Guild of Editors collected 50 Million Naira from Dasuki when Femi Adesina was Chairman
Metuh, Anenih, others to be quizzed
Chairman and editor-in-chief of Thisday newspaper, Nduka Obaigbena, on Monday revealed the Nigerian Guild of Editors collected N50 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser, in a further widening of the arms purchase scandal.
Special adviser to President Muhamamdu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, [pictured above] was the President of Nigerian guild of editors at the time.
Mr. Obaigbena, who is also The president of Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPA, stated this in a letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, dated December 30, 2015, obtained by Elombah.com.
The EFCC had last December invited the NPAN president in connection with the ongoing probe into the $2.1 billion arms procurement fund allegedly misappropriated by the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
Mr. Dasuki, alongside some top officials of the Peoples Democratic Party, and other former senior officials are currently being investigated for allegedly receiving the arms fund.
Meanwhile a top military officer has been detained in connection with the $2.1billion arms deals. The officer was a technical aide to a former National Security Adviser(NSA), the late Gen. Owoye Azazi and his successor, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.). The officer is believed to have been detained in the last two weeks.
According to The Nation newspaper, the detention of the officer is said to have created anxiety among military chiefs who were involved in arms procurement. A high-ranking military chief was said to be in charge of procurement in one of the services.
A top official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also confirmed to the Nigerian newspaper that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman Olisa Metuh is being investigated for allegedly collecting N400 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). He is likely to be invited for interrogation.
The EFCC had invited a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, over the investigation, it was learnt.
In his letter to the EFCC, Mr. Obaigbena explained that it was not only his company and NPAN that received funds from the ONSA, saying the NGE also received money for its secretariat complex.
While Nigerian Guild of Editors has called for the probe of the arms procurement scam, the NPAN president indicated that the editors also collected N50 million cash from Mr. Dasuki’s office.
“Even when he (Dasuki’s aide) suggested that The Nigerian Guild of Editors – NGE – who are now calling for a probe – was paid N50,000,000 cash by the ONSA when President Jonathan donated to the building of the NGE secretariat, I still refused to collect cash,” Mr. Obaigbena said.
“And in any case, I had no independent confirmation the Nigerian Guild of Editors had collected cash.”
In the letter seen by Elombah.com, Mr Obaigbena said in part:
“We did supply the account of NPAN to the Federal Government through the ONSA once we agreed the N120,000,000 compensation for member newspapers. But when I got a call from an official of the ONSA informing me that the payments agreed with The President was ready and should arrange to pick up cash, I balked and refused, asking him to pay to the NPAN account. Even when he suggested that The Nigerian Guild of Editors – NGE -(who are now calling for a probe) was paid N50,000,000 cash by the ONSA when President Jonathan donated to the building of the NGE secretariat, I still refused to collect cash and in any case, I had no independent confirmation the Nigerian Guild of Editors had collected cash. And even if they did, I was not prepared to do so. And when he insisted, after I had refused to pick up such a huge amount in cash, we agreed in good faith they credit the account of General Hydrocarbons Ltd, who upon legal advice, were acting in agency in line with industry practice where most payments are received through agencies, but in this instance, at no cost. General Hydrocarbons Ltd did receive the payments on behalf of NPAN and delivered same to NPAN, at no cost, despite bank charges. General Hydrocarbons Ltd – a member of the THISDAY Newspapers Group – who are bonafide members of NPAN – therefore collected the compensation on behalf NPAN and passed on exactly what was collected…
“Against this background, we summoned a high – powered NPAN team that reached the out-of-court settlement with the Federal Government and they included: Nduka Obaigbena (THISDAY), Chief Olusegun Osoba ( Past NPAN President invited to underscore the seriousness of the issues), Uncle Sam Amuka (Vanguard Newspapers), Lady Maiden Ibru (Guardian Newspapers), Wale Aboderin (Punch Newspapers), Victor Ifijeh (The Nation Newspapers), Femi Adesina ( Sun Newspapers), Bayo Onanuga ( The News Magazine Group), Frank Aigbogun (BusinessDay), Mrs Nwadiuto Iheakanwa ( Champion Newspapers), Comfort Obi ( Source Magazine and General Secretary), Mr Akanni Aluko ( New Telegraph), Gbenga Adefaye (Vanguard), Toke Alex Ibru ( Guardian), Ayo Arowolo (THISDAY), and Feyi Smith ( NPAN) ”
Mr. Obaigbena argued that there was no way NPAN could have known which subhead the funds were paid from. He argued that the media practitioners could not know or speculate which line item the spending was made from by the ONSA.
“There is simply no nexus between payments made for compensation, to us victims of terrorism as well as to newspapers in compensation for an unprovoked attack on free speech, and any arms purchase budget,” he continued.
He called for the complete list of payments made by the ONSA between 2014 and 2015 to be made public in order to have a clearer picture of what happened to the over N70 billion allocated to the Defence Ministry for the purchase of arms.
Mr. Obaigbena said as victims of a horrendous terrorist attack, media practitioners should not be victimized any further as the terrorists would be celebrating what they are being put through. “We do not deserve further trauma because some official(s), outside of our control, may or may not have followed due process,” he further argued.
“All victims of terrorist attack deserve a fair and just compensation. The fact that we have received some remedy should be reason to accelerate compensation for all victims of Boko Haram attacks across Nigeria however big or small. We never wished this upon ourselves.
“The central purpose of government is the security of life and property of all citizens. And the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as other international law instruments and conventions of which Nigeria is a signatory underscores this – and in fact requires that we receive effective remedy and compensation,” Mr. Obaigbena said.
He also took time to explain why the ONSA paid N670 million and another N120 million to one of his firms, General Hydrocarbons Ltd, and how the funds were used.
According to an online publication, when contacted on the allegation that the NGE received N50 million from the ONSA, the former president of the body and special adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, declined to speak on the matter.
Mr. Adesina referred Premium Times to his successor, Garba Deen Mohammed, whom he said was in a position to speak on the matter. However, Mr. Mohammed also declined to speak on the issue and instead advised Premium Times to investigate the matter.
In another development, the detained top military top shot was said to be in charge of the arms bought during the tenure of the two former NSAs.
A source said: “The military officer was picked up in connection with the purchase of the arms because he was in charge of inventory and how each unit of the Armed Forces got its equipment.
“The EFCC has invited the officer to verify the arms purchase and the delivery status.
“This same officer related with many former and serving chiefs. There is no way he can be questioned without involving some of these officers in the military hierarchy.
“The arms scandal is messy and many ranking officers were involved. This is causing anxiety in the military because if the detained officer opens up, the probe will lead to more revelations.”
Some former Service Chiefs and military officers have been trying to find out what transpired between their detained colleague and the EFCC, The Nation learnt.
“These anxious military officers and associates have had limited contact with the top chief in detention facility,” the source said, adding: “The latest dimension of the investigation shows that heads may roll in the military over these arms deals.”
It was learnt that the detention of the military officer by the EFCC has raised an inter-service issue.
Some officers are said to be “uncomfortable” that the detained officer ought to be questioned by an Armed Forces panel and not EFCC because he did a technical job for the NSA. But, said the source , they have been made to realise that the EFCC is only handling fraud-related matters on the arms deals and not a military probe.
“The investigation is at the behest of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. This mandate empowers the EFCC to question any public or military officer,” he said, pleading not to be named because he is not permitted to speak on the matter.
Responding to a question, another source said Dasuki inherited the officer from his predecessor, the late Gen. Owoye Azazi. “Following their good performance and conduct in office, Dasuki retained all the senior military assistants /aides who served Azazi. “Dasuki felt since they had the knowledge of the operation of the ONSA, it was better to allow continuity for a smooth take off in office.
“The experience of the officers accounted for the coordination of the war against Boko Haram by Dasuki as NSA. “But while in office, the officers ran purely military errands and managed professional duties.”
Also here were indications that the agency may interact with a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Chief Tony Anenih.
A source said: “I think we are inviting Anenih and a few bigwigs implicated in the arms deals by some of the accused persons. “Some of them will need to explain how they came about the cash given to them and how to effect refund.”
It could not be immediately ascertained whether or not Anenih had received a letter of invitation from the EFCC. A former Minister of State for Finance, Amb. Bashir Yuguda, named some PDP stalwarts as the beneficiaries of the cash from ONSA.
In a Statement of Witness/ Caution, which he wrote on oath, Yuguda admitted to the EFCC that he gave N600million cash to six chairmen of the Contact and Mobilisation Committees of the PDP for the 2015 general election.
He listed the beneficiaries as Bode George( South-West); Amb. Yerima Abdullahi (North-East); Peter Odili (South-South); Attahiru Bafarawa (North-West); Jim Nwobodo (South -East) and North-Central (Ahmadu Ali).
George, Nwobodo and Odili have denied collecting cash from Yuguda. George admitted that $30,000 was given to the South-West Contact and Mobilisation Committee. Yuguda also said he instructed Jabbama Limited to transfer N300million to BAM Properties whose account was given to him by a former National Chairman of PDP, Bello Haliru. Bafarawa admitted that he collected N100million from Yuguda through Sagir Attahiru.
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