₦airaland Forum

Between himself, his Chief
Security Officer and the
former Petroluem Minister,
former President Goodluck
Jonathan spent, in just one
deal, a princely $6.9 million
dollars to buy three 40-feet
mobile stages for use during
mass public speaking events,
investigations have now
revealed.
Federal government
investigators and security
agencies say this is just one of
the tons of allegedly corrupt
practices frequently engaged
and condoned under the
presidency of the immediate
past president.
Besides the fact that the sum
for the stages have been
incredibly inflated according
to mobile stages industry
experts, government
investigators say there is no
evidence as yet that any stage
was purchased at all.
While the cost of mobile
stages range in size and
designs, only outlandish rock
star musicians in Europe and
the U.S. spend hundreds of
thousands on their huge
stages way bigger than the
40-feet stages. Even then,
those musicians and super
stars would not pay over $2m
per stage, according to
industry sources.
The process of procurement
of the three mobile stages was
neither known to extant
Nigerian laws and due
process regulations, nor were
the offices of the Auditor-
General and the Accountant-
General in the know,
according to investigators.
“There are no records of this
purchase which was carried
out in late 2011,” says an
authoritative source.
This purchase was carried out
only few months after Mr.
Jonathan won a general
election for a full term after
having completed the term of
late President Umaru
Yar’adua.
A competent source said that
at the centre of the
fraudulent financial ring was
the former Chief Security Officer (CSO)
to President Jonathan, Gordon Obuah,
who initiated a memo to the former
president on October 17, 2011 asking for
the purchase of three mobile stages.
He said in that memo to the former
president that this is regarding “my
earlier discussion with Your Excellency
on the security implication of your
public appearances and your subsequent
directive on the need to procure a
secured presidential platform”.
And on the same day, without any
financial advise or purchase order
reviews, the former president minuted
an approval of the request to buy the
three stages to the then Minister for
Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-
Madueke.
In his minute, the president said “we
have discussed this, please deal.”
Right after that okay from the president,
on the same October 17, the Senior
Special Assistant to the President on
Administrative Matters, Matt
Aikhionbere did another letter on the
strength of the president’s approval
requesting the Petroluem Minister to
take action on the request to purchase
the stages for $6.9m.
By the next month, an NNPC payment
voucher number 3840336 was already in
place revealing that the money was
released.
The NNPC directed that the money be
taken from one of its accounts in New
York CITIBANK with sort code CITIUS 33,
and Routing number 021000089.
It was first routed from the US bank to
an NNPC account in Zenith Bank account
number 5000026593, Maitama branch in
Abuja, from where the money was sent
to a private account.
The sum of $6.9m was then credited to a
Sterling Bank account of one J. Marine
Logistics Limited, Abuja, a company
investigators say was registered by
Obuah.
The CSO himself according to
investigators have not been able to show
proof of the purchase and his memo
irked his bosses at the SSS that he took
the initiative to write requesting for the
stages, an action officials say was way
above his pay grade.
Said an official of one of the security
agencies conducting the investigation, “it
is not the duty or responsibility of the
CSO to make the determination on that
purchase. He was meant to have
informed the service, which will then
review the situation and act
accordingly.”
The source continued: “What has
happened here is that the former
president and the former minister with
the collusion of the CSO decided to dip
their hands into the public till and steal
public funds for other purposes since no
one has found the stages as we speak.”
The source said specifically that the
$6.9miilion in question was promptly
paid on November 29, 2011 into a
private account belonging to the former
CSO.
“The former president approved the
procurement of the mobile platforms
without due process, bypassing the
Procurement Act.
“There was also no appropriation in the
2011 budget for such facility,”
investigators said.
The source added that neither the
minister of Finance nor the Director-
General of the Budget Office was aware
of the deal.
Investigators say this is just one of the
several instances where the Jonathan
administration used secret NNPC
accounts to fund many questionable
projects and for alleged personal
financial aggrandizement.
Already the CSO has been questioned
over his role and activities in the
Jonathan presidency. It would be
recalled that he was arrested, detained,
questioned and later released.
Former President Jonathan and Mrs.
Alison-Madueke could not be reached for
comments.
But when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES,
Mr. Obuah denied initiating or engaging
in any such transaction.
“The allegation is totally false and
baseless,” the former CSO said through
his lawyer, Andrew Itsekiri.
“There was nothing like that. No such
memo was initiated and no such money
was released to him. They are just
levying allegations they cannot
substantiate against him.
“It is one of the allegations he was
confronted with by the SSS, and it was
found that they were pack of lies. Let
NNPC come out with the records that any
such funds were released to him.”
There has been considerable pressure
mounted on the Buhari administration
regarding its determination to probe
allegations of corruption in the past,
including from the National Peace
Committee headed by the former Head
of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar.
A member of that committee, Bishop
Mathew Kukah, is also known alongside
Mr. Abubakar and others in the
Committee to have been involved in
attempts to mellow-out the resolve of
President Buhari in his determination to
probe and deal decisively with
tremendous corrupt practices especially
during the last six to eight years.
Reecall that at the June 29 meeting of the
National Economic Council at the state
House, the council raised questions over
the non- remittance of the finances
generated by the NNPC into the
federation account.
NEC found that whereas the NNPC
claimed to have earned about
N8.1trillion in the last two years, what
NNPC paid into the Federation Account
during the same period was about N4.3
trillion, keeping the balance in its
several secret accounts, allowing the
former president and his cronies access
to such unknown accounts to do as they
please.
Consequently, NEC set up a four-man
committee to investigate the missing
money.
The committee, made up of Governors of
Edo, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom and Gombe,
submitted an interim report to NEC but
in addition appointed financial experts
to conduct forensic audit of the accruals
into the federation account and the
withdrawals from the excess crude
account.
Also President Buhari, in an attempt to
plug some of the procedural loopholes
that facilitate and encourage corruption,
directed that all revenue-generating
agencies of goverment, including NNPC
should now pay all revenues to a
Treasury Single Account, TSA.
TSA makes it rather difficult to hide
government revenues from any agency,
and procedurally discourages a situation
where the president can be accessing a
secret slush account without the
knowledge of the entire public finance
process as was the case in this bogus
$6.9m purchase of mobile stages.

www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/189221-jonathan-alison-madueke-cso-obuah-in-trouble-over-6-9million-mobile-stage-scandal.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Houseofglam7:
Thank you She's still pretty in her own way

U welcome

Chelsea 1 2 cry haaaaahaaa

If we say change, den we shouldn't be doing things d same way it was done before, if u are nao justifying dis decision wit wat was done in d past, den where is d change?

THE ENORMOUSLY popular talk show,Berekete on WazobiaFM radio, Abuja station told the incredible, yet true story of the hardworking and respected school teacher somewhere in Plateau state who hanged himself. He hadn’t been paid salary for seven straight months. He came home to find that no one had eaten and two of the children had medical prescriptions for which there was no money. He sneaked out without talking to anyone. After a long while, news came home that he had strangely been caught with a stolen goat. On his day in court, the teacher confessed to the offense. The reason he stole, he told the local judge, was that he hadn’t been paid for seven months and when he got home to see what he saw, he just couldn’t stand it. The judge allowed him to go home on bail on self-recognition given, as he said, the good impression the entire village had of the otherwise respected teacher. All were shocked to find his body dangling from tree the morning after. He couldn’t live with the shame. In the recommendations and notes the Ahmed Joda transition committee presented to him as President -EIect, Muhammadu Buhari was informed that a section of the Fedaral government as well as 27 states hadn’t paid salaries, in some case for up to a year. The Joda committee advised that this was a national emergency and should be treated as such. It is on account of this that one of theactivities- please note the choice of this word:activities, not achievements- of President Muahammadu Buhari in these past three months is the settlement of unpaid salaries. This is going on right now. Like the proverbial blinking of the eye, Saturday September 5th will mark the 100th day of the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress, APC government which took office on May 29th after the new party became the first in opposition to unseat an incumbent government in an election adjudged by everyone as free and fair. There are many out there who say that the performance of a president and his government in terms success or failure cannot be judged in 100 days and I agree with them. But history will be written anyway. In the coming week or two, a rash of commentaries and analyses to commemorate the event will be made. I myself don’t deny that 100 days is long enough to know and understand the man who is the head of a government. Buhari arrived power with strong support from young men and women and this country’s poor. The new government was not favored at election by the monied power-brokers although that did not stop the President from taking measures such as improving security that are good for business and investment. This government is business-friendly but not one that is for crony capitalism. The new government inherited enormous problems created by the tainted PDP administration, largely caused by the lack of governance,corruption and lawlessness. This was mostly evident in the last two years of the Jonathan Goodluck administration. As the President continues to point out,the drift is most evident in the oil sector. I believe that there is enough on the ground in those 100 days to understand President Buhari, his government and what it stands for. I will cite a few of these. Before I do that, I will make a little confession. In the course of electioneering, the presidential campaign had so many centers of public communication which, for whatever reason were on the loose. There is a certain document tagged “One Hundred Things Buhari Will Do in 100 Days” and the other, “My Covenant With Nigerians.” Both pamphlets bore the authorized party logo but as the Director of Media and Communications in that campaign, I did not fund or authorize any of those. I can equally bet my last Kobo that Candidate Buhari did not see or authorize those publications. As a consequence of these publications, expectations have been raised unreasonably, that as President, Muhammadu Buhari will wave his hand and all the problems that the country faces- insecurity, corruption, unemployment, poor infrastructure would go away. But that notwithstanding, President Buhari has given the job his best shot and the whole country is saying that we never had it so good. He has re-instituted the values of hard work and administrative efficiency. The President says times without number that this country needs to fix governance and that he won’t tolerate laziness. Some of the other activities I wish to enumerate also include the fact of his taking relations with the country’s immediate neighbors to new heights. By their open admissions, this country’s neighbors did not have someone they could talk to on the deteriorating security situation in the Lake Chad Basin area in Aso Rock. Buhari embarked on his foreign policy on Day Four of his administration. When he met Barack Obama, the U.S president told the Nigerian leader that he was getting it right and that it is only when Nigeria gets it right that Africa will get it right. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon who came calling this week said that our president is “courageous, focused and firm.” Relations with the “G 7″ group of industrialized countries have since been “reset” and the dividends of this have begun to flow inwards. In the area of economic management, Nigerians are already seeing things happen that they thought were not possible in so short a time. He didn’t put a Kobo to finance the power sector. Yet, reading his body language alone and knowing that there are things you cannot do and get away with under Buhari, electricity supply all over the countries has risen to unprecedented heights. Actually, some cities are on the verge of calling 24-hour, round the clock power supply. The country generates more power than can internally be taken by the deplorable distribution system we have on the ground, which points to the next challenge that the country faces. Framework for the management of the country’s finances has been put in place. The wobbly Naira is being stabilized and inflation is headed towards a single digit.President Buhari is keeping a close eye on the government treasury. Agriculture is getting its own shot in the arm. Rice importation has been curtailed and seven governors whose states are priming a massive local production of the commodity have had a strategy meeting with the President on the next steps that are coming. Americans say their intervention in our agriculture will come next year. Boko Haram, which had more or less been allowed to fester for about five years is about being ended but what is even more interesting is that intelligence coming from the fired-up armed forces who now work in synergy with each other is raising hope that the Chibok girls may, repeat may be found in good numbers in a geographic location of interest somewhere in the North-East. President Buhari is being praised at home and abroad for his ongoing fight against corruption. He said from the beginning that his government will not tolerate this vice. Borrowing the words of India Narendra Modi’s, he said himself that “I won’t steal and I’ll not allow others to do it.” President Buhari has walked his talk since he come to office. Himself and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have not only given up half of their salary, they have cut a good number of funding lines to their official homes and offices. President Buhari also takes the environment seriously. He blames the lack of security in the Lake Chad region on the recession, almost drying up of the lake. He has undertaken to clean up the Ogoniland. In this country, appointments and removal from office are done usually in accordance with a spoils system. A new government sacks officials on the basis only that it did not appoint them, by the predecessor-adminstration. President Buhari has shown that his government is different. He wants to look at each case on its own merit and it is clear by now that he is not ready to surrender the country to burnt out politicians. Technocrats will have a big place in his administration. He has appointed no ministers yet, but the government is running smoothly. In this period of three months, government certainly deserves a pat on the back for improved power, reform in the energy sector, foreign relations fight against corruption and insurgency and the fact of Nigerians being at peace, not only among themselves but with their neighbors and the rest of the world. In think in summary, I would like to end this piece by saying that President Muhammadu Buhari will turn out to be a leader in the tradition of Lee Kuan-Yu and India’s current reform-minded Prime Minister Modi with strong and clear emphasis on detail and execution. He may however differ with them by not micro-managing things. GARBA SHEHU SSA MEDIA AND PUBLICITY TO THE PRESIDENT.

Am sure d EFCC's door is wide open, if u know all dis den help d country by reporting it to d EFCC instead of disturbing us with something dat is no longer news abeg

Realdeals:
Bad guy!

it's d truth nao, n infact it's wat people are doing, just dat we pretend alot

It's just natural, u can't keep eating white rice everytime n not get tired of it, so u need to diversify, eat other varieties, coconut rice, fried rice, jollof n d likes, so also sex, u can't keep doing a style n not get tired of it, den u diversify and u can't keep doing it with d same person, u also need to diversify. But don't get caught if u are married ooo

Houseofglam7:
Pretty!

U are way better dan her, look at u without makeup, so imagine if u had makeup for photo shoot like her

This I think is why he wasn't made d SGF, image how full d newspapers would have been with congratulatory messages just because some people av tied their own success in life to people like Amaechi being in position. I think wat PMB is doing, is to put the goat where there is no yam n the dog where there is no meat, so dat according to GEJ's theory, the goat won't b eating our yam...

irishCream:
See them amebo crew



She said he got a poor personal hygiene that's why they separated

is dat all?

Arbiola:
Dear,the major reason God sent us to earth,is to broadcast,evangelize and the most important,win souls to his kingdom...... Why don't they go and shut down all those club houses... Why Churches?
For all I care,all the houses in Nigeria could be demolished, and churches built.... What Nigeria really needs now is Prayer,Prayer and Prayer!!!!!!

why preach the gospel where it has been heard ova n ova? If u really want to broadcast n evangelize, why not go up north, especially borno, yobe n adamawa where dey need d gospel badly. And for ur information, dey close down hotels n clubs too but it's just dat dey see it as wat it is n obey d laws but d churches see it as fight against God n hence proving stubborn. Kanu's hotel was sealed recently

irishCream:
Hmmmmm...hope what Genevieve said about this guy isn't the truth?

wat did she say jare, I missed out on it

Make I nominate myself for d post of Abobanaawo

Eni ti o n she eyin people yi ti ku tipetipe

He is only trying to show dat no matter how long it may take, ur attitude will take u high

If a man offers to give u a designer cloth, u first look at wat he is putting on, are they not under siege themselve?

Sandydayz:
No, not in this generation

not in dis generation, hmmmmmmm

Take her on a trip n tell d pilot to help u make d announcement

misspicy:
Who told you

If u b virgin, u no go dey talk about am like dis, well maybe wat u are saying is if u compare hw much sex u av had to afrocandy's, den u are a virgin

Sandydayz:

wats ur opinion? Would like to hear it from a lady

EasternLion:
Is that not what we want? Lol.

Then thread softly, ur people have invested alot in dat state, the two tenants we have are igbo n dey have shops in computer village, I tell u dey av invested alot I dat place n dey surely av a lot to loose if anything goes wrong

Kaakulator:
Looool trouble dey sleep. yanga go wake am. the guy don put lagos yib-hoes inside yawa

election own never die down, he dey bring another one, I hope he doesn't say provocative words wey fit vex Lagosians oooo, he should know dey have alot to loose should any violence erupt in Lagos

If it will work den good

Bobo yi ti fe gbe saara e koja moshalashi

kestolove95:
Dat madman call idris wada must go like Jonathan and prince abubakar audu will take ova

Abubakar Audu ke? Dat one is a pedophile ooo, I prefer Babatunde Irukera, his Twitter handle is @tundeirukera, check him up

They should try n extend BRT services to dat area once d road is completed, den he should look at how he can construct more public schools too

ibotic:
Thank goodness you SW don't have erosion plaguing your land.... ....and you are witnessing development everyday..... ...the shame and greed of our leaders in the SE particularly NNewi where I am from is what is causing us to shout Biafra....if only my people can come and learn how to govern...instead we will be selling fake drugs and doing prostitution in your land....I am ashamed to be Igbo...

Tell me u are just being sarcastic please

ernieboy:
Technically that wasn't a lie because his wife was his half sister. Gen 20:12.

If u go to Gen 26:6-7, wat did Isaac do there, no b lie? And we no here say he go hell

ernieboy:
Technically that wasn't a lie because his wife was his half sister. Gen 20:12.

at dat particular moment, was she with him as his sister or wife?

The immediate past Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, has said he cannot continue to “hang around” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) anymore. This followed speculations that he is set for a move to the All Progressives Congress (APC). In a chat with The Nation in Calabar on Wednesday, Ndoma-Egba said, “What I would say is that for the past three years, I have not had any political life within the PDP because I was shut out and I still have political life in me. So I cannot hang around hoping for PDP for the rest of my life. I am not getting younger.” On whether or not he would join the APC, he added, “Definitely I would seek a platform to express my political life and consultations are still going on. When we conclude the consultations I would issue a statement and it would be a very loud and clear statement.” He reacted to newspaper reports that demanded he apologize to APC members for allegedly persecuting them in the last elections. He stated, “The philosophy of PDP was to destroy Victor Ndoma-Egba. They spent more time pursuing me than they spent pursuing elections. Now in the last election, I did not even show up because I was shut out completely. Some of my supporters had left for APC and others to Labour Party. So I did not even come home. I was here in Abuja all though the elections. “I was politically inactive during that period. I did not follow PDP or anybody to any campaign. I was here in Abuja. So who were the people I persecuted, when I was being persecuted myself? I was fighting for my own dear life. So who were people I persecuted? Where did they see me? If I were to persecute anybody, it would be people in PDP. So where are these coming from? The people who said I should apologize, they should tell me who to apologize to and for what.” thenationonlineng.net/i-cannot-hang-around-pdp-anymore-ndoma-egba/