Imagine while those accused in Zambia were being tried, ours were left off the hook.

Truth must be told, GEJ was corrupt

PREMIUM TIMES has uncovered one of the most
fraudulent crude oil deals executed by the
Goodluck Jonathan administration, which saw a
campaign official and some other suspected
cronies of the ex-president smiling to the banks
with up to 50 per cent commission from the
proceeds of a foreign crude oil lifting contract,
turning them into instant billionaires.
In the middle of the shady deal is a Nigerian oil
and gas company, Sarb Energy, which acted as a
dodgy middleman in a non-transparent
government-to-government crude oil sale
between the Nigerian and the Zambian
governments.
Sarb Energy, incorporated on September 19, 2008,
was specifically established for the controversial
deal.
This newspaper has established that Sarb Energy
has link with at least one political associate of
former President Jonathan, whose five-year reign
as leader of Africa’s largest oil producer was
characterized by allegations of massive
corruption, especially in the oil and gas sector.
The company’s directors at inception, according
to records at the Corporate Affairs Commission,
were Nimi Barigha-Amange, a former Peoples
Democratic Party’s senator from Bayelsa
(2007-2011), who also served as director of
planning, research and strategy for Mr.
Jonathan’s re-election campaign in 2014; Sylva
Ogbogu, a retired Brigadier General; Akpan
Ekpene, the managing director of the company,
who executed the deal; and Ogba Properties and
Investment Company Limited, a company whose
real ownership remained unclear.
For months, PREMIUM TIMES was unable to
obtain its records at the CAC.
Sarb Energy corporate ownership structure
Mr. Barigha-Amange was a director in Deltoil
Nigeria and Pixy Energy, two other companies
with stakes in Sarb Energy.
The crude oil deal
In a testimony he gave at a Zambian court, Mr.
Ekpene said he sold the idea of the government-
to-government crude oil deal to the Zambian
government in 2008, which then gave his
company, Sarb, a power of attorney to execute
the contract on its behalf.
Under the deal signed with the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation, the Zambian government
was to lift eight million barrels of crude oil worth
N155.4 billion ($969.6million).
After the deal was sealed on April 20, 2011, Sarb
made an initial deposit of $2.5million to the
NNPC in the name of the Zambian government.
Rather than Sarb importing the crude for use of
the Zambian government at home, it was agreed
that the company would sell the commodity to
other traders, split profit 50-50 with the
government and then remit the Zambian
government’s share to official administration
accounts.
But that didn’t happen. What indeed happened
was that the Nigerians sold the crude and failed
to make payments into Zambian government
accounts.
Instead, according to Mr. Ekpene, parts of the
proceeds were diverted into an account held by
Iexoria, a Singapore-based company allegedly
controlled by Henry Banda, the Zambian
president’s son.
No evidence has emerged till date indicating that
Zambia received any revenue from the deal.
The deal sparked controversy in Zambia, with
former President Rupiah Banda charged with
multiple violations of that country’s anti-
corruption laws.
In his testimony during the trial, Mr. Ekpene
claimed the proceeds of the deal were passed
directly to Mr. Banda and his family.
The Sarb managing director told the court that
his company made two wire transfers worth $
550,000 from its Access Bank account in Nigeria
to a Barclays Bank account in Singapore owned
by Iexoria.
Henry Banda, the Zambian president’s son,
controlled Iexoria. Both transfers were made
before that country’s September 2011 general
elections, when Mr. Banda was still president.
A fake consultancy contract was then drawn up
between Sarb and Iexoria to support the
payments, stating that Iexoria was supposed to
carry out a feasibility study for a power plant.
Mr. Ekpene admitted in court the contract was a
ruse as no such feasibility study was done. He
said that approach was adopted to deceive
Access Bank into authorizing the transfers.
He claimed that he also gave Mr. Banda $
500,000 through his son Henry, to boost his
election campaign. He said that was after Mr.
Banda requested $1 million advance payment
from the government-to-government oil deal.
Mr. Ekpene also told the court that he helped
Banda with campaign materials, which he
transported from Nigeria to Zambia, during a trip
in which he admitted concealing $260, 000 cash
in his luggage.
He said he handed over the cash to Banda at the
Government House for his use in the 2008
campaigns.
He said he made the donation to President Banda
because the intermediary in the crude lifting deal,
Major Richard Kachingwe, allegedly insisted that
they needed to support him to win reelection.
Mr. Ekpene may have, however, lied under oath in
court during the Banda trial when he said only 5.7
million barrels of crude were shipped out of
Nigeria in the deal, with the last cargo loading in
December 2012.
PREMIUM TIMES found, from NNPC and Finance
Ministry records, that 11 cargoes, carrying more
than eight million barrels, were lifted in respect of
the deal.
Insiders say Sarb Energy continued to lift from
the NNPC even when the Zambian authorities
believed the deal had ended.
The Magistrate’s Court in Lusaka, the Zambian
capital, however acquitted Mr. Banda in June
2015, saying the prosecution failed to prove its
case that the former leader violated Section 99(1)
of the Zambian Penal Code.
No progress with investigation in Nigeria
Even though Sarb and its official, Mr. Ekpene,
made startling confessions in court in Zambia,
including admitting laundering funds out of the
country, it does not appear investigation is
making progress in Nigeria.
Mr. Ekpene claimed in court that Nigeria’s
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
looked into the contract in May 2013.
But no enforcement action has so far been taken.
The spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren,
said he was not aware that any such
investigation was ongoing. He promised to
crosscheck with the agency’s investigators and
then revert to PREMIUM TIMES.
The spokesperson for the NNPC, Ohi Alegbe, could
not be reached Monday.
When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr.
Barigha-Amange, the PDP politician, directed all
enquiries on the matter to Mr. Ekpene, the
managing director of the company.
“I don’t know much about this matter,” the former
senator said. “Only the MD can talk about it.”
Mr. Ekpene however declined to comment. He did
not answer or return calls. He also did not
respond to an email sent to him more than a
month ago.



http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/192555-exclusive-jonathans-campaign-chief-others-divert-n155bn-crude-oil-money-to-corrupt-zambian-officials.html

Some kids here will rant and rant all day for IPOB while their age mates in Aba and Onitsha just moved their biz a notch higher and paid in some millions into their accounts today. Go get Kanu out of the cell he's in.

Bunch of noise makers, get your director Nnamdi Kanu out of the cell he's still in now

RollingStones:


Another Zombie spotted.

Hope no cry of witch hunting when federal might descends on him, advise him to watch his mouth.

dekdek:
Ekiti surely has better people than these fools governing them.
Fayose was the first person to allege presenting lies as facts as regards amount shared to all federating states. Garba, replied by presenting facts on the contrary to prove Fayoses shameless lies. This fool of a spokesman didn't even refer to the core issue at all just ranting away.

Fayose will meet his waterloo soon, let him continue running his mouth and the wailers hailing him. Imagine his spokesman talking without figures to counter Garba.

tinsel:

Blame we igbos. We gave everything to Jonathan and got only hatred from other tribes.

Nothing like hatred from others, our people foolishly gave all to Jonathan forgetting that politics is a game of interest and not of emotion.
Thank God most are catching up fast now

asha80:
it is obvious Jonathan did nothing so stop the argument..onitsha owerri rd completed on yaradua is the one you are talking about.
No road project in the se started and completed by gej

He thinks he can deceive people like me who stay in Onitsha and see things for myself with his propaganda he brandishes around, he has no case here, allow him.

TonyeBarcanista:

The ongoing second Niger bridge is one. Another is Onitsha-Owerri road... U want more? www.nairaland.com/1579834/gejs-giant-strides-south-east

Obviously you have no argument here, let it go

TonyeBarcanista:

Is East-West road in SE?

Stop being clever by half here, topic says East and not SE. Since you want to limit it to SE, mention one that was fixed by GEJ.

TonyeBarcanista:

How can GEJ fix all the road in 5years? Where him wan see the money? Baba easy o.

OBJ fixed Onitsha-Owerri road before he left, which did GEJ fix? He couldn't even complete the East-West road.

That's the state of virtually all FG roads in the SE for years now and they all got worse under uncle Joe, just manage am.

TonyeBarcanista:
Waste of taxpayers money. If only you all know that this trip will earn the Senators.. DUTY TOUR ALLOWANCE. It will also cost Nigeria hundreds/tens of millions on logistics and stuff. At the end, they won't do anything because they are not interested. Pray that the incoming Works Minister and the President remember the road in their plans. The Senators suck!

True on allowance but it wouldn't have been wasted if GEJ had fixed all FG roads in the East before he left, what do you think?

Nnamdi Kanu is still in a cell somewhere and all we see over the net are rants from kids who hadn't been involved in a small school riot.

Fayose would talk himself into trouble soon, wailers should please warn before they start crying of witch hunting when gobe starts.

Funny enough is that Muslims around the world knows that Israel is being fired at from Gaza but they'd keep quiet but when Israel decides to fire back, it is these hypocrites that'd shout genocide.

Dnacode:



Leave the man alone. He is speaking the truth. Every region should start putting food on the dinning table for all to eat.
It is said that when one person cooks for the public the public finishes it but when the public cooks for one person he can't finish it.
We have excess crude account so what of excess agriculture account, excess mining account

Since you lot hate good news, please post a link of the excess mineral and agriculture account under GEJ then

Thanks goodness.

You're a big shame chino

@thereturnofnedu, I think you're taking this madness with chino too far, it's ok.

IGBOPRINCE:
I don't really like what you doing? You created a new monikas just to messed up biafran lands.

Did anyone provoke you?

Don't mind the dolt biko but i guess he's doing this because of the the havoc that silly Chino is causing on the Imo thread.

SpaceTour:
There is no golden rule in the jungle. It is tit for tat. Maybe you don't know me

Nwanne mmadu, please let it pass.

SpaceTour:
Did I start it? No

So let us do it once and for once..

Must you go mad because someone else is? Why not apply the golden rule. . . .silence.

Can't you stop this madness for once?

Chino, must this continue?

^^^^^^^^



Whatever you say is your damn business, let's meet elsewhere and save this thread.

@investnow, you can see i'm trying my best here, call these miscreants to order

Mr Reuben Abati, what do you have to say?

^^^^^^



Save this thread and let's meet elsewhere

Bunch of clowns and cowards, we'll meet on another thread.