Finance
UK investigators in Nigeria, join EFCC to probe Diezani •Ex-minister’s probe began in 2013 –Britain
LAGOS-THE British National Crime Agency has dispatched a team of detectives to Nigeria who are now working with the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister, during the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
Findings by SUNDAY PUNCH revealed that the team of investigators from the UK Police was drawn from the Seizures Organised Crimes Agency.
A top operative of the EFCC, who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity on Saturday, said the SOCA team had been involved in a discreet investigation of Alison-Madueke for two months before they finally moved against her.
The former petroleum minister left Nigeria shortly before the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari in May.It was further gathered that the team from SOCA had been working alongside a team of EFCC operatives from the Subsidy Unit led by a Chief Superintendent of Police.
The EFCC team was constituted in August 2015 by the Chairman of the anti-corruption agency, Ibrahim Lamorde, to investigate the activities of Alison-Madueke and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The SU team was mandated to probe all the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which were under the supervision of the former minister.
SUNDAY PUNCH gathered on Saturday that the intensified investigation into the activities of the former minister was being supervised by Lamorde and the Director of Operations of the EFCC, Mr. Olusola Adegbite.
Investigations further showed that the operatives from the subsidy unit of the EFCC carried out the operation at Alison-Madueke’s Asokoro residence in Abuja, following her arrest on Friday.
An operative of the commission, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that the EFCC’s subsidy team ransacked the residence of the former minister for hours.
The operatives were said to have recovered several files from the ex-minister’s residence and they were carted away for further analysis by the combined team of investigators from the EFCC and the SOCA.
It was gathered that the operatives did not find anybody within the residence to guide them, so they had to get some security personnel who had worked with the former minister to gain access into the building through one of the windows.
It was further stated that the operatives later got the keys and searched all the rooms in the house for hours before they carted away the files.
The source said, “When our operatives got there, there was nobody in the building. What they did was to get the security men who were working with her to guide them through the building.
“They entered the building through one of the windows and later found the keys with which they accessed all the rooms. They found some documents in some files and they carted them away.”
Ex-minister’s probe began in 2013 — Britain
Similarly, the NCA has revealed that contrary to speculations that the corruption investigation leading to the arrest of Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister started in 2013.
The Nigerian media, both the traditional and social media platforms, were awash with reports that it was President Buhari’s recent meeting with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, and other world leaders that led to the investigation and arrest of Alison-Madueke.
The ex-minister and current President of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was arrested on Friday by the NCA’s recently formed International Corruption Unit, along with four other persons.
She was arrested in London as part of an investigation into suspected bribery and money laundering offences.
Alison-Madueke was, however, granted bail but her passport was withheld by the British authorities, pending further investigations, both in the UK and other countries.
In an update on its website, the NCA noted that the investigation started about two years ago.
“The investigation commenced in 2013 under the Proceeds of Corruption Unit, and transferred to the NCA earlier this year (2015). The International Corruption Unit investigates bribery of foreign public officials by individuals or companies from the UK and money laundering by corrupt foreign officials and their associates,” it stated.
The UK crime agency added that the ICU would also trace and recover the proceeds of Alison-Madueke’s alleged corruption and support Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies with international anti-corruption investigations.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of a UK-based group, Security in Africa, Mr. Ben Oguntala, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the arrest and possible prosecution of Alison-Madueke would only scratch the problem of corruption in Nigeria at its surface.
He said, “To have a simple Police Unit in the UK bring up partial evidence of corruption against a former minister is barely scratching the surface. You cannot fight corruption in this manner; it is far too complicated for ordinary corruption prosecution.
“What would have made this case extraordinary would be if Mrs. Madueke decides to reveal all. However, she is unlikely to do that, if your strategy is to arrest her first, embarrass her and drag her through the UK courts with little or insufficient evidence. Now, she will get a good lawyer and make the process the lengthiest as legally permissible.”
According to Oguntala, what President Buhari needs to do is not to allow a UK-led corruption charges.
He noted that the British government’s approach at fighting corruption cases emanating from Nigeria is putting the cart before the horse.
Also reacting to the ex-minister’s arrest, the Executive Director of Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the news of Alison-Madueke’s arrest in the UK was a good one.
According to him, the news will show the world that Nigeria is serious about fighting corruption and impunity usually perpetrated by its public officials.
“It came as a cheering news when we heard about her arrest in the UK. I felt relieved; at least a big fish has been caught in the cause of our anti-corruption crusade. It also shows that President Buhari is intent on bringing to book those who have looted the country’s treasury.
“We also want the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries as an august organisation to deem it fit to replace Alison-Madueke as its president. She does not enjoy the trust and respect of Nigerians,” Adeniran stated.
Checks on the webesite of OPEC on Saturday night showed that the organisation had been quoting its alternate president, Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al Sada, lately.
There was no recent mention of Alison-Madueke.
Efforts to get the Presidency to comment on the incident failed on Saturday.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, kept mum.
He also refused to speak on whether or not the Federal Government would seek the ex-minister’s extradition.
PUNCH-
Business
Nigeria pays US$4.9 billion on petrol subsidy in 2024- NNPCL
It was however noted by Biztellers.com.ng, that although subsidy is back in effect, the main reason for that is the increasingly weak state of the Naira and the country’s extreme dependence on products importation. Also unlike the previous subsidy era, where several oil marketers were getting free subsidy refunds for unverified product importation, this subsidy era is witnessing only one importer, the NNPCL, which in effect is the sole receiver of government subsidies.
Yemie ADEOYE
INSPITE of the official position of the Nigerian government that the controversial petrol subsidy is gone for good as announced by the President on assumption of office, the state owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL has disclosed that petrol subsidy is still fully operational in Nigeria, although, under a different identity.
Umar Ajiya, Chief Financial Officer at the NNPCL, disclosed that it cost the company a staggering N7.8 trillion (US$4.9) to cover this price gap in the first seven months of 2024.
Rather than simply referring to these claims as subsidies, he stated that the company is merely managing the price difference in petrol imports on behalf of the federation, stressing that this should not be misconstrued as a return to subsidy payments.
This revelation has reignited discussions on whether the NNPC is indirectly offering subsidies, a concept typically defined as selling a product below its cost price.
Documents reviewed by Biztellers.com.ng showed that the term “subsidy” was used extensively in official correspondence between the NNPCL and the presidency, particularly in reference to the “shortfall.”
Recall that President Bola Tinubu reportedly approved NNPC’s request to utilize the 2023 final dividends due to the federation to offset these costs.
However, during a media briefing on Monday about the company’s 2023 audited financial statements, Ajiya refuted claims that the NNPC is involved in any subsidy scheme.
Ajiya further disclosed that the Nigerian government owes the NNPC N7.8 trillion ($4.9 billion) in subsidy-related debts for the period from January to July 2024.
In furtherance of his clarification to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ajiya insisted that no subsidy payments have been made to any marketer in the last nine years, citing the NNPC’s role as the sole importer of petrol under supply contracts.
He said, “In the last eight to nine years, NNPC Ltd. has not paid anyone a dime as a subsidy; no kobo has been disbursed by NNPC Ltd. in the name of subsidy. No marketer has received any payment from us for subsidy.”
“What has been happening is that we have been importing PMS, which has been landing at a specific cost price, and the government tells us to sell it at half price. So the difference between the landing price and that half price is a shortfall.
“And the deal is between the Federation and NNPC Ltd., to reconcile, sometimes they give us money, so there is no money exchanging hands with any marketer in the name of subsidy.”
Ajiya remained silent on how much of the $4.9 billion could have been remitted to the federation account if the NNPC had not been covering the “shortfall.”
It was however noted by Biztellers.com.ng, that although subsidy is back in effect, the main reason for that is the increasingly weak state of the Naira and the country’s extreme dependence on products importation. Also unlike the previous subsidy era, where several oil marketers were getting free subsidy refunds for unverified product importation, this subsidy era is witnessing only one importer, the NNPCL, which in effect is the sole receiver of government subsidies.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refuted claims of devaluing the.
Earlier reports suggested that the CBN had devalued the Naira, lowering its exchange rate from N631 to the dollar, compared to the previous day’s rate of N461.60 at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window.
However, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released a statement on Thursday through its Acting Head of Corporate Communications, Dr. Isa Abdulmumin, categorizing the report as false information.
In the statement titled ‘CBN Has Not Devalued The Naira’, he said the attention of the apex bank was drawn to the news report by an Abuja based newspaper edition of June 1, 2023, titled “CB Devalues Naira To 630/51”.
However, the CBN stated categorically that the news report was replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilizing innuendos, ‘reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.’
“For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors’ & Exporters (I&E) window traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at N465/USS1 and has been stable around this rate for a while.
“The public is hereby advised to ignore the news report by Daily Trust in its entirety, as it is speculative and calculated at causing panic in the market,” the CBN spokesman added.
He, therefore, advised media practitioners to verify their facts from the Central Bank of Nigeria before publishing in order not to misinform the public.
The interest rate in Nigeria has been raised to 18.5 percent, up by 0.5 percent, from 18 percent where it was pegged in March 2023.
The Central Banks of Nigeria’s (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) resolved to this effect at its third meeting of 2023 in Abuja, on Wednesday.
Governor, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, made the disclosure in the communiqué of the MPC’s meeting, thereafter.
While engaging the media at the end of the two-day meeting, Emefiele, said the committee voted to keep the asymmetric corridor at +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR.
In the view of the MPC, rising inflation rate is traceable to the high energy cost and challenges around the supply chain, among others, which lie outside the corridors of the CBN.
Emefiele said, “The current trend in price development would continue to be monitored by the bank with greater collaboration with fiscal authority to address the drivers of inflation.”
Biztellers reports that the CBN had effected six consecutive interest rate increases, which has seen the rate move from 11.5 percent in March 2022 to 18.5 percent in May 2023.
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