Tag Archives: PDP Chiefs

Jonathan’s ADC States Role In N10b Gift For PDP Chiefs

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Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s detained ex-Aide-de-Camp (ADC) Col.  Ojogbane Adegbe has passed the buck on the N10billion gift for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegates.

He has told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ask Dr. Jonathan’s former Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs, Waripamowei Dudafa to account for the cash, a source said yesterday.

The ADC said when the suitcases containing the cash were brought as messages for the President, he merely handed them over to Dudafa.

He said military law forbids him from opening any message meant for the President, unless otherwise directed.

Also, one of the Army officers being questioned over the $2.1 billion arms purchase scandal, Col. N. Ashinze , the former Special Military Assistant to the ex-NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), is stranded as he could not resume in his new posting as the nation’s Military Attache to the Nigerian Embassy in Germany.Although Col. Ashinze has been released from EFCC custody and restricted to the Officers Mess, there was anxiety yesterday  that he might be dropped from the foreign mission.

Although Col. Ashinze has been released from EFCC custody and restricted to the Officers Mess, there was anxiety yesterday  that he might be dropped from the foreign mission.

Also yesterday, it was learnt that the embattled ex-Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, has been linked with the ongoing probe of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

Air Chief Marshal Badeh was moved to Lagos last week as part of the investigation of NIMASA.

The EFCC is believed to be tidying up some loose ends in its investigation of military officers suspected to have been involved in the $2.1b phoney arms deals.

The N10billion withdrawn from the oil block account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for PDP delegates to its nomination convention has been a knotty issue because it was based on the instruction of the former President, according to a source close to the investigation.

The source said: “The ADC has spoken with investigators. He said when the suit cases containing the N10billion were brought as messages for the ex-President, he did not open them but he handed over the items to SA Domestic Affairs.

“He said as ADC, the military law forbids him from opening any message meant for the President, unless directed by the C-I-C.

“So, it is only the SA Domestic Affairs, who has sneaked out of the country, who will need to provide the list of beneficiaries. This is the status of the case.

“If Dudafa does not show up, we may declare him wanted in connection with the N10billion cash or seek the court’s permission to attach his property.

“We are exploring mutual legal assistance with some countries to fish out Dudafa wherever he is hiding abroad.”

Col. Dasuki said he handed over the N10billion given to the delegates to Dudafa and the ADC.

The ex-NSA  opened up in his Statement of Witness/Accused Person which has been filed in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory(FCT)

Credit: Nation

Arms Scandal: EFCC To Question Bode George, PDP Chiefs

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is concluding arrangements to invite some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party for questioning, a top source at the commission has said.

 

The plan is part of the ongoing investigations into the arms procurement scam and the party’s 2015 presidential campaign fund.

 

According to a report by Punch Newspaper,  the commission had compiled a list of the PDP chieftains to be invited while the anti-graft agency was awaiting directives to summon them.
The source added that the party’s chiefs might appear before the commission this week.

 

The top source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that it was the operational procedure of the EFCC to invite all those whose names were mentioned in the process of the investigation.

 

He explained that those whose names were mentioned, such as the former Board of Trustees Chairman of the party, Chief Tony Anenih; a former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Bode George, and others, who were alleged to have received part of the funds meant for arms procurement, would be questioned.

 

The source stated that inviting those mentioned did not necessarily mean an indictment but part of the process of investigation designed to unearth the truth.

 

He added, “You see, this is an investigation. In a situation like this, the commission has a thin chance of not inviting those whose names have been thrown up.

“They have to be invited to make clarifications; it does not necessarily mean that they have been indicted but it is only a standard procedure for them to appear to make clarifications where necessary.

“I think by now, Anenih, Bode George and all those who were mentioned during the investigation should have been invited but the commission has not been given the directive to pick them up.

“They know what they are doing. Anytime from now, possibly this week, they will be invited.”

 

The EFCC arraigned functionaries of the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, who had been mentioned as having a connection with the $2.2bn funds, said to have been meant to purchase arms to fight the Boko Haram terrorists during the past administration.

 

These include Dasuki, a former Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda; and a former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa.

 

Others arraigned are Bafarawa’s son, Sagir; and the founding chairman, DAAR Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi.

 

Yuguda was on November 14 reported to have said he gave N600m to six chairmen of the contact and mobilisation committees of the PDP in the 2015 elections.

 

He was reported to have listed George (South-West); Yerima Abdulahi (North-East); Peter Odili (South-South); Senator Jim Nwobodo (South-East), and Attahiru Bafarawa (North-West) as beneficiaries of the fund disbursement.

 

Nwobodo, a former governor of the old Anambra State, has said he received an equivalent of N100m (in dollars) from ex-National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mua’azu, and not from Yuguda.

 

On his part, George, in a statement on December 14, denied collecting N100m from Yuguda.

 

He said the former minister gave the PDP Contact and Mobilisation committee $30,000.

 

Meanwhile, the EFCC is still detaining the Managing Director of Stallion Group, Harprrie Singh, over an alleged N1.75bn gift to Yuguda.

 

Investigations revealed that the commission was still holding the Stallion Group MD as of the close of work on Friday.

 

It was gathered that the commission would invite heads of more conglomerates this week in connection with the arms probe scam.

 

A top operative of the commission confided in our correspondent on Sunday that the commission had not released the Stallion MD because investigation into the controversial gift was still ongoing.

 

The source said, “The man has not been released. He was still with the commission during the close of work on Friday. It would be very unlikely for them to release him at the weekend, especially when the investigation has not been concluded.”

 

The EFCC on Thursday arrested Singh for a N1.3bn gift to Yuguda. The money was said to have been given to the former minister through Dasuki.

 

Credit : Punch

Thugs Invade Ogun Tribunal, Beat Up PDP Chiefs

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Pandemonium broke out on Tuesday at the Ogun State Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, as suspected thugs flogged politicians who had converged on the court’s premises.

The attackers, who were armed with canes and other weapons, descended on some notable party chieftains.

Those flogged include supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, including a former Chairman of Yewa North Local Government, Olusoji Eweje, Sesan Orelaja, and a former women leader of the Labour Party, Mrs. Omolola Soyombo.

The state PDP chairman, Bayo Dayo, and the National Auditor of the party, Alhaji Wole Adeyanju, were said to have narrowly escaped being whipped by the hoodlums.

Read More: punchng