₦airaland Forum

Has anyone actually clicked on the so called link?

I clicked on the link and my antivirus software flagged the link as dangerous.

A simple google search throws up records of Tinubu & First Heritage Bank's court case with the Illinois Northern District Court. On just one of them, the web page throws up the following information:

https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/Illinois_Northern_District_Court/1--93-cv-04483/USA_v._Acct_263226700_et_al/


USA v. Acct 263226700, et al

Illinois Northern District Court

Case No. 1:93-cv-04483

Judge Honorable John A. Nordberg

Filed July 26, 1993

Nature of Suit 625 Drug Related Seizure of Property




The website appears genuine. The full details of the suit are available only to registered users of the site. However, no reference to tax evasion was made in the highlights of the suit - none whatsoever. Instead, we have the nature of the suit clearly stated as "drug related seizure of property".

And yet some people come on here to spread the deception that this matter is all about misfiling of tax returns. And some other foul mouthed hypocrites and philistines (you know yourselves) trying to start alternative careers in online hagiography have the nerve to come on here to insult those of us who are asking why Tinubu paid out nearly half a million dollars to the US government in 1993. Once again, we are asking: what was the deal?

Mogidi:
Bros point me to the $48billion dollars Sanusi said was missing?

^^^^


This isn't a game. No one has time for what you are trying to do.

kaboninc:
Like I've told you, should you need these reports, simply write to the relevant agency and request for a copy since you cannot rely on news articles. That should quell your quest for government activities.

On the PwC report, this link will help you with some unanswered questions.
https://www.oaugf.ng/78-highlights-of-investigative-forensic-audit-done-by-pwc

^^^^
Well...there is no more a need for obscure web hyperlinks which only provide 'highlights' of critical white papers and reports. The PwC report has finally been released to the public.

Even to a hardened, unrepentant government defender like yourself the contents of that report should make for sober reading. What do you have to say? Do you still hold the views you held when this thread was at its hottest?

nku5:
I respect your opinion but I disagree with your submission.

My last paragraph should not weaken any critic of GEJ, I believe its necessary to draw a line. I am highlighting the failure that is Obj and asking for a crystal clear exposition of any scandal or case of theft in this administration an how they measure up to the cankerworm and beastly glory of Obj. Is that too much to ask? Regarding the PWC report I am sure an opposition that has no problem obtaining top secret letters between the CBN governor and the C in C should have no wahala using the FOI bill to get a copy if it will be of political value to them.

GEJ bashing is a national sport but let's extricate emotion from our analysis.

^^^^
The PwC report is out. What do you think of it?

df2006:
@ Volvo S60


The last thing I would do is to try to absolve Dr Jonathan from all you have stated above.


But looking at the issues keenly and Objectively, I would say Nigerians have seen worse.


I am not a good writer so pls bear with me.


I would remind you that a C in C came out publicly to shout at a bereaved people that he wasn't suppose to be there consoling them, this was after a totally under maintained ammo dump went up in loud bangs maiming a large no of people and sending countless others into a swampy watery grave.


The current Ex C in C campaigning for office now, came out to not only tell us that we were indis-cipline, but said we were use-less, the same man wearing some funny attire, now smiling, begging for my vote.

This people did not, and never had any need for us until one man Jonathan came and made the electoral process more transparent and credible.

This alone is enough to ink my thumb for him.


Like the main article stated, Nigeria is a country of patronage, right from the elite to the dirt poor, and I am afraid it will remain so

Hence the do or die fight for elective posts,

Things that should normally happen in civilised society like sending corrupt people to jail, seldom happen here, this patronage system creates untouchables.

it is thru patronage that Nigeria still remains as one

And like the writer rightly said this means of patronage are slowly being dismantled, and privatised, which is causing the very much div-isive atmosphere now.

Our Combustible nation has made some of our leaders not be able to do the clearly right thing,
Because of our peculiar creation as a Nation.

When people say this is how it is done in the west, why can't we do same, I laugh, because we were not created like the west.

Rather than being confronting, Goodluck has been using institutions, technology, and systems to tackle patronage.

He has single handedly cause the most change howbeit, lackadaisically giving our peculiar nature without the country going up in smoke yet.

(Bh is also the result of the dearth of patronage.)

And for this reason almost every person who has benefited from that patronage is clearly on the other divide and against him, today shouting Change.

Cheers.

^^^^
A lot has happened since this thread.

The elections have come and gone. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is due to leave office next month.

I am revisiting this thread because the federal government has finally released the PwC report. This was one of the issues that generated a lot of heat on this thread then. I urge you to take a look at the report to see the incredible things written there and draw your own conclusions.

Your post above captured some of Nigeria's contradictions in a concise manner. But as I warned then, there are some things a leader cannot pussyfoot around - they have to be confronted head-on. There is almost nothing that Jonathan can do now (if for argument's sake, we were to give him the benefit of the doubt) about the chamber of horrors that the PwC has thrown up - and the report is not even anything remotely near comprehensive in its scope.

It is not looking good at all for Jonathan and his team.

IGBOSON1:
^^^Well in your case it appears you like having the last word just for the heck of it because you've made no point at all!......You're just waffling!!

Now just who exactly did you want removed from office while the audit was on: is it GEJ; the minister of petroleum; the minster of finance; the new head of NNPC who met the issue unfolding on his appointment; just who?

I asked you a question on which audit firm you lot would have been happy with since you say Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) are questionable and can't be relied on not to be compromised.....i'm yet to get a response!

On your own question which you say i couldn't answer: you may just as well ask for the entire directors and management of NNPC and the ministry of petroleum to be removed from office because there's no way of knowing who and who is involved! If you had any knowledge of accounting procedures and due process, you'd realize all the auditors need is a knowledge of such procedures and processes in accounting and book-keeping, and then request for the documents involved! PWC didn't inform us of any obstacles placed in their way or any documents missing......unless of course you heard of any, in which case you're free to share such info' with the rest of us!

On your last paragraph: i asked you whether you questioned the appointment of PWC when it was initially made based on the dirt you dug up on them after they presented their findings which weren't to your liking!? Of course i know you can easily go back to past posts of yours and edit them to make it look like you actually did protest at the time; but nonetheless i'm still interested to see it/them so provide a link here.....i don't have the time to be trawling through your past posts for obvious reasons!

In any case, GEJ, the ministry of petroleum, the finance ministry and NNPC have all been vindicated so this argument of anyone being removed or not is just academic! If you have a problem with PWC, you can take it up with the United Nations or whoever else is the international finance watchdog!

Cheers!

^^^^
Hindsight is a truly awful thing.

IGBOSON1:
It's quite sad really!

Right from when Sanusi first made the accusation in 2013, the usual suspects that have nothing but hate and contempt for GEJ practically went to town on the issue, heaping abuse and curses on the poor mans head......Okonjo-Iweala and Allison-Madueke got their own fair share as well!!

Now the issue has been addressed by a world-renowned audit firm and the major 'suspects' cleared, it's gone all quiet.....you don't hear kpim from them! This is the nature of ethno-religious inspired partisan-politics in this country......giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it!

^^^^
As Robert Nesta Marley crooned so many years ago...

Time alone... Oh time will tell...think you're in heaven but you're living in hell...

Sir, do you stand by your story above in the light of what the report has brought to the attention of ordinary Nigerians?

jdilight:
I have always maintained my support for President Jonathan because he is a transparent man who every thief want to paint black to look like them.

All the allegations of stolen billions are gradually being led to rest.

Can APC led government allow external auditors look into their affairs as Goodluck has done.

Last word

Our press are a shameful bunch of people for not sensitizing the public of this great injustice on the president.

At least the world need to know that there are a few good Nigerians (Join Goodluck in being a good Nigerian).


For those who always say "may God manage your life the way goodluck is managing Nigeria?". May God manage your life the way Buhari managed Nigeria.

^^^^
Do you still stand by your story?

keyremotes:
Ken Agala wrote:

PriceWaterHouseCoopers is amongst the BIG FOUR audit companies in the world with world class expertise, INTEGRITY and professionalism .
From a whopping $49 billion dollars, the PriceWater House Cooper forensic audit report of our oil industry has clearly stated that only $1.4 billion dollars hasn't been remitted to the federation account.

The NNPC has said that the $1.48 billion was NEVER in dispute, as it was made up of statutory payments, such as signature bonus, taxes and royalties, which are statutory payments that come with assets acquisition. The corporation stated that the delay in payment was due to the reconciliation processes between the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and NNPC.

Today this story is muffled by the Nigerian Press and Nigerian social media youths who only loves anything that will paint their country in bad light just because they don't like Jonathan.

Have you ever been accused of theft when you were innocent before?

SHAME ON YOU IF YOU EVER INSULTED JONATHAN FOR STEALING 40 BILLION DOLLARS.
IF YOU HAVE ANY HONOUR, APOLOGISE TO JONATHAN OPENLY AND ASK GOD TO FORGIVE YOU.

Nature never deals kindly with those who bear false witness against others.
''He that digs a pit shall fall into it"
..and I say a big Amen!

^^^^
The report has finally been released to the public.

It looks like you are going to have to eat your words.

Let the thread have your comments.

The house of horrors that is the NNPC has finally been uncovered.

All the parties in this mess are losers. From PwC (which has issued a report which to all intents and purposes does not meet the most basic standards of an audit anywhere on the globe) to the broken, irredeemable PDP-led government of Goodluck Jonathan and his predecessors (Olusegun Obasanjo & Umaru Musa Yaradua).

But the biggest losers by far are ordinary Nigerians. This is their hell. They do not know why or how to hold their leaders accountable and this is the outcome.

atlwireles:
What report?

^^^^
The report has finally been released.

To call it a can of worms would be a huge understatement.

Do you have any comments?

blym4real:
Am commenting on the article posted, If you want to discuss about the document you can open a new thread for it.

^^^^
No that's not good enough. The header of the article and the bulk of it is devoted to an alleged connection between mr tinubu and alleged narcotics traffickers. There is a reference in the write-up to tinubu's failure to file tax returns and this is described as one of the factors behind the seizure of his assets. However, this matter of failure to file tax returns is at best, a footnote. The real question mark is the alleged narcotics trafficking link - this is the matter that weiss has devoted the bulk of his article to.

Mr. tinubu was not charged with any crime. Agreed. But he paid nearly half a million dollars to the US government for reasons that remain unclear. Why? Most important of all is the court document which actually lists the reasons for the seizure and subsequent forfeiture of assets. Is it not narcotics trafficking that jumps out at you on that page?

Notice how some 'Nigeria' expert in Weiss' article casually tars Nigeria's entire political elite with the same broad brush of illegality because of cases such as this one which we have been discussing for over 10 pages - cases that some posters here are trying desperately to suppress.

The truth will out.

blym4real:
If it incorrect you should correct me, I based my conclusion on the article in question.

^^^^
The back and forth is getting tiring. The document you should be interested in is the 1993 court docket. That document (if it is indeed genuine and not a forgery) is also on this thread. That document has the notice of forfeiture of assets and explicitly lists the criteria for this as narcotics trafficking AND involvement in financial transactions which violate certain provisions (as yet unknown to me) of the US legal/criminal code. I referred to the specific section in an earlier post. With what I have stated here, are you still 100% certain that the issue at stake is tax evasion?

blym4real:
since the money was seized due to tax evasion it only logical to conclude the forfeiture is simply an acumulated tax with fine.

^^^^
This is incorrect.

NewNigeriaMind:
He forfeited it for tax evation, did you read thr article at all.

^^^^

Yes I did read the article. Did you?

What reason did the presiding judge give in the notice of forfeiture?

blym4real:
he neglected to file U.S.
income tax returns
after 1984 despite
having sizable, interest-
generating deposits in
American banks. It was on this account that his bank accounts were seized
magistrate
judge of the Northern
District to issue seizure
warrants for Tinubu’s
First Heritage and
Citibank accounts.
Collectively, more than
$1.4 million belonging to
the Nigerian was
confiscated

There’s no evidence
that Tinubu was ever
indicted for any crime.
He eventually settled
with the district court,
turning over $460,000
of the seized $1.4
million

^^^^
But what was the actual reason given in the notice of forfeiture? Was it tax evasion?

I urge you to read the whole article again.

aresa:
[s][/s]



^^^^^ All that matters.

Stop crying like a baby...

^^^
You are still a child. When you are ready to debate like an adult then let me know. Farewell.

aresa:
Apart from you crying and mopping, what other issue is there to address with the highlighted?

Uninteligent people make unintelligent comments so that wasn't not any kind of insult.

^^^^

I consider it bad form to criticize other posters grammar but it is a bit rich for you to brand me unintelligent when you are tying yourself in knots over a simple sentence. Does your sentence (in bold type) up there make any sense to you?

Even though mr. tinubu has not been charged with any crime, the question still stands: why did he forfeit nearly half a million dollars to uncle sam?

Answer that if you can.

aresa:
[s][/s]



Maybe you need to educate us per why the same American taxpayers funded top US government officials are breaking their necks to be seen and taking pictures with a drug kingpin. Is hanging out and taking pictures with drug kingpins part of their official duties...?


Unintelligent TaNoid..

^^^^

Address the issues. Running 'strikethroughs' through my entire post will not solve the 'problem'.

Drop the insults. They hold no terror for me.

Instead of some posters to address the issues at stake, we are being harassed with pictures of Mr. Tinubu associating with America's political and business elite.

Those pictures don't prove anything. I could easily dig up pictures of Helmut Kohl, Manuel Noriega and Mobutu Sese Seko hobnobbing with US and world leaders (before their fall from grace).

The issue at stake should be addressed. This thread is not a photo album.

blym4real:
read the article again with an open mind.

^^^
I did read the article with an open mind but it leaves me with me far more questions than answers. I will repeat again: Do people just go round giving almost half a million dollars to the US government for no reason? Does Tinubu love Uncle Sam that much?

What exactly was the deal?

blym4real:
he neglected to file U.S.
income tax returns
after 1984 despite
having sizable, interest-
generating deposits in
American banks. All of
this was enough to
persuade a magistrate
judge of the Northern
District to issue seizure
warrants for Tinubu’s
First Heritage and
Citibank accounts.
Collectively, more than
$1.4 million belonging to
the Nigerian was
confiscated.

He forfeited the money for tax evasion.

^^^^
I have no way of knowing if the notice of forfeiture of funds you referenced is a real court document. If it is indeed, then you need to clarify your claims that "he forfeited the money for tax evasion". (By the way, tax evasion IS a serious crime. Serious countries take tax evasion very seriously).

The notice of forfeiture states clearly that the funds were seized on suspicion of being proceeds of narcotics trafficking OR property involved in financial transactions in violation of "18 USC 1956 & 1957" (presumably certain sections of the US criminal code). Unless you are 100% certain that the referenced sections refer to tax evasion, it is going out on limb for you to casually state that 'he forfeited the money for tax evasion'. (Again, I reiterate that tax evasion is a serious crime (in the US at least). It may not be in the same class as drug trafficking but it is definitely a felony with very serious consequences for offenders).

The truth shall make us free.

Nigerians deserve to know the truth about this Bola Ahmed Tinubu saga. (assuming the info in this report is factual and accurate).

You don't just hand over nearly half a million dollars to Uncle Sam for no reason.

Even though the report says there is no evidence mr tinubu was charged with any crime, WHY did Tinubu forfeit this money to the US government? What was the deal?

Ortom

This explanation by Ortom isn't a good sign. The 'culture' in government circles? Isn't it the 'culture' in government circles to pay civil servants their salaries? Has Suswan done this?

Our system is still broken. It is the duty of Nigerian lawmakers to check the nonsense that Ortom has articulated up here. Unfortunately that will not happen for a long, long time. Nigerians are still not holding their leaders accountable with the means at their disposal.

Our institutions are still very weak and voters are still unaware of their rights and how the system should work.

Our road is still very long.

Let us hear what the army people have to say.

The heart of this petroleum subsidy matter is item number 10 in the OP's list - the local sale of refined petroleum products at international prices. This policy was allegedly put in place by the OBJ administration. Is this claim true or false? And what are the merits/demerits of this move?

JustCalMeDBoss:
A simple knowledge of fractional distillation shows that only 42% of gasoline can be gotten from a barrel of oil. For our type of oil. now the US energy information assessment agency clearly states that 19 gallons of gasoline and 12 gallons of diesel can be gotten from a barrel of oil. Bloomberg also states nigeria can only meet 16 percent refining capacities of its domestic needs which a large percentage is lost to vandalism and depends on importation for over 70% of its domestic needs.

Every body wants to be an economist now. LOL
Buhari the miracle worker. But let him start with Oando because we know tinubu has a large share there.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-12-23/oil-s-slump-gives-nigeria-chance-to-end-7-billion-fuel-subsidy


http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=327&t=9

http://www.petroleum.co.uk/refining

^^^^
The issue I have with your analysis above is your silence on costs. Any analysis of petroleum products 'subsidy' is incomplete until the cost of local production (and refining) of a litre of petrol is clearly stated. For several months I have repeatedly asked here for the true cost of producing and refining a litre of PMS locally (in Nigeria). Most of those who claim to support 'subsidy' removal have shied away from this challenge.

We all agree there is a subsidy on imported PMS sold in Nigerian petrol stations. What has never been fully made clear is whether or not there is a subsidy on locally produced and refined PMS. If there is, how much is it? The supporters of fuel 'subsidy' removal avoid answering the question because of the fresh questions that will be raised: if indeed there is no subsidy on locally produced PMS then why have new refineries not been built by the government? Why should Nigeria import refined petroleum products in the first place?

On a slightly related note - the Bloomberg article you cited has a quote attributed to Mrs Okonjo - Iweala - she is quoted as saying that a US$60 per barrel price represents a 'break even'point at which there is no longer a subsidy. Hasn't that price limit been crossed?

Only in Nigeria.

For a matter that has generated so much interest, the Jonathan administration's handling of this matter has been below par. Well below par.

The minimum expected from a responsible government is the release of the PwC audit report to the public. To date, the Jonathan administration has refused to do this, for reasons known only to it.

This failure of the Jonathan administration to run an open, transparent government is one of the reasons public opinion turned against the man.

rusher14:
I blame all the women (except Annie) that prevented 2faze from developing his town.

^^

CityNG:
He did plenty wrong and you just proved that for me.

What makes him special that he was beaten but not a bus full of people?

Sorry but some of you guys are the most undisciplined and unruly people I know.

He probably mouthed off and said the wrong thing to them, he won't do it again.

^^^^



Woolly thinking.

Ichiato:
Are we talking law here or politics?

^^^
The law.