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Recovered Diezani Loot to Be Spent on Rural Electrification – FG
The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that millions in recovered funds linked to former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke will be used to fund rural electrification projects across Nigeria. The announcement followed the signing of an Asset Return Agreement between Nigeria and the United States, which enables the US to return nearly $52.9 million (€51.6 million) seized from the forfeiture of assets belonging to the former minister and her associates.
The agreement is significant in that it is the first repatriation of assets to Nigeria linked to Alison-Madueke. She was Nigeria’s oil minister from 2010 to 2015 and became the first female president of the oil alliance OPEC.
Nigerian Justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi said the recovered funds were an example of the countries’ unwavering commitment to fighting corruption. He added that “it also signifies the commitment of the United States of America to facilitating restitution and supporting integrity and accountability in governance.”
Lucrative contracts
In 2017, a civil complaint filed by the US Department of Justice requested the recovery of over $100 million (€97 million) in assets suspected of being obtained through bribes to the former minister for petroleum resources. The lawsuit alleged that between 2011 and 2015, two Nigerian businessmen conspired with others to bribe the former oil minister, who oversaw the country’s state-owned oil company NNPC Ltd. In return, the minister is said to have used her position in office to steer lucrative oil contracts to companies owned by the two businessmen.
According to court documents, proceeds from those illicitly obtained contracts were laundered through the United States and used to buy various assets via shell companies, including luxury properties in California and New York, as well as a 65-meter (214.5-foot) superyacht.
Alison-Madueke, who was Minister of Petroleum resources during the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan, has denied allegations of corruption. However, Nigeria’s anti–graft agency has obtained court orders to seize houses, cars and jewelry in Nigeria, which it claims were proceeds of corruption connected to the former minister and her associates, according to the Associated Press.
Corruption challenge
Despite a projected economic growth rate of 3.7% in 2024, according to the African Development Bank, most countries continue to grapple with extreme poverty. As of 2024, an estimated 464 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa alone live in extreme poverty, according to the World Bank. The economic situation is the result of decades of severe underfunding in critical public sectors, exacerbated by corruption and illicit financial flows which siphon public funds and resources away from citizens.
Nigeria is rife with corruption. A 2023 report by the country’s statistics agency, NBS, ranked corruption as the fourth-most significant problem affecting the country. Following shortly after, were other challenges including high living costs and rampant unemployment. In 2023 alone, about N721 billion (€451 million) was paid in cash bribes to public officials in the country.
Analysts are quick to point out that corruption could cost Nigeria up to 37 percent of its gross domestic product by 2030 if it is not adequately tackled.
Nigerian Justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi mentioned that diplomatic efforts such as the agreement between the United States and Nigeria highlight the “importance of international cooperation in addressing the global scourge of corruption, which is also linked to trans-border crimes.” He also pointed out that it “underscores the obligations and commitments enshrined in the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act , which guide our collective efforts to ensure that stolen assets are returned and used for the benefit of our citizens.”
Funds bring light to rural communities
Nigeria has the world’s largest deficit when it comes to access to electricity, according to the World Bank, with 45% of Nigerians cut off from power. An even grimmer disparity exists between urban and rural areas. Only 26 percent of rural Nigeria is connected to the electricity grid.
Since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, he has taken on various initiatives aimed at bridging the electricity gap and introducing economic activities in rural communities. Earlier last December, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a state visit to Nigeria to bolster energy ties between the two countries.
Justice Minister Fagbemi said the recovered funds would be used to support rural electrification through the World Bank, with $50 million earmarked for improving access to renewable energy in Nigeria’s rural communities.
Fagbemi said the remaining nearly $2.9 million would be disbursed as a grant by Nigeria to the International Institute for Justice to support counterterrorism measures across Africa.
The justice minister said measures had been put in place to ensure that the returned funds are not only disbursed but also “utilized transparently and accountably by the World Bank and IIJ, with periodic reports to be forwarded to Nigeria and the US on the implementation of the projects.”
Agency Report
A former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who is standing trial for alleged misappropriation of ₦1.96 billion, has appealed to the Federal High Court in Abuja to grant him time to negotiate a settlement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Nwabuoku, who is facing a nine-count charge, made the request after EFCC’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, informed the court that the prosecution was ready to proceed with five additional witnesses.
Although he was represented at the hearing by his lawyer, Isidore Udenko, the defendant personally addressed the court, stating that he had hired a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) to facilitate an out-of-court settlement with the anti-graft agency.
Udenko noted that the trial had commenced only after the defendant’s previous attempt to reach an agreement with the EFCC fell through.
Immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, has stated that the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu is planning to tarnish his reputation because of his 2031 Presidential ambition.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, el-Rufai alleged that Ribadu is collaborating with Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to destroy his image
“This project of destroying Nasir el-Rufai is Nuhu Ribadu’s conception. He is the architect and builder of that project. He is the one working with Uba Sani to implement it. So far, it has been frustrating for them,” el-Rufai said.
“Somebody wants to destroy my reputation. Why? Nuhu Ribadu wants to be president in 2031. He has to eliminate every northerner that he thinks is on the radar.”
Following the revelation by former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida in his book, “A Journey in Service” that the 1966 coup was not an Igbo coup as alleged, Igbo apex group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Sunday, February 23, has demanded an apology and N10 trillion as compensation from President Bola Tinubu to the Igbos.
In his book, Babangida revealed that the primary objective of the coup plotters was to release Chief Obafemi Awolowo from prison and install him as Prime Minister. He emphasized that the involvement of officers from different ethnic backgrounds, including non-Igbo officers such as Major Adewale Ademoyega, Captain Ganiyu Adeleke, and Lieutenants Fola Oyewole and Olafimihan, further invalidates the claim that it was an Igbo-driven coup.
Additionally, some senior Igbo officers were also victims of the coup, such as Lt-Col. Arthur Chinyelu Unegbe, who was executed by fellow officer Major Chris Anuforo. This further weakens the argument that the coup was designed to serve Igbo interests.
Furthermore, Babangida pointed out that the coup was ultimately crushed by Major John Obienu, an officer of Igbo extraction, reinforcing the argument that it was not an ethnic uprising but rather a failed military intervention with specific political objectives.
Reacting, Ohanaeze noted that the story surrounding the coup at the time, unleashed disastrous repercussions on the Igbo people, which ultimately led to the cataclysmic horrors of the Biafra War.
In a statement by the Deputy National President of the Ohanaeze faction, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the group noted that the apology and compensation had become necessary due to the ”staggering loss of life, with approximately three million Igbo—predominantly innocent women and children—slaughtered during the war.”
It stated that the revelations by IBB would compel Nigerians to confront the alleged ‘’stark injustices perpetrated against the Igbo people.”
The statement added that the demand for ten trillion naira in reparations remained steadfast, stressing that the figure was not arbitrary but a symbolic recognition of the ‘’huge losses the Igbo people had endured since the creation of Nigeria.”
The statement read:
“The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, extends its profound appreciation to General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) for his remarkable courage in officially declaring that the January 1966 coup was unequivocally not an Igbo coup.
“This pivotal acknowledgement is not merely a correction of historical nomenclature but a significant moment in our collective pursuit of justice and reconciliation, signalling a potential end to the historical vindictiveness and cruelty that have been pervasive in Federal Government policies towards the Igbo Nation.
“His forthright exemption of the Igbo from the egregious classification as enemies of the Northern region in the aftermath of the coup is both timely and necessary, even if it arrives decades later.
“The mislabeling of the January 1966 coup has unleashed disastrous repercussions upon the Igbo people, most tragically culminating in the July 1966 counter-coup, which decimated a military Head of State of Igbo descent.
“The staggering loss of life, with approximately three million Igbos—predominantly innocent women and children—slaughtered during this conflict, continues to reverberate through our collective consciousness.
“Furthermore, even in the post-Biafra era, the Igbo Nation continues to grapple with systemic injustices, evidenced by acute marginalisation that leaves us with the smallest representation of states within the Nigerian federation.
“The political conspiracies designed to deny the Igbo the rights to ascend to the highest office in the land—Nigeria’s Presidency—the chronic economic neglect symbolised by the closure of the Calabar seaport, the inoperative state of several ports in Igbo land, the implementation of a discriminatory quota system, and the conspicuous absence of functional international airports in the Southeast starkly illustrate the Federal Government’s long-standing policy of exclusion.
“In light of these egregious injustices and the deliberate neglect exhibited by successive administrations, Ohanaeze Ndigbo hereby restates its demands, as articulated previously during the Justice Oputa-led Judicial Commission for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations Panel in 1999.
“We assert that the Nigerian Federal Government, under General Yakubu Gowon, conducted indiscriminate and unjustified bombardments in Igbo territory during the Nigeria-Biafra War, resulting in overwhelming loss of life. These historical realities establish an irrefutable case for the reparations we seek.
“The present Federal Government, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, must recognise this moment as an opportunity to extend a public and unequivocal apology on behalf of previous military regimes. Our demand for ten trillion naira in reparations remains steadfast.
“This figure is not arbitrary but a symbolic recognition of the indelible losses the Igbo people have endured. The time has come for true acknowledgement of these historical wrongs, which can only be rectified through both reparations and sincere apologies.”
Source: LIB
