August 19, 2008
Saharareporters, New York
SaharaReporters has confirmed that agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission this evening arrested Professor Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke, the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. She was picked up at approximately 7 p.m. (Nigerian time) as she honored an invitation by the agency in its Abuja Headqaurters.
Okereke-Onyiuke has been recently embroiled in a controversy after she organized a lavish and widely criticized fundraiser ostensibly under the banner of a group called “Africans for Obama.” Many critics had questioned the propriety and legality of her fundraising extravaganza, considering that US law forbids American politicians from receiving campaign donations from outside the US.
The fund raising jamboree, which reportedly garnered about N100 million (approximately $900,000), had raised eyebrows and charges of impropriety, deceit and outright fraud. The Obama campaign recently disowned Okereke-Onyiuke’s fundraising through a scathing letter addressed to a Nigerian newspaper-The Punch.
Following a tip-off from a reliable source, SaharaReporters confirmed that Okereke-Onyiuke was invited to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, in connection with her role in the controversial fundraiser.
Following the repudiation of Okereke-Onyiuke’s group by the Obama for America Campaign, the DG of the Nigerian Stock Exchange had been forced to admit that, contrary to previous indications, the funds raised by her “Africans for Obama” group could not be used to directly support the Obama campaign for President of the United States.
Our sources indicated that Okereke-Onyiuke is expected to remain in custody at the EFCC headquarters overnight, pending her arraignment tomorrow.
SaharaReporters was able to confirm that the DG is being specifically asked to explain the intended use of the funds raised at the event she organized under the aegis of the "Africans for Obama" organization. This line of interrogation followed her statement that the funds were not meant to support the Obama Campaign. She is also being asked to provide the list of individuals and entities who have contributed to the efforts.
Mrs. Okereke-Onyiuke is not new to controversy that has to do with dabbling in politics. She was widely condemned for organizing Nigeria’s top corporate players to raise campaign funds for former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidential campaign in 2003.
Last year, she also joined Aliko Dangote and a few businessmen in a shady campaign fundraising for the gubernatorial campaign of Mr. Nnamdi (Andy) Uba, a former aide of Obasanjo’s who ran for the governorship of Anambra. Political analysts suspected that the so-called fundraiser for Mr. Uba was designed to deflect questions in the media about the source of Uba’s prodigal spending on his campaign.
Mrs. Okereke-Onyiuke was also instrumental in getting Mr. Obasanjo to support the founding of Transcorp, an investment group that bought up several of Nigeria’s assets at bargain prices. She also convinced Obasanjo to purchase more than 200 million shares in Transcorp, a move condemned as one of the most corrupt acts of the Obasanjo era. Many critics noted that the former president’s stake in Transcorp amounted to a conflict of interest. Besides, many questioned how Obasanjo was able to find the funds to afford the shares he bought.
One highly connected source in Abuja told SaharaReporters that some political forces in Nigeria are determined to get Professor Okereke-Onyiuke to explain her financial shenanigans during the Obasanjo era. He said that her arrest on the Nigerians for Obama fundraiser may open the door to ask her other questions pertaining to Transcorp and her other activities.
....Mac Wabara, former MD of Hallmark Bank Nabbed by EFCC for Diversion of $56 million
Also, the managing director of the defunct Hallmark Bank, Marc Wabara, was today arrested by Nigeria's anti-graft agency—the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)—for diverting signature bonuses accruing from oil block allocations in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) between Nigeria and Sao Tome /Principe.
Wabara served as the chairman of the fundraising committee of former President Olusegun Obasanjo's campaign in 2003.
Saharareporters has learnt that Obasanjo gave Wabara the sum of $56 million realized from the sale of oil blocks in the JDZ for onward deposit at the JP Morgan account run by the Nigerian government in New York. But Wabara reportedly used his now defunct bank to divert the funds to First Bank in Lagos. He allegedly used the funds to trade in short term security investments in the stock market.
Anti-graft officials told Saharareporters that they found out that, while Wabara had claimed that the monies went down with his Hallmark Bank, he had secretly moved the funds to Sao Tome and Principe where he set up a commercial bank named Highland Bank, bought a huge piece of ocean-side land and started the construction of a massive five-star hotel in Sao Tome, the country’s capital city.
EFCC officials recently returned from a visit to Sao Tome and Principe where they carried out a series of investigations into Wabara’s financial transactions.
SaharaReporters has confirmed that agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission this evening arrested Professor Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke, the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. She was picked up at approximately 7 p.m. (Nigerian time) as she honored an invitation by the agency in its Abuja Headqaurters.
Okereke-Onyiuke has been recently embroiled in a controversy after she organized a lavish and widely criticized fundraiser ostensibly under the banner of a group called “Africans for Obama.” Many critics had questioned the propriety and legality of her fundraising extravaganza, considering that US law forbids American politicians from receiving campaign donations from outside the US.
The fund raising jamboree, which reportedly garnered about N100 million (approximately $900,000), had raised eyebrows and charges of impropriety, deceit and outright fraud. The Obama campaign recently disowned Okereke-Onyiuke’s fundraising through a scathing letter addressed to a Nigerian newspaper-The Punch.
Following a tip-off from a reliable source, SaharaReporters confirmed that Okereke-Onyiuke was invited to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, in connection with her role in the controversial fundraiser.
Following the repudiation of Okereke-Onyiuke’s group by the Obama for America Campaign, the DG of the Nigerian Stock Exchange had been forced to admit that, contrary to previous indications, the funds raised by her “Africans for Obama” group could not be used to directly support the Obama campaign for President of the United States.
Our sources indicated that Okereke-Onyiuke is expected to remain in custody at the EFCC headquarters overnight, pending her arraignment tomorrow.
SaharaReporters was able to confirm that the DG is being specifically asked to explain the intended use of the funds raised at the event she organized under the aegis of the "Africans for Obama" organization. This line of interrogation followed her statement that the funds were not meant to support the Obama Campaign. She is also being asked to provide the list of individuals and entities who have contributed to the efforts.
Mrs. Okereke-Onyiuke is not new to controversy that has to do with dabbling in politics. She was widely condemned for organizing Nigeria’s top corporate players to raise campaign funds for former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidential campaign in 2003.
Last year, she also joined Aliko Dangote and a few businessmen in a shady campaign fundraising for the gubernatorial campaign of Mr. Nnamdi (Andy) Uba, a former aide of Obasanjo’s who ran for the governorship of Anambra. Political analysts suspected that the so-called fundraiser for Mr. Uba was designed to deflect questions in the media about the source of Uba’s prodigal spending on his campaign.
Mrs. Okereke-Onyiuke was also instrumental in getting Mr. Obasanjo to support the founding of Transcorp, an investment group that bought up several of Nigeria’s assets at bargain prices. She also convinced Obasanjo to purchase more than 200 million shares in Transcorp, a move condemned as one of the most corrupt acts of the Obasanjo era. Many critics noted that the former president’s stake in Transcorp amounted to a conflict of interest. Besides, many questioned how Obasanjo was able to find the funds to afford the shares he bought.
One highly connected source in Abuja told SaharaReporters that some political forces in Nigeria are determined to get Professor Okereke-Onyiuke to explain her financial shenanigans during the Obasanjo era. He said that her arrest on the Nigerians for Obama fundraiser may open the door to ask her other questions pertaining to Transcorp and her other activities.
....Mac Wabara, former MD of Hallmark Bank Nabbed by EFCC for Diversion of $56 million
Also, the managing director of the defunct Hallmark Bank, Marc Wabara, was today arrested by Nigeria's anti-graft agency—the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)—for diverting signature bonuses accruing from oil block allocations in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) between Nigeria and Sao Tome /Principe.
Wabara served as the chairman of the fundraising committee of former President Olusegun Obasanjo's campaign in 2003.
Saharareporters has learnt that Obasanjo gave Wabara the sum of $56 million realized from the sale of oil blocks in the JDZ for onward deposit at the JP Morgan account run by the Nigerian government in New York. But Wabara reportedly used his now defunct bank to divert the funds to First Bank in Lagos. He allegedly used the funds to trade in short term security investments in the stock market.
Anti-graft officials told Saharareporters that they found out that, while Wabara had claimed that the monies went down with his Hallmark Bank, he had secretly moved the funds to Sao Tome and Principe where he set up a commercial bank named Highland Bank, bought a huge piece of ocean-side land and started the construction of a massive five-star hotel in Sao Tome, the country’s capital city.
EFCC officials recently returned from a visit to Sao Tome and Principe where they carried out a series of investigations into Wabara’s financial transactions.
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