₦airaland Forum

Tornadoz:
My question was "Were you invited to Australia because they head hunted you in Nigeria?"
You probably went to Australia as a student, and then regularized your stay, give these people a chance and they will be legal one day. As long as they do honest jobs, leave them alone.

Please don't attach emotions to this, every country need border controls, most Nigerians who are abroad are left to be there because they are contributing to the economy of their domiciled country. In a country like ours where we have not been able to feed our own people or create jobs for them. Accepting illegal migration is simply brewing time bomb of the future. Because there will be more people who are likely to engage in social vices as a result of frustration and poverty.

Look at the North, most of the Alamajiri's are non-Nigerians. They bring them over without any adequate educational or housing plans. These boys roam the streets licking Suya papers because of hunger. As soon as Prophet Mohamad is cartooned in Denmark, they are the first to carry arms against Nigerians.

Besides that, what is the future of a country where there is no blueprint for sustainable development yet population is growing in exponential order

azorjiu:
what about ladoja? will he be allowed to complete his four years considering that akala usurped his seat for some months?

nope ladoja started his tenure in 2003, may 29.

Dem want make e dey match boys like some of his collegues for government.

Nnamani: Presidency Violated Laws On PTDF

Nothing Illegal In President's Actions, Says Ojo

FROM ALIFA DANIEL
(ASST POLITICS EDITOR)
SENATE President, Ken Nnamani, has restated his stand that the Presidency has been degraded on account of the pillaging of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).

Nnamani, on account of his statement of a "degraded Presidency" when the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on PTDF turned in its report last Tuesday, said: "We are talking about billions of Dollars and billions of Naira being misapplied and not following the regulation, the guidelines set down.

"What are we talking about? If an ordinary man breaches the law, what do you do? You take the person to the court; perhaps you jail the person, isn't it?

"Now, all Nigerians would feel concerned. Are they not seeing anything strange? Unless we are deceiving ourselves, it is a fact that such revelation (in the PTDF saga) is what has transpired: the highest body we have, the symbol of Nigeria being involved in such misapplication of funds and total disregard for lay down procedures.

"If that is not degradation, I don't know whether that is promotion."

However, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Bayo Ojo, has refuted allegations of wrongdoing by the Presidency.

"The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) is technology related. So, to have said that the President and the EFCC disregarded the law is not so.

We did not disregard the law. We knew what we were doing when that was approved," he said.

Both Nnamani and Ojo spoke to The Guardian in separate exclusive interviews in Abuja during the week.

Nnamani, nonetheless, has come out in defence of the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee that probed the activities of the PTDF), dismissing allegation of "compromise" against it by a member of the Committee, Titus Olupitan.

He described Olupitan's claim as unfortunate, adding that if the senator could substantiate the claim, the Senate would take drastic measures.

His words: "Such an unfortunate claim about compromise of the Ad-Hoc Committee is unsubstantiated. I can tell you that if my distinguished colleague can tell us to what extent or any element of evidence that can give the impression that the committee has been compromised, I want to assure you that we will take the most drastic measure.

"That is why I said that the time for propaganda is over. Let's face the facts, let's go through the issues."

GOD BLESS NNAMANI

Well some Judges have been exceptional and have made some sensational pronouncements.

However you need to understand that the Judges who granted Fayose a court order to stop his arrest when it was obvious he embezzled state funds and is the no.1 suspect in high profile killings in his state are part of this Judicial system

The Judge who set up an illegal panel to impeach Obi for not being frivolous with state funds is also part of this Judicial system

The Judge who ruled that EFCC should pay damages to Fasawe for embarrasment in a case that saw Fasawe returning some aspect of the money he embezzled as a result of EFCC investigation is part of this Judicial system

The latest Illegality is a Judge pronouncing that, the VP has no allegiance to his party in a country where we vote for political parties during election, in a country where there is even nothing like independent candidates is the height of it. Such that if the President becomes incapacitated today we will have an AC government without the people's mandate, a situation which will amount to having a party occupying Aso Rock through the back door.

If not accepting such a Justice System is being biased then I have no regret being biased. People can not continue buying dodgy verdicts in the hope to bully every one else through the media to accept it.

I tell you what? You will be dreaming if you think the Supreme Court will make same mistake.

No matter the process that brought Ngige to power, he deserves credit for standing against illegality. Though he has chosen to pitch his tent with the AC, I think if there is any AC member that deserves my vote it is him. He was a Hero, he had an option of looting Anamra blue black but chose to fight the people's cause a fact which cost him his office.

However, I will like to see Peter Obi win this case because that looks like the only true and genuine way, going by the constitution to stop the evil called the Ubas. Obi has a genuine case besides that his victory will open a new window of opportunity to have staggered elections in Nigeria. This wholistic elections we have is just causing unnecessary tension and makes it unimportant for immediate Government leaders like LGA chairmen and Governors to actually connect with the local  people based on what they got to offer and seek their votes.

E.g. A guber election holding only in Anambra will have a lot to do with what grass root politicians have got to offer rather than some chess master controling everything from Aso Rock.

lewa:
Umaru Musa Ya'adua is a stooge.His nomination or should i say adoption by OBJ on behalf of PDP to be foisted on Nigeria was undemocratic.Now would a principled man, a man with integrity,above board be subject to the sham of a congress PDP arranged to make him their flag bearer?
Don't be fooled,the man would be worse than OBJ

How parties choose their party leader is entirely up to them, it could be elective, selective or by inheritance. It is up to the Nigerian people to choose which party offers the best deal. At a time in our history when our utmost priority should be generational change and to break free from a past which the average Nigeria will be so glad to easily forget, I think PDP has a better deal compared to AC or ANPP.

Talking about the PDP congress being a sham and the process undermining the integrity of the man Yaradua. I will not like to speculate on what you are trying to potray by the word "sham" but going by the dictionary definition of the word as "something that is not what it purports to be; a spurious imitation; fraud or hoax"

I now ask, how is the AC congress not a spurious immitation? The AC was formed to pursue the Presidential ambition of Atiku Abubarkar. Why pretend to have a Presidential primaries during party congress when you have a predetermined Presidential candidate. Is'nt that a sham??
Parties are formed based on political and nationalistic ideologies, non of these are the motivation behind the alliance called AC, they have no values all they have is a goal formed
by the ambition of the man called Atiku Abubakar (Nigeria's symbol of corruption). The total existence of the Party called AC (Alliance for Corruption) is the true definition of the word SHAM.

@LadyT

U dont log on to you MSN anymore?

Left you a couple of offline messeges

ugodaniel:
Na wa for you Mckren

But you know say Atiku na guy man, we nor want that kind presido.
|We need serious people.

ugodaniel:
hahahaha, nice one, Mckren

Let me go and prepare my Arsenal, i'll get back to you l8r

ok, me go prepare my Man Utd before you come .

All this boys wey dey Cyprus, make una tell us wetin Atiku promise una now??

well Atiku seek their consent by travelling to UK or US each time it is 24hrs to court judgement to decide his faith as VP.
Someone has said before that 24hrs to the supreme court next ruling he might go to Italy this time.

LadyT:
Bwahahahaha@ Mckren

How are you?

Where have been all this while?

I am cool and u?

ugodaniel:
All you Anti-Atiku are all a bunch of losers!

Dont yu guys have something to do with your life's than just come here and blab like sheep! DUH!

_{*curses for a long time and walks away to grab a sandwich*}

You have shown how busy you are by not coming here at all. Probably your ghost put up this post for you.

The truth is that most of them senators and judges who benefited in the first term while he was piloting the affairs of the nation keep on dreaming of how rich the will be if Atiku becomes President. That is simply what this is about, they want bussiness as usual to continue.

Court orders will be respected more when our courts start appreciating the sanctity of their pronouncements. We can not have a situation where the direction where court judgements go is determined by the highest bidder, then after such dodgy verdicts you come to the media hoping to bully everyone else to accept illegality. That is so impractical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have personally heard his interview on BBC, he may not have the greatest accent or be the greatest orator but his sense of diplomacy while answering questions is great. When you hear him talk you just accept his genuineness, at least he is not promising to build bridges where there are no rivers. He does recognise the present concept of leadership as a means to amerse wealth is Irrational and has so far demonstrated appreciable genuine desire for a change.

Though they say power corrupts, he might change when he gets there but I think no Government can succeed without the support of the people and he does understand this to start with. So he deserves a chance.

Maybe going by the records the party PDP is not anything to be desired but I think it still makes more sense to vote them. The bulk of people who perpetrated the highest amount of fraud in the last two elections and who prefer bussiness as usual to change have moved to the AC.
The PDP are not even too desperate to retain power otherwise they will not be risking a Yarudua in the interest of Generational change and to demilitarise our democracy over bigwigs like IBB, Gusau or Marwa. The PDP may not be in our good books but they offer a better choice compared to ANPP or AC.

For me I think if we know what we want as a nation the election should be a 2-horse race between Yaradua and Utomi.

donnymikky:
OBJ has vowed not to sleep in Aso Rock on may 29th but Atiku is planning to come back to stay for another 8 years

Nigerians simply dont know what they want, OBJ is going and he OBJ has made that clear. Instead facing the problem Atiku they are talking crap. Is OBJ standing for elections??

Why I didn’t join the Army like Tafida –Yar’Adua
By Olayinka Oyebode
Published: Saturday, 3 Mar 2007
When did you get into active politics?

Skip to next paragraph

File
Yar’Adua

I had my first practical taste of national politics in the Second Republic and my sympathy then was with the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). Prior to that time, I was more interested in activism. I once wrote a poem entitled “What ‘A’ Level did for me,” because it was after my ‘A’ Level that I started achieving a balance in my views about life.

Like what?

Although I am a devout Moslem, I recognised that Jesus did a lot for mankind, especially as represented in the things He preached. I realised that there are good and bad people in all creed, race and colour– whether black or white. Before then, I used to think that all white people were symbols of oppression. So, my first challenge was in school – to excel; and the second was on the world stage – to fight against oppression and bad governance. I was a student activist and was also active in the struggle for a progressive Nigeria. Indeed as a sophomore in the university, I was so disgusted with the apartheid regime in South Africa that I wanted to go there and fight against it. Unfortunately then, I didn’t know how to get to South Africa; but in my soul, I was greatly committed to the cause of the freedom fighters just from reading a lot of literature on the liberation struggles.

What other insight came with such a world view?

Yes, I realised that change isn’t easy. It calls for patience, perseverance and hard work. I also realised that what you can achieve is always conditioned by your circumstances and environment, no matter how good you or your intentions are, or how hard you work. Any good leader must be aware of those circumstances. Otherwise, if you push beyond the point your circumstances allow, you will crash because there are evil as well as good forces at play all the time. Recognising this and handling things right is all part of maturing.

What type of relationship existed between you and your late brother, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua?

He was the first child of my mother. After him came three daughters before I was born.

What were the differences in your political beliefs?

Not much. When I joined the PRP in the Second Republic, he was the Chief of Staff to General Olusegun Obasanjo. As such, he was not a politician, even though I knew he had sympathy for the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). I was lecturing in Zaria (Ahmadu Bello University) and was a card-carrying member of PRP. But I used to sit and discuss politics with him and we would both debate why one party was better than the other. We never quarreled over political issues. Our late father, Musa Yar’Adua, was one of those in the vanguard of the formation of NPN in the then Kaduna Central; and he was the national vice-chairman of the NPN. My father was aware that while he was helping NPN, I was busy helping PRP. But that never led to any friction in our family.

At what point did the two of you agree on the same political philosophy?

I would say in 1987. When my brother started his own party politics in 1987, he invited me and together we started the Peoples Front (PF). Its political philosophy was closer to that of PRP than NPN. We made PF the progressive party in the North. When the (Ibrahim Babangida) government formed its two political parties(Social Democratic Party and National Republican Convention), my late brother took PF to join SDP, co-opting also PSP from the South West. This was the period when I became most active in politics, and we both played our politics the same way in the same party. From that time on, I never played politics different from my late brother.

It would appear that your first outing was disastrous.

I became the SDP governorship candidate for Kaduna State. I lost the election to NRC. Just two weeks to the election, my brother was arrested and you know what happened, especially until his untimely death. With my late brother and Baba (President Olusegun Obasanjo) in prison, I did not participate at all in (General Sani) Abacha’s transition.

Speculations about your state of health are making people doubt your ability.

Such speculations in the media simply amuse me. It started in 2000 when I was a bit indisposed, went to the hospital, was treated and that was it. I mean, every normal human being falls sick, gets well and moves on.

Did you suffer any near-death experience along the line?

I have never suffered any near-death experience. In fact, the only time I ever fainted was while I was in the Government College, Keffi. I was in Form 1 and I had very high fever. I had been bedridden for a couple of days and on the third day, when I tried to go to class like everyone else, somehow I collapsed. The college principal was called in and I just found myself waking up in hospital. That has happened only once in my life.

You once boasted of your prowess in squash. How deeply involved are you in the game?

Well, now that we are campaigning from state to state, there isn’t any time to play. But back in my state, Katsina, I play squash every evening to wind down and keep fit from about 8pm till midnight. Sometimes. I also play table tennis, lawn tennis, squash and fives, which is quite popular up North. You play lawn tennis by swinging and squash from the shoulder. So you see; I exercise my body all-round.

As a scion of the popular Yar’Adua family, why did you study Chemistry and not Political Science? And why didn’t you join the military?

I believe that has been my destiny. In Form IV, I joined the school cadets and together with two of my closest friends, we agreed that we would make the Army our career. In Form V, I was introduced to Organic Chemistry and for me it was so exciting to study the bonding of atoms and other natural laws. My interest became so intense that I decided that the Army was out and I preferred a career in Chemistry. I really thirsted for greater knowledge about nature and the forces around us. When I finished HSC, close family friends and elders wanted me to study Medicine because I was more than qualified to do that. The only argument I had with my late brother was not about politics but academics. He thought I would do better in Medicine, but I said no, I wanted my degrees in Chemistry and that I wanted to teach.

With the benefit of hindsight, do you have any regrets about your choice?

This is one choice I have never regretted in my life; the thirst to study how nature works. It has broadened my horizon and guided my world outlook. Studies in Chemistry and Physics made my views and actions so profound. Here we are on earth, only one of nine planets in the universe (though new studies are pointing at the existence of 11 planets in all). While our earth goes around the sun in one year, the moon goes round the earth in a month. The same sun has a galaxy it goes around once in 200 million years. The galaxy we belong to has over 100 billion stars – called the Milky Way – and each one has its own array of planets. Meanwhile, there are over 200 billion galaxies in the universe. So when you look at this universe, where do you place yourself? I think we all should be humbled as human beings in the face of this staggering reality. Nobody should think himself so important that he becomes arrogant when he compares himself to the rest of creation. Some stars that shine at night have been like that for more than 15 billion years and their light continues to shine towards us. The more knowledgeable you are about the nature of the universe and that of man, the more humble you become when you understand your place in the universe. So, I am a totally humble man and consider myself greatly privileged to be where I am today.

What would you consider your most significant achievement as governor of Katsina State?

My greatest achievement as a governor was being able to restore confidence, integrity and trust between government and the people. I have demonstrated in Katsina that things can work. Now everything is working fairly well. If you are working for the state, you will get your salary at the right time. If you retire, you will get your gratuity, pension and all your entitlements. If you give notice of retirement today, a week before your final departure, you will receive a cheque for all your entitlements without lobbying or begging anybody. And the following month, you will start receiving your pension. So in Katsina, everything that a man is entitled to, we make sure he gets it on time. Contractors, suppliers and all those who go into covenant with the Katsina State Government will testify that the state would always fulfill its own part of the agreement, precisely and exactly.

What distinction are you making between politics and morality?

Katsina State Government right now commands good moral authority and that is the only way you can govern effectively. Of course, there is the political authority with which you can govern once you receive a mandate through an election you have won. But that is more often exercised through coercion and official muscle. Whereas moral authority must be earned by a leader because it calls for a willingness by the people to submit themselves to your leadership without coercion. I believe nobody can effectively govern, no matter the amount of political authority he has, unless he cultivates moral authority.

How do you intend to tackle problems of collapsed infrastructure like bad roads, lack of adequate electricity, etc?

The reforms that are already taking place are geared towards permanent solutions to these problems and many more. You see, these problems take time to solve. The President Obasanjo-led government has already activated a project which we hope by the end of this year, when the gas project comes on stream, would cause to be generated additional 3000 megawatts of electricity. You see when this PDP-led government came into power in 1999, Nigeria was only generating 1500 megawatts with all the power generating machinery in the country virtually collapsed without proper maintenance. Honestly, it is a great feat that this administration has successfully salvaged the sector from collapsing. Not only that, it has increased power generation to about 3500 megawatts and, according to laid down plans, our country will soon be enjoying additional 5000 megawatts in no distant future.

But it will appear that nothing is working and the country is believed to be retrogressing?

You see, the problem is that people think that problems can be solved magically. Power isn’t generated by magic or just by saying “Let there be power!” These things take time. Now, the Federal Government has signed a contract with the Chinese to generate 2000 megawatts of hydro-electric power from the Mambila Plateau worth $1.5 billion, which will take approximately four years to complete. So, it can only come on stream to ease our power problems in 2011. These things take time and without constant power, it is very difficult to build a modern economy. We must be honest with ourselves because such contracts that would improve the well being of all Nigerians are being signed in virtually all the key sectors of the economy and it will take only a government that will earnestly ensure the continuation of these projects for all of us to enjoy the dividends of enduring leadership. These achievements are phenomenal. It is just that too many people with loud voices like to condemn in order to undermine the achievements of the government. But with patience, we will all get there.

Haven’t the people have been too patient already?

PDP has a road map of reforms that provides lasting solutions to our country’s fundamental problems. That is how nations are developed. Planning is long term. For instance, the last significant investment in our railway system was in the early 60s when the rail network was extended around major parts of the country. That was well over 40 years ago. It is only this administration that has drawn a strategic plan to modernise and upgrade our railway to the standard gauge for the entire national network. This will be done in phases and it will take 25 years to complete. This is what we didn’t do as a nation, but while this government is now doing. A standard rail system will not happen overnight like magic. That is not possible, but in 25 years, yes, we can do it. If in 1982, government had done this 25-year plan, by now we would have been enjoying an efficient mass transit system all over Nigeria. To correct the mistakes of our past and then put this nation on the path of true progress, it will take time and hard work. I will be honest with you, these major steps that this government has taken have never been taken in the history of this country. Yet, these long term reforms - which are in the PDP manifesto - are the things that will build up this dear country and establish us on the path of true progress. Nigerians would not need to wait for too long. Within the next three to four years, these reforms will begin to yield great results.

Prior to being named the presidential candidate of your party you were quoted as saying you would like to go back to the classroom.

Well, that’s me. Going back to the academia would give me something to do that really satisfies me and there is nothing wrong with that. You see, once you are providing service the right way, it gives you satisfaction. Teaching gives me great pleasure. True governance is about serving others, not yourself; and that I also derive in teaching.

What is your take on women empowerment and representation in government?

The effort to encourage women in governance has been on in the last six to seven years. The PDP manifesto already provides for 30 per cent participation of women in elective positions, in governance and political appointments, and we will follow that to the letter.

Why have you settled for only one wife when Islam allows you to marry up to four?

At one time, I was married to two wives, but I later divorced the second one. Now, I am married only to the first woman I married when I finished from the university. You see, Islam allows a man to marry up to four wives, provided that you can be equitable to all the wives. If you fear that you cannot be equitable, then one is better for you.

With two academics like you and your running mate, Governor Goodluck Jonathan, in the presidency, what magic wands would you be waving over the ailing educational sector?

I have been involved in the educational reforms in Katsina State in the past seven and half years, I have been at it. So I know what is needed to revamp education across our great country. In most schools in Katsina, there had been no major investment in education in the last 30 years or so until we came in. Existing facilities are completely dilapidated yet the number children that need education has really escalated. We don’t have a state university in Katsina, so my responsibility was mostly for primary and secondary schools where decaying facilities like classrooms meant for 40 students are being shared by as much as 250-350 students in some instances. No meaningful learning could go on in such an environment. Laboratories and workshops were non-existent. The living conditions I saw in some boarding houses were unfit for human beings, yet a dormitory meant for 20 students would house 120 students.

How did you approach the problem?

It took us the first four years to restore and upgrade the existing facilities, build laboratories and workshops where there were none. Gradually, we restored sanity in those schools and reduced the number of students per classroom to about 40. In some schools, we spent between N300 and N700 million for this cause of revamping education in Katsina; building new facilities where there were none, furnishing and equipping them. To complete this process and properly reposition education in Katsina, it would take the best part of another four years if this PDP style of governance is sustained. There are six core subject areas - Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, Mathematics and Geography where we needed 3000 teachers to drive our reforms. We looked everywhere, but we could only find 420 teachers. Now, it means we need to set up a university to produce the kind of teachers we need in Katsina. The university just took off from its temporary site in January 2007 and we will complete its permanent site before the year ends, yet it will take at least five years for the first set of graduate teachers to emerge from the university. So you see, the education reforms which we started in Katsina in 1999 will take another 10 years to fully redress and establish the state on a sure path of educational progress.

So what would you like to ask of Nigerians?

I would like to ask of them patience, perseverance and hard work.

[size=32pt]Watch out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! during the next supreme court judgement he will run again so as to evade arrest if the court judgement does not favour him[/size]

2007: Atiku's final battle begins

•His N60b wealth exposed • Owns 146 secret homes
•Plot to impeach, arrest him thickens

By EHIS USIAHO and KELECHI DECA

BARELY six weeks to the crucial presidential election to usher in President Olusegun Obasanjo's successor, his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, still striving to get the electoral umpire's (Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC) nod to vie for the exalted post, may have received another credibility dent capable of throwing him out of contention. Apparently scared of not just losing the presidential ticket of his party, the Action Congress (AC), Atiku, who is afraid of possible impeachment and subsequent arrest by law enforcement agents, believed to have dossier on his deals, is already worried that his supposed ally in opposition, General Muhammadu Buhari's comment, that he (Atiku) is finished politically, has not helped matters.


He is also worried that his pressure on the international community to intervene in order to save him from INEC's disqualification and embarrassment has not yielded results, yet he is being smeared with more financial scandals. He is now fighting a crucial political battle of his life to remain relevant in the emerging political dispensation.


Already, Atiku's anti tenure elongation lawmakers and supporters in the National Assembly, under the aegies of the Senator Uche Chukwumerije's mandate 007, have commenced intensive lobby of the federal lawmakers to back down on the impending moves to impeach the Vice President.


It was learnt that some influential persons outside the National Assembly have already been enlisted for support in stemming the government desperate bid to muzzle Atiku's political ambition and get him jailed on some trumped up charges of corruption.


A seemingly undaunted Atiku had recently dared security agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to arrest him on corruption, insisting that he can neither be disqualified by INEC nor impeached by the National Assembly.


However, with INEC's revelation that Atiku's picture and name had been removed from the 2007 polls ballot papers, a subtle way of announcing his disqualification from the presidential race, the Vice-President, who has so far won six legal battles against the federal government's move to checkmate his ambition has decided to fight for justice and relevance in all fronts to remain in contention.


National Daily exclusively reported, in its February 18, 2007 edition, that Atiku may be impeached next month.


True to our report, moves have commenced to impeach the Vice-President since the Appeal court ruling in his favour. To this end, he is mobilizing the northern elites against Obasanjo. His allies in the National Assembly are holding meetings to try to bloc the moves. But reliable sources said that the party caucus in the National Assembly recently met with the leadership of the party and President Olusegun Obasanjo, where the decision to have Atiku impeached was made.


Recent revelations on how he allegedly amassed wealth running into billions of naira since becoming the nation's number two man may have further worsened his case. If information available to National Daily is anything to go by, then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's perception as a softie, when it comes to corruption, will have a basis. Online news service, saharareporters, claimed to have obtained a document indicating that the vice-president's real financial status, which was modest, prior to his assumption of office, has blossomed to an unimaginable proportion. The report further alleged that the vice-president has exponentially increased in his financial wealth to the extent that he now owns about 146 homes in Yola, Adamawa State, in addition to transactions that run into huge sums. It is believed that the President and his deputy have several dealings they may not open up on, no matter the depth of their disagreement.


After his retirement from the Nigeria Customs service where he had served 20 years, Atiku entered the world of business, with interest in oil services, real estate, agriculture, education, and print media, before he finally arrived at the corridors of power. Then, the vice-president owned one house, each in Kaduna, Yola and Lagos. Eight years on as Nigeria's vice president, Atiku is said to have immeasurably transformed his material status. His high profile $25 million university (ABTI- American University) in Yola, and the $8 million he allegedly paid to the American University in Washington DC for a direct license to use the franchise of the university (known as partnership and management consultancy by AU officials), is a critical reference to the investment profile of a public officer, who reportedly did not seek bank loans to execute these gargantuan projects.


When contacted to comment on the nature of the deal with ABTI- American University, Washington DC-based AU's vice-president for International Affairs, Mr. Robert Pastor, said that the $8 million figure, claimed as the cost of doing business with ABTI-American University, was "inaccurate". He, however, refused to reveal the exact cost of the partnership and management consultancy with Atiku's high-profile institution, which, he bragged, became the best in Africa, after one and half years of operation. He said the exact cost of the partnership was confidential.


In the course of his eight years stewardship, Atiku has managed to corner controlling shares in Bank PHB and Intel, an oil services company, which operates in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe; as well as controlling shares in AP Petroleum, which he was forced to divest recently in a hail of controversy regarding the ethics of his management of the country's privatisation programme. Added to all these is the control of huge assets in real estate in Yola, the largest printing press in Northern Nigeria, and the Faro private water business.
The vulnerability of the vice-president, who, in the last lap of his two-term tenure, has allegedly recorded N60 billion worth of bank transactions, has made it easy for critics to point at elite corruption in order to illustrate the failure of national efforts at constructing a fair, accountable and transparent polity. The vice-president was alleged to have diverted $125 million from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) into his personal businesses.


Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, told the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Probe of the PTDF that "Atiku Abukakar is the Vice-President of Nigeria and was the one overseeing the activities of the PTDF. He inaugurated the Interim Management Committee of the fund in 2000. He played prominent roles in the approvals for the release of PTDF funds and their placement in two banks. The VP had an outstanding interest in the placement of the PTDF funds in these two banks. For one, even the $125 million for the implementation of some specific projects was not utilised for that purpose because of their diversion to and placement in the two banks (TIB and ETB).


As these funds were hitting the two preferred banks, "loans" were packaged by TIB, even without adequate collateral, for Atiku's long-time friend and business associate, Otunba Oluwole Johnson Haliru Fasawe, through NDTV and Mofas. In Mofas, one of the directors is Alhaji Adamu Abubakar, Atiku's son. Though the name was not stated as a director of Marine Float, evidence abounds that the account is controlled by him. First, the VP admitted he paid N30 million for the property from that account; secondly, most of the beneficiaries from the account are his friends and associates. Ribadu further stated that: "similarly, as the funds were hitting ETB, Otunba Mike Adenuga made $20 million deposit for Globacom licence, the Second National Carrier. A little scrutiny of the equity ownership structure of the company revealed that Otunba Mike Adenuga lied about the ownership of the company. When the transfer of the $50 million by PTDF from its account in UBA Plc, New York was made in ETB, Mike Adenuga gave the Vice-President the sum of N322 million (i.e. N300 million on 27/11/02 and N22 million on 06/03/03) through his Marine Float account, domiciled in Bank PHB Plc, through his aides, Akinyera and Ajibade. N21 million was paid to the VP through a draft raised in the name of Umar Pariya, his Personal Assistant.”


The Vice-President allegedly held several meetings with the US Congressman, Williams J. Jefferson, both in Nigeria and abroad, in relation to business ventures, which included NDTV and Rosecom.net, an ISP. When the business relationship between NDTV and iGate collapsed, his assistance was sought to extinguish the outstanding approximately $2 million already paid by NDTV. Even though he denied assistance on extinguishing the amount, he accepted conveying a letter from US Congressman, Jefferson, to the then Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, in relation with iGate and Rosecom.net business venture.


"The vice president's business interest in NDTV was allegedly confirmed when he made an initial deposit of N30 million on January 1, 2003 from his Marine Float account in Bank PHB Plc for the purchase of the N200 million property being used as NDTV Head Office. His interest also influenced the placement of PTDF funds in TIB from where Otunba Fasawe obtained "loan" and completed the payment of N170 million for the property at Wuse. The Vice-President's interest in NDTV is further buttressed by the fact that he even acted as a referee to Fasawe for the sourcing of the licensing of NDTV in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Investigation also revealed that the Vice-President severally met contractors of NDTV at Jada, his hometown, on his interest in the company."


The burden of proof on Atiku today, therefore, rests on how he hopes to construct a coherent argument that his two decades of public service in the customs department is enough to make him the multi-millionaire and one of the nation's richest businessmen; and how he wants to lead a nation struggling to crawl out of the quagmire created by a reputation of grand corruption when he could supervise such brazen deals at PTDF and seek to legitimise it as a normal and appropriate state policy.

So who do you think is better of// I know you have Atiku in mind

2007: Atiku's final battle begins

•His N60b wealth exposed • Owns 146 secret homes
•Plot to impeach, arrest him thickens

By EHIS USIAHO and KELECHI DECA

BARELY six weeks to the crucial presidential election to usher in President Olusegun Obasanjo's successor, his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, still striving to get the electoral umpire's (Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC) nod to vie for the exalted post, may have received another credibility dent capable of throwing him out of contention. Apparently scared of not just losing the presidential ticket of his party, the Action Congress (AC), Atiku, who is afraid of possible impeachment and subsequent arrest by law enforcement agents, believed to have dossier on his deals, is already worried that his supposed ally in opposition, General Muhammadu Buhari's comment, that he (Atiku) is finished politically, has not helped matters.


He is also worried that his pressure on the international community to intervene in order to save him from INEC's disqualification and embarrassment has not yielded results, yet he is being smeared with more financial scandals. He is now fighting a crucial political battle of his life to remain relevant in the emerging political dispensation.


Already, Atiku's anti tenure elongation lawmakers and supporters in the National Assembly, under the aegies of the Senator Uche Chukwumerije's mandate 007, have commenced intensive lobby of the federal lawmakers to back down on the impending moves to impeach the Vice President.


It was learnt that some influential persons outside the National Assembly have already been enlisted for support in stemming the government desperate bid to muzzle Atiku's political ambition and get him jailed on some trumped up charges of corruption.


A seemingly undaunted Atiku had recently dared security agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to arrest him on corruption, insisting that he can neither be disqualified by INEC nor impeached by the National Assembly.


However, with INEC's revelation that Atiku's picture and name had been removed from the 2007 polls ballot papers, a subtle way of announcing his disqualification from the presidential race, the Vice-President, who has so far won six legal battles against the federal government's move to checkmate his ambition has decided to fight for justice and relevance in all fronts to remain in contention.


National Daily exclusively reported, in its February 18, 2007 edition, that Atiku may be impeached next month.


True to our report, moves have commenced to impeach the Vice-President since the Appeal court ruling in his favour. To this end, he is mobilizing the northern elites against Obasanjo. His allies in the National Assembly are holding meetings to try to bloc the moves. But reliable sources said that the party caucus in the National Assembly recently met with the leadership of the party and President Olusegun Obasanjo, where the decision to have Atiku impeached was made.


Recent revelations on how he allegedly amassed wealth running into billions of naira since becoming the nation's number two man may have further worsened his case. If information available to National Daily is anything to go by, then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's perception as a softie, when it comes to corruption, will have a basis. Online news service, saharareporters, claimed to have obtained a document indicating that the vice-president's real financial status, which was modest, prior to his assumption of office, has blossomed to an unimaginable proportion. The report further alleged that the vice-president has exponentially increased in his financial wealth to the extent that he now owns about 146 homes in Yola, Adamawa State, in addition to transactions that run into huge sums. It is believed that the President and his deputy have several dealings they may not open up on, no matter the depth of their disagreement.


After his retirement from the Nigeria Customs service where he had served 20 years, Atiku entered the world of business, with interest in oil services, real estate, agriculture, education, and print media, before he finally arrived at the corridors of power. Then, the vice-president owned one house, each in Kaduna, Yola and Lagos. Eight years on as Nigeria's vice president, Atiku is said to have immeasurably transformed his material status. His high profile $25 million university (ABTI- American University) in Yola, and the $8 million he allegedly paid to the American University in Washington DC for a direct license to use the franchise of the university (known as partnership and management consultancy by AU officials), is a critical reference to the investment profile of a public officer, who reportedly did not seek bank loans to execute these gargantuan projects.


When contacted to comment on the nature of the deal with ABTI- American University, Washington DC-based AU's vice-president for International Affairs, Mr. Robert Pastor, said that the $8 million figure, claimed as the cost of doing business with ABTI-American University, was "inaccurate". He, however, refused to reveal the exact cost of the partnership and management consultancy with Atiku's high-profile institution, which, he bragged, became the best in Africa, after one and half years of operation. He said the exact cost of the partnership was confidential.


In the course of his eight years stewardship, Atiku has managed to corner controlling shares in Bank PHB and Intel, an oil services company, which operates in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe; as well as controlling shares in AP Petroleum, which he was forced to divest recently in a hail of controversy regarding the ethics of his management of the country's privatisation programme. Added to all these is the control of huge assets in real estate in Yola, the largest printing press in Northern Nigeria, and the Faro private water business.
The vulnerability of the vice-president, who, in the last lap of his two-term tenure, has allegedly recorded N60 billion worth of bank transactions, has made it easy for critics to point at elite corruption in order to illustrate the failure of national efforts at constructing a fair, accountable and transparent polity. The vice-president was alleged to have diverted $125 million from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) into his personal businesses.


Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, told the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Probe of the PTDF that "Atiku Abukakar is the Vice-President of Nigeria and was the one overseeing the activities of the PTDF. He inaugurated the Interim Management Committee of the fund in 2000. He played prominent roles in the approvals for the release of PTDF funds and their placement in two banks. The VP had an outstanding interest in the placement of the PTDF funds in these two banks. For one, even the $125 million for the implementation of some specific projects was not utilised for that purpose because of their diversion to and placement in the two banks (TIB and ETB).


As these funds were hitting the two preferred banks, "loans" were packaged by TIB, even without adequate collateral, for Atiku's long-time friend and business associate, Otunba Oluwole Johnson Haliru Fasawe, through NDTV and Mofas. In Mofas, one of the directors is Alhaji Adamu Abubakar, Atiku's son. Though the name was not stated as a director of Marine Float, evidence abounds that the account is controlled by him. First, the VP admitted he paid N30 million for the property from that account; secondly, most of the beneficiaries from the account are his friends and associates. Ribadu further stated that: "similarly, as the funds were hitting ETB, Otunba Mike Adenuga made $20 million deposit for Globacom licence, the Second National Carrier. A little scrutiny of the equity ownership structure of the company revealed that Otunba Mike Adenuga lied about the ownership of the company. When the transfer of the $50 million by PTDF from its account in UBA Plc, New York was made in ETB, Mike Adenuga gave the Vice-President the sum of N322 million (i.e. N300 million on 27/11/02 and N22 million on 06/03/03) through his Marine Float account, domiciled in Bank PHB Plc, through his aides, Akinyera and Ajibade. N21 million was paid to the VP through a draft raised in the name of Umar Pariya, his Personal Assistant.”


The Vice-President allegedly held several meetings with the US Congressman, Williams J. Jefferson, both in Nigeria and abroad, in relation to business ventures, which included NDTV and Rosecom.net, an ISP. When the business relationship between NDTV and iGate collapsed, his assistance was sought to extinguish the outstanding approximately $2 million already paid by NDTV. Even though he denied assistance on extinguishing the amount, he accepted conveying a letter from US Congressman, Jefferson, to the then Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, in relation with iGate and Rosecom.net business venture.


"The vice president's business interest in NDTV was allegedly confirmed when he made an initial deposit of N30 million on January 1, 2003 from his Marine Float account in Bank PHB Plc for the purchase of the N200 million property being used as NDTV Head Office. His interest also influenced the placement of PTDF funds in TIB from where Otunba Fasawe obtained "loan" and completed the payment of N170 million for the property at Wuse. The Vice-President's interest in NDTV is further buttressed by the fact that he even acted as a referee to Fasawe for the sourcing of the licensing of NDTV in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Investigation also revealed that the Vice-President severally met contractors of NDTV at Jada, his hometown, on his interest in the company."


The burden of proof on Atiku today, therefore, rests on how he hopes to construct a coherent argument that his two decades of public service in the customs department is enough to make him the multi-millionaire and one of the nation's richest businessmen; and how he wants to lead a nation struggling to crawl out of the quagmire created by a reputation of grand corruption when he could supervise such brazen deals at PTDF and seek to legitimise it as a normal and appropriate state policy.

2007: Atiku's final battle begins

•His N60b wealth exposed • Owns 146 secret homes
•Plot to impeach, arrest him thickens

By EHIS USIAHO and KELECHI DECA

BARELY six weeks to the crucial presidential election to usher in President Olusegun Obasanjo's successor, his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, still striving to get the electoral umpire's (Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC) nod to vie for the exalted post, may have received another credibility dent capable of throwing him out of contention. Apparently scared of not just losing the presidential ticket of his party, the Action Congress (AC), Atiku, who is afraid of possible impeachment and subsequent arrest by law enforcement agents, believed to have dossier on his deals, is already worried that his supposed ally in opposition, General Muhammadu Buhari's comment, that he (Atiku) is finished politically, has not helped matters.


He is also worried that his pressure on the international community to intervene in order to save him from INEC's disqualification and embarrassment has not yielded results, yet he is being smeared with more financial scandals. He is now fighting a crucial political battle of his life to remain relevant in the emerging political dispensation.


Already, Atiku's anti tenure elongation lawmakers and supporters in the National Assembly, under the aegies of the Senator Uche Chukwumerije's mandate 007, have commenced intensive lobby of the federal lawmakers to back down on the impending moves to impeach the Vice President.


It was learnt that some influential persons outside the National Assembly have already been enlisted for support in stemming the government desperate bid to muzzle Atiku's political ambition and get him jailed on some trumped up charges of corruption.


A seemingly undaunted Atiku had recently dared security agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to arrest him on corruption, insisting that he can neither be disqualified by INEC nor impeached by the National Assembly.


However, with INEC's revelation that Atiku's picture and name had been removed from the 2007 polls ballot papers, a subtle way of announcing his disqualification from the presidential race, the Vice-President, who has so far won six legal battles against the federal government's move to checkmate his ambition has decided to fight for justice and relevance in all fronts to remain in contention.


National Daily exclusively reported, in its February 18, 2007 edition, that Atiku may be impeached next month.


True to our report, moves have commenced to impeach the Vice-President since the Appeal court ruling in his favour. To this end, he is mobilizing the northern elites against Obasanjo. His allies in the National Assembly are holding meetings to try to bloc the moves. But reliable sources said that the party caucus in the National Assembly recently met with the leadership of the party and President Olusegun Obasanjo, where the decision to have Atiku impeached was made.


Recent revelations on how he allegedly amassed wealth running into billions of naira since becoming the nation's number two man may have further worsened his case. If information available to National Daily is anything to go by, then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's perception as a softie, when it comes to corruption, will have a basis. Online news service, saharareporters, claimed to have obtained a document indicating that the vice-president's real financial status, which was modest, prior to his assumption of office, has blossomed to an unimaginable proportion. The report further alleged that the vice-president has exponentially increased in his financial wealth to the extent that he now owns about 146 homes in Yola, Adamawa State, in addition to transactions that run into huge sums. It is believed that the President and his deputy have several dealings they may not open up on, no matter the depth of their disagreement.


After his retirement from the Nigeria Customs service where he had served 20 years, Atiku entered the world of business, with interest in oil services, real estate, agriculture, education, and print media, before he finally arrived at the corridors of power. Then, the vice-president owned one house, each in Kaduna, Yola and Lagos. Eight years on as Nigeria's vice president, Atiku is said to have immeasurably transformed his material status. His high profile $25 million university (ABTI- American University) in Yola, and the $8 million he allegedly paid to the American University in Washington DC for a direct license to use the franchise of the university (known as partnership and management consultancy by AU officials), is a critical reference to the investment profile of a public officer, who reportedly did not seek bank loans to execute these gargantuan projects.


When contacted to comment on the nature of the deal with ABTI- American University, Washington DC-based AU's vice-president for International Affairs, Mr. Robert Pastor, said that the $8 million figure, claimed as the cost of doing business with ABTI-American University, was "inaccurate". He, however, refused to reveal the exact cost of the partnership and management consultancy with Atiku's high-profile institution, which, he bragged, became the best in Africa, after one and half years of operation. He said the exact cost of the partnership was confidential.


In the course of his eight years stewardship, Atiku has managed to corner controlling shares in Bank PHB and Intel, an oil services company, which operates in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe; as well as controlling shares in AP Petroleum, which he was forced to divest recently in a hail of controversy regarding the ethics of his management of the country's privatisation programme. Added to all these is the control of huge assets in real estate in Yola, the largest printing press in Northern Nigeria, and the Faro private water business.
The vulnerability of the vice-president, who, in the last lap of his two-term tenure, has allegedly recorded N60 billion worth of bank transactions, has made it easy for critics to point at elite corruption in order to illustrate the failure of national efforts at constructing a fair, accountable and transparent polity. The vice-president was alleged to have diverted $125 million from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) into his personal businesses.


Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, told the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Probe of the PTDF that "Atiku Abukakar is the Vice-President of Nigeria and was the one overseeing the activities of the PTDF. He inaugurated the Interim Management Committee of the fund in 2000. He played prominent roles in the approvals for the release of PTDF funds and their placement in two banks. The VP had an outstanding interest in the placement of the PTDF funds in these two banks. For one, even the $125 million for the implementation of some specific projects was not utilised for that purpose because of their diversion to and placement in the two banks (TIB and ETB).


As these funds were hitting the two preferred banks, "loans" were packaged by TIB, even without adequate collateral, for Atiku's long-time friend and business associate, Otunba Oluwole Johnson Haliru Fasawe, through NDTV and Mofas. In Mofas, one of the directors is Alhaji Adamu Abubakar, Atiku's son. Though the name was not stated as a director of Marine Float, evidence abounds that the account is controlled by him. First, the VP admitted he paid N30 million for the property from that account; secondly, most of the beneficiaries from the account are his friends and associates. Ribadu further stated that: "similarly, as the funds were hitting ETB, Otunba Mike Adenuga made $20 million deposit for Globacom licence, the Second National Carrier. A little scrutiny of the equity ownership structure of the company revealed that Otunba Mike Adenuga lied about the ownership of the company. When the transfer of the $50 million by PTDF from its account in UBA Plc, New York was made in ETB, Mike Adenuga gave the Vice-President the sum of N322 million (i.e. N300 million on 27/11/02 and N22 million on 06/03/03) through his Marine Float account, domiciled in Bank PHB Plc, through his aides, Akinyera and Ajibade. N21 million was paid to the VP through a draft raised in the name of Umar Pariya, his Personal Assistant.”


The Vice-President allegedly held several meetings with the US Congressman, Williams J. Jefferson, both in Nigeria and abroad, in relation to business ventures, which included NDTV and Rosecom.net, an ISP. When the business relationship between NDTV and iGate collapsed, his assistance was sought to extinguish the outstanding approximately $2 million already paid by NDTV. Even though he denied assistance on extinguishing the amount, he accepted conveying a letter from US Congressman, Jefferson, to the then Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, in relation with iGate and Rosecom.net business venture.


"The vice president's business interest in NDTV was allegedly confirmed when he made an initial deposit of N30 million on January 1, 2003 from his Marine Float account in Bank PHB Plc for the purchase of the N200 million property being used as NDTV Head Office. His interest also influenced the placement of PTDF funds in TIB from where Otunba Fasawe obtained "loan" and completed the payment of N170 million for the property at Wuse. The Vice-President's interest in NDTV is further buttressed by the fact that he even acted as a referee to Fasawe for the sourcing of the licensing of NDTV in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Investigation also revealed that the Vice-President severally met contractors of NDTV at Jada, his hometown, on his interest in the company."


The burden of proof on Atiku today, therefore, rests on how he hopes to construct a coherent argument that his two decades of public service in the customs department is enough to make him the multi-millionaire and one of the nation's richest businessmen; and how he wants to lead a nation struggling to crawl out of the quagmire created by a reputation of grand corruption when he could supervise such brazen deals at PTDF and seek to legitimise it as a normal and appropriate state policy.

2007: Atiku's final battle begins

•His N60b wealth exposed • Owns 146 secret homes
•Plot to impeach, arrest him thickens

By EHIS USIAHO and KELECHI DECA

BARELY six weeks to the crucial presidential election to usher in President Olusegun Obasanjo's successor, his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, still striving to get the electoral umpire's (Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC) nod to vie for the exalted post, may have received another credibility dent capable of throwing him out of contention. Apparently scared of not just losing the presidential ticket of his party, the Action Congress (AC), Atiku, who is afraid of possible impeachment and subsequent arrest by law enforcement agents, believed to have dossier on his deals, is already worried that his supposed ally in opposition, General Muhammadu Buhari's comment, that he (Atiku) is finished politically, has not helped matters.


He is also worried that his pressure on the international community to intervene in order to save him from INEC's disqualification and embarrassment has not yielded results, yet he is being smeared with more financial scandals. He is now fighting a crucial political battle of his life to remain relevant in the emerging political dispensation.


Already, Atiku's anti tenure elongation lawmakers and supporters in the National Assembly, under the aegies of the Senator Uche Chukwumerije's mandate 007, have commenced intensive lobby of the federal lawmakers to back down on the impending moves to impeach the Vice President.


It was learnt that some influential persons outside the National Assembly have already been enlisted for support in stemming the government desperate bid to muzzle Atiku's political ambition and get him jailed on some trumped up charges of corruption.


A seemingly undaunted Atiku had recently dared security agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to arrest him on corruption, insisting that he can neither be disqualified by INEC nor impeached by the National Assembly.


However, with INEC's revelation that Atiku's picture and name had been removed from the 2007 polls ballot papers, a subtle way of announcing his disqualification from the presidential race, the Vice-President, who has so far won six legal battles against the federal government's move to checkmate his ambition has decided to fight for justice and relevance in all fronts to remain in contention.


National Daily exclusively reported, in its February 18, 2007 edition, that Atiku may be impeached next month.


True to our report, moves have commenced to impeach the Vice-President since the Appeal court ruling in his favour. To this end, he is mobilizing the northern elites against Obasanjo. His allies in the National Assembly are holding meetings to try to bloc the moves. But reliable sources said that the party caucus in the National Assembly recently met with the leadership of the party and President Olusegun Obasanjo, where the decision to have Atiku impeached was made.


Recent revelations on how he allegedly amassed wealth running into billions of naira since becoming the nation's number two man may have further worsened his case. If information available to National Daily is anything to go by, then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's perception as a softie, when it comes to corruption, will have a basis. Online news service, saharareporters, claimed to have obtained a document indicating that the vice-president's real financial status, which was modest, prior to his assumption of office, has blossomed to an unimaginable proportion. The report further alleged that the vice-president has exponentially increased in his financial wealth to the extent that he now owns about 146 homes in Yola, Adamawa State, in addition to transactions that run into huge sums. It is believed that the President and his deputy have several dealings they may not open up on, no matter the depth of their disagreement.


After his retirement from the Nigeria Customs service where he had served 20 years, Atiku entered the world of business, with interest in oil services, real estate, agriculture, education, and print media, before he finally arrived at the corridors of power. Then, the vice-president owned one house, each in Kaduna, Yola and Lagos. Eight years on as Nigeria's vice president, Atiku is said to have immeasurably transformed his material status. His high profile $25 million university (ABTI- American University) in Yola, and the $8 million he allegedly paid to the American University in Washington DC for a direct license to use the franchise of the university (known as partnership and management consultancy by AU officials), is a critical reference to the investment profile of a public officer, who reportedly did not seek bank loans to execute these gargantuan projects.


When contacted to comment on the nature of the deal with ABTI- American University, Washington DC-based AU's vice-president for International Affairs, Mr. Robert Pastor, said that the $8 million figure, claimed as the cost of doing business with ABTI-American University, was "inaccurate". He, however, refused to reveal the exact cost of the partnership and management consultancy with Atiku's high-profile institution, which, he bragged, became the best in Africa, after one and half years of operation. He said the exact cost of the partnership was confidential.


In the course of his eight years stewardship, Atiku has managed to corner controlling shares in Bank PHB and Intel, an oil services company, which operates in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe; as well as controlling shares in AP Petroleum, which he was forced to divest recently in a hail of controversy regarding the ethics of his management of the country's privatisation programme. Added to all these is the control of huge assets in real estate in Yola, the largest printing press in Northern Nigeria, and the Faro private water business.
The vulnerability of the vice-president, who, in the last lap of his two-term tenure, has allegedly recorded N60 billion worth of bank transactions, has made it easy for critics to point at elite corruption in order to illustrate the failure of national efforts at constructing a fair, accountable and transparent polity. The vice-president was alleged to have diverted $125 million from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) into his personal businesses.


Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, told the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Probe of the PTDF that "Atiku Abukakar is the Vice-President of Nigeria and was the one overseeing the activities of the PTDF. He inaugurated the Interim Management Committee of the fund in 2000. He played prominent roles in the approvals for the release of PTDF funds and their placement in two banks. The VP had an outstanding interest in the placement of the PTDF funds in these two banks. For one, even the $125 million for the implementation of some specific projects was not utilised for that purpose because of their diversion to and placement in the two banks (TIB and ETB).


As these funds were hitting the two preferred banks, "loans" were packaged by TIB, even without adequate collateral, for Atiku's long-time friend and business associate, Otunba Oluwole Johnson Haliru Fasawe, through NDTV and Mofas. In Mofas, one of the directors is Alhaji Adamu Abubakar, Atiku's son. Though the name was not stated as a director of Marine Float, evidence abounds that the account is controlled by him. First, the VP admitted he paid N30 million for the property from that account; secondly, most of the beneficiaries from the account are his friends and associates. Ribadu further stated that: "similarly, as the funds were hitting ETB, Otunba Mike Adenuga made $20 million deposit for Globacom licence, the Second National Carrier. A little scrutiny of the equity ownership structure of the company revealed that Otunba Mike Adenuga lied about the ownership of the company. When the transfer of the $50 million by PTDF from its account in UBA Plc, New York was made in ETB, Mike Adenuga gave the Vice-President the sum of N322 million (i.e. N300 million on 27/11/02 and N22 million on 06/03/03) through his Marine Float account, domiciled in Bank PHB Plc, through his aides, Akinyera and Ajibade. N21 million was paid to the VP through a draft raised in the name of Umar Pariya, his Personal Assistant.”


The Vice-President allegedly held several meetings with the US Congressman, Williams J. Jefferson, both in Nigeria and abroad, in relation to business ventures, which included NDTV and Rosecom.net, an ISP. When the business relationship between NDTV and iGate collapsed, his assistance was sought to extinguish the outstanding approximately $2 million already paid by NDTV. Even though he denied assistance on extinguishing the amount, he accepted conveying a letter from US Congressman, Jefferson, to the then Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, in relation with iGate and Rosecom.net business venture.


"The vice president's business interest in NDTV was allegedly confirmed when he made an initial deposit of N30 million on January 1, 2003 from his Marine Float account in Bank PHB Plc for the purchase of the N200 million property being used as NDTV Head Office. His interest also influenced the placement of PTDF funds in TIB from where Otunba Fasawe obtained "loan" and completed the payment of N170 million for the property at Wuse. The Vice-President's interest in NDTV is further buttressed by the fact that he even acted as a referee to Fasawe for the sourcing of the licensing of NDTV in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Investigation also revealed that the Vice-President severally met contractors of NDTV at Jada, his hometown, on his interest in the company."


The burden of proof on Atiku today, therefore, rests on how he hopes to construct a coherent argument that his two decades of public service in the customs department is enough to make him the multi-millionaire and one of the nation's richest businessmen; and how he wants to lead a nation struggling to crawl out of the quagmire created by a reputation of grand corruption when he could supervise such brazen deals at PTDF and seek to legitimise it as a normal and appropriate state policy.

2007: Atiku's final battle begins

•His N60b wealth exposed • Owns 146 secret homes
•Plot to impeach, arrest him thickens

By EHIS USIAHO and KELECHI DECA

BARELY six weeks to the crucial presidential election to usher in President Olusegun Obasanjo's successor, his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, still striving to get the electoral umpire's (Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC) nod to vie for the exalted post, may have received another credibility dent capable of throwing him out of contention. Apparently scared of not just losing the presidential ticket of his party, the Action Congress (AC), Atiku, who is afraid of possible impeachment and subsequent arrest by law enforcement agents, believed to have dossier on his deals, is already worried that his supposed ally in opposition, General Muhammadu Buhari's comment, that he (Atiku) is finished politically, has not helped matters.


He is also worried that his pressure on the international community to intervene in order to save him from INEC's disqualification and embarrassment has not yielded results, yet he is being smeared with more financial scandals. He is now fighting a crucial political battle of his life to remain relevant in the emerging political dispensation.


Already, Atiku's anti tenure elongation lawmakers and supporters in the National Assembly, under the aegies of the Senator Uche Chukwumerije's mandate 007, have commenced intensive lobby of the federal lawmakers to back down on the impending moves to impeach the Vice President.


It was learnt that some influential persons outside the National Assembly have already been enlisted for support in stemming the government desperate bid to muzzle Atiku's political ambition and get him jailed on some trumped up charges of corruption.


A seemingly undaunted Atiku had recently dared security agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to arrest him on corruption, insisting that he can neither be disqualified by INEC nor impeached by the National Assembly.


However, with INEC's revelation that Atiku's picture and name had been removed from the 2007 polls ballot papers, a subtle way of announcing his disqualification from the presidential race, the Vice-President, who has so far won six legal battles against the federal government's move to checkmate his ambition has decided to fight for justice and relevance in all fronts to remain in contention.


National Daily exclusively reported, in its February 18, 2007 edition, that Atiku may be impeached next month.


True to our report, moves have commenced to impeach the Vice-President since the Appeal court ruling in his favour. To this end, he is mobilizing the northern elites against Obasanjo. His allies in the National Assembly are holding meetings to try to bloc the moves. But reliable sources said that the party caucus in the National Assembly recently met with the leadership of the party and President Olusegun Obasanjo, where the decision to have Atiku impeached was made.


Recent revelations on how he allegedly amassed wealth running into billions of naira since becoming the nation's number two man may have further worsened his case. If information available to National Daily is anything to go by, then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's perception as a softie, when it comes to corruption, will have a basis. Online news service, saharareporters, claimed to have obtained a document indicating that the vice-president's real financial status, which was modest, prior to his assumption of office, has blossomed to an unimaginable proportion. The report further alleged that the vice-president has exponentially increased in his financial wealth to the extent that he now owns about 146 homes in Yola, Adamawa State, in addition to transactions that run into huge sums. It is believed that the President and his deputy have several dealings they may not open up on, no matter the depth of their disagreement.


After his retirement from the Nigeria Customs service where he had served 20 years, Atiku entered the world of business, with interest in oil services, real estate, agriculture, education, and print media, before he finally arrived at the corridors of power. Then, the vice-president owned one house, each in Kaduna, Yola and Lagos. Eight years on as Nigeria's vice president, Atiku is said to have immeasurably transformed his material status. His high profile $25 million university (ABTI- American University) in Yola, and the $8 million he allegedly paid to the American University in Washington DC for a direct license to use the franchise of the university (known as partnership and management consultancy by AU officials), is a critical reference to the investment profile of a public officer, who reportedly did not seek bank loans to execute these gargantuan projects.


When contacted to comment on the nature of the deal with ABTI- American University, Washington DC-based AU's vice-president for International Affairs, Mr. Robert Pastor, said that the $8 million figure, claimed as the cost of doing business with ABTI-American University, was "inaccurate". He, however, refused to reveal the exact cost of the partnership and management consultancy with Atiku's high-profile institution, which, he bragged, became the best in Africa, after one and half years of operation. He said the exact cost of the partnership was confidential.


In the course of his eight years stewardship, Atiku has managed to corner controlling shares in Bank PHB and Intel, an oil services company, which operates in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe; as well as controlling shares in AP Petroleum, which he was forced to divest recently in a hail of controversy regarding the ethics of his management of the country's privatisation programme. Added to all these is the control of huge assets in real estate in Yola, the largest printing press in Northern Nigeria, and the Faro private water business.
The vulnerability of the vice-president, who, in the last lap of his two-term tenure, has allegedly recorded N60 billion worth of bank transactions, has made it easy for critics to point at elite corruption in order to illustrate the failure of national efforts at constructing a fair, accountable and transparent polity. The vice-president was alleged to have diverted $125 million from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) into his personal businesses.


Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, told the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Probe of the PTDF that "Atiku Abukakar is the Vice-President of Nigeria and was the one overseeing the activities of the PTDF. He inaugurated the Interim Management Committee of the fund in 2000. He played prominent roles in the approvals for the release of PTDF funds and their placement in two banks. The VP had an outstanding interest in the placement of the PTDF funds in these two banks. For one, even the $125 million for the implementation of some specific projects was not utilised for that purpose because of their diversion to and placement in the two banks (TIB and ETB).


As these funds were hitting the two preferred banks, "loans" were packaged by TIB, even without adequate collateral, for Atiku's long-time friend and business associate, Otunba Oluwole Johnson Haliru Fasawe, through NDTV and Mofas. In Mofas, one of the directors is Alhaji Adamu Abubakar, Atiku's son. Though the name was not stated as a director of Marine Float, evidence abounds that the account is controlled by him. First, the VP admitted he paid N30 million for the property from that account; secondly, most of the beneficiaries from the account are his friends and associates. Ribadu further stated that: "similarly, as the funds were hitting ETB, Otunba Mike Adenuga made $20 million deposit for Globacom licence, the Second National Carrier. A little scrutiny of the equity ownership structure of the company revealed that Otunba Mike Adenuga lied about the ownership of the company. When the transfer of the $50 million by PTDF from its account in UBA Plc, New York was made in ETB, Mike Adenuga gave the Vice-President the sum of N322 million (i.e. N300 million on 27/11/02 and N22 million on 06/03/03) through his Marine Float account, domiciled in Bank PHB Plc, through his aides, Akinyera and Ajibade. N21 million was paid to the VP through a draft raised in the name of Umar Pariya, his Personal Assistant.”


The Vice-President allegedly held several meetings with the US Congressman, Williams J. Jefferson, both in Nigeria and abroad, in relation to business ventures, which included NDTV and Rosecom.net, an ISP. When the business relationship between NDTV and iGate collapsed, his assistance was sought to extinguish the outstanding approximately $2 million already paid by NDTV. Even though he denied assistance on extinguishing the amount, he accepted conveying a letter from US Congressman, Jefferson, to the then Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, in relation with iGate and Rosecom.net business venture.


"The vice president's business interest in NDTV was allegedly confirmed when he made an initial deposit of N30 million on January 1, 2003 from his Marine Float account in Bank PHB Plc for the purchase of the N200 million property being used as NDTV Head Office. His interest also influenced the placement of PTDF funds in TIB from where Otunba Fasawe obtained "loan" and completed the payment of N170 million for the property at Wuse. The Vice-President's interest in NDTV is further buttressed by the fact that he even acted as a referee to Fasawe for the sourcing of the licensing of NDTV in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Investigation also revealed that the Vice-President severally met contractors of NDTV at Jada, his hometown, on his interest in the company."


The burden of proof on Atiku today, therefore, rests on how he hopes to construct a coherent argument that his two decades of public service in the customs department is enough to make him the multi-millionaire and one of the nation's richest businessmen; and how he wants to lead a nation struggling to crawl out of the quagmire created by a reputation of grand corruption when he could supervise such brazen deals at PTDF and seek to legitimise it as a normal and appropriate state policy.

Nigeria is already a Banana republic, if there is any dictator in Nigeria today. It is Atiku, he can not go behind the scene bribing Judges to get all sorts of court pronouncement in the hope to bullying everyone else with talks like people are disobeying court order.
The Nigerian courts have become a tool to circumvent the constitution, people will openly flout the constitution because they are able to buy Judges to give them the verdict they want.

Atiku thinks if he is not part of the election then there will be no election?? he also thinks Maurice Iwu will go to jail if he implements the constitution to the letter, please is that not in itself dictatorship?
Atiku can not continue thinking he is the symbol of democracy such that anything not in his favour is undemocrtic. He is single handedly re-writting Nigeria's constitution, the latest now is no aspect of the constitution must be implemented unless the court permits you to do so.

May God forgive me, but I will not mind seeing this VP assasinated if that is only how we can know peace in this country. The likes of IBB, Gusau, Marwa have buried their ambitions for this country to move on, even OBJ accepted loss of his third term for naija to move on, don't know who Atiku thinks he is

If you were in UK or US I would have advised you to visit Naija and see why people are mad with the Government but if you are typing from Ibadan then I have nothing to say.

Atiku's fate is very clear, he is not part of the election he is just giving himself hope as if the court rules otherwise INEC will let him in when the deadline for changing candidates is gone.

Counsel to the vice president, Adeniyi Akintola, had pleaded wih the court to deliver the judgement not later than March 7, 2007 in view of the fact that the INEC would conclude on the issue of substitution of candidate or disqualification of candidates as the case may be and publish same on March 8, 2007.

Its not very difficult to know when AC has planted something on the media. Who does not know that substitution of candidates ended by February 20 and all INEC is looking to do by March is release of candidates names.

Wanna know the true difference



[size=40pt]§[/size] ^EFCC _ICPC  [size=16pt](Corruption)[/size] = (EFCC) - (ICPC) = Passion and dedication of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

Someone should tell Buhari that even while he is talking about who to probe, a child somewhere on the streets of Nigeria is dieing of hunger. That is how desperate the situation has become.

I will personally not be suprised to see the Senate trash out that report. They have turned the NASS into a battle field for Atiku and OBJ. Instead of treating issues they will once again divide themslves along Pro/Anti third term lines or along the lines of those who lost re-election in their constitutency under PDP and those who won.
This debate is a matter of National Interest and should be devoid of sentiments, propaganda and emotion. I hope the proclamation by Ken Nnamani will send a message to them.

He should tell us his programmes, Abacha loot that was recovered has not changed the lives of Nigerians.

In the next dispensation fight against corruption should be more pre-emptive and proactive so that Government contracts are scrutinized to ensure that money allocated are commensurate to project, they should also ensure that there are milestones and timescales on which progress of the project are periodically assessed.

This idea of allowing the damage to be done before they start looking for who to kill or jail is both out-dated and inefficient.