Obasanjo, Atiku, Kupolokun Got $74m – Okiro Report

Mon Apr, 19 2010


By Daily Independent



Nigeria’s own internal inquiry shows that those who benefited from the Halliburton bribery scandal include former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the man who trumpeted an anti-corruption hurricane that swept away the jobs, the integrity, and the reputations of mainly his political opponents when he was the king in the Villa.

The first list of 80 beneficiaries compiled by American law enforcement agents was published exclusively by Daily Independent last Thursday.

Another report, an interim one by the Presidential Panel of Investigation headed by former Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, said Obasanjo; his former Deputy, Atiku Abubakar; and former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Directors, Gaius Obaseki and Funso Kupolokun; jointly got $74 million (N1.77 billion) from the slush fund.

The Okiro Report, obtained exclusively by Daily Independent at the weekend, was sent to President Umaru Yar’Adua in May last year.

It elongated the list of 80 persons, foreigners and Nigerians, alive and dead, among them four former Heads of State and two of their wives, as well as former Governors, and Ministers – indeed the highest reaches of the country’s political and military establishments, including technocrats – indicted by the United States law enforcement officials for partaking in the N27 billion bribe Halliburton gave to win juicy oil contracts in the Niger Delta.

Though the Okiro Report was submitted almost a year ago, it was never made public and is shrouded in secrecy, some say because of the caliber of Nigerians alleged to have been involved in the scandal.

Members of the panel included Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Farida Waziri; representatives of the National Security Adviser; State Security Service (SSS) Director General; and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director.

It was raised by Yar’Adua to, among others:

• Probe the scandal in the Bonny Liquefied Natural Gas project.

• Liaise with agencies within and outside Nigeria to disclose the names of those involved.

• Establish the extent of their involvement and the amount collected.

• Liaise with the Swiss authorities to trace and recover any money stashed in that country’s vault.

To do this, the report said the panel reviewed documents, such as court proceedings in the United States, and documents retrieved from key suspects and banks.

It also interrogated identified suspects, searched offices and homes of suspects, and interviewed persons linked to the saga.

The bribe was at the instance of Albert “Jack” Stanley, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton.

Stanely reportedly met Obasanjo’s predecessors, Sani Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar, for the same purpose.

The Okiro Report said the panel relied on Stanley’s depositions before the U.S. District Court in Houston, and documents provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It revealed that Obasanjo, Atiku, and Kupolokun, another former NNPC helmsman, Gaius Obaseki, received their own share of the bribe between 2001 and 2002.

Stanley, who has since been jailed seven years for the offence, according to the report, met Obasanjo and Obaseki in Abuja on November 11, 2001 to negotiate the bribe in respect of Trains four and five of the gas project.

The report disclosed that, “On December 20, Obaseki reportedly met with (Wojciech) Chodan and Stanley in London over lunch in furtherance of discussions. In March 2002, TSKJ won the Train 4 and 5 contracts for $3.6 billion.”

Obasanjo collected a minimum $4 million, according to the report.

Atiku’s link to the scam is said to be through his company, Intels Energy Limited, believed to have managed slush funds on behalf of Marubeni Corporation, a trading company with headquarters in Japan, which allegedly paid over $50 million to bribe low-level Nigerian Government officials.

In August 2002, Jeffrey Tesler, a British lawyer, said to have acted as intermediary with the Nigerian Government by Halliburton, reportedly wired $5 million into Intels’ account in Citibank in Port Harcourt, meant for a top government official.

The Okiro Report stated that $1 million of this amount, in $100 bills, was given to NNPC officials at NICON Hilton Hotel in a “pilot briefcase” for onward delivery to Bodunde Adeyanju, said to be Obasanjo’s former aide.

According to the report, the balance was delivered in the same manner and in bullion vans in Naira to Adeyanju.

“Reports suggest that Stanley met with Obasanjo and then (Obaseki) in Abuja on November 11, 2001 to negotiate pay-offs in respect of Trains 4 and 5.

“On December 20, 2001, Obaseki reportedly met with Chodan and Stanley in London over lunch in furtherance of discussions. In March 2002, TSKJ won the Trains 4 and 5 contracts for $3.6 billion.

“Allegations are that Obasanjo may have received a minimum of $4 million as pay-off.

“According to Tesler’s indictment papers, Obaseki’s meeting with him in London in 2001 served to negotiate pay-offs.

“In August 2002, Tesler is reported to have wired $5 million into the Citibank Nigeria account of Intels Energy Limited, Port-Harcourt, destined for a top government official.

“Reports suggest that $1 million in $100 bills was deposited with ‘the NNPC official’ at the NICON Hilton Hotel in a “pilot’s briefcase’ for onward delivery to Bodunde Adeyanju.

“The balance was delivered in the same manner and in bullion vans in Naira to the same Adeyanju, said to be one of the Special Assistants to Obasanjo.”

• More Stories on the Okiro Panel's report tomorrow.

Obasanjo
Kupolokun
Quite familiar names. No

Please someone with guts should be arrest, prosecute and jail all these 80 persons, foreigners and Nigerians

When will the long arms of the law catch up with these people?

a truth is, there's no-one with ballz big enough in this govt or the next that can/will hold the indicted persons responsible for their misdeeds. this is naija, a theatre of the absurd where accountability in governance is a visible anomaly!

God help us & save us from this travesty!

Please all forgive me, but why is Jonathan biased? I have not seen Ibori's name being mentioned here, but the energy invested in arrested Ibori is alarming, when half of that, can be used to catch all those mentioned in this scandal. They are all free still walking the streets of Nigeria, even some are aspiring to become President of this nation.

Is Jonathan realy selecting those to deal with? Time will tell.

has nothing to do with Nigeria not being "fair" thats how all countries are, some people are just above the Law- DEAL WITH IT.

In the US have they arrested Chenney? Bush? in the UK have they even thought of arresting Tony blair? helll NO

just part of things in international politics. . . . nothing new If America and the UK govts cant bring charges against Bush, Chenney, and Blair  how do you expect Nigerian Govt to even attempt to bring Obj to court? Lets be realistic

Even Hillary Clinton said Bush was rigged in and EVERY DEMOCRAT has said the Bush( and his father's) administrations were the most corrupt in American history.

But Barack Obama would not even think about bringing charges against the Bushes- Hes not stupid.

SO get used to it.

Hardtalk:

Please all forgive me, but why is Jonathan biased? I have not seen Ibori's name being mentioned here, but the energy invested in arresting Ibori is alarming, when half of that, can be used to catch all those mentioned in this scandal. They are all free still walking the streets of Nigeria, even some are aspiring to become President of this nation.

Thank you. This is essentially the point I made in my thread about the Ibori melodrama. I wonder why the majority of Nigerian masses allow themselves to be fooled and carried away by deceitful stratagems of government purporting to be waging a war on corruption. Any sensible person would wonder why the government deployed unprecedented resources and sensationalism in hunting down Ibori, but is turning a blind eye to 'saints' like Obj, Atiku and the rest. Who is fooling who? I can't be impressed by this cheap chicanery. It is absolutely ridiculous.

mekusxxx:

Obasanjo
Kupolokun
Quite familiar names. No

so you would rather believe the okiro report when the fbI investigation didnt mention obasanjo name.hypocrite like you

sjeezy8:

has nothing to do with Nigeria not being "fair" thats how all countries are, some people are just above the Law- DEAL WITH IT.

Why you no like to dey copy good thing?
Can't we for once in our lives set an example of how to do things properly?
Did Berlusconi  in Italy not go to court?

Have Blair and Bush been named as recipients of any bribes?

Please think before you type, the culture of impunity will end. Nobody is above the law or bigger than our country.

Hardtalk:

Please all forgive me, but why is Jonathan biased? I have not seen Ibori's name being mentioned here, but the energy invested in arrested Ibori is alarming, when half of that, can be used to catch all those mentioned in this scandal. They are all free still walking the streets of Nigeria, even some are aspiring to become President of this nation.

Is Jonathan realy selecting those to deal with? Time will tell.

pro01:

Thank you. This is essentially the point I made in my thread about the Ibori melodrama. I wonder why the majority of Nigerian masses allow themselves to be fooled and carried away by deceitful stratagems of government purporting to be waging a war on corruption. Any sensible person would wonder why the government deployed unprecedented resources and sensationalism in hunting down Ibori, but is turning a blind eye to 'saints' like Obj, Atiku and the rest. Who is fooling who? I can't be impressed by this cheap chicanery. It is absolutely ridiculous.

The irony of these posts. Some people would indeed do anything to bring up the Ibori issue. Is there no shame left in Nigeria anymore? Or is defending criminals now the in thing? Are catching Ibori and challenging OBJ mutually exclusive? Why not focus on trying to get the government to actually pursue the case, why bring Ibori into this thing? I genuinely have to ask, HAVE YOU NO SHAME? Is Ibori guilty or not? Ofcourse more resources would be expended on Ibori, he is afterall on the run after it sunk in that he didn't have a corrupt AGF stifling attempts at bringing him to justice anymore. Are we now going to let every thief and armed robber walk because OBJ has not been tried in court? The length at which some people would go to defend armed robbers really is indeed amusing.

It is my view that the current fight against corruption and the current strategy should be immediately stopped.

It achieves nothing but insult the sensibilities of Nigerians. Instead of being a tool for lifting people out of poverty fight against corruption has now become a tool for politics of who-is-up-and-who-is-down.

How did a Mike Okiro; who used police jet to release Ibori from Kaduna Prison, sent Ribadu to school in other to sack him from EFCC through the back door, criminally demoted and dismissed Ribadu from police thereby fulfilling Ibori's promise to Ribadu; find courage to indict OBJ?

This has nothing to do with corruption. Mike Okiro is not an anti-corruption fighter, he was simply doing the hatchet job of Yar'adua's men. This report was designed to influence 2011 politics in other to silence power brokers like OBJ and Atiku. It is no suprise that a report which got missing in Aso Rock has now surfaced on Saharareporters expecially now that Ibori is being held in Dubai.

I think the plot here is to cow Jonathan into acting in a certain way and weakening the Jonathan Presidency.

I honestly think for the sake of all of us we need a fresh start where all will agree to a new acceptable public office rules, procurement methods, clear ways to track money sent to states as Revenue and how they are used, a very transparent NNPC, possibly Nationalization of oil wells and privatisation of refineries (I really cant work out why we have privatised oil wells and Nationalized refirneries).

In exchange for all these all elites who have engaged in corruption since 1960 to date can be granted amnesty on the undertaking that they will repratiate all funds from proceeds of corruption to invest in Nigeria.

Our fight against corruption so far has been about the number of people arrested without necessarily changing the fortunes of Nigerians. Meanwhile our money looted by politicians are wasting in foreign banks.

SapeleGuy:

Why you no like to dey copy good thing?
Can't we for once in our lives set an example of how to do things properly?
Did Berlusconi  in Italy not go to court?

Have Blair and Bush been named as recipients of any bribes?

Please think before you type, the culture of impunity will end. Nobody is above the law or bigger than our country.

you should also use your own brain, Corruption isnt anything new and exist in every country meaning Nigerias own case is nothing special.

And YES!!!
Bush, Blair and Berlusconi have been accused and implicated in NUMBER OF corrupt offenses- everything under the SUN.
from bribing, prositution, crimes against humanity, etc. . .

Bushes charges are even more than IBB,atiku and Obj put together. The fact is people ARE above the Law which doesnt mean they are bigger than the country. It just means they serve a purpose in the equation of Global politics.

Obama sef is no different. as I said before he dare not bring charges against Bush, though everyone knows Bush and his father were corrupt.

There isnt and will never be a country with no corruption- its impossible so get used to it.

equal rights and justice please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

arrest, prosecute and imprisonthem. No one isabove the law.

~Bluetooth:

so you would rather believe the okiro report when the fbI investigation didnt mention obasanjo name.hypocrite like you

Let's see the FBI report. Is FBI now investigating from Nigeria?

Sometime in the past I had actually read something similar to these allegations in one of Nigeria's popular dailies.

Anyway, my parting words after reading most of the posts so far on this topic are :

1. There is no smoke without fire
2. Level past level; and
3. Tread softly

Sky Blue:

The irony of these posts. Some people would indeed do anything to bring up the Ibori issue. Is there no shame left in Nigeria anymore? Or is defending criminals now the in thing? Are catching Ibori and challenging OBJ mutually exclusive? Why not focus on trying to get the government to actually pursue the case, why bring Ibori into this thing? I genuinely have to ask, HAVE YOU NO SHAME? Is Ibori guilty or not? Ofcourse more resources would be expended on Ibori, he is afterall on the run after it sunk in that he didn't have a corrupt AGF stifling attempts at bringing him to justice anymore. Are we now going to let every thief and armed robber walk because OBJ has not been tried in court? The length at which some people would go to defend armed robbers really is indeed amusing.

I don't understand your views. To the best of my knowledge, NOBODY has said Ibori is innocent (and mind you, no court has yet found him guilty either), and nobody is defending him that he should not be arrested. Why do you people like making claims that have no basis? Why do you deliberately obfuscate issues just to buttress your dogmatic and subjective opinions? My points are very very very simple and straightforward:

1. Why deploy unprecedented maximum state resources and sensationalism to hunt down one "thief" and then turn a blind eye to the others (e.g. the Haliburton crooks)? What is the rationale behind this, considering that there are far too many crooks that have been ignored? Please explain.

2. If you say the maximum resources, sensationalism and the Interpol involvement were necessary because he purportedly resisted arrest and ran away, then what can you say about Nuhu Ribadu, Nasir El’ Rufai, and Erastus Akingbola? They all escaped from justice and ran overseas as fugitives . . .why did they not receive the Interpol treatment and all of the sensationalism attached to the Ibori case? Somebody should give me a sensible explanation.

3. I do not support corruption, and I want corrupt individuals to be punished to serve as deterrent to others. BUT, this war has to be fair and seen to be fair for it to succeed. If it is openly selective and dramatically politicised and prejudiced as it is in Nigeria today, then I cannot be impressed or fooled by the ridiculous deceit inherent in the so-called anti-corruption war. If this is how it would continue, then corruption would not be reduced in our life-time, mark my words! It is preposterous to say that one day it will be the turn of folks like IBB, OBJ and the rest; anyone that thinks that these people would ever be brought to justice under the present arrangement is a naïve day-dreamer. Only a revolutionary change in the socio-political order can bring about the sort of change that is badly needed. The current rickety, hypocritical, politicised and selective anti-corruption mirage would never ever work; at least not in our life-time.

That's the core of my argument.

~Bluetooth:

so you would rather believe the okiro report when the fbI investigation didnt mention obasanjo name.hypocrite like you

I wonder o.

mekusxxx:

Let's see the FBI report. Is FBI now investigating from Nigeria?

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-430866.0.html
http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os3196.html
http://saharareporters.com/reports/exclusive/5800-how-halliburton-bribed-top-80-nigerians-report-shows-ibb-abacha-shonekan-abubakar-and-scores-of-eminent-nigerians-took-halliburton-bribes.html

@OAMAJ
don't mind mekus.he's only concern about this report because obasanjo's name came up in it.

pro01:

I don't understand your views. To the best of my knowledge, NOBODY has said Ibori is innocent (and mind you, no court has yet found him guilty either), and nobody is defending him that he should not be arrested. Why do you people like making claims that have no basis? Why do you deliberately obfuscate issues just to buttress your dogmatic and subjective opinions? My points are very very very simple and straightforward:

1. Why deploy unprecedented maximum state resources and sensationalism to hunt down one "thief" and then turn a blind eye to the others (e.g. the Haliburton crooks)? What is the rationale behind this, considering that there are far too many crooks that have been ignored? Please explain.

2. If you say the maximum resources, sensationalism and the Interpol involvement were necessary because he purportedly resisted arrest and ran away, then what can you say about Nuhu Ribadu, Nasir El’ Rufai, and Erastus Akingbola? They all escaped from justice and ran overseas as fugitives . . .why did they not receive the Interpol treatment and all of the sensationalism attached to the Ibori case? Somebody should give me a sensible explanation.

3. I do not support corruption, and I want corrupt individuals to be punished to serve as deterrent to others. BUT, this war has to be fair and seen to be fair for it to succeed. If it is openly selective and dramatically politicised and prejudiced as it is in Nigeria today, then I cannot be impressed or fooled by the ridiculous deceit inherent in the so-called anti-corruption war. If this is how it would continue, then corruption would not be reduced in our life-time, mark my words! It is preposterous to say that one day it will be the turn of folks like IBB, OBJ and the rest; anyone that thinks that these people would ever be brought to justice under the present arrangement is a naïve day-dreamer. Only a revolutionary change in the socio-political order can bring about the sort of change that is badly needed. The current rickety, hypocritical, politicised and selective anti-corruption mirage would never ever work; at least not in our life-time.

That's the core of my argument.

This thread was about the Haliburton scandal, it was amusing how easily people were ready to bring Ibori into the equation, and then claim government is paying too much attention to Ibori when ordinary people seem to be the one doing so. If you want government to pursue OBJ and co then what has that got to do with government going after Ibori? Why make things unnecessarily complicated and then claim someone else is obfuscating issues? Was Ibori mentioned in the article? So who is being sensationalist here? Who is the one confusing issues? Why can't we just urge and push government to shine the spotlight on the haliburton issue? What really was the point of bringing in Ibori? Gosh! Armed robber is caught by police tomorrow and someone would bring in Ibori. Putting pressure on government to also focus on pursuing other cases does not mean less focus should be shone on Ibori. Ibori should be left to his fate, if he has nothing to hide he should be prepared to defend himself instead of waiting for another corrupt AGF to be in control before returning to Nigeria. Each case should be argued on its own merit.

Sky Blue:

This thread was about the Haliburton scandal, it was amusing how easily people were ready to bring Ibori into the equation, and then claim government is paying too much attention to Ibori when ordinary people seem to be the one doing so. If you want government to pursue OBJ and co then what has that got to do with government going after Ibori? Why make things unnecessarily complicated and then claim someone else is obfuscating issues? Was Ibori mentioned in the article? So who is being sensationalist here? Who is the one confusing issues? Why can't we just urge and push government to shine the spotlight on the haliburton issue? What really was the point of bringing in Ibori? Gosh! Armed robber is caught by police tomorrow and someone would bring in Ibori. Putting pressure on government to also focus on pursuing other cases does not mean less focus should be shone on Ibori. Ibori should be left to his fate, if he has nothing to hide he should be prepared to defend himself instead of waiting for another corrupt AGF to be in control before returning to Nigeria. Each case should be argued on its own merit.

Thank you.

But i doubt he will get your point. He opened a thread in defense of Ibori, https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-444610.0.html

We tried to educate him that inspite of the selective/incompetence approach to the issue of fighting corruption, Ibori does not worth defending, unfortunately he didn't get it.

Bluetooth:

And why do you disbelieve the Okiro report? Because your godfather OBJ was indicted? Bloody tribalist

^^^^^^

And these people call the Igbo tribalist. We do not support our corrupt people and we throw them away. But the other tribes do not do this.

So, why on earth are they after Ibori? Damn all of em. . . . . .

mekusxxx:
Obasanjo, Atiku, Kupolokun Got $74m – Okiro Report

Mon Apr, 19 2010


By Daily Independent



Nigeria’s own internal inquiry shows that those who benefited from the Halliburton bribery scandal include former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the man who trumpeted an anti-corruption hurricane that swept away the jobs, the integrity, and the reputations of mainly his political opponents when he was the king in the Villa.

The first list of 80 beneficiaries compiled by American law enforcement agents was published exclusively by Daily Independent last Thursday.

Another report, an interim one by the Presidential Panel of Investigation headed by former Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, said Obasanjo; his former Deputy, Atiku Abubakar; and former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Directors, Gaius Obaseki and Funso Kupolokun; jointly got $74 million (N1.77 billion) from the slush fund.

The Okiro Report, obtained exclusively by Daily Independent at the weekend, was sent to President Umaru Yar’Adua in May last year.

It elongated the list of 80 persons, foreigners and Nigerians, alive and dead, among them four former Heads of State and two of their wives, as well as former Governors, and Ministers – indeed the highest reaches of the country’s political and military establishments, including technocrats – indicted by the United States law enforcement officials for partaking in the N27 billion bribe Halliburton gave to win juicy oil contracts in the Niger Delta.

Though the Okiro Report was submitted almost a year ago, it was never made public and is shrouded in secrecy, some say because of the caliber of Nigerians alleged to have been involved in the scandal.

Members of the panel included Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Farida Waziri; representatives of the National Security Adviser; State Security Service (SSS) Director General; and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director.

It was raised by Yar’Adua to, among others:

• Probe the scandal in the Bonny Liquefied Natural Gas project.

• Liaise with agencies within and outside Nigeria to disclose the names of those involved.

• Establish the extent of their involvement and the amount collected.

• Liaise with the Swiss authorities to trace and recover any money stashed in that country’s vault.

To do this, the report said the panel reviewed documents, such as court proceedings in the United States, and documents retrieved from key suspects and banks.

It also interrogated identified suspects, searched offices and homes of suspects, and interviewed persons linked to the saga.

The bribe was at the instance of Albert “Jack” Stanley, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton.

Stanely reportedly met Obasanjo’s predecessors, Sani Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar, for the same purpose.

The Okiro Report said the panel relied on Stanley’s depositions before the U.S. District Court in Houston, and documents provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It revealed that Obasanjo, Atiku, and Kupolokun, another former NNPC helmsman, Gaius Obaseki, received their own share of the bribe between 2001 and 2002.

Stanley, who has since been jailed seven years for the offence, according to the report, met Obasanjo and Obaseki in Abuja on November 11, 2001 to negotiate the bribe in respect of Trains four and five of the gas project.

The report disclosed that, “On December 20, Obaseki reportedly met with (Wojciech) Chodan and Stanley in London over lunch in furtherance of discussions. In March 2002, TSKJ won the Train 4 and 5 contracts for $3.6 billion.”

Obasanjo collected a minimum $4 million, according to the report.

Atiku’s link to the scam is said to be through his company, Intels Energy Limited, believed to have managed slush funds on behalf of Marubeni Corporation, a trading company with headquarters in Japan, which allegedly paid over $50 million to bribe low-level Nigerian Government officials.

In August 2002, Jeffrey Tesler, a British lawyer, said to have acted as intermediary with the Nigerian Government by Halliburton, reportedly wired $5 million into Intels’ account in Citibank in Port Harcourt, meant for a top government official.

The Okiro Report stated that $1 million of this amount, in $100 bills, was given to NNPC officials at NICON Hilton Hotel in a “pilot briefcase” for onward delivery to Bodunde Adeyanju, said to be Obasanjo’s former aide.

According to the report, the balance was delivered in the same manner and in bullion vans in Naira to Adeyanju.

“Reports suggest that Stanley met with Obasanjo and then (Obaseki) in Abuja on November 11, 2001 to negotiate pay-offs in respect of Trains 4 and 5.

“On December 20, 2001, Obaseki reportedly met with Chodan and Stanley in London over lunch in furtherance of discussions. In March 2002, TSKJ won the Trains 4 and 5 contracts for $3.6 billion.

“Allegations are that Obasanjo may have received a minimum of $4 million as pay-off.

“According to Tesler’s indictment papers, Obaseki’s meeting with him in London in 2001 served to negotiate pay-offs.

“In August 2002, Tesler is reported to have wired $5 million into the Citibank Nigeria account of Intels Energy Limited, Port-Harcourt, destined for a top government official.

“Reports suggest that $1 million in $100 bills was deposited with ‘the NNPC official’ at the NICON Hilton Hotel in a “pilot’s briefcase’ for onward delivery to Bodunde Adeyanju.

“The balance was delivered in the same manner and in bullion vans in Naira to the same Adeyanju, said to be one of the Special Assistants to Obasanjo.”

• More Stories on the Okiro Panel's report tomorrow.

Scandalous scandal!