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Peter Obi’s Car Largesse to Senators causes undulation…….. ….. As he lobbies for the Nations Aviation Minister.

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6 years ago

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Former Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State has handed car gifts to key senators, including Senate President David Mark, in order to ease his path to appointment as Nigeria’s new Aviation Minister.
President Goodluck Jonathan has promised the post of Aviation Minister to Mr. Obi who in mid-March finished his second term as governor. Mr. Obi, a leader of the All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA), is in line to be rewarded with a cabinet post for his political loyalty to the incumbent president.
But Mr. Obi has been handing out cars and cash to senators after discovering that there was significant opposition to him within the ruling party.
After his exit from Government House, Awka, Mr. Obi’s name was touted as a potential government appointee, first as a replacement for Pius Anyim, a former senator and current Secretary of the Federal Government who is believed to be seriously weighing a governorship race in Ebonyi State. But several political heavyweights within the PDP moved against Mr. Obi, two sources in the party said. One source disclosed that several of the PDP’s top members, including its national chairman, voiced their stance that an original member of the party, specifically Jerry Ugokwe, should be tipped to take any post for which Mr. Obi was being considered.

Former Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State has handed car gifts to key senators, including Senate President David Mark, in order to ease his path to appointment as Nigeria’s new Aviation Minister.
President Goodluck Jonathan has promised the post of Aviation Minister to Mr. Obi who in mid-March finished his second term as governor. Mr. Obi, a leader of the All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA), is in line to be rewarded with a cabinet post for his political loyalty to the incumbent president.
But Mr. Obi has been handing out cars and cash to senators after discovering that there was significant opposition to him within the ruling party.
After his exit from Government House, Awka, Mr. Obi’s name was touted as a potential government appointee, first as a replacement for Pius Anyim, a former senator and current Secretary of the Federal Government who is believed to be seriously weighing a governorship race in Ebonyi State. But several political heavyweights within the PDP moved against Mr. Obi, two sources in the party said. One source disclosed that several of the PDP’s top members, including its national chairman, voiced their stance that an original member of the party, specifically Jerry Ugokwe, should be tipped to take any post for which Mr. Obi was being considered.
“It is true that Chief Obi helped us in the presidential election, but he is still a member of another party,” one source told us. “Why should we bypass somebody like Ambassador [Jerry] Ugokwe to give a plum job to a man from another party?” he added.
Our sources revealed that Mr. Obi also faced opposition from many PDP and non-PDP figures from Anambra because of what they termed the divisive politics he introduced in his home state during his eight-year governorship. The former governor was seen as the arrowhead of a toxic kind of politics that pitched Roman Catholics against Anglicans, Anambra South against Anambra North, and some traditional rulers against others. In addition, Mr. Obi was criticized for manipulating ethnic sentiments in Anambra State, even though the headquarters of his business group is in the southwest, specifically Apapa, Lagos in Lagos State, and he used his years in office to build one of the biggest malls in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Our sources said the combined efforts of PDP leaders and Mr. Anyim may have made President Jonathan to shelve the nomination of Mr. Obi as minister.
Wary of political intrigues that were threatening to sideline him completely, Mr. Obi launched his counter-move. He started giving away several Ford SUVs he had bought in the last few months of his governorship and which he carted away from the Anambra State Government House after he stepped down. A reliable source said Mr. Obi first gave one car each to senators from the southeast, one to the Deputy Senate President, Ekweremadu, and two to the Senate President, David Mark.

The gifts, Toyota Camry 2014, which our sources portrayed as auto-for-minister bribery, are aimed at softening senators whenever Mr. Obi’s name is submitted for approval as a minister.
Mr. Obi publicly portrays himself as a miser, but insiders in Anambra and Abuja say he is a big player in corrupt deals. In June, 2009, one of his closest aides, Valentine Obienyem, was caught in Lagos along with police officers attached to Government House, Awka as they hauled N250 million in cash in a government vehicle that traveled by road from Awka to Lagos. A former commissioner in Mr. Obi’s administration told us that the former governor transferred between “security vote” funds of N250 million and N300 million each month from Anambra State to the Apapa headquarters of Next International, the ex-governor’s company.
Embarrassed by the police interception, Mr. Obi and his aides could not offer a tidy explanation of the source of the funds. A top political source in Anambra disclosed that Mr. Obi evaded prosecution by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because of his close ties to then President Umaru Yar’Adua. In addition, he went unpunished by massively bribing the former Inspector General of Police, Michael Okiro, EFCC chairperson Farida Waziri, members of the Anambra state legislature, and many of Nigeria’s editors and reporters.
President Jonathan and Mr. Obi developed a close personal friendship and political alliance because of the former governor’s habit of befriending any president in power. Mr. Obi sang the praises of former President Olusegun Obasanjo at a time when most Nigerians were very critical of the Obasanjo Presidency. When Nigerians were disappointed in President Umaru Yar’Adua and called him “President Go-Slow,” Governor Obi ran to the defense of the ineffectual and ailing man. Mr. Obi stated that he and the now deceased ruler had a similar style of governance, claiming that Mr. Yar’Adua was first devoting time and energy to making solid plans as a prelude to implementation.
A source close to Mr. Obi told us that the former governor promised President Jonathan that APGA would not field a candidate in the 2011 presidential election. “The governor made sure that APGA focused on securing decisive victory for Mr. President in Anambra and the entire southeast,” said the source.

–    Saharareporters

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Ecobank Alerts Customers on Sim Card Fraud

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7 hours ago

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October 3, 2023

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Ecobank has once again, raised alarm on the dangers of SIM swap fraud, stressing that fraudsters could use it to impersonate them.

In a message to customers via email, the bank explained that SIM swap fraud occurs when scammers use your phone number to access your accounts.

According to the bank, “Scammers impersonate you and trick your mobile phone’s carrier into activating a SIM card, which gives them control over your phone number. It means scammers could potentially enter your username and password when logging onto your online banking platform and then receive the SMS verification code to access your account.

“Protect yourself against SIM swaps, don’t share personal information that fraudsters could use to impersonate you (such as your mother’s maiden name or birthplace) on social media. Never reveal your logins and passwords for your mobile phone, online bank, or credit card accounts to anyone. Please always report any suspicious activity”.

Ecobank also reminded the customers that the bank will not ask them to provide their personal or financial information, stressing that when they receive an email that includes a link to a website, they should ensure that the website is legitimate before visiting the site.

Ecobank further, urged customers not to respond to emails, SMS and unsolicited calls from people they don’t know asking for your personal or banking information.

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Bribery: UK court restricts Diezani’s movement, EFCC begins extradition

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8 hours ago

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October 3, 2023

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A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, on Monday, appeared before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the United Kingdom over an alleged £100,000 bribe.

The district judge, Michael Snow, granted Alison-Madueke a £70,000 bail.

Snow further imposed other terms on Alison-Madueke including an 11 pm to 6 am curfew, an electronic tag to be worn by her at all times and a £70,000 surety to be paid before she could leave the court building.

Although she did not formally enter a plea, her attorney, Mark Bowen, informed the court that she would plead not guilty, Reuters reported.

Her next court appearance will be on October 30 at Southwark Crown Court, which deals with serious criminal cases.

In August, the UK’s National Crime Agency said it suspected that Alison-Madueke had accepted bribes in return for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts.

In a statement published on its website, NCA said the ex-Nigeria minister “is alleged to have benefitted from at least £100,000 in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties.

“Her charges also detail financial rewards, including furniture, renovation work and staff for the properties, payment of private school fees, and gifts from high-end designer shops such as Cartier jewellery and Louis Vuitton goods.”

In March 2023, the NCA also provided evidence to the US Department of Justice that enabled them to recover assets totalling $53.1m linked to Diezan’s alleged corruption.

Head of the NCA’s international corruption unit, Andy Kelly, said the “charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation. Bribery is a pervasive form of corruption, which enables serious criminality and can have devastating consequences for developing countries. We will continue to work with partners here and overseas to tackle the threat,” Kelly added.

Diezani was the minister of petroleum resources from 2010 to 2015 during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Shortly before Jonathan handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, she left the country for the UK.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alleged that the former minister stole $2.5bn from the Nigerian government while she was a minister.

Efforts by the EFCC to arraign her have been unsuccessful as she has not returned to Nigeria since 2015. But the anti-graft agency said on Monday that it had commenced an extradition process to bring Diezani back to Nigeria to face trial.

The spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, said, “The EFCC welcomes, with keen interest, the arraignment of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, at the Westminister’s Court in London, United Kingdom, following alleged bribery allegations.

“Although the charges preferred against her at the London court, are diametrically different from the 13 counts, bordering on money laundering that the EFCC has raised against her, it is instructive to note that criminality is criminality, irrespective of jurisdictional differences. No crime can go unpunished. The money laundering charges for which Madueke is answerable to the EFCC, cover jurisdictions in Dubai, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Nigeria.

“To bring the former Minister to trial in Nigeria, an arrest warrant has been obtained and extradition proceedings have been initiated. The commission is on course on her trial. She will soon have her day in our courts.”

 

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Mike Adenuga-led Conoil rewards shareholders with N1.73 billion dividend

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5 days ago

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September 28, 2023

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  • Conoil Plc declares a substantial $2.2 million dividend for fiscal year 2022. 
  • Shareholders to receive N2.5 per share in recognition of Conoil’s outstanding financial performance. 
  • Mike Adenuga’s leadership drives Conoil’s profit before tax up by 60% in 2022.

Leading petroleum marketing firm Conoil Plc, headed by the third-richest man in Nigeria and multibillionaire businessman Mike Adenuga, has declared a sizeable dividend distribution to shareholders of N1.73 billion ($2.2 million).

The $2.2-million payment, which is the last dividend for Conoil’s fiscal year 2022, is equivalent to N2.5 ($0.00319) per share for all 693,952,117 of the company’s outstanding common shares.

At Conoil’s 53rd Annual General Meeting, which took place on September 22, 2023, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, shareholders accepted this choice.

According to the information reaching us, the final dividend, which recognizes Conoil’s outstanding financial performance in its 2022 fiscal year, will be deposited to shareholders’ accounts on September 29, 2023.

Conoil’s profit before tax increased dramatically under Adenuga’s direction, rising from N3.83 billion ($4.9 million) in 2021 to N6.13 billion ($7.84 million) in 2022 while confronting various obstacles and a challenging working environment. During the same period, earnings after tax rose by an equally astounding 60%, from N3.08 billion ($3.94 million) to N4.96 billion ($6.35 million).

The increasing profitability of the petroleum-marketing subsector boosted Conoil’s profits per share to N7.14 ($0.0091), a stunning 60.8 percent rise over the N4.44 ($0.00568) generated in 2021.

The company’s board of directors decided to approve a final dividend of $2.2 million, or N2.5 ($0.00319) per share, as a result of this exceptional achievement.

Conoil has strengthened its position as a major player in Nigeria’s petroleum marketing sector under the shrewd leadership of Adenuga. The business is well known for its proficiency in the marketing of a variety of lubricants sold under the “Quarto” brand, including diesel, kerosene, gasoline, aviation fuel, and other liquids.

Adenuga, a well-known telecom tycoon and one of Africa’s wealthiest billionaires, continues to have majority ownership in the oil marketing firm of 74.4 percent, or 516,298,603 shares, further solidifying his position as a key player in the continent’s oil sector.

Conoil’s dedication to providing value to its shareholders and its tenacity in overcoming obstacles in the Nigerian market are both shown by this dividend payment.

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