PDP behind my trial –Tinubu
By UCHE USIM
Sunday, December 04, 2011




Former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday described his trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal as an attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to score cheap political point, even as he said it was a nullity.
Tinubu, who fielded questions from airport reporters, said the party through its machinery in government did not do a thorough job before attempting to embarrass him with the trial.

He urged the government to divert such frivolous energy to urgent national problems like hunger, which is ravaging the land, insisting that the huge cost of prosecution could be used for productive ends.
Tinubu, who spoke against the backdrop of his recent acquittal by the tribunal, commended the judiciary for upholding the rights of the defenceless, even as he challenged the PDP to provide proof of how he ran the accounts while in office, in terms of detailed transactions, the source of income and other vital information.

He challenged the party to consider the trial of other top government officials, who lived abroad and ran foreign accounts, but were invited home to serve the government. Tinubu said it was a great disservice to expect such people to close their accounts abroad, only because they wanted to serve their country. The ACN leader accused the PDP of twisting the Constitution to its own benefit by carrying out selective trial of opposition party members.

He said he was not disturbed by the harassment, which was politically motivated to embarrass him, his party and members of his family.“First, I give gratitude to God Almighty, my party for keeping faith, gratitude to my family for enduring the insults and persecution, particularly my young children; gratitude to my party as a whole, both local and foreign. Then, to my mother, the Oba of Lagos and major leaders who gave me encouragement.
“The trend has been on for over two years and I have always said that where there is justice, the person or an institution, who is accusing, must show proof. Here we are again, if there is a court of justice in this country, they have seen the lack of depth in what they have done.

“What they have done is to list accounts without balances, no transaction history, no source and application of operating and maintaining or maintaining and operating.“They have gone beyond the spirit of the Constitution to persecute because it even pays the government for people in Diaspora to live their accounts transparently and known to the public and if there is any transaction there, you show the history of transaction and you have treaty on money laundering.“Why can’t they initiate a prosecution from America? If they have evidence, they have a treaty with the American government on money laundering. Why can’t they initiate prosecution from there? Why can’t they initiate prosecution from the United Kingdom, at least, they have a treaty. They didn’t do that.”

Tinubu continued: “They didn’t disclose to you the details of the accounts. They listed 16 accounts, including those of my little children. One of them has a balance of three thousand pounds of pocket money in one of the accounts. Now, they forced the bank to close down that account. Another one, an 18-year-old accounts with 18 pounds balance, can that be why you will hire such number of Senior Advocates of Nigeria with huge amount to pursue what, and at the expense of the public. When there is hunger, what is happening to those lawyers in the Ministry of Justice.”

Ileke-IdI:

Beaf, have you seen this pix of Aregbesola?
I've yet to see any dotty remarks from you

The last appears not to have been heard on the operation of foreign accounts charges levelled against Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu while in office as Lagos State governor by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as Tinubu is threatening to seek redress.

The charges weer last week dismissed by the Code of Conduct Tribunal on the grounds that the charges lacked substance.

Tinubu, formally reacting to the acquittal, yesterday, said he would “seek further redress because of the injury caused by my reputation and inflicted on my businesses and family”.

In a statement by the national leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), he maintained that his anger lingered over the non-full disclosure of the alleged bank accounts and other details relating to the charges by the government in an effort to portray and falsely classify him as a money launderer and looter of public funds. “Where and when are the transactions in these accounts operated? What are the balances in each of these accounts? What is the ageing analysis of those balances and their sources if any?, Tinubu queried. “The government prosecutors and some of their political leaders in their media campaign listed these accounts and made spurious allegations making it seem as if I looted public funds and stashed it away in these accounts. Yet they have failed to provide evidence to prove these weighty, yet unfounded allegations, which shows clearly at the tribunal that this was a political persecution from the very beginning”, he said.

‘Political vendetta’

He went on: “The government and its lawyers in their handling of this case have revealed a crass lack of knowledge of financial rules at home and abroad thus, embarrassing me as a citizen, their own government and the country”. The ACN leader stated that wasting millions of public funds to prosecute a political vendetta is unjustifiable and failing to apply both the principle and doctrine of materiality; cost and benefit analysis in investigation and prosecution of the case questionable. “I feel ashamed that the government is using a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and a costly team of attorneys to prosecute this case, thereby demonstrating lack of policy direction to develop and train hundreds of lawyers in the Ministry of Justice and office of the public prosecutor. I dare ask, what is the aim of outsourcing a case like this to outside lawyers with huge professional bills?.

“The government equally failed to employ the FOI to disclose to Nigerians how much are in these accounts and how much the government was expending to prosecute.

“I am still in consultation with my attorneys on the next plan of action. The long time of media trial and political persecution have had toll on my businesses, my political reputation and constituted an infringement of my rights and that of my family as Nigerian citizens”.

It is only a wicked system that will list minors and portray them as looters for having in their accounts amounts in the hundreds meant for their upkeep and school runs”.

Tinubu believed that the battle for the salvation of Nigeria has just begun and he is willing and “ready to join hands with all like-minded people to move Nigeria forward as a land of democracy for justice and a secured democracy”.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/12/fall-out-of-trial-tinubu-threatens-to-sue-fg/

Relax101:

Every one knows Tinubu is a criminal and has every tendency to run down nigeria starting with Lagos state.
Where did He get the money for his airline and the the hotel at VI.
I mean he should stop talking like saint. He belongs to the group of Abacha.
Abacha self dey understandable because na military but Tinubu a killer, a drug baron and a fraud, naaaa.

Relax101:

Every one knows Tinubu is a criminal and has every tendency to run down nigeria starting with Lagos state.
Where did He get the money for his airline and the the hotel at VI.
I mean he should stop talking like saint. He belongs to the group of Abacha.
Abacha self dey understandable because na military but Tinubu a killer, a drug baron and a fraud, naaaa.

Corruption In High Places: How Jonathan’s SGF, Pius Anyim Stalled Investigation Of Corrupt NDDC Officials

By NewsAdmin on October 3, 2011

Street Journal’s investigations have revealed that investigations into the alleged fraudulent activities of the sacked board of the Niger Delta Development Commission have been stopped at the instance of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Pius Anyim.

in what may be termed as insincerity in the government’s war against corruption, findings revealed that the SGF has put a number of calls through to the anti-graft agencies and he has prevailed on them to stop the investigations into the activities of the Commission. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC has been investigating allegations of financial improprieties against the Board of the Commission long before it was sacked by the President. The results of the investigation may however not see the light of the day, no thanks to the intervention of the SGF.

Since the Board was inaugurated about two years ago, in-fighting has been one of its main characteristics thus leaving the nine states and 105 Local Government Areas covered by the Commission to suffer from the warped leadership of the Commission. [b]Most people in the oil producing states agree that the projects in their states are not commensurate with the money being injected into the NDDC. Where projects can be seen, they are substandard in most cases.

Within three months of the inauguration of the new Board of the NDDC, controversy came knocking as N 200 million was allegedly spent to renovate the office of Chibuzor Ugwoha, the Managing Director.  Since then, Ugwoha and the Governing Board have been at loggerheads. Not long after, the Managing Director, the Executive Director Finance and Administration, Power Aginighan; and Executive Director Project, Arch Esoetek Etteh were guests of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC over the irregularities surrounding the award of some contracts worth N61 billion naira by the Managing Director.

If the investigations are allowed to go on, the NDDC Board may also have questions to answer on the controversial transfer of funds belonging to the Commission into two UK based banks.
[/b]
Findings revealed that $20 million was transferred from Union Bank, UK to a current/deposit account in the First Bank UK. It was also found out that a forged copy of the Board’s resolution was utilized in opening the accounts.
It was also revealed that the action was carried out after belated mandatory approval of the Accountant- General of the Federation (AGF) as required by the NDDC Act and Section 701 of the Federal Government Financial Regulations.

Another question begging for an answer is “why was the approval of the Accountant General of the Federation to open the First Bank account obtained in December 2010 after the account had been opened in September 2010?”

Meanwhile, it is being said within the NDDC that “if $20m had to be withdrawn from Union Bank, because it was an ailing bank, why was the sum of $57m left in the same bank by the Commission?”

The Panel set up by the President to look into the issue has also made a startling revelation that no interest has been credited to the NDDC from September 2010, when the account was opened, to date. Besides, the panel established that the transfer of another $37m to First Bank UK offshore account bringing the total funds in the account to $57m.

To further damage the credibility of the members of the Board, it has been discovered that of over 500 contracts worth over N120bn, were awarded by the NDDC without budgetary provision, a clear negation of the Public Procurement Act.

Available records also show that since its inception over 10 years ago, the NDDC has received about N 561.918 billion out of its statutory allocations of N 104.9 trillion.

Though the reasons behind the Secretary to the Government of the Federation remains unknown, those who saw him as a saint in his days as Senate President might have a rethink when the matter eventually blows open.

Many still recall his issues with Senator Artrhur Nzeribe back in 2002, when the latter was suspended for allegedly defrauding the Senate of over N22 million. Nzeribe however fired back by stating that the money he was accused of stealing was actually approved by the then Senate President, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim. Nzeribe shocked many when he tendered documents that bore Anyim’s signature approving various sums of money totaling N22 million.

He was also named in a “discount” matter that came up when cars were purchased for members of the Senate during his time as President of the Senate.

Rhino.5dm:

why  retort to making claims without proof, even when competent court of law  with bound jurisdiction vindicates him.


Just like saying everyone knows OBJ is corrupt, so why is PDP not persecutinf him?

Patience Jonathan was caught with 109 million dollars at airport, why is the court not prosecuting her?
Do you think Tinubu will walk free if there is any atom of fraud associated with him??

Every one knows Tinubu is a criminal and has every tendency to run down nigeria starting with Lagos state.
Where did He get the money for his airline and the the hotel at VI.
I mean he should stop talking like saint. He belongs to the group of Abacha.
Abacha self dey understandable because na military but Tinubu a killer, a drug baron and a fraud, naaaa.

1025:

@relax101,
please permit me to shame for u bcs i don confirm say u no dey shame.
if a man is a drug baron and a fruad, why are u asking where he got his money from? give me a 419 and a drug baron and i will go for the two join together instead of having anything to do with pdp. pdp are criminals at the highest order eg - bode george and alams. the are cultist and blood suckers - u know the annenih and obj combinations now. name just one pdp member with a clean record. like i said, no matter the crimes of any man, that same man will be judged as a saint compare to the stories of pdp and their gang members.
pdp is a mess and a regret. please do not compare any living being with these pdp that have long lost their morals.
when a man that sleeps with his own daughter inlaw is the leader of a party, u know what it means. who is even sure that obasanjo is not sleeping with iyabo his daughter?

Pukkah:

[b]Some people still don't know how to make arguments. [/b]How can anyone say that 'everyone' knows that somebody is a thief? What a fallacious statement to make? Have you conducted a research wherein you contacted 'everyone' and they proved to you what he stole?

Educated people need to separate emotions from facts.

wesley80:

Everyone with their heads where they ought to be  knows Tinubu is a CRIMINAL[b] and being acquitted on some ridiculous technicality[/b] does NOT in anyway exonerate him or confer Sainthood on him, afterall Ibori was also acquitted in a competent court of law but it never changed what we knew about him and neither did it change the fact that he's a criminal, his day came and be rest assured that Tinubu's day will come. Enjoy your pyrrhic victory while it lasts.

Tinubu's trial is a judicial lynching'

September 29, 2011 12:05PM
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Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has called on the National Assembly to use the upcoming constitution amendment exercise to abrogate the law which bars public office holders from operating foreign bank accounts. Mr Fayemi suggested that public office holders concerned should be made to make full disclosure of their foreign accounts rather than compelling them to close same.

He also described the trial of the former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu at the Code of Conduct Tribunal as a "judicial lynching which is not unconnected with the subterranean moves ahead of the 2015 elections." The Ekiti State Governor, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, described the law barring public office holders from operating foreign accounts as "very unrealistic, false and primitive which must be done away with". He argued that those who steal public funds don't use their own foreign accounts to perpetrate money laundering saying "they know how they do it and it is not by keeping properly traceable accounts". The governor who had lived in the United Kingdom for about 15 years before joining politics said he had to close down his foreign account since he became a public office holder in accordance with the Code of Conduct Rule. Mr Fayemi disclosed that he now has to pay the school fees of his son who schools abroad through a third party since he had closed his foreign account adding that full disclosure of foreign accounts without necessarily closing same would allow anti-graft agencies to monitor them.

"If we are serious about curbing corruption, there are other things we ought to do that we are not doing. What we should do is to ensure that everyone who owns a foreign account makes full disclosure of that account. Once you have closed an account, the difficulty you will face, at least in the countries I am familiar with -the UK and the US- to reopen that account, you will nearly go and bring your mother especially after you have become politically exposed. "So how do I deal with my mortgage? I have a mortgage for example, How do I pay the mortgage? Because I have offered to serve my people, I should not maintain a decent livelihood in a country where I must keep credit record. No fewer than five ministers in the federal Executive council, were until their appointment, living abroad.

Are you then saying they should close their accounts. The question is how do they maintain their mortgages, how do they take care of their families that are still abroad? Are you then saying they should cut off from a society in which they have lived for close to two or three decades?

"I think this does not happen in any civilised state and I hope to God this is one of the laws that will be done away with in this constitution review process that we are embarking on because it is not a serious law and it does not prevent corruption. I have had to go and close down my account and I think it is unfair because I should not be punished for offering to serve Nigeria. An account that I have kept for close to 20 years, I have had to go and shut them down simply because I am now governor. So what happens when I leave? I don't think it is an appropriate mechanism for strengthening either the rule of law or of transparency framework that we want to promote in good governance." He said.

The governor said the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is not opposed to any move to sanitise the country of corrupt practices, but condemned the "politically motivated trial of its national leader".

According to him, "Of all the accounts listed in the papers, in relation to Bola Tinubu, these are accounts in his name. They are not accounts in some institutional frames and the point that has been made is that ‘did he run the accounts during this period or not?"

Mr Fayemi added: "Before this matter went to court, I said categorically that this is judicial lynching and again, our party believes that is not unconnected with the subterranean moves on the 2015 elections. This is what I said and it is on record. But now it is in court, I don't want to comment on the issue. Let's leave it to the lawyers who are handling it on behalf of our leader.

"What I would just say is that I hope that whatever forces are behind this are fifth columnists trying to paint President Jonathan and the Nigerian Presidency bad in the eyes of the Yoruba people and in the eyes of every democratic and peace loving Nigerians.

"I say this because the implications are very serious for our country at a time that we are confronting security challenges in the northern part of the country. We do not want to start another fight in another part of the country," he said.

Gbawe:

everyone can see is patently immoral, crude vindictive  and senseless.

Pukkah:

Some people still don't know how to make arguments. How can anyone say that 'everyone' knows that somebody is a thief? What a fallacious statement to make? Have you conducted a research wherein you contacted 'everyone' and they proved to you what he stole?

Educated people need to separate emotions from facts.

wesley80:

@Gbawe
To think that the irony of your quoted comment was lost even while you were attacking others for generalizing speaks volumes. If dem call you hypocrite you go start to dey fume!

Beaf:

Gbawe a hypocrite and shameless promoter of a criminal.
What is the difference between Ibori and Tinubu when both are common thieves and fraudsters?

expert555:

@gbawe
You are an agent of Tinubu that is why most us in disposal will never come back home to redeem you from the clutches of these political arm robbers. You will all rot in hell with that frankerstern Tinubu.

that is why most us in disposal will never come back home to redeem you

oyb:

the loser is back

please post your usual spam. note that neither tinubu nor any of his associates SERVED A DAY IN PRISON FOR YOUR SO CALLED DRUG RUNNING. this in the US, where they have NO love for drug dealers. nuff said.

what kind of dunce compares tinubu to a common criminal who was imprisoned for petty theft as a cashier?

shameless, desperate thugs.

Beaf:

Gbawe a hypocrite and shameless promoter of a criminal.
What is the difference between Ibori and Tinubu when both are common thieves and fraudsters?

Beaf:

I'm sure the US just decorated him with this for the fun of it. Tinubu is a "heroine!"
Maybe you wouldn't mind having one too for heroine trafficking, because you seem to think that people simply pick such things from the roadside:

www.nairaland.com/attachments/139268_BolaTinubuHeroinforfeiture_jpgb084d334c74cec7150ee9588a3aed2fc

expert555:

@Gbawe

I don't know what you have in Nigeria to be proud off all your infrastructures are all dead in Atlantic ocean, no roads, no light, no education, all your governors, ministers, local government chairmen and your senators who voted over 45 million Naira for themselves have all enslave the people in perpetuity, you are here defending one of the most political arm/pen robbers of this generation. A country where banks can't even transfer money to another bank, no police force, your judiciary once ward election to someone whose name is not even on the ballot box, arm robbers have taken over the country. Who do you think want to risk their lives living among you uncivilised bunch of Afrongrels. It is your nomadic thieving politician that is begging us to come home so you people can kill us. What do you think the country have to offer us? May all the blood of the good people that died on Nigeria death trap roads drive you and your political arm robbers to hell.

BCuZiMBlaCk:

the difference is, ibori has been caught, Tinubu is yet to be caught

oyb:

^^^^^

precisely, my good dunce

tinubu only forfeited assets based on as is clear , 'probable cause'.

no one went to prison. which means there was not enough evidence to back your incoherent jabber.  

to a pdpd dunce who spouts airtight hot air cases, its no wonder you cannot comprehend three years from now, when ACN sends your beloved pdp o the their well deserved spot in the dustbin of nigerian history, you will still be spamming nl with this like a a motor park tout defacing the environment with litter.

better get the help of the fbi, scotland yard, interpol, Police of Russia, etal. you dolts can't even run a good smear campaign.

pdp - party of incompetent dunces