This Woman Says She Made$544,000 Selling Pure Water

The ongoing trial of persons who were said to have helped themselves with about N14.5billion Pension Fund is gradually turning dramatic in the court in Abuja.

 I hear one of the accused persons, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula, has told investigators the $544,632 (about N82 million) found in one of her companies, Ulover International Resources Limited, was realized from selling pure water which the company produces.

 Mrs. Onyegbula stated that the company which was situated in Umuahia, the Abia state capital belonged to her mother whom she said suffered stroke seven years ago and later made her a member of the board of directors to enable her handle the finances of the company. 

 Na wah o! Are they selling golden pure water in that company? And this company iseven located in one of the "average" states in Nigeria, Abia State. Anyway, the drama continues on Tuesday atthe court. May be the men will tell us that they made their own millions from tourism. Lol! With Nigerian public officials, any thing can happen.

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‘Corrupt public office holders should be given death sentence’

Public office holders that are found guilty of corruption in Nigeria should be given Chinese treatment, that is, death sentence, to serve as deterrent to others. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Yusuf Ali, said this in Ilorin, at the weekend, during the presentation of laptops to 50 junior lawyers at the Ilorin branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Ali said, until Nigerians stopped treating the issue of corruption with kids’ gloves, the vice would continue to bastardise the nation’s economy. The event was the Yusuf Ola-Olu Ali’s N5million laptops revolving scheme for junior members of the bar in the branch, whereby each of the beneficiaries will pay “without interest.”

 Speaking on the alleged recent scam on pensions involving some public office holders in Nigeria, he said corruption was too serious an issue to be handled with levity. “We should no longer send them to jail. The practice among some of those found guilty is that, after serving their various jail terms, they often come back to enjoy the ill-gotten wealth.

 But we should henceforth make them not to return to enjoy the loot again. They should be killed,” he said. The member of the silk urged relevant judiciary bodies in the country to sustain their reformations of the justice section of the judiciary, especially the aspect which would expedite actions on cases before the courts. 

 The lawyer, who criticised proposition to establish more special courts in the country, said that the development would lead to duplication of duties and would be too expensive a system to run. He, however, canvassed for more of front-loading system, where written addresses are adopted under the oath leaving the litigants or petitioners and respondents alike to call witnesses in order to establish their cases. 

 “You can see now that our election petitions are faster due to this system”, he said. Also speaking, Chief Judge of the state, Raliat Elelu Habeeb, said members of the Judiciary in the state should put behind them the past events and forge ahead in the administration of justice. While praising Ali for the initiative to give to the less privileged, the CJ said people should always pray to be on the good side of history.

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Nigerians Are the Biggest Spenders In London - Evening Standard

According to London Evening Standard, Nigerians are one of the biggest spenders in London.

Here is their interesting report on the spending habits of Nigerians.

Nigeria's oil industry is boosting the pockets of an affluent elite who are increasingly coming to London to spend that cash. In February last year, sales to Nigerians were up 50 per cent in London shops on a year earlier, while overall in 2011 Selfridges says their spending was up by over a quarter and that Nigerians have been among its top 10 overseas shoppers for the past five years.

On their shopping lists: Suits and formal wear but also jewellery, cosmetics and childrenswear.

Labels include Paul Smith, Gucci, Prada, Chanel and Rolex while Vertu phones are a popular purchase. Although they trust established brands, they are also happy to buy across the price spectrum - hence Debenhams started putting signs up in Hausa, the language spoken by 45 million West Africans.

Their top time to shop: all year round - a consistent presence in our stores.

Average transaction in the West End: £1,648

Most of the Governor's children are in London, Former Governor Peter Odili is still in undergoing money laundry case after he was caught with over 60M Pounds in cash at the airport, former Bayelsa state governor (Alameisiga) has a pending case too, so no suprise Nigerians spend an average of 2k pounds on each transaction in London

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Government Official Caught Hiding N2b Cash In His House

Chairman, Pension Reform Task Team, Mr Abdulrasheed Maina, shocked officials of ICPC on Thursday with the revelation of how the pension reform task team caught a high ranking civil servant in the pension unit at the office of the Head of Service with N2 billion stashed in his private residence.

The Head of Pension Reform Task Team while updating officials of the Commission at its headquarters on the progress by the team in recovering looted pension funds, disclosed that the team had recovered a total of N151billion meant to have been looted by officials responsible for managing the pension funds.

Mr. Maina also narrated how another civil servant was caught with ’a pile of dollars’ in his house.

He emphasized that some government officials had over the years been involved in senseless looting of the pension arrears of helpless retirees, many of whom had died while many others were stricken with ailments arising from denial of their pensions by corrupt government officials.

He said the offenders had been arrested and were already in the process of prosecution.

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Ex-president’s son accused of corruption

The son of former Zambian president Rupiah Banda is on the run from police after he was accused of corruption in the sale of state fixed-line operator Zamtel to a Libyan company, the police chief said Thursday.

Zambian police have issued a “warrant of arrest and written to all 190 Interpol member states. Henry has to answer to serious allegations of corruption,” police inspector general Martin Malama told AFP.

Henry Banda has been sought for questioning since October, Malama said.

He has not been seen in public since his father lost the September presidential election to opposition leader Michael Sata.

Henry Banda is linked to the sale of Zambia’s state-run telecommunications company Zamtel to LAP Green of Libya. Sata’s government reversed the $257-million deal in January.

Sata had campaigned on a promise to reverse the sale, which he said had failed to serve the public good.

Since assuming office, the new president has embarked on an anti-corruption drive, opening inquiries into shady business deals and retiring heads of parastatals whom he perceived as perpetrators of graft.

Henry Banda was instrumental in his father’s doomed election campaign last year. Voters received t-shirts and bicycles in the country’s most expensive campaign to date.

He reportedly fled to Kenya, but Kenyan police denied he was in the country.

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N38b loan: Court frees Bankole, Nafada

ORMER Speaker Dimeji Bankole and his erstwhile deputy, Alhaji Usman Bayero Nafada, were yesterday acquitted of complicity in the N38 billion loan taken from banks by the House of Representatives during their tenure.

Justice Suleiman Belgore of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court freed the duo.

He discharged and acquitted them of the 17-count charge of criminal breach of trust and dishonest use of House of Representatives bank account to obtain loan slammed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Festus Keyamo hinted that the decision may be challenged.

In his ruling that lasted about three hours, Justice Belgore held that there was no contravention of known financial regulations by the duo to warrant them facing trial.

Besides, he said Bankole and Nafada cannot be held liable, in criminal law, for the action that was taken by the general House.

Although the court held that it is "morally wrong, morally indefensible and morally insensitive" for the Bankole/Nafada-led House to have increased their quarterly "running costs" from N27 million to N42 million each, the Judge held that it did not amount to a criminal offence but a moral offence.

Dismissing Keyamo’s argument, Justice Belgore held that "the House of Representatives does not need approval from the President to increase its running cost and also source for loans from a bank, as it is an independent arm of government, which is not in the category of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs."

Keyamo had argued that the leadership of the House erred by not seeking presidential approval to source for loans to pay its members’ enhanced running cost.

But Justice Belgore held: "The two accused persons did not move any money with the intention of dishonestly taking it. How can borrowed money now somersault to a property that was dishonestly taken for personal use?"

He disagreed with the anti-graft agency’s position that the accused persons breached the extant provisions of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) by not seeking its approval.

The court reasoned that the legislature, being a different arm of government, the commission cannot fix the "running costs" for members of the House of Representatives. They are at liberty to increase their "running costs" to whatever amount they so collectively wish.

He asked: "Is the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission the owner of the money as to make their consents relevant?

"How can it be relevant that money approved by members’ need to get the approval of RMAFC before it is disbursed?'

"There is, therefore, no evidence that the accused persons moved the money or gave such orders for the movement of the money, as no evidence of taking of any property dishonestly has been established.

"The accused persons were not among the beneficiaries of the loans. If anything, their running costs were drastically reduced."

The court also clarified that the functions of the accused persons, as speaker and deputy speaker, were "purely legislative in nature" and did not include any dealings with the funds of the House.

It noted that it was the Clerk, not Bankole and Nafada, who should be charged for securing and disbursement of the loans.

"It is, therefore, my strong view that if accused persons had done anything on the funds of the House."

"There was no contravention of any financial regulations by the two accused persons and no prima facie case has been established against them. I find considerable merit in this ‘no case submission’ by the defence."

Reacting to the judgement, Keyamo, in a statement, said: "It is wrong for a judge to allow a public officer to take money from the public till under any guise without reference to RMAFC. Our respectful view is that other allowances as stated in the Constitution encompasses running costs as monies collected by public officers to offset expenses other than wages. The difference the judge tried to create is merely splitting of hairs.

"Since the court had arrived at a conclusion that Bankole usurped the powers of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, should he not be held accountable for misusing that power he usurped? We think he should."

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Court acquits Bankole, Nafada of corruption charge

A Federal High Court in Abuja today Tuesday 31st January 2012 acquitted former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, and his deputy, Bayero Nafada, of all charges of corruption, saying they have no case to answer in connection with a N40 billion misapropriation charge.

So EFCC arresting them and the 17-count charge was all for show?

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Subsidy Corruption: Nigeria Pays For 24m Litres of Unaccounted Fuel Per Day

The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on fuel subsidy regime yesterday learnt that Nigerians have been paying for 24million litres of petrol that were smuggled to neighbouring countries on a daily basis.

his was revealed when the management of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) appeared before the Farouk Lawan-led committee.

PPPRA Executive Secretary Reginald Stanley said the payment and smuggling have been going on since 2006.

According to the agency’s figures, while Nigeria imports 59 million litres of fuel on a daily basis, only 35 million litres are consumed in the country.

The Federal Government paid N649 billion subsidy on excess imported petrol in 2011, House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the subsidy regime was told yesterday in Abuja.

The revelation contradicted statistics given by Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, who told the panel on Tuesday that the average daily consumption of petrol in Nigeria was 35 million litres.

Stanley told the MPs that records available to him showed that the total daily import of petrol was 59 million litres thereby leaving a huge difference of 24 million litres. The new figures bring the annual over importation of petrol to 8.76 billion litres.

When computed side-by-side with the regulated price of N65 per litre which obtained in 2011, Nigeria might have spent N649.3 billion as subsidies on excess petrol.

“You told us that subsidies were paid based on 59 million litres daily consumption while the actual daily consumption is 35 million litres, leaving the gap of 24 million litres which is paid for as subsidy but not utilised by Nigerians.

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World's Ten Most Corrupt Leaders

It’s safe to say that every country in the world has its own corrupt politicians, but some countries even had a corrupt prime minister or even president. 

This is the top ten most corrupt country leaders in the world, in the last twenty years, with an estimation of funds embezzled:

10. Joseph Estrada, ($80 million): 

former actor, mayor of San Juan for 17th years, Estrada was the president of Philippines for only for three years (1998-2001). In 2001 was accused of corruption and removed from office.

9. Arnoldo Alemán,( over $100 million): 

the former president of Nicaragua (1997-2002), was accused of money laundering, embezzlement and corruption and sentenced, in 2003 to 20 years of prison.

 Due to health problems he serviced his prison sentence at house arrest. In 2009 he was cleared of the sentence.

8. Pavlo Lazarenko, ($200 million): 

prime minister of Ukraine (1996-1997), in 2006 he was sentenced to 9 years of prison for money laundering, extortion and wire fraud. He currently serves his time in the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California.

7. Jean-Claude Duvalier, ($500 million): 

known as “Baby Doc”, he inherited the title of “president for life” at the age of 19 after his father death. After two years of revolt, Duvalier renounces his office and goes to France where he still currently lives.

6. Alberto Fujimori, ($600 million):

 president of Peru from 1990 was removed from office in 2000, after being charged of corruption and human rights violation. 

After five years of a self-imposed exile, Fujimori was detained during a visit to Chile in November 2005 and extradited to Peru to face charges. In 2009 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

5. Slobodan Milosevic, ($1 billion): 

president of Yugoslavia and Serbia (1989-2000) was charged of abuse of power and corruption in 2001, but died before the end of the trial.

4. Mobutu Sese Seko, ($5 billion): 

was the president of Zaire (1965-1997) until 1997 when rebel forces expelled him from the country. He died one year later in Morocco.

3. Sani Abacha, ($5 billion): 

president of Nigeria (1993–1998) was accused of human rights abuses and corruption. He died in office at age of 54.

2. Ferdinand Marcos, ($10 billion):

His leadership as president of the Philippines (1972–1986) was marked by political repression, corruption, nepotism and human rights violations. In 1986 he was exiled to Hawaii, where he died three years later at age of 72.

1. Mohamed Suharto, ($30 billion):

 president of Indonesia, Suharto ruled for 32 years (1967–1998), but was forced to resign in 1998 after the collapse of the Indonesian economy due to the Asian financial crisis. 

There were several attempts to charge him with corruption and human rights violations but all were dismissed for health reasons. He died in 2008 at age of 86.

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