. UK Investigates NDDC’s funds in Private Offshore Account
By Hamilton Nwosa,( Head, The New Diplomat, Business Desk)
Fresh allegations of financial and reputational crisis have hit the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) following reports linking a serving Brigadier- General of the Nigerian Army, Brig-Gen Charles Nengite to alleged wire-transfer of about N3.6bn ($11.6m) to his wife’s account in the United States. Intelligence reports detailing $11.6m as the amount in question which was reportedly found in Mrs Nengite’s US private account have been reportedly dispatched to the Presidency .
Sources reveal that upon tracking the sums, which were allegedly deposited in tranches, the US authorities flagged the account, and invited General’s Nengite’s wife for questioning as to the source of her financial standing and actual status in the US. Unimpressed with her explanation, the United States SIB subsequently wrote to the Presidency through the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC in an attempt to unveil the sources of the funds.
Brig-General Nengite, is said to be one of the most intellectually outstanding officers of the Nigerian Army, and had come tops in his class, beating many to clinch six awards from the United States War college in 2016. It was a strategic Officers Course, and in the class made up of 308 US citizens and 79 nationals of other countries, Brig-Gen Nengite, then a Colonel gave a good account of himself when he won six awards and came second best speaker in the class.
For him, it has been a very distinguished military career until this latest scandal which has tended to cast a big slur upon his military service. Following his brilliant academic accomplishment, he was then enlisted into the College faculty as an external resource person who could occasionally be called upon to deliver strategic lectures.
While it is not clear how the serving General allegedly came about N3.6bn in his military career but reports have reportedly established a nexus between the said funds and his secondment to the NDDC between 2016 and 2019 when Mr Nsima Ekere and Prof Nelson Brambaifa held sway as managing directors of the Commission, respectively. A very close friend of Nengite described him as a brilliant officer but “ he isolated himself and kept away close friends as soon as he landed in NDDC.”
Diplomatic sources reveal that the Army “has taken Nengite into custody (detention)” while escalating investigations into the reported fraud and allegations of money laundering. Brig-General Nengite , popularly called “Charles” by his friends, hails from the Niger Delta region while his wife is of Igbo-extraction. He has three children, and he once served as PSO to late Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh.
This scandal is coming on the heels of reports indicating that UK and Nigerian investigators have similarly uncovered some funds allegedly belonging to the NDDC in private offshore accounts in the United Kingdom (UK). The amount and details in question are reportedly being kept under wrap in order not to jeopardize on-going investigations.
Multiple sources at the Presidency and the Nigerian High Commission in London confided in The New Diplomat that investigators are tracking how the said funds belonging to the NDDC found its way to a private account in the UK , an act bordering on alleged money laundering deals. “There are investigations on-going into that matter. Some funds that ought to be remitted to the NDDC account at CBN were allegedly found in a private account. Anti-graft agencies are already trying to get a firm grip of who owns the account and why the funds were not remitted into NDDC accounts with CBN, in the first instance. That was during the era of Prof Nelson Braimbaifa-led management Board. It was at that time this alleged fraud took place. It has nothing to do with this interim management people.”
Curiously, before the Nengite’s scandal broke, the later had found attraction in research on subject matters such as causes and effects of corruption in Nigeria. A Social Media Audit(SMA) carried out on his Facebook Account showed a post by him on June 12, 2016, on Corruption entitled “Acquired Shortcut Syndrome”(ASS). That post which received much public engagement, talked about the ideology of corruption, stressing that the aim of his research was to investigate “whether the phrase fantastically corrupt” was a compliment or a ridicule?” My thesis is that there is a deep underbelly to this phrase which could be a perception of our global image…”, he added. In a somewhat curious twist of fate, Brig-Gen Nengite, the research investigator, has become the subject of investigations for alleged corruption itself.
Recall that the NDDC, where Nengite served between 2016-2019 on secondment, has been in the news in recent times over allegations of massive fraud and corruption. This prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to order a forensic audit into the operations of the Commission. While it is not clear how long the said forensic audit would take, presidency sources hinted at the weekend that the President is actually looking at a duration of four to six months during which the interim Management is expected to have completed the forensic audit.
