareporters is in possession of a document which reveals how the controversial minister compelled each department of his ministry to approve at least N1.1 million each towards his April 29 2008 press briefing.

The document is in the form of a memo dated April 22 2008 was signed by Mrs. Abimbola Coker, the Secretary of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission. Minuted to the commission’s department of finance, the memo indicated that Aondoakaa had in a meeting required that each department contribute to the ministerial press briefing slated for April 29 2008. The media briefing was meant to present the ministry’s activities.

A source within the Ministry of Justice told Saharareporters that Mr. Aondoakaa did not give any account of how the money was disbursed. The source also suggested that the minister may have levied various departments of his ministry according to the size of their budget, but we were not able to confirm that this was the case. However, we were able to obtain the approval granted by the Law Reform Commission.

An Abuja-based senior advocate of Nigeria reacted by stating that “The memo gives a glimpse into the corrupt ways of the minister and the double standards applied by Yar'adua to deal with corruption amongst members of his cabinet.”

The SAN also said: “I wonder why former Health Minister Professor Grange is being prosecuted when Mr. Aondoakaa has acted, and continues to act, in a more ethically improper manner both with regard to funds as well as his shameful effort to help people like [former Governor James] Ibori and [one-time Petroleum Minister] Dan Etete to evade prosecution abroad.”

Saharareporters has reliably gathered that Yar'adua personally instructed that the minister of health case be “given maximum escalation” because of the involvement of Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Several sources have told Saharareporters that Yar’adua was aware that several other ministries were involved in the embezzlement of unspent budgeted funds. For example, investigators reportedly found that the customs department also embezzled its unspent budgeted funds, but Yar'adua decided to let the culprits to go unpunished. Also, Yar’adua’s close friend and minister of agriculture, Mr. Abba Ruma, was said to have misappropriated unspent funds at his ministry. But when he was caught, he and Yar'adua worked out a scheme to fly him out to Germany on the ostensible ground that he was critically ill. Some of the stolen funds were then quietly recovered from Mr. Ruma and returned to the treasury to complete the cover up.

“Yar'adua's chief strategists worked hard on Iyabo's case because they needed a high profile case to boost their so-called anti-corruption war before western donor nations who were critical of Yar'adua’s removal of Nuhu Ribadu as chairman of the EFCC,” volunteered a source within the presidency.


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