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Drama As PDP Witness Confirms Result From Akpabio’s LG Announced At Akwa Ibom REC, Igini’s Office In Uyo

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5 years ago

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The National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State caputal, continued proceedings Friday with the first respondent, Chris Ekpinyong, the People’s Democratic Party candidate for the Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district and the declared winner of the election, calling his last witness.

Anny Asikpo, who was led in evidence by Uche Njoku, counsel to Ekpinyong, confirmed that the result from the Essien Udim Local Government Area, where the petitioner, Senatorial Godswill Akpabio comes from, was contrary to INEC’s guideline that all results should be announced at polling units and collation centres, announced at the state Resident Commissioner, Mike Igini’s office in Uyo.

Answering a question under cross examination by the the petitioners counsel, Sunday Ameh (SAN), Asikpo said the result was announced when the Resident Officer (RO) for the local government absconded the local government collation centre.

She said the result from was not announced untill the third day – Feb 25 – of the election.

The proceedings went as this:

Counsel to INEC, Ifeoluwa Ojediran: The result of Obot Akara was not cancelled. Am I correct?

Witness: Definitely, Yes

Counsel to INEC: Would I also be correct to say that no issue was raised with regards to the result of Obot Akara LG.?

Witness: No issue at all

Counsel to INEC: Was there any physical examination of the result of Obot Akara LG

Witness: Yes, My lord

Counsel to INEC: At the senatorial diistrict collation centre, the allegation that was made by the petitioner is that Essien Udim collation officer received a phone call.

Witness: My lord, Essien Udim C.O (collation officer) was not there in the hall. So I did not see when he received a phone call

Counsel to INEC: Was any of the senatorial district agents given the result of the LG to be presented (i.e form EC08)

Witness: Yes, my lord

Counsel to INEC: I would therefore be correct to say that the result of Essien Udim was not cancelled

Witness: The E.O left the collation centre without the knowledge of any body.

Counsel: He took permission from Ikot Ekpene EO to use his hall.

Witness: My lord, at that point, I raised an observation and asked him why he came to Ikot Ekpene to tidy up his result instead of Essien Udim while he was there, we were taking results from other LGs. We expected the CO to bring his result. We waited for about 1hr 30mins till about midnight. Thereafter, the EO came into the hall and informed the people that he had gone from one office to the other in the premises looking for the R0 (resident officer) of Essien Udim but he was nowhere to be found.

Counsel to INEC: There is this other allegation that the party agent noticed that there was over voting in the result of Obot Akara LG. Was there any thing like that?

Witness: Nothing like that at all.

Counsel to INEC: I would be therefore be correct to say that the result of Essien Udim was not cancelled

Witness: The RO left the collation centre without the knowledge of any body.

Counsel to PDP, Solomon Umoh (SAN) takes over: Did the police get involved in the collation of results at any level?

Witness: No, My lord. They did not because they did not conduct the election

Counsel to PDP: You were at the collation centre? I presumed that there, you had the benefit of knowing what transpired in the entire senatorial diistrict.

Witness: Yes, My lord

Counsel to PDP: Look at Exhibit p557 and p535 simultaneously. What is the scores of PDP and APC in that document?

Witness: PDP scored 118,215, APC: 83,158 votes.

Counsel to PDP: Please look at Exhibit p536, Pleade tell me what PDP and APC scored in Essien Udim

Witness: PDP scored 3,422 while APC scored 6,241

Counsel to PDP: Was election peaceful in Essien Udim based on Senator Godswill Akpabio reliance on the police’s report?

Witness: Election was never ever peaceful in Essien Udim

Counsel to PDP: Because they did not conduct the election, it was not possible for the police to have all the EC8As & EC8Bs

Witness: They did not conduct any election

Counsel to PDP: Look at Exhibit p557, the police report. What is the result given to APC and PDP by the police

Witness: (Senate Election); APC scored 61, 329, PDP scored 9,050

Counsel to petitioners, Sunday Ameh (SAN) takes over: Form p535 that you said result was not signed at Ikot Ekpene that night you claimed RO disappeared

Witness: It was not possible to sign that night because the result was not announced that night because Essien Udim result was not recorded that night (the senatorial district result) due to the absence of the CO for Essien Udim. It was signed on Monday at INEC office Uyo (Headquarters)

Counsel to petitioners: You will agree with me that it is the responsibility of the police not to conduct election but to provide security for the election

Witness: Yes, my lord.

Counsel to petitioners: It is the duty of the police to provide security for all citizens.

Witness: Yes, my lord

Counsel to petitioners: You will also agree with me that copies of election results are usually given in the scheme of affairs of INEC, being senatorial collation agent, the procedure is that the result is given to party officials and the police

Witness: Yes, My lord. I agree that it is a normal thing after election results have been announced, copies of the results are given to party agents and security agencies

Counsel to petitioners: I will be correct to say that the results of units are usually in form EC8A and are transferred to EC8B-EC8c

Witness: That is the procedure. I agree that in the procedure specified by INEC to enter results in INEC form EC8A then transferred to INEC form EC8B and EC8E

Counsel to petitioners: Can you look at Exhibit p536 What is the total no of accredited voters in Essien Udim?

Witness: 9,964

Counsel to petitioners: Look at Exhibit r253A (Smart card) Read the total no of the voters on Exhibit R253A

Witness: 19,455

Counsel: Do you agree with me that accredited voters figure on Exhibit p536 as captured are less than the figures on Exhibit R253?

Witness: I agree that the figure entered in Exhibit p536 is far less than those on R253

Counsel: Read out to the hearing of everybody Exhibit p55 (Police Report)

Witness: (Reads the police report)

Counsel: Does what you have read not corroborate with what you presented

Witness: The Essien Udim RO absconded. This letter (police report) came before the result was actually declared. Result for Essien Udim was not declared or even known as at 24/2/19 – a day after the election. It was officially known and declared on Monday (25 Feb.) in Uyo.

Counsel to petitioners: Do you agree that Exhibit p547 is result of Obot Akara and R341 is the result of ward 4 of Obot Akara

Witness: Yes, I agree

Counsel to peitioners: Look at p547. What is the result entered in the column of Total no of accredited voters cancelled?

Witness: The figure is 1140

Counsel to petitioner: Is it the same figure with the total number of accredited voters in R341

Witness: Yes, My lord. It is 1140

Sitting has been adjourned to July 15 for continuation of hearing.

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Panic As Governor’s Official Car Got Stolen

Published

4 weeks ago

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September 11, 2024

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Confusion and fear was the order of the day at one of the Government houses in the Southwest some days ago when one of the official vehicles of the Governor, a bullet-proof jeep allegedly disappeared from the garage.

The SUV which is said to be one of the three bullet-proof vehicles being used for the Governor’s official assignment was discovered missing.

The Governor who was out of the country on a short, rest leave was claimed to have been disturbed when he was alerted.

Sources claimed it wasn’t the first time things would get missing at the Governor’s private residence.

‘There had been series of thefts, ranging from missing cash, phones and other expensive items, it’s usually swept under the carpet. Indiscipline is the order of the day here’, a source confirmed this to papermacheonline.

The State Governor, a quiet individual who is spending his second time in office was said to have been disturbed by the occurrence that he had to cut short his leave and return home. One of his closest aides was also kidnapped recently.

 

 

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Former First Bank Employee Accuses Oba Otudeko, Bisi Onasanya Of Massive Fraud

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1 month ago

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August 27, 2024

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A former First Bank of Nigeria Limited employee, Adesuwa Ezenwa, has accused billionaire industrialist Oba Otudeko and former Managing Director Bisi Onasanya of massive fraud during Otudeko’s tenure as chairman of FBN Holdings Plc.

In court documents filed at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Ezenwa alleges that unsecured loans of approximately N12 billion were granted to a company in which Otudeko has significant investments, disguised as loans to Stallion Group of Companies.

Ezenwa, who was summarily dismissed in October 2016, is seeking redress for her termination and demanding N500 million in damages and N25 million in legal costs. She claims that she was made to bear the consequences of granting unsecured loan facilities worth billions of naira to companies linked to Otudeko and Onasanya, while her superiors who approved the credit were not penalized.

Ezenwa joined First Bank in 2002 and became a relationship manager in the corporate banking division in February 2016. She alleges that her superiors, including Abiodun Olatunji and Cecilia Majekodunmi, who worked closely with Onasanya, were involved in the fraudulent activities.

“As a relationship manager, I worked under the supervision and direction of my branch manager and group head and signed official correspondence only after they had approved and/or signed same. I had no independent authority in relation to the grant or disbursement of loans or other banking facilities,” Mrs Ezenwa said.

According to the claimant, she executed a large number of documents while she was still employed by First Bank, but only after approval by her bosses and on their direction.

She said she was summoned on 25 August 2015 to appear before a credit disciplinary committee reviewing facilities availed to a company known as Supply and Services Limited, a subsidiary of Royal Ceramics Group, one of the major customers of the bank.

The plaintiff said the committee could not determine whether she had a personal interest in any of the loans granted or whether she made any gain related to her duties. She said she was, however, blamed during proceedings for not whistleblowing on some of the deals endorsed by Mr Olatunji and Mrs Majekodunmi.

“The admonition was most unfair and unwarranted as I was in no position to whistleblow on my superiors … The persons to whom these reports would have been made were the very persons who were the perpetrators of the misdeeds,” she said.

A litany of allegations against Mr Otudeko

Mrs Ezenwa disclosed that unsecured loans of roughly N12 billion were availed, on one occasion, to a company in which Mr Otudeko has significant investment even though the facility was masked as loans granted to Stallion Group of Companies, which later spotted the false entry in its statement of account and complained.

In one case in 2012, she further alleged, an unsecured credit estimated at N2 billion was granted to Broadwaters Resources Company Nigeria Limited, which ended up being a conduit pipe used by Mrs Majekodunmi and Mr Onasanya to siphon monies from the bank. The claimant said the loan was never repaid.

“Out of the N12 billion camouflaged as lending to the Stallion Group, N8.21 billion was transferred through various accounts to a final destination account belonging to a company known as V-TECH LTD, which belongs to the chairman of FBN Holdings, Oba Otudeko, while the sum of N4.45 billion out of the same fictitious facility was transferred to Ontario Oil and Gas. The facility remains unpaid to date,” Mrs Ezenwa said in court fillings.

According to her, several similar loans were granted by Mr Olatunji and Mrs Majekodunmi, including to Supplies and Services Limited, which were “subsequently sublet and disbursed in smaller bits to several customers on more profitable terms to both officers.”

Swap Technologies and Telecomms Plc, Orbit Cargo, Netconstruct Nigeria Limited, and High-Performance Distributions Limited were among the companies named as beneficiaries of the loan disbursement.

Mrs Ezenwa disclosed that such loans could not have been granted without the involvement of the board of First Bank, considering that the amounts involved were huge and above the approval limits of the executive directors, the vice president and the managing director of the bank.

According to the complainant, her dismissal by the bank brought her into disrepute, threatening her chances of securing employment in reputable companies in future.

“The action of the defendant (First Bank) has consequently caused the claimant untold mental distress and is all the more damaging as the claimant is in her thirties and has simply been made a scapegoat for the malfeasance of some of the lapses of the management of the bank,” she said.

Among other demands, Mrs Ezenwa is urging the court to declare that there was no basis for the bank to dismiss her.

“She is being made a scapegoat for a lot of questionable transactions within the bank, which she is claiming innocent of,” Seyi Sowemimo, the claimant’s lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday. “So far, the trial has started. We have subpoenaed the EFCC, and we have subpoenaed the central bank to bring the audit reports of the bank,” Seyi Sowemimo, the claimant’s lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES.

The allegations have sparked a legal battle, with Ezenwa seeking justice for her dismissal and damages for the fraudulent activities she claims to have uncovered.

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“AMCON MD In Trouble Over Keystone Bank Acquisition By Father In-law”, Isa Funtua

Published

1 month ago

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August 27, 2024

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Why Bank Customers Are Making Panic Withdrawals…

Following the controversy generated by the leading opposition party, the People’s Democratic party, PDP, over the alleged acquisition of Keystone bank and Etisalat by Alhaji Isa Funtua and the CEO of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered probe into the alleged fraud.

A highly placed source at the headquarters of the Economic and financial crimes Commission, EFCC yesterday told daybreak that the President was thoroughly embarrassed with the allegations linking him to the transactions.

According to the source, a discrete panel will be set up soon comprising of the Chairman of the EFCC, representative of the DSS, ICPC, federal ministry of Justice to look into the allegations.

The source further added that, both Isa Funtua, Ahmed Kuru, the governor of the central bank of Nigeria, CBN, Chief Godwin Emefiele and management Staff of the Keystone Bank and 9Mobile will be quizzed by the operatives of the EFCC for some interactions.

Recently, a mindboggling scandal broke out to public knowledge about how Keystone Bank and 9Mobile were acquired in controversial circumstances by the business interests of one Alhaji Isa Funtua, a close friend of President Muhammadu Buhari, via the instrumentality of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

The PDP challenged the federal government to come out clean on what could be a serious dent on its anti-corruption stance, there is indeed no smoke without fire.

The leading opposition party also confirmed fact that the son-in-law of Isa Funtua, Ahmed Kuru, is the current CEO of AMCON.

Before him, the previous CEO, Chike Obi, was a first-class gentleman and technocrat who was strangely removed from office before the expiration of his term and was replaced with Kuru, the son-in-law of Isa Funtua.

Now, let us get into the insider details of how Funtua bought Keystone Bank and 9Mobile in the most bizarre of dealings that circumvent the laws of the land. Keystone Bank was sold by the current CEO of AMCON to his father-in-law, Funtua, without any AMCON Board’s approval and with the active connivance of CBN and NDIC at a grossly undervalued price of 25 Billion Naira. To put things in context, let us recall that Enterprise Bank was sold for over 60 Billion Naira and Mainstreet Bank was sold for over 100 Billion Naira under the former CEO of AMCON.

Before the sale of Keystone Bank to Isa Funtua, all bad debts in the books of the Bank were taken over by AMCON. So, it was a clean Bank with all the Assets and no Liabilities that was sold to the Buyers.

The Executive Management of AMCON was coerced into approving the transaction and those who were willing to submit a much higher bid were disqualified under a most opaque, suspicious process that lacks all transparency. The process was just manipulated in favour of the father-in-law of the AMCON CEO.

The Corrupt Payment for Keystone Bank The most disgusting part of the entire sale of Keystone Bank is how the 25 Billion Naira sales price was paid to AMCON.

The Isa Funtua Team paid 5 Billion Naira to AMCON, and then the balance of 20 Billion Naira was later paid through the most criminal and corrupt approach ever perpetrated by AMCON in favour of the Buyer. What happened was that AMCON moved 20 Billion Naira of their own funds as a fixed deposit at GTBank to Heritage Bank. Heritage Bank then paid the 20 Billion Naira on behalf of the Funtua Group to AMCON. In other words, AMCON used their own funds as a collateral for a loan to the Funtua Group for 20 Billion Naira!

When the Funtua Group took over Keystone Bank, they went borrowing immediately at the Interbank Market for 20 Billion Naira to refund AMCON’s funds. This has left a hole in Keystone Bank’s Balance Sheet and makes the Bank one of the most undercapitalized Banks in the Country as at today. The evidence of this highly compromised acquisition process can be obtained from the current and former staff of AMCON, from NDIC, CBN and from the current staff of Keystone Bank itself.

Another suspicious acquisition scandal surrounding the Funtua Group is about the untidy way 9-Mobile, formerly known as Etisalat, was bought. It is Mr. Adrian Wood of Teleology Holdings, a very sound telecoms professional, who collaborated with the Funtua Group for the acquisition of 9-Mobile.

The problem with their bid was the lack of a qualified Operator to support the bid which was one of the minimum conditions of NCC. Adrian Wood alone was not a substitute for an Operator.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) gave several conditions that must be met by the Ultimate Buyer of 9-Mobile to ensure the protection of shareholders value, prevent loss of jobs, protect the telecoms industry from slipping into a crisis and ensure transparency and professionalism in the post-acquisition entity.
The conditions listed by NCC that must be met by the Buyer are Strong Telecoms Operating Experience, Strong Financial Capabilities, Strong Technical Knowledge and Strong Administrative Skills.
The first thing that happened once Teleology was announced as the preferred winner was that the Funtua Group edged Adrian Woods out of Management and turned him to an Insignificant Shareholder.

The second development was that the Funtua Group raided Keystone Bank again and forced the Bank to Pay 50 million Dollars as down payment for the acquisition of 9-Mobile.

The third issue was that Teleology Nigeria replaced Teleology Holdings to remove any influence of Adrian Woods from 9-Mobile totally. The fourth step taken the Funtua Group was to borrow 260 Million Dollars from African Exim Bank.

The fifth thing was to coerce NCC to approve the sale at all cost without meeting 90% of the conditions set up ab-initio by the NCC.

The sixth strange action of the Funtua Group was to force the board of NCC to approve the sale through the influence and pressure from the Presidency. And the seventh Funtua infraction was to use the influence of CBN to force the Banks to the table and waive their own conditions of sale of 9-Mobile to the Teleology Nigeria group.

Efforts to reach the acting Head media and publicity of Economic and financial crimes Commission,EFCC, Mr. Tony Orilade to confirmed the latest developments proved abortive as his lines were not connecting.

Source; The Capital

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