Despite its saber rattling, Saharareporters can report that the Yar’adua regime has firmly resolved not to prosecute prominent Nigerian officials named as beneficiaries of massive bribes from Halliburton, the oil services company once run by former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Investigations by Saharareporters reveal, however, that Attorney General and Minister of Justice Michael Aondoakaa is spearheading a campaign to deceive the Nigerian public into believing that the top Nigerians named in the bribery scandal would be prosecuted by the Federal Government. Mr. Aondoakaa is currently visiting the US.
Halliburton and some of its senior executives are currently undergoing prosecution by the US Department of Justice over unlawful bribes the company funneled to high-level Nigerian officials to secure lucrative contracts between 1994 and 2005.
Aondoakaa’s first step in public deception was to release to the Nigerian media a letter he purportedly wrote to the US government requesting assistance in revealing the names of Nigerians who received bribes to facilitate Halliburton’s $7 billion Liquefied Natural Gas project. The letter, captioned “Re Violations of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Act 2000 and Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2004 in Connection with bribe payments relating to Bonny Liquefied Natural Gas facility," was dated February 17th 2009 and addressed to US Attorney General Eric Holder.
Given the thrust of Aondoakaa’s letter, it was expected that his current trip to Washington, DC would focus on pressing Mr. Holder to fast track US cooperation. However, checks by Saharareporters with US and Nigerian government officials revealed that Aondoakaa is in Washington DC as leader of a trade delegation pertaining to the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Trade & Investment Protection Agreement (TIPA) which is up for renewal.Aondoakaa's delegation includes the minister of commerce and Industry, Achike Udenwa, the MD of Bank of industry and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission.
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Our sources in Abuja and Washington, DC disclosed that Aondoakaa does not intend to pursue any US assistance on the Halliburton scandal. Contrary to the impression given by sections of the Nigerian media, a source told us, “Aondoakaa is definitely not planning to activate any Mutual Legal Agreement Treaty (MLAT) concerning Nigerians who collected money from Halliburton.”
Herman August, a public affairs official at the US Department of Justice told Saharareporters by phone that Attorney General Eric Holder has no knowledge of any meetings with Aondoakaa. Also, another US DOJ public affairs officer, Laura Sweeney in an e-mail to Saharareporters stated, “I understand you had a question regarding a letter allegedly sent by the Nigerian AG to the Attorney General Holder regarding possible bribery of Nigerian officials related to the DOJ's FCPA case related to KBR.The Department would review such a letter when we receive it.”
A source close to Attorney General, Aondoakaa, who has earned a reputation for shameless corruption, said Aondoakaa recently hired Debo Adesina, a serving Guardian newspaper editor, to launder his image in the media. Aondoakaa’s current media assistant, Taju Kareem, is a former staff of the Guardian newspaper.
As part of the elaborate campaign of public deception, the Guardian and other leading newspapers have claimed that Aondoakaa came to the US to drop a “note verbal” to the US State Department on a matter that directly falls under the office of the US Attorney General and is fully covered under an existing Mutual Legal Agreement Treaty (MLAT) which was signed in 2003.
A source within Yar’adua’s regime told us, “It’s simply impossible for the president to punish the Nigerian culprits in the Halliburton scandal.” He said most of the concerned elements are very close to Yar’adua.
Three former head of states – Sani Abacha, Abdulsalam Abubakar and Olusegun Obasanjo – are reported to have hauled in millions of dollars in illicit pay-offs. Among other names on the list of beneficiaries are Funso Kupolokun and Gauis Obaseki, both former top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Edmund Daukoru (a former minister and close aide of Obasanjo’s), Timpre Sylva (current governor of Bayelsa), Ibrahim Umar (who represented Abdusalam Abubakar), Dan Etete (a former minister), Ibrahim Abacha (son of the deceased dictator), Sena Donata Anthony, and Tony Chukwueke.
One the named bribe takers, Mr. Mohammed Dikko Yusuf, is Yar’adua’s first cousin. Last year, Saharareporters reported that MD Yusuf played a role in convincing Yar’adua to put forward Mrs. Farida Waziri’s name as chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Mr. Yusuf’s role was self-serving; by facilitating Mrs. Waziri’s appointment to the EFCC, he ensured that the anti-corruption agency that once interrogated him over his involvement in the Halliburton scandal was now in the reins of a crony.
Jeffrey Tesler, who worked for a subsidiary of Halliburton, has told American investigators that he “made payments to Nigerian officials, including two $75,000 transfers to M.D. Yusuf, chairman of the company that awarded the original contract to the consortium and operated the natural gas complex.” Tessler has also told investigators that “Yusuf had provided assistance to the consortium, including helping to arrange meetings between TSKJ officials and Abacha.” Mr. Yusuf admitted receipt of the money, but said Tessler was an "old business friend" and that the money was a loan that had nothing to do with natural gas projects.
He told a foreign newspaper by phone that “I have occasionally taken money from [Tesler], but I always return it.” He added, “I have nothing to do with bribery.”
One of our sources also detailed Aondoakaa’s chummy relations with Dan Etete, another former Nigerian official indicted in the Halliburton scandal. As Saharareporters recently revealed, Aondoakaa was instrumental in frustrating French prosecutors who took Mr. Etete to court for money laundering. Though Etete was initially jailed in absentia for those offences, a letter written by Aondoakaa to the French authorities tipped the scale in Mr. Etete’s favor during an appellate proceeding. A French appellate court fined Etete 10 million Euros but set aside the prison sentence. Aondoakaa has also been assisting Mr. Etete in his bid to regain ownership of oil block OPL 245 which was revoked by former President Obasanjo. Using a series of legal maneuvers that have reached an advanced stage, Etete is on the verge of reclaiming the illicitly acquired oil block.
A source told Saharareporters that Aondoakaa’s plans to attract high publicity to the Halliburton case was part of a strategy to change his image as a corrupt lawyer and to leave the impression that Yar’adua was serious about combating corruption. “But it’s all a show,” said the source, noting that Aondoakaa and Yar’adua have swept other scandals, including Wilbros and Siemens, under the rug.
In the wake of the corruption scandal, Aondoakaa indicated that he would file lawsuits against indicted foreign givers of bribes for soiling Nigeria’s image. His Nigerian critics scoffed at the attorney general’s haste to sue suspects who are being tried already while overlooking the prosecution of Nigerians who took the bribes.�
Another source said the Yar’adua regime had decided to use its heightened rhetoric about fighting corruption to force former Vice President Atiku Abubakar out of his plan to jump into the 2011 presidential race against Yar’adua. Atiku was conspicuously named in the bribe scandal, according to sources knowledgeable about the list of bribe takers.
If Yar’adua’s feeble health holds up, he is plotting to rig himself into a second term by destroying every serious potential challenger.
Last week Saharareporters contacted Atiku’s office about his involvement in the scandal. His aide denied that Atiku received a bribe from Halliburton. However, in a press release sent to us a few hours after we requested information, the aide admitted that Intels, a company owned by Atiku, had been a sub-contractor to Halliburton. The Yar’adua family also has a substantial stake in Intels.
A political analyst in Abuja familiar with Aondoakaa’s modus operandi told Saharareporters that Aondoakaa was planning “to make a killing out of shaking down those named in the scandal.” He added, “That’s been his practice since becoming Yar’adua’s Attorney General.”
Saharareporters has reported on Aondoakaa’s habit of collecting huge bribes from corrupt former governors who are subsequently either shielded from prosecution or whose prosecution for money laundering and abuse of office is frustrated.
A former investigator with the EFCC told Saharareporters that the names of Nigerian beneficiaries from the Halliburton scandal have been known since 2006. “Some of them were already interrogated by us,” said the source.
Chudi Ofodile, a former member of the House of Representatives, believes that Aondoakaa erred in requesting only for the testimony of Albert Jack Stanley. Ofodile contends that the most relevant testimonies Nigeria should seek are those of Jeffrey Tessler and Wojciech Chodan.
The hypocrisy of Aondoakaa’s “fight” against corruption is evident in his legendary disdain for the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). He has warded off all efforts by the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to obtain relevant evidence to try associates of former Delta State Governor, James Ibori.
A source in the UK Home Office told Saharareporters that Aondoakaa did not respond to requests made officially to his office to recertify documents obtained from the EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu. “Our view from London is that Mr. Aondoakaa is bent on thwarting these chaps’ prosecution,” said the source.
Besides, Aondoakaa’s office has ignored requests to his office regarding suspected recipients of bribes in the Siemens and Wilbros scandals. He has balked at calls to prosecute Nigerians publicly named in those investigations.
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