…As UK Court Judgement Exposes Mother, Daughter, Diezani, Others
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Sunday, alleged Nigerian officials benefited from some underhand dealings up to the tune of $301 million to abet the fraudulent gas supply and processing deal by the Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited.
Malami said the UK court judgement on Friday, overturning the $10 billion (estimated to be N3.7trn) arbitration case with P&ID and allowing Nigeria more time to appeal it, has indicted some retired Nigerian officials who allegedly took bribe and watched as the company made away with illegality.
The New Diplomat had reported that P&ID, headquartered in the British Virgin Island had won a $6.6 billion arbitration award after a 2010 purported deal to carry out a gas project in Nigeria collapsed. The award has been accruing interest since 2013 and is now worth nearly a whopping $10 billion — equals a sizeable portion of Nigeria’s foreign reserves.
Speaking on a Channel’s TV programme, Malami stated that some principal actors that were investigated have been arraigned and convictions are being recorded.
Recall The New Diplomat had also reported in July, that Ms. Grace Taiga, former director, Legal Services in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has been accused of receiving $20,000 as kickback in ensuring that the deal was successful. Taiga is currently standing trial for her role in the damaging deal.
Also, the ongoing case has thrown up new ‘evidence’ that Taiga’s daughter, Ms. Vera Taiga allegedly took kickbacks from companies related to P&ID Limited.
During an online hearing, the Nigerian government had told the UK court it has evidence of payments from companies related to P&ID to Vera, just 11 days to the signing of the shady deal.
The government said one payment of $4,969.50 was made on December 30, 2009, and a second of $5,000 on January 31, 2012.
Malami, while speaking on government’s efforts to bring all P&ID’s accomplices to book stated that retired officials who served in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration were alleged to have benefitted from the deal, insisting that the investigation will run its course until perpetrators are nailed.
“As much as I wouldn’t want to be pre-emptive, the fact still remains that at the local level, some of the principal characters were being investigated, and some were not only investigated but were arraigned and then there were certain convictions recorded.
“Within the official cycles of government, some have retired, and they are being alleged to have been involved in underhand dealing as it relates to within the region of $301 million.
“The investigation has re-affirmed the fact that there were certain underhand dealings to the tune of $301 million,” Malami stressed.
The Justice minister added that the federal government is still carrying out more investigations beyond the shores of the country because further findings show that the contract, which was signed in 2010, did not follow due diligence.
“There were arraignments, there were convictions and indeed, monies were established to change hands as a basis for inducement that eventually resulted into compromises on processes, compromises on the procedure and then, failure on the part of the officials of government to do the needful in terms of ensuring that the interest of the nation is protected.”
It would be recalled that a United States’ district judge in New York, Lorna Schofield had also acceded to Nigeria’s request, ordering 10 US banks to allow the Nigerian government to ferret the account details of former President Jonathan, his wife, Patience, former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and other accused persons in the contentious P&ID deal.
The US court ruling is crucial to the investigation of the fraudulent deal, as it empowers the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to subpoena the 10 designated banks for financial records to help prove the allegations against the suspected individuals who allegedly abetted the P&ID’s illegality.
