Rather convenient development for Aondoakaa and UMY ,


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article02//indexn2_html?pdate=070609&ptitle=Halliburton%20Probe:%20%20U.S.%20Defers%20Granting%20Nigeria%27s%20%20Request%20For%20Legal%20Assistance



Halliburton Probe: U.S. Defers Granting Nigeria's Request For Legal Assistance
From Laolu Akande New York)

THE United States government has refused releasing the information requested by the Federal Government in the $180m bribery scandal over the LNG projects facilitated by Halliburton.

This appears a clear and certain dampener to the anti-corruption clamour in Nigeria and a cold shoulder to the bid of the Yar'Adua administration to unveil the identities of top government officials implicated in the bribery scandal.

In a June 4 letter addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, the U.S. government said it had decided to "defer the execution of the request at this time."

Mary Ellen Warlow, a director in the U.S. Justice Department and Kyle D. Latimer, a U.S. Senior Trial Attorney, signed the letter.

Acknowledging Nigeria's request for assistance on the matter in a February 17 letter from Aondoakaa, the U.S. said the request made in conformity with the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which is currently in force between the U.S. and Nigeria, was received on April 11, 2009.

Observers, however, are still wondering why it took the U.S. two months to decide that it would not cooperate on the requested legal assistance.

But the U.S. government invoked a clause in the Treaty to refuse the Nigerian request. As stated in the U.S. government letter, "Article 111(3) of the Treaty provides, in part, 'If the Central Authority of the Requested State determines that execution of a request would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation or proceeding in that State, it may postpone execution.'

"The United States respectfully invokes this provision of the Treaty to defer execution of the request at this time. As the U.S. investigation continues, we will continue to review the matter to determine when your request may be executed without interfering in the U.S. investigation."

But in their legal opinion on the decision of the U.S. government, the U.S-based lawyers hired by the Federal Government to pursue the request with the U.S. government, called on the Nigeria to express "deep disappointment," over the refusal of the U.S. government.

According to Nigeria-born U.S-based lawyer, Kayode Oladele, who is leading the government's team in the U.S. over the matter, the action of the U.S. authorities could "undermine and emasculate the efforts of the government of Nigeria to prosecute its nationals involved in this crime."

Criticising the refusal of the American government, Oladele in his legal opinion to the Attorney-General of Nigeria, said the "U.S. official position does not address the wide implications of the grand scale corruption, which requires automatic harmonisation and immediate disclosure and exchange of information between the requesting and requested States as an effective means of prosecuting and combating the transnational crime."

Hammering away at what seems to be a curious decision of the Americans, Oladele disclosed that while the U.S. government was refusing to disclose the information needed in Nigeria to the Federal Government, "we understand that the U.S. government has just launched extradition proceedings against British lawyer, Jeffrey Tessler, a key figure in the international bribery scandal."

Many would want to refute the excuse of the U.S. government claiming ongoing investigations as grounds for refusing Nigeria's request for information.

According to Oladele, "besides the extradition proceedings, we are not aware of any other ongoing investigation of the case in the United States (even though, this does not suggest that there are no other ongoing investigations) which the execution of the request will impact."

He argued that, "in September 2008, KBR CEO, Jack Stanley, was found guilty of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and is facing up to seven years-incarceration while KBR was fined $570 million - the largest fine ever handed down to a U.S. company."

He raised critical queries, which the U.S. government's decision has apparently left unanswered namely: "What is left for the investigators in the U.S? What more to be done by the U.S. investigators after this haul?"

Oladele stressed: "Nigeria is the front and centre of this criminal enterprise and Nigerians want information and justice without delay. Hence, an overt deferment in the execution of the MLAT request through the laxities and loopholes in the Treaty will only help to defeat the end of justice and create a safe haven for Nigerian perpetrators of the crime."

By the decision, the U.S. is ignoring the fact that, "the issue is a pressing one for Nigeria because it has cast a cloud over at least three governments," he said.

He added: "Nigerians on the receiving end of the charges deserve the right to defend themselves and their reputations. Nigerian citizens also deserve to know how their national patrimony came to be misused.

"Time is, therefore, of the essence and the United States' position has failed to recognise this fact as being crucial to the effective implementation of the Treaty."

The Federal Government lawyers wondered that with the uncertainties of the U.S. decision, whether any money would be left to recuperate if time was allowed to lapse or whether effective punishment could be meted out.

According to them, "there is the issue of time. Assuming that the Department of Justice delivers the information to Nigeria in short order, the Nigerian end of the investigation will proceed fast to comb all the money trail that cut across the U.S., France, the UK, Gibraltar and Portugal and reveal the true identity (not some middlemen) of all the Nigerian participants."

However, they said that "with the current position of the U.S. government and with the uncertainties as to when it would conclude its investigation and execute the MLAT request and assuming the U.S. finally delivers, with luck, the criminal case in Nigeria may take form some time in 2011 or 2012."

"The question then becomes: Will there be any money left to recover by the time the case is concluded? How effective will the punishment be, if the case is concluded 15 years after the event?"

The lawyers submitted that "a better cooperation from the U.S. will, therefore, accelerate the process and help Nigeria in its anti-corruption efforts."

"A monumental transnational corruption such as this requires a good faith transnational intergovernmental cooperation and concerted efforts of all to curb," they said.

So do you sincerely think the USA would expose the corrupt people, knowing that the USA directly benefits from our corruption. Please get real.

The only people that can stop corruption is us Nigerians or Yorubas ourselves. All this nonsense about outside help is just nonsense. No western nation would ever do something that is not in their best interest.

No2Atheism:

So do you sincerely think the USA would expose the corrupt people, knowing that the USA directly benefits from our corruption. Please get real.

The only people that can stop corruption is us Nigerians or Yorubas ourselves. All this nonsense about outside help is just nonsense. No western nation would ever do something that is not in their best interest.

Spot on! Hence, why the shouts of the likes of Nuhu Ribadu will sound like 'noise' in the ears of the US congressmen!

Let's forget about the Halliburton case for a while. How can you be relying on a foreign nation to help sort out your corruption problem - if it is not in their interest. And by the way, what does the US have to gain from cooperating with Nigerian authorities.

If this government is really serious about this case (and I mean serious), they can undertake a thorough invesigation of LNG and the way contracts were handled in the last 15yrs. You don't need a US Justice Dept for that!

Anyway for the Halliburton scandal, it is 'game up'! Anondokaa 1 Anti-corruption 0!

LNG has been producing gas and getting paid for it, yet am yet to hear of a budget based on revenues from gas.
Mineral resources are being produced in nigeria and sold daily and yet am yet to hear about it in our budget as a source of revenue.

Infact, Niger Delta and Yoruba and Igbo people and other non-hausa people would be in deep trouble if Africom succeeds simply because the USA is already preparing to secure other countries resources on their behalfs despite that they were not invited to do so.

Hence USA would never, i repeat never expose any corruption that is not in their interest to do so.

99% of US congress and Senators people are corrupt so exactly however corrupt people supposed to help expose corruption.

Ribadu is either naive

or

Ribadu is part of the gimmic

or

Ribadu is actually sincere just wants to get the information out even though he knows that nothing would be done.

No2Atheism:

So do you sincerely think the USA would expose the corrupt people, knowing that the USA directly benefits from our corruption. Please get real.

The only people that can stop corruption is us Nigerians or Yorubas ourselves. All this nonsense about outside help is just nonsense. No western nation would ever do something that is not in their best interest.

The USA  severely punished Halliburton and it indicted employees. This is far more than Nigeria , the actual victim , has done. It stands to reason then that if the USA only wishes to benefit from its country's corrupt practice in our nation they would not be expending so much time and energy bringing Halliburton to book !!!! They should just pat the company on the back, sweep its deleterious activities under the carpet,  and wish it well for its Nigerian endeavours in the future !!!

Personally I think the USA is refusing to assist Nigeria because of fear that our irredeemably corrupt FG , typified by brazen defenders of corruption like Aondoakaa, will thwart the USA's own attempt to get to the bottom of the Halliburton saga. Why trust Aondoakaa with info when he is likely to work for corruption rather than against it?

Did the entire World not witness Aondoakaa part in the breakdown of the case against Ibori in London?

Are we not aware that many nations have now scaled back their donation to the EFCC because they believe it is now on the side of corruption?

The USA is not a saintly nation but on this occasion I think their action is more about not trusting prosecuting evidence with an overtly corrupt Government  rather than any idea that the USA is involved in a sinister cover-up.

It does not make sense that the USA has exposed the Americans involved yet they have  chosen to hide the identities of the Nigerians culprits for pecuniary reasons.

Gbawe:

[b]The USA  severely punished Halliburton and it indicted employees. [/b]This is far more than Nigeria , the actual victim , has done. It stands to reason then that if the USA only wishes to benefit from its country's corrupt practice in our nation they would not be expending so much time and energy bringing Halliburton to book !!!! They should just pat the company on the back, sweep its deleterious activities under the carpet,  and wish it well for its Nigerian endeavours in the future !!!

Personally I think the USA is refusing to assist Nigeria because of fear that our irredeemably corrupt FG , typified by brazen defenders of corruption like Aondoakaa, will thwart the USA's own attempt to get to the bottom of the Halliburton saga. Why trust Aondoakaa with info when he is likely to work for corruption rather than against it?

Did the entire World not witness Aondoakaa part in the breakdown of the case against Ibori in London?

Are we not aware that many nations have now scaled back their donation to the EFCC because they believe it is now on the side of corruption?

The USA is not a saintly nation but on this occasion I think their action is more about not trusting prosecuting evidence with a criminal rather than any idea that the USA is involved in a cover-up.

It does not make sense that the USA has exposed the Americans involved yet they have  chosen to cover the identities of the Nigerians involved for pecuniary reasons.

The only people that got punished are the small fish, the errand boys.

Cheney should be jailed for his role in Haliburton. Bush father and Bush junior should be jailed for their roles in some sleazy oil deals.

USA is involved in a cover-up pure and simple. The is something called plausible deniability. Providing evidence that would led to prosecution of Nigerians would result in the exposure of further involvement of other US players in the scandal. Hence it is in the interest of the power brokers in the US to let the sleeping dogs lie and let the nigerians get away with it so that further exposure due to court cases can be avoided.

USA is always looking out for number 1.

USA made political decisions because that is in the interest of united states not that they have already done enough. If USA stands to gain money and oil and whatever they would take action and release the information nigeria requested.

The reason they are not releasing any information is because the USA has nothing to gain but much to lose by releasing such an information.

Liberia was completely ignored during their war simply because it benefits the US nothing to get involved, same as this case of Nigerian corruption. It benefits USA nothing to get involved infact they and their companies stand to lose if corruption is eradicated from nigeria.

This talk of Nigerian Government asking for US assistant is a smokescreen. We CAN NOT be deceived. How do you want somebody outside the shores of this country to give you assistance in a crime that was perpetrated in this country, how much assistance did Nigeria give to US in the case and prosecution of its citizens and Halliburton? This is the most ludicurous thing I have ever heard. Silence of the populace doesn't mean stupidity.

microgiant:

This talk of Nigerian Government asking for US assistant is a smokescreen. We CAN NOT be deceived. How do you want somebody outside the shores of this country to give you assistance in a crime that was perpetrated in this country, how much assistance did Nigeria give to US in the case and prosecution of its citizens and Halliburton? This is the most ludicurous thing I have ever heard. Silence of the populace doesn't mean stupidity.

Which populace are u talking about - is it the docile one that are masters in area of suffering and smiling

No2Atheism:

The only people that got punished are the small fish, the errand boys.

Cheney should be jailed for his role in Haliburton. Bush father and Bush junior should be jailed for their roles in some sleazy oil deals.

USA is involved in a cover-up pure and simple. The is something called plausible deniability. Providing evidence that would led to prosecution of Nigerians would result in the exposure of further involvement of other US players in the scandal. Hence it is in the interest of the power brokers in the US to let the sleeping dogs lie and let the nigerians get away with it so that further exposure due to court cases can be avoided.

USA is always looking out for number 1.

USA made political decisions because that is in the interest of united states not that they have already done enough. If USA stands to gain money and oil and whatever they would take action and release the information nigeria requested.

The reason they are not releasing any information is because the USA has nothing to gain but much to lose by releasing such an information.

Liberia was completely ignored during their war simply because it benefits the US nothing to get involved, same as this case of Nigerian corruption. It benefits USA nothing to get involved infact they and their companies stand to lose if corruption is eradicated from nigeria.

I don't agree. Several court documents emanating from the USA have more or less made the names of the indicted Nigerians available in the public domain. This has been so for a long time.  Nigeria could have acted if our current Government is sincere about tackling corruption.

We all know about the USA's notorious hypocrisy over its interest so there is no need to belabour that point. With Halliburton , even as powerful players like Cheney remain untouched, it would be disjointed logic from the Americans that will ensure the scandal is lenghtened to this extent we now see , along with some of the sternest punishment in US History doled out to Halliburton,  when it would have been more effective to ensure the saga never saw the light of day if a cover-up was the objective.

On this occasion , rather than just dismiss the USA as self-serving , we must at least concede that strong evidence vindicate the USA's refusal to assist a Government that has shown it is likely to use confidential info in acting on behalf of corrupt men  rather than move against them.

What did Aondoakaa use the info he received against Ibori from the London Metropolitan Police for ?
He used it to get Ibori off in ways Johnnie Cochran would have been proud off !!!!!

Strong rumours abound that Obama decisively decided not to meet Yar Adua , when our president sent his emmisaries to seek an audience with the US President. Allegedly , Obama's camp felt that the current Nigerian Government  was grossly tolerant of corruption when Senator ( and former commuciations Minister) Jubril Aminu (indicted over the Siemens bribe scandal ) was part of the entourage that met Hilary Clinton !!! Yes we all know it is innocent till proven guilty but did Aminu have to be involved considering how he has gained a ludicrously soft landing over Siemens ?

We can accuse the USA of all sorts , and perhaps rightly so, but currently it will be difficult to get anyone to believe that , concerning Halliburton,  America's only motives in not assisting Nigeria with info is driven , 100% ,  by cover-up reasons given the assistance Nigeria had recieved Worldwide and not acted upon previously under Aondoakaa .

Any nation , at this point in time , would be mad to trust Nigeria with anti-corruption information especially if bringing more culprits to book is the objective of that nation.

Gbawe:

I don't agree. Several court documents emanating from the USA have more or less made the names of the indicted Nigerians available in the public domain. This has been so for a long time.  Nigeria could have acted if our current Government is sincere about tackling corruption.

We all know about the USA's notorious hypocrisy over its interest so there is no need to belabour that point. With Halliburton , even as powerful players like Cheney remain untouched, it would be disjointed logic from the Americans that will ensure the scandal is lenghtened to this extent we now see , along with some of the sternest punishment in US History doled out to Halliburton,  when it would have been more effective to ensure the saga never saw the light of day if a cover-up was the objective.

On this occasion , rather than just dismiss the USA as self-serving , we must at least concede that strong evidence vindicate the USA's refusal to assist a Government that has shown it is likely to use confidential info in acting on behalf of corrupt men  rather than move against them.

What did Aondoakaa use the info he received against Ibori from the London Metropolitan Police for ?
He used it to get Ibori off in ways Johnnie Cochran would have been proud off !!!!!

Strong rumours abound that Obama decisively decided not to meet Yar Adua , when our president sent his emmisaries to seek an audience with the US President. Allegedly , Obama's camp felt that the current Nigerian Government  was grossly tolerant of corruption when Senator ( and former commuciations Minister) Jubril Aminu (indicted over the Siemens bribe scandal ) was part of the entourage that met Hilary Clinton !!! Yes we all know it is innocent till proven guilty but did Aminu have to be involved considering how he has gained a ludicrously soft landing over Siemens ?

We can accuse the USA of all sorts , and perhaps rightly so, but currently it will be difficult to get anyone to believe that , concerning Halliburton,  America's only motives in not assisting Nigeria with info is driven , 100% ,  by cover-up reasons given the assistance Nigeria had recieved Worldwide and not acted upon previously under Aondoakaa .

Any nation , at this point in time , would be mad to trust Nigeria with anti-corruption information especially if bringing more culprits to book is the objective of that nation.

Please note that:

Because something is in the public domain does not mean it is a legal tender that can be used in a court of law.

- It is in the public domain that Cheney is linked to the corrupt dealings in Haliburton, however since their is no legal tender to that effect nothing can or would be done to prescute him.

- It is in the public domain that 911 had nothing to do with Iraq, yet Bush and Cheney created a legal tender linking Iraq and 911 so as to legally allow US invade Iraq.


-------------------------

Secondly,

The Corrupt Nigerian government was simply playing smart, for the simply reason that they new that the information in the public domain was not enough to use in the court of law and at the same time they were hoping that the US would never actually agree to release an official exchange of information between the two countries that would allow for prosecution in Nigeria. Thus as far as the courts are concerned in Nigeria, there is no evidence to prosecute the Nigerian officials irrespective of whether or not you have a billion sources in the public domain. The domain that matters in this case is the Official Inter-government Legal Domain.

Hence it does not take rocket scientist to note that the US is also deciding not to release the official legal information requested by Nigeria simply because it is not in their interest to do so, even though it is clear to every deaf and dumb person that releasing such an information was a Official US Court approved statement/evidence that is needed to prosecute the Nigerian officials named in the Haliburton scandal.

THE NIGERIAN GOVERMENT WAS JUST LOOKING FOR A LEGAL EXCUSE NOT TO PROSECUTE THE CORRUPT OFFICIALS AND THE USA CLEARLY AND WILLINGLY GAVE THEM THAT LEGAL EXCUSE, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE A MILLION INFORMATION IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN OR NOT.

, END OF STORY,

There is information all over the place that a major distributor of this bribe money, Jeffrey Tessler, is in Britain, why then is this country lazily pursuing America to give us names of the beneficiaries. Rather, we should have pursued  the extradiction of  this Tessler guy and through interrogation made him to name the beneficiaries and that would have given us a good lead n the case more so that we already know where and in whose account a large chunk of the money is lodged. If extradiction is impossible, then we should be able to seek the assistance of Britain in interrogating hm in the U.K.

No2Atheism:

Please note that:

Because something is in the public domain does not mean it is a legal tender that can be used in a court of law.

- It is in the public domain that Cheney is linked to the corrupt dealings in Haliburton, however since their is no legal tender to that effect nothing can or would be done to prescute him.

- It is in the public domain that 911 had nothing to do with Iraq, yet Bush and Cheney created a legal tender linking Iraq and 911 so as to legally allow US invade Iraq.


-------------------------

Secondly,

The Corrupt Nigerian government was simply playing smart, for the simply reason that they new that the information in the public domain was not enough to use in the court of law and at the same time they were hoping that the US would never actually agree to release an official exchange of information between the two countries that would allow for prosecution in Nigeria. Thus as far as the courts are concerned in Nigeria, there is no evidence to prosecute the Nigerian officials irrespective of whether or not you have a billion sources in the public domain. The domain that matters in this case is the Official Inter-government Legal Domain.

Hence it does not take rocket scientist to note that the US is also deciding not to release the official legal information requested by Nigeria simply because it is not in their interest to do so, even though it is clear to every deaf and dumb person that releasing such an information was a Official US Court approved statement/evidence that is needed to prosecute the Nigerian officials named in the Haliburton scandal.

THE NIGERIAN GOVERMENT WAS JUST LOOKING FOR A LEGAL EXCUSE NOT TO PROSECUTE THE CORRUPT OFFICIALS AND THE USA CLEARLY AND WILLINGLY GAVE THEM THAT LEGAL EXCUSE, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE A MILLION INFORMATION IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN OR NOT.

, END OF STORY,

The 'big guys' (like Cheney) are always notoriously difficult to go after where any type of crime is involved . Drugs, fraud, human trafficking, racketeering,  you name it !!!

The bottom line is that America can morally argue that it is on course to snare the 'big guys' because of how it has severely sanctioned Halliburton along with successfully prosecuting and punishing the Americans involved. At this point America could even legitimately argue that it is it's attempt to bring the Halliburton 'big guys' to book that is preventing it from sharing information with a Government that is associated with openly aiding and abetting corruption !!

What would be the defense of the rape victim (Nigeria) against the current scenario that makes the World wonder why our nation is not keen to bring the rapists to book?

Whichever way we look at the Halliburton issue , and given what has trancended to date ,  we cannot say the Americans are covering up anything considering what they have done already . Inversely we can say authoritatively that America is justified in refusing to share info with the corrupt officials of a corrupt Government that is uninterested in accosting corruption and likely to use info malevolently in making itself a stumbling block against the prosecution of corrupt men and women.

Don't be surprised if America release such information and Nigeria use the information to go after the already prosecuted Americans and asking for reparations. Don't put anything beyond this our so called leaders. A lawyer who cannot prosecute in a glaring case like this but asking for material from another prosecutor. It's a pity

microgiant:

Don't be surprised if America release such information and Nigeria use the information to go after the already prosecuted Americans and asking for reparations. Don't put anything beyond this our so called leaders. A lawyer who cannot prosecute in a glaring case like this but asking for material from another prosecutor. It's a pity

Actually, Nigeria is already working on that. I think that started back in April!! lol

microgiant:

Don't be surprised if America release such information and Nigeria use the information to go after the already prosecuted Americans and asking for reparations.  Don't put anything beyond this our so called leaders.  A lawyer who cannot prosecute in a glaring case like this but asking for material from another prosecutor.  It's a pity  

God bless you for reminding me !!!! I remember our disgraceful AGF making foolish noise about his intentions of seeking billions in compensation from Halliburton , Siemens, Wilbros and co !!! Now he realises how silly he sounded after prominent Nigerians rounded on him for putting the "cart before the Horse" with how he was seeking monetary compensation without understanding that the need to bring Nigerian culprits to book is paramount above all other considerations !!!!

Much like Akunyili's ill-fated attempt to "rebrand" a rancid toilet with air freshener spray instead of intensive clean-up  !!!

Why on Earth should the USA share info with our AGF who , instead of acting like our number one law officer , behaves as if he is the unofficial Minister of Corruption ?

nigerians need ti wake up to the reality that this Yaradiua's so-called corruption fight is nothing but a fluke, after dem don connive finish dem go come tell una story,

folks just be careful what you consume

Nigerian journalists don't research very well . . . . some of them may not even bother to get a reaction from US embassy

all it requires for this news to make headlines is for Mike Okiro or Mike Aondoakaa to get one of their very juniour staff to call these newspapers and say to them the Americans are not helping and demand that their name should not be in print.

Bang!!! it will make headlines

I personally think this is part of the plot by the Nigerian Government to get those involved off the hook.

Meanwhile some good news has finally come Gabon's way, their short President OMAR BONGO is dead!!!!!!

mikeansy:

folks just be careful what you consume

Nigerian journalists don't research very well . . . . some of them may not even bother to get a reaction from US embassy

I think most Nigerians already understand that they must be wary of Nigerian news reportage but the section quoted below makes it highly likely that this particular report is factual.

In a June 4 letter addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, the U.S. government said it had decided to "defer the execution of the request at this time."

Mary Ellen Warlow, a director in the U.S. Justice Department and Kyle D. Latimer, a U.S. Senior Trial Attorney, signed the letter.

Acknowledging Nigeria's request for assistance on the matter in a February 17 letter from Aondoakaa, the U.S. said the request made in conformity with the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which is currently in force between the U.S. and Nigeria, was received on April 11, 2009.

I don't know why we are wasting time on this issue. I know for one that Aondoaka and Okiro will never release the names of people ivolved talkless of prosecuting them. Whaqt happened to those involved in the Siemens bribe scandal? What happened to Siemens themselves? Im sure Siemens bribed their way out of that problem (ironic?) and all Okiro and co are doing is to look for ways of collecting bribes again, lol

I am not trying to tag the US as a saint country but to be honest, Im glad they did not release relevant information. Can't you all see the way the AGF has frustrated the British police efforts on the Ibori case in London? Right now, they are seeking to extradite Ibori's mistress, the only witness remaining in the case back to Nigeria all in the name of attending a court trial here. It's so unfortunate.

Gbawe:

I think most Nigerians already understand that they must be wary of Nigerian news reportage but the section quoted below makes it highly likely that this particular report is factual.

Oh come on!!! Have you at least bothered to do some research online into the story? As of 9 am june 8th, it is still the case that this news is only carried by the Nigerian media and there does not seem to be any record elsewhere online on the existence of this letter. The portion of the article you point to proves nothing and could have easily be put together for the gullible out there.

I would wait to actually get more information on what really transpired before jumping to accept this as fact.

Discerning observers will see this as another red-herring thrown up by the Nigerian Government as an excuse for their apathy towards the prosecution of these guilty Nigerians.

Kobojunkie:


Oh come on!!! Have you at least bothered to do some research online into the story? As of 9 am june 8th, it is still the case that this news is only carried by the Nigerian media and there does not seem to be any record elsewhere online on the existence of this letter. The portion of the article you point to proves nothing and could have easily be put together for the gullible out there.

I would wait to actually get more information on what really transpired before jumping to accept this as fact.

I am not an investigative journalist. I read news put out there and , on an informal blogging website such as this , discuss the ramifications of such news especially if , within reason, the news makes logical sense. Everyone is allowed to be skeptical and cynical but others should be allowed to be speculative also.

The way I see it there are two possible outlook one can take:
(1) this report is true until proven otherwise
(2) this report is false until proven otherwise.

Those who think it is No 1 can discuss their thoughts and those who think it is No 2 can tolerantly avoid this thread . That way no harm done and no need to stifle harmless discussion .

Halliburton Bribery Scandal: The Real Reason US Department of Justice rebuffed Yar'adua
Monday, 08 June 2009 13:04 Saharareporters, New York E-mail | Print | PDF
Yar'adua's AGF Michael Aondoakaa notorious for extortion
The letter from the US Justice department, denying the Nigerian government access to needed evidence regarding Nigerians involved in the Halliburton bribe scandal, validates Saharareporters reports that the Nigerian Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa never met with officials of that department when he visited Washington DC, contrary to claims he made in the media that he had a “good meeting” with US officials.

Saharareporters learnt the decision to deny Yar’Adua was based on recent reports that the committee he put together was shaking down persons involved in the scam. The committee is led by the outgoing-Inspector General of police, Mike Okiro.

A case in point is Ibrahim Aliyu, the Nigerian said to be in possession of the $180 million that was reported to have been frozen in Switzerland. Aliyu, who was the front for former head of state Abdusallam Abubakar in the Halliburton bribe scheme was detained for a long period of time because he said that he was unable to share the $180 million with committee members, especially the AGF, Aondoakaa.

Aliyu is reported to have said he couldn’t part with money he did not have. He reportedly told the Okiro panel that some of his personal funds were also frozen in the action taken against his account in Switzerland.

The US authorities, learning of the shake-down of Aliyu and several others facing the Okiro panel, then decided that the Nigerian authorities were not seriously interested in prosecuting Halliburton bribe suspects. A Justice Department official told Saharareporters that no serious government agency takes the current Nigerian leaders seriously on issues of corruption.
US Justice Dept letter of rejection


http://saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2945:halliburton-bribery-scandal-the-real-reason-us-department-of-justice-rebuffed-yaradua&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

Kobojunkie:


, and there does not seem to be any record elsewhere online on the existence of this letter.  

There is and it is here:

http://saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2945:halliburton-bribery-scandal-the-real-reason-us-department-of-justice-rebuffed-yaradua&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18


Are we now permitted to discuss?  


Like I argued all along : 

The US authorities, learning of the shake-down of Aliyu and several others facing the Okiro panel, then decided that the Nigerian authorities were not seriously interested in prosecuting Halliburton bribe suspects.  A Justice Department official told Saharareporters that no serious government agency takes the current Nigerian leaders seriously on issues of corruption.

It is clear the USA is telling Aondoakaa and UMY "abeg carry your wahala go "

You can never tell whether people are just gullible or whether they are trying to defend lies.

People just have to be careful what they accept from the Nigerian media.

For God sake Aondoakaa sen't a letter to London Met Police with the aim to free an Ibori who looted Delta State money and stashed it in UK, why anybody expects the same man to expose those who recieved bribe from foreign companies beggars belief.

I personally initiated a countdown to 8weeks just to embarrass the government when the issue started, but I certainly knew they will at some point throw spanner in the works.

I think people should look out closely what Aondoakaa's real intentions are, from the items requested by the AGF to the US Justice department. I think probably item 4 mentioned repatriation of any further monies involved in the case. People should check if that is bro Mike's real target.

He wants to re-loot the remaining money ceased in the process.

mikeansy:



For God sake Aondoakaa sen't a letter to London Met Police with the aim to free an Ibori who looted Delta State money and stashed it in UK, why anybody expects the same man to expose those who recieved bribe from foreign companies beggars belief.

Indeed. Aondoakaa's 'modus operandi' and 'mission' is obvious to the Americans. This is why they don't want to have anything to do with his dirty and decietful game. If you hang out with Pigs you will get mud on you

I think people should look out closely what Aondoakaa's real intentions are, from the items requested by the AGF to the US Justice department. I think probably item 4 mentioned repatriation of any further monies involved in the case. People should check if that is bro Mike's real target.

He wants to re-loot the remaining money ceased in the process.

Bro , Aondoakaa grubbiness is obvious to everyone including the intelligence agencies of most nations of the World . Right now Aondoakaa must surely be the sleaziest AGF in the entire World;

Saharareporters learnt the decision to deny Yar’Adua was based on recent reports that the committee he put together was shaking down persons involved in the scam. The committee is led by the outgoing-Inspector General of police, Mike Okiro.

A case in point is Ibrahim Aliyu, the Nigerian said to be in possession of the $180 million that was reported to have been frozen in Switzerland. Aliyu, who was the front for former head of state Abdusallam Abubakar in the Halliburton bribe scheme was detained for a long period of time because he said that he was unable to share the $180 million with committee members, especially the AGF, Aondoakaa.

Gbawe:

There is and it is here:

http://saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2945:halliburton-bribery-scandal-the-real-reason-us-department-of-justice-rebuffed-yaradua&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

Are we now permitted to discuss? 

Like I argued all along : 

It is clear the USA is telling Aondoakaa and UMY "abeg carry your wahala go "

But Gbawe, is Saharareport not another Nigerian source?  You can definitely discuss it if you want to, just wondering how come no other media house outside of Nigeria seems to have this up. I am not saying no such letter ever came but the article above seems to have SPINNED this all to make it seem the US, for no real reason decided to deny Nigeria information. I would expect people to want to learn the real reason why such would happen as it is unlike the US to provide reasons in cases like this.

Kobojunkie:

But Gbawe, is Saharareport not another Nigerian source? 

Indeed it is but Saharareporters have shown us a copy of the letter forwarded to our AGF by the US authorities. Given Saharareporters decent accuracy of late I prefer to accept the copy of the letter they have supplied as genuine and authentically obtained.

You can definitely discuss it if you want to, just wondering how come no other media house outside of Nigeria seems to have this up.

I think you will find that it is because this news is hardly of interest to anyone besides Nigerians. American media is notoriously focused almost entirely on American news alone , to the extent it sometimes fail to cover important events in important nations of the World, so it is hardly a surprise this is not covered.

I am not saying no such letter ever came but the article above seems to have SPINNED this all to make it seem the US, for no real reason decided to deny Nigeria information. I would expect people to want to learn the real reason why such would happen as it is unlike the US to provide reasons in cases like this.

On thorough perusal it will be noted that the article makes it clear that the USA refused to give Nigeria the required info because of its ongoing investigations. This is a subtle way of informing Aondoakaa and Yar Adua that , while they are jokers, America is serious about its own investigation enough to not want to share info with those who will use any such info to aid and abet corruption. I think the USA don't want to be part of any decietful charade. The UK is still smarting from how Aondoakaa , and by extension our FG , humiliated the London Met Police when they tried to help us nail Ibori .

the U.S. government invoked a clause in the Treaty to refuse the Nigerian request. As stated in the U.S. government letter, "Article 111(3) of the Treaty provides, in part, 'If the Central Authority of the Requested State determines that execution of a request would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation or proceeding in that State, it may postpone execution.'

"The United States respectfully invokes this provision of the Treaty to defer execution of the request at this time. As the U.S. investigation continues, we will continue to review the matter to determine when your request may be executed without interfering in the U.S. investigation."

Like I stated to No2Atheism we can insinuate what we want about America's motives but if we look truthfully at what has happened so far (the USA's efficient actions compared to Nigeria's feet dragging) logically we are left to conclude nothing other than that the USA are just refusing to share info with those who have actually been witnessed using important anti-corruption information to assist their corrupt pals and probably shake down indicted individuals !!!

No2Atheism:

So do you sincerely think the USA would expose the corrupt people, knowing that the USA directly benefits from our corruption. Please get real.

The only people that can stop corruption is us Nigerians or Yorubas ourselves. All this nonsense about outside help is just nonsense. No western nation would ever do something that is not in their best interest.

Gbam!

blackspade:

Gbam!

It is usually not good to answer a question with another one. The USA , over Halliburton, have 'answered' some questions . We have pretended to not even understand the 'question' let alone seek answers. We are the victims here and I find it rich that we are actually accusing the USA of a cover-up when , if we logically inspect and focus on pertinent facts and occurences so far - perhaps to include Aondoakaa shameful conduct in the Ibori UK case  , we must hold up our hands and give the USA the benefit of the doubt in concluding that they are on solid ground if they state they are hesitant to share corruption info with a discredited AGF and Government that is notorious for accomodating and abetting corruption. A fair arbitrator , looking disspasionately at events so far , will certainly not buy the cover-up angle given our nations shameful conduct so far.

Gbawe:

Indeed it is but Saharareporters have shown us a copy of the letter forwarded to our AGF by the US authorities. Given Saharareporters decent accuracy of late I prefer to accept the copy of the letter they have supplied as genuine and authentically obtained.

Oops!! I forgot to scroll down.

Are my eyes deceiving me? I read the start post last night, and I could have sworn the article has changed since last night. Any who, if not, @Poster, I apologize cause it seems I missed a couple of paragraphs in there.

Gbawe:

I think you will find that it is because this news is hardly of interest to anyone besides Nigerians. American media is notoriously focused almost entirely on American news alone , to the extent it sometimes fail to cover important events in important nations of the World, so it is hardly a surprise this is not covered.

I can tell you now that you are wrong about that. Halliburton happens to be serious business here. There are some people who believe Cheney (ex-vice president) is linked to it all and they want his head. So, please loose the CONSPIRACY yap on this one.
In the last couple of weeks alone, there have been shots of this all over the news and even the media.

Gbawe:

On thorough perusal it will be noted that the article makes it clear that the USA refused to give Nigeria the required info because of its ongoing investigations.

See what I mean (_{I could almost swear that part of the article was not in there last night when I read it})! Apparently, a valid reason was given.

Gbawe:



Like I stated to No2Atheism we can insinuate what we want about America's motives but if we look truthfully at what has happened so far (the USA's efficient actions compared to Nigeria's feet dragging) logically we are left to conclude nothing other than that the USA are just refusing to share info with those who have actually been witnessed using important anti-corruption information to assist their corrupt pals and probably shake down indicted individuals !!!

If not for the US connection, I doubt this case would have seen light of day. Only a couple of months ago, Nigeria was trying to get money from Halliburton, trying to play victim in all of this.

Kobojunkie:



[b]I can tell you now that you are wrong about that. Halliburton happens to be serious business here. [/b]There are some people who believe Cheney (ex-vice president) is linked to it all and they want his head. So, please loose the CONSPIRACY yap on this one.
In the last couple of weeks alone, there have been shots of this all over the news and even the media.

I agree ,  but only in so far as it is American involvement that is under discussion. This would bear out the belief that America is only bothered with the part of the news that partains to her. Denying Nigeria Halliburton information will not be news in America because , currently , we are seen as an impediment best ignored. The less spoken about Nigeria , under its current Government , the better !!!! With Cheney , like I stated before, America can argue that they are still on course to land the "big fish". What is our own excuse when instead of investigating the names mentioned our nation has rewarded most of them with more opportunities to carry on looting ?

If not for the US connection, I doubt this case would have seen light of day. Only a couple of months ago, Nigeria was trying to get money from Halliburton, trying to play victim in all of this.

Thank you !!! This is why I have stated that it is a tad ingenuous for any Nigerian to hint that the USA is now involved in a cover-up when they have been doing all the gritty work so far while our nations has been dancing around evasively like a Champion Boxer . We have not earned the right to accuse the USA of anything . If they say they cannot share info with Aondoakaa because of ongoing investigations , on the balance of probability and occurences so far , we have to agree. The deceptiveness of the USA is not relevant in this case because they have made efforts the entire World can see and praise while the 'victim' nation remains totally disinterested in seeing her assailants punished.