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Dariye's Reinstatement: to be or not to be?

Started by alhaji_aminu, November 09, 2004, 10:28:07 PM

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EMTL

Assalamu alaikum,

How Dariye Shared N1.1bn Allocation
PDP South-west gets N100m •Pays N176m to own company
From Josephine Lohor, Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja and Funmi Peter-Omale in Jos, 12.07.2004

Two separate charge sheets containing alleged financial misdeeds committed by Plateau State governor, Joshua Dariye, filed yesterday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Federal High Court in Kaduna gave details of how the governor diverted N1.1billion state allocation into a private account and redistributed it to some beneficiaries, including himself.
EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, said yesterday in Abuja that his commission will use the Dariye trial to test the immunity clause (Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution) in court "because we strongly believe it is against the principle and spirit of the constitution."
The charge sheets filed on behalf of EFCC by one Offem  Eket showed that on or about June 2001, in Abuja Dariye collected the cheque for Plateau State allocation from the Federation Account amounting to N1.161,162,900.00. He lodged it with the All States Trust Bank Plc, Wuse Abuja and instructed the bank to disburse it to five beneficiaries.
Among the beneficiaries were Pinnacle Communications Ltd which got N250 million, Plateau State government N550 million, Union Home N80 million, the South-west zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) N100 million, and Ebenezer Retnan Ventures, owned by the governor collected N176 million in two installments. All States Trust Bank retained N4.3 million as commission on transaction (COT).
Also charged with Dariye are the All States Trust Bank where the shady transactions took place and six current and former executives of the bank who played key roles in the transactions.
They included Messrs Awe Odessa, a former deputy general manager/regional manager (North) who managed Dariye's account opened under the name Ebenezer Retnan Ventures, Dorothy Uko, a former manager of the bank's branch at Wuse, Abuja and presently, deputy general manger of All States Trust Bank Abuja and Onate Iyabi, former managing director of the bank.
Also being accused of aiding and abetting Dariye's alleged criminal transactions while at All States Trust Bank are Lawson Omokhodion, who was the executive director, Adonye Roberts, an officer of the bank's Wuse branch and Samuel Osirwemi, the Wuse branch manager. The bank is listed as the sixth accused.
The bank and its current and former executives were accused of conspiring among themselves to commit a felony by accepting from Dariye a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cheque for the sum of N1.1 billion in favour of Plateau State knowing it to be unlawfully procurred. The act is said to violate section 10 (6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Decree and punishable under section 3(2) of the same decree as amended by the Tribunals (Certain Consequential Amendments etc) Decree No. 62 of 1999.
Specifically, Dariye is being charged for unlawfully procuring the N1.1 billion belonging to Plateau State and dishonestly misappropriating the money. The All States Trust Bank and its five former and present executives are being tried for conspiracy and aiding and abetting perpetration of fraud.
Also, Dariye and the bank officials are being charged on a separate two count offence of conspiring to commit crime through the opening of an account for Ebenezer Retnan Ventures without verifying the identity and address of the account holder contrary to section 16 of the Money Laundering Decree No. 3 of 1995.
Addressing the press in Abuja yesterday, EFCC chairman, Ribadu, said Dariye's trial at the Kaduna court was a fallout of the commission's investigations "into a case of conspiracy, abuse of office, money laundering and diversion of public funds to the tune of N1,161,162,900.00 billion involving the Plateau State governor, Chief Joshua Chibi Dariye and several other Plateau State government officials as well as those bank officials that aided and abetted this looting of public funds."
He also disclosed that "we have also joined the governor in this case not because we are not unaware of the nebulous constitutional provision of immunity clause. In fact, we are challenging this provision in court because we strongly believe it is against the principle and spirit of the constitution.
"As you are aware, this case originated from the United Kingdom where Governor Dariye was arrested with huge sums of money. The British authorities referred the case to us to investigate the source of money. It is in the course of our investigation that we made startling discoveries of how the Plateau State government treasury was butchered to the tune of the amount I stated earlier. It is based on these findings that we are taking the accused persons to court to account for their crimes," Ribadu added.
The EFCC boss, who emphasised that the immunity clause "is not fit to be part of our laws" warned "all public officials stealing and looting the treasury that their days are numbered. EFCC has now focused its searchlight on treasury looters no matter how big they are."
Section 308 of the constitution states that: "Notwith-standing anything to the contrary in this constitution, but subject to subsection (2) of this section-(a) no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a person to whom this section applies during his period of office."
Subsection (1)(c) of the section states that "no process of any court requiring or compelling the appearance of a person to whom this section applies, shall be applied for or issued." Subsection 3 names the president, vice president, governors and their deputies as the people covered by the immunity.
Ribadu, however, said: "As said before, we in the EFCC do not discriminate. A thief is a thief, a criminal is a criminal, no matter the type of his tribal marks, religion or gender." He added that "we also wish to warn all those public officials engaged in tampering with official documents to hide or destroy evidence of looting public funds. EFCC is aware that in some states, some officials are busy tampering with pieces of evidence. Let them be warned that EFCC will not spare them on the day of reckoning that will surely come."
While warning "Nigerian businessmen and indeed all Nigerians to desist from aiding public officials from stealing or looting government treasuries," the EFCC chairman thanked "the British authorities and appealed for more co-operation with us (EFCC) towards sanitising the country and stemming the tide of corruption."
"We appreciate their efforts in this particular case of money laundering and sincerely hope they help track down all other Nigerian officials that looted and still loot the country and the proceeds of their crimes," he added.
Ribadu who said about two of Dariye's collaborators involved in the case would have been caught by yesterday further noted that the case involving the Plateau governor was "just one out of several. This is the beginning. Others would come up hopefully within one or two weeks."
He emphasised that the immunity clause "should not be part of our law. We have very good grounds and arguments to proffer before the courts to say that it is not possible for you to fight corruption in this country without first asking the person who you gave money to on behalf of the people to spend and then you will say you cannot ask."
Ribadu said there was no harm in trying to remove the immunity clause from the constitution, adding that "since we have established a case where a public official who is enjoying immunity and there and then he has taken this money and is doing what he likes with it and those who are supposed to check him have refused to do so, possibly because, may be, they are in collusion and you allow it to continue. For how long? It is not right for us to sit down without doing anything."
"What sort of law is that? You give executive officers billions of money and you tell them to spend it on your behalf and then you see it, right in front of you there, they are doing what they like with it. Diverting it to their personal use and you say that because he is a politician, you cannot ask him questions. That part of the constitution is wrong," he said.
However, Richard Gosney, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, in a letter to the Plateau State House of Assembly read on the floor yesterday, affirmed that there was need to 'clarify' the position of the British government in relation to Dariye's investigation.
The letter dated December 1, read in part, "The British investigation of the governor in connection with possible money laundering offences is being conducted by the Metropolitan Police service. The Metropolitan Police is an autonomous Service and their investigations are independent of government. The investigation against governor Dariye is a police matter.
"It is therefore inaccurate to say that the British government is conducting the investigation or has made allegations against governor Dariye."
The High Commissioner assured that "The British government is committed to working closely with the Nigerian authorities in all areas for which it is responsible in the fight against corruption."
While justifying the reason the Assembly has vehemently refused to commence investigation against the governor, Speaker Simon Lalong explained that the Attorney General had said in the letter to the Assembly that the allegations were prompted by the British government.
He noted that now that the British government has out rightly denied involvement in the matter, it behoves on the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Akin Olujinmi, to tell Nigerians and the Assembly whose bid he is pursuing.
Lalong commended the Plateau Elders Forum and the journalists in the state for standing firm in the fight for the sustenance of democracy saying that all should remain steadfast to ensure that the nascent democracy in the state is sustained.
The Speaker appealed to President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop pitching the people against their elected officers. He noted that a situation where the president is seen to be meddling by inciting the people against the Assembly as exemplified in his last monthly media chat on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) was a serious threat to the survival of democracy.
THISDAY had exclusively reported yesterday that the EFCC is taking legal advice on the possibility that in a case of such glaring violation of other sections of the constittuon, the provision of the section may be set aside to enable it put Dariye on trial.
The report noted that Dariye's aides, particularly Plateau State accountant general and the governor's office accountant may alongside past and present top executives of a bank may be tried for aiding and abetting corruption.
It is believed that the trial of the aides and bank officials is an indirect way of exposing the governor's financial misdeeds. The plan is to make the aides reveal damaging information against Dariye when confronted with daunting evidence of their culpability in financial crimes.
A source had told THISDAY that the trial of the aides is expected to further put pressure on the Plateau State legislature and weaken their resolve not to move against Dariye despite the report submitted to it by the Federal Attorney General.
Olujinmi in a five-page report entitled: "Allegations of Criminal Offences Against Governor Joshua Dariye" provided facts detailing how Dariye had been indicted in London in the case of illegal transfer of cash worth $11,560 in a locked brief case through one Christopher Mekwunye.
Further search by the London metropolitan police showed that Dariye had been maintaining foreign account in which hundreds of thousands of pounds were lodged at various times at Barclays Bank and National Westminster Plc where he has eight pounds and dollars denominated accounts contrary to the Code of Conduct of Public Officers.
The report noted that Dariye had allegedly committed offences of money laundering and economic crimes under British laws and violated Section 14(1) of the Money Laundering (prohbition) Act, Section 29 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring etc) Act 1993, Section 164 of the Penal Code in relation to False Declaration among other laws in Nigeria.
However, Dariye had claimed that his arrest in London was arranged by some people in Nigeria bent on discrediting him. He also stated that before the incident he had been warned not to travel or else he would be arrested at his destination point.
Meanwhile, a group operating under the aegis of the Plateau Peace Movement for the Sustenance of Democracy (PPMSD) has called on the principal officers of the Plateau State House of Assembly to begin impeachment process against Dariye, or face being recalled by their constituents.
Making this declaration at a media briefing in Abuja yesterday, the PPMSD chairman, Barrister Solomon Dalung, accused the principal officers, particularly Lanlong, of obstructing legislative actions on its petition calling for the investigation of Dariye by the State Assembly over sundry allegations.
"If they failed to discharge their constitutional responsibility as enshrined in Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution by investigating Dariye for misconduct, we would initiate a recall proceedings on the principal officers in their respective constituencies," he said.
In the Affairs of People Fear Allah (SWT). In the Matters Relating to Allah (SWT) Do not be Afraid of Anybody. Ibn Katthab (RA).

Yoruba Land

That was a good one EMTL, But politics is beyond that money Dariye misappropriated. If Dariye were to be kept out of office it was because of the Jos crises.