...Alleges Victimization Of HEDA and its DG, Lanre Suraj By Former Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke
By Akinwale Kasali
For decades now, the Malabu OPL 245 Scandal have been at the front burner, with Oil multinationals like Shell and ENI been indicted, convicted and sanctioned by different International Courts in Nigeria, Italy and United Kingdom.
However, one of the nation’s non governmental agency leading anti-corruption war, Human and Environmental Development Agenda, HEDA, who had continually blown the whistle of the grand heist and the raping of the nation, at a media Parley at The Colossus Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, alleged plot by the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke to victimize its Executive Director, Olanrewaju Suraj, and also a Get-a-Way Plan for the ex Attorney General to subvert justice after been indicted.
HEDA had over the years exposed the impunity and manipulation of Public Institutions is subverting the cause of getting justice and restitution for this country in the Malabu OPL 245 oil deal that has been severally described as perhaps the most brazen heist in the oil sector in any part of the world.
The Group alleged that in the last seven months, Adoke have been planning to subvert the cause of justice and perfect a get-a-way plan from the Malabu oil heist, thus, resolving to keep the scandal out of public domain, but the Group is bent in keeping the matter in public domain regardless of the harassment and blackmail from Adoke and the Police.
HEDA lamented the continued harassment of Suraj by the Police and series of invites he has honoured that has yielded any good fortune, rather, he was subjected to emotional torture, harassment and futile investigative process of the Police in Abuja, the Nation’s Capital.
The Group had indicted Adoke of complicity in the diversion of over a billion US dollars of Nigeria’s money to a private bank account from the Malabu oil deal.
The Executive Secretary of HEDA, Sulaimon Arigbabu, said that Adoke was victimizing HEDA and its international Partners with allegations of cyberstalking just to subvert justice.
Arigbabu said that despite the fact that the email used in sending the mail requesting for the diversion of fund in question was furnished by the UK authorities in response to a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) request by the Milan Prosecutor (Italy) in the trial of Eni, Shell and others for international corruption related to the OPL 245 transaction in 2011.
It stressed that though the defendants in that trial were acquitted, but the ruling actually indicted Adoke even though he was not on that charge list.
HEDA stated that also the Milan Prosecutors and the Federal Republic of Nigeria have appealed the judgement in Italy, but in a purported police report published in some online media platforms, it alleged that the police indict Olanrewaju Suraju of cyber stalking and accused HEDA of being an unregistered organisation.
In setting the records straight, the Group said it was ready to vindicate itself and cut the wind off the sail of the lies and shenanigans of the Police and Adoke over the alleged cyberstalking of HEDA on Adoke.
Arigbabu exposed what transpired between Adoke and JP Morgan Chase Bank via email ordering the diversion of the over One Billion Dollars.
HEDA said, “The email in question was sent by a Mohammed Bello Adoke on 21 June 2011 to JP Morgan Chase bank. The email address used was agroupproperties@yahoo.com. The allegations of forgery were made by Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN, a person under investigation and prosecution by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“The allegation that we forged the email is entirely fanciful. Our own research confirms that the email is associated with a Mr. Aliyu Abubakar and two of his companies that benefited from the OPL 245 deal. If, as claimed by Mr. Adoke SAN, that the email was not sent by him, there is thus a strong likelihood that it emanated from Mr. Aliyu Abubakar or an associate or employee of his companies. If so, there are strong grounds for suspecting that the email was a cybercrime, involving the impersonation of Mr. Adoke in order to defraud the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) of funds that should, on the FRN’s own account, have benefited Nigeria.
“Please note that this is a case in which the Nigeria has invested inestimable resources and provided immense technical and professional support to partner agencies in Italy, UK and the Netherlands, hence the need to lay the facts bare in public domain.
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) is currently suing JP Morgan Chase in the English High Court for damages relating to the bank's handling of funds arising from Shell and Eni's allegedly corrupt acquisition of the OPL 245 oil field in Nigeria (case number: CL-2017-000730).
“At paragraph 54D of the FRN's Re-Re-Amended Particulars of Claim, the FRN states that, on 21 July 2011, Mohamed Adoke, who was Attorney General of Federation at the time of the deal, corresponded with JP Morgan from the email address “agroupproperties@yahoo.com.
“At paragraph 46D of JPMC's Re-Re-Amended Defence, JPMC admits to the existence and content of the email. As the FRN points out at paragraph 54E of its Re-Re-Amended claim, A Group is a group of Nigerian companies controlled by Mr Abubakar Aliyu. A company named A Group Construction and another called Novel Properties and Development Company Ltd subsequently became vehicles through which some of the OPL 245 funds transferred by JP Morgan to a company named Malabu Oil & Gas were disbursed.
“The email forms part of a chain of correspondence between JPMC and officials of the administration of former President Jonathan. Ultimately, this correspondence led to JPMC transferring a whopping $801 million to Malabu Oil & Gas – money that should have gone to the Federation Account.
The FRN’s Re-Re-Amended Particulars of Claim sets out the trail of emails and correspondences with the bank that led to this loss. This chronology, together with the FRN’s commentary, is set detailed below.
“The email from a “Mohammed Bello Adoke” is highlighted in red. As will be seen, it formed part of a series of emails and phone calls aimed at persuading JP Morgan to transfer funds arising from the OPL 245 transaction to Malabu Oil & Gas. In court proceedings in the UK, the FRN has described the OPL 245 transaction as “corrupt” and “a conspiracy to injure [Nigeria] by unlawful means by depriving the [FRN] of monies for the grant of OPL245 to which it was lawfully and exclusively entitled”.
HEDA said that it has over 90,000 documents around that indicts Adoke of benefiting from the Malabu Scandal grand heist. It also highlighted what transpired in the diversion of the over One Billion Dollars.
24th May 2011
“The sum of USD1,092,040,000 was deposited in the Escrow Account. This was the money which had been received from the Shell/Eni Consortium. On the same day, the said sum of USD1,092,040,000 was transferred from the Escrow Account to the FGN Depository Account”.
25th May 2011
“… apparently on the instructions of the Federal Minister of Finance Aganga (but sent by a fax machine from the Transcorp Hilton hotel in Abuja, rather than the Ministry of Finance), [JPMC] was instructed to transfer US$1,092,040,000 to Petrol Service Co. Ltd (although the account in fact belonged to Petrol Service Co. LP)2 at BSI Lugano in Switzerland IBAN: CH72P8465DODA209798AA SWIFT: BSILCH22, Account No: A209798AA”.
31st May 2011
“… in accordance with the instruction, the funds were sent to the account of Petrol Services Co. Limited at BSI Lugano Bank”.
3 June 2011
“Bayo Osolake on behalf of the Defendant informed Attorney General Adoke and Federal Minister of Finance Aganga by email (to their private personal email addresses) that BSI had rejected the attempted payment to Petrol Service Co. LP for compliance reasons”.
21st June 2011
“Bayo Osolake (as a representative of the Defendant) received an email sent by Attorney General Adoke from the email address ‘agroupproperties@yahoo.com’, attaching copies of each of the Resolution Agreements”.
8th July 2011
“Danladi Kifasi, purportedly the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance of the FGN, instructed JPMC to transfer a lesser amount of USD 877 million to an account this time held by Malabu itself at Banque Misr Liban sal, in Lebanon”.
13th July 2011
“[JPMC expressed] some concern about the instruction, based on a procedural issue”.
15th July 2011
“[JPMC] received an email from lsmaila Aliyu, describing himself as representing the Federal Ministry of Finance of the FGN. The email was addressed to Bayo Osolake (the representative of the Defendant referred to above) and gave yet a further set of instructions to transfer funds, this time the sum of US$802,040,000 from the FGN account to an account belonging to Malabu. The email was not sent from a Federal Ministry of Finance email account in Nigeria, but was sent from a private email account in the UK”.
18th July 2011
“[JPMC] received a hard copy payment instruction to the same effect as the instruction referred to in paragraph 62 above, signed by Danladi Kifasi and dated 11th July 2011”.
20th July 2011
“[JPMC] received a further hard copy payment instruction to the same effect, again signed by Danladi Kifasi and dated 18th July 2011”.
20th July 2011
“… a letter was sent from Yerima Lawan Ngama, Minister of Finance FGN and Otunla Jonah Ogunniyi, the Accountant General of the Federation to the Defendant, requesting that the Defendant transfer the lesser sum of USD801,540,000 to Malabu's account with Banque Misr Liba Sal in Lebanon and USD215,000,000 to the account of Court Funds Office of England and Wales, in order to secure compliance with the freezing order in respect of the litigation commenced by EVP. It was sent both in hard copy (received by [JPMC] on 25th July 2011), and by fax from a fax machine located in the Transcorp Hilton hotel in Abuja”.
22nd July 2011
“… a letter was sent on behalf of [JPMC] by Stefanla Maulucci, Vice President JPMorgan Escrow Services to Dr.Yerima Lawan Ngama, Minister of State for Finance, stating that customer checks were being initiated, and a meeting was requested”.
22nd July 2011
“… in the context of separate English proceedings that had been commenced by EVP against Malabu (seeking, amongst other things, a freezing injunction against funds received by Malabu from the Defendant), Steel J required the parties to the English proceedings and the Defendant to bring to the attention of the Nigerian High Commission and the FGN to the nature and content of the English proceedings. [JPMC] complied with the judge’s order, and sent letters to the Nigerian High Commission and Dr Ngama, the Minister of Finance”.
25th July 2011
“a letter was sent from Yerima Lawan Ngama Minister of Finance FGN and Otunla Jonah Ogunniyi the Accountant General of the Federation to [JPMC], instructing [JPMC] to irrevocably transfer the sum of USD801,540,000 to Malabu's account with Banque Misr Liba Sal in Lebanon and USD215,000,000 to the account of Court Funds Office of England and Wales, in order, to secure compliance with the freezing order in respect of the litigation commenced by EVP. It was sent both in hard copy (received by the Defendant on 28th July 2011), and by fax from a fax machine located in the Transcorp Hilton hotel in Abuja”.
Undated (but towards end of July)
“Steel J later received a letter addressed to him from the then Attorney General of Nigeria, Mohamed Bello Adoke. This letter was summarised in the judgment and thereby entered the public domain. The Attorney General represented that the Resolution Agreements had been concluded with the full knowledge of the FGN which believed that they were in the public interest of the Nigerian people for reasons which he set out . . .”
“. . . Notwithstanding the receipt of this letter from Adoke, Steel J continued to express serious concerns about the proposed transaction”.
3rd August 2011
“.. a payment was again requested to be made to the Malabu account in Lebanon. Although the payment instruction purportedly came from the Ministry of Finance in Abuja, once again it was sent to [JPMC] via a fax machine located in the Transcorp Hilton hotel in Abuja. The payment instruction was accompanied by a letter from Dr. Ngama, Minister of Finance, nominating new authorised signatories under the Depository Agreement. That letter was in fact drafted by the [JPMC]: a draft of the letter was sent by Tosin Adewuyi of [JPMC] to the personal email address of Ismaila Aliyu, Director of the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, earlier on 3rd August 2011. That transfer failed, because it was (once again) rejected by the recipient bank”.
10th August 2011
“… in a letter from Faisal Ansari Executive Director JPMorgan Escrow Services to Yerima Lawan Ngama, Minister of Finance, he informed the FGN that the payment to Malabu had been rejected by the Lebanese bank, [JPMC] also requested information as to the purpose of the transfer, justifying the relationship between the FGN and the final beneficiary”.
“On the same day, the Attorney General of Nigeria replied to [JPMC] and set out the relationship between the FGN and Malabu and represented ‘the payments - due and payable to Malabu are legitimate and flow from the Settlement Agreement. The payments represent Malabu Oil and Gas Limited's consideration for relinquishing their interests in Block 245’”.
16th August 2011
“… in a further letter from Yerima Lawan Ngama, Minister of Finance and Otunla Jonah Ogunniyil, Accountant General of the Federation, [JPMC] was asked to transfer US$401,540,000 to a Malabu account (number 2018288005) with First Bank of Nigeria plc in Nigeria and US$400,000,000 to a Malabu account (number 3610042472) with Keystone Bank Nigeria Limited in Nigeria. Although this instruction purported to come from the Ministry of Finance, once more it was sent from a fax machine located at the Transcorp Hilton hotel in Abuja”.
23rd August 2011
“… the Defendant made the transfer to the two newly nominated Malabu accounts in Nigeria”.
Additional documentation strongly suggests that:
1. Mohamed Bello Adoke knew the email address of Bayo Osolake, the JP Morgan employee to whom the email of 21 June 2011 from agroupproperties@yahoo.com was sent, prior to the transmission of the said email.
2. Former Attorney General Mohamed Bello Adoke sought to issue transfer instructions to JP Morgan Chase on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) on 20 June 2011 when he was not an office holder. This was illegal.
3. Mohamed Bello Adoke likely caused the said email of 21 June 2011 to be sent on his behalf.
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