Mother of all frauds: How Nigeria Stock Exchange spent N186 million on Rolex watches for employees

Wonders shall never end.  An auditor’s report  into the affairs of the Nigeria Stock Exchange under the headship of deposed director general Mrs  Ndi Okereke-Onyuike   have  found out that the Exchange  spent a whopping N186 million on Rolex watches for its staff in 2008, as gifts to employees who had served the Exchange for 10 years.
The audit report, carried out by KPMG, and Aluko Oyebode & Co., also found out that only 73 out of the 165 Rolex watches were actually presented to the awardees. The implication is that a total of 92 Rolex watches valued at N99.5 million remain unaccounted for.  Said the report: “We observe that the gifts awarded / presented far exceeded the value stated in the staff handbook.”
The report said further: “Our investigation so far reveals that the following allegations may have merit: Total expenses of the NSE are too high, 2006 to 2008 expenses consumed more than 80 per cent of income/undisciplined spending and financial imprudence; That there has been sharing of money among council members, That the sum of N400 million were paid to the past president of the Council, That wages, training and IT expenses were overstated." The report was ordered by the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, and it goes to uncover shocking cases of fraud and recklessness on the part of Mrs  Ndi Okereke-Onyuike, the disgraced, former director general.
 xclusivenigeria.com

Nigeria curfew after deadly village clashes

A curfew has been imposed on two rural villages in Nigeria's Cross River state after deadly weekend clashes.
At least 30 people are reported to have been killed in violence between members of the Boje and Nsadop communities.
Youths armed with machetes, guns and explosives attacked rival villages, killing on sight and burning houses.
The clashes are believed to have been sparked by a lingering land dispute, but some residents said the violence may be politically motivated.
They said some local politicians were engaged in a power struggle ahead of next year's elections.
Villagers fled
The BBC's Fidelis Mbah in the region says three soldiers deployed to maintain peace in the area were among those killed.
Residents of both villages have fled, fearing for their lives, he reports.
More soldiers and anti-riot policemen have arrived to step up patrols.
Cross River state government spokesman Patrick Ugbe said some badly burnt corpses had been recovered in the aftermath of the fighting.
"About 90% of the houses in Nsadop were burnt down," he told the AFP news agency.
According to the authorities, a curfew has been imposed from 1800 local time to 0600 in the morning.
The villages are in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, which is notorious for its armed gangs.
Most of these so-called oil militants have now agreed to disarm as part of a government amnesty.
Niger Delta politicians originally created the gangs by arming young men to use as their private armies and to rig elections.

Written by Ejura Sambo/bbc

Women journalists who persist in the face of danger, oppression win Courage Awards

BBC reporter Vicky Ntetema was undercover, face to face with an infamous witch doctor in her native country of Tanzania. After skinning a live chicken and calling the journalist a “walking corpse,” the witch doctor offered his most potent remedy: a potion made from the body parts of an albino person. And for the right price, he said, he would commit the murder himself. After all, he had done it before.
"These things are in every homestead," he said, describing children and adults with the rare genetic disorder.
Ntetema wore her trainers that day, precisely so she could run away from danger. She had already set the emergency ring on her cell phone in case she needed to reach her driver immediately. But Ntetema didn’t use the code. Instead, she took her hidden microphone and went deeper into Tanzania to find more witch doctors -- and more confessions of targeted killings of people with albinism.
For this tenacity and determination to get the story, Ntetema was one of three winners of the International Women’s Media Foundation’s 2010 Courage in Journalism Awards. The awards honor women who have shown "extraordinary strength of character and integrity while reporting the news under dangerous circumstances." Another winner, Colombian investigative reporter Claudia Julieta Duque, was researching the murder of political humorist and journalist Jaime Garzón when she was abducted and robbed. She left the country, and upon her return, received more death threats, including phone calls with funeral music and screams of terror. She was forced to flee the country twice more, but returned determined to continue her investigation into what she believes was a state assassination of Garzón.
“I am a ghost when I'm not reporting. It's not really a life,” Duque said, speaking last week at a panel discussion at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC.
Although both women were able to come to the United States to share their stories this month, the third honoree was absent. Woeser, a journalist, poet and blogger from Tibet, has had her books banned in China and her blogs destroyed. She is under constant surveillance by the Chinese government, which has detained and interrogated her. She is now in self-imposed exile in Beijing, and Chinese authorities refuse to issue her a passport to come to the United States.
“I ask my boss to send me to this event every year, because when I head back to work, I stop whining about my job,” joked Cynthia Tucker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who moderated the event.
Tucker asked Ntetema and Duque what inspired them to pursue such challenging stories.
“I just couldn’t believe there was this kind of racism in Tanzania,” Ntetema said. “Albino people are human beings. The only difference is color.”
Ntetema, who was educated in the former Soviet Union and worked in London, was told by locals she was too "Westernized" to cover witch doctors. Ninety percent of Tanzanians believe in witchcraft, according to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
And although there have been more than 50 documented killings of albinos in Tanzania since 2007, the government’s reaction has been lethargic. Local police told Ntetema that if she disappeared during the investigation and the BBC asked them to find her, they wouldn’t go. They were too afraid. Even Tanzanian politicians reportedly visit witch doctors to sway election results.
Now, in part due to Ntetema’s coverage, over 170 witch doctors have been arrested, according to the BBC. And even though she must report behind a veil to mask her identity, she has decided to work full-time on the story of the murders.
Duque considers Garzón’s murder to be the biggest story of her life.
"It was the beginning of the end of freedom of the press in Columbia," she said.
More than 120 journalists were killed in Colombia in the 1990s, she said. The number of national and regional newspapers in Columbia has fallen by half since Garzon’s murder. Like Ntetema, Duque has had to negotiate with a government that is apathetic about -- or even a participant in -- the murders.
But Duque continues to persevere as an investigative reporter, covering child trafficking, paramilitary groups and human rights violations. She said at the event that she loves her country and will continue to work there despite the difficulties.
“Someone has to be there, and remember the story,” she said. “Why not me?”
 By Dana Liebelson

Bribery scandal: FIFA suspends Adamu, Temarii

Fifa has provisionally suspended officials Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii over allegations of corruption.
The Fifa executive committee members are accused of offering to sell their votes in the contest to host the 2018 World Cup ahead of December's ballot.
They were secretly filmed by the Sunday Times, who posed as lobbyists for a consortium of American companies that wanted to bring the event to the US.
Fifa will meet again in mid-November to take a final decision.
At that meeting Fifa will also study alleged agreements between member associations and their Bid Committees in relation to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process.
The world governing body did not specify which countries could be under scrutiny.
Rumours of collusion between a 2018 bidder and a 2022 hopeful surfaced in September, prompting Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke to warn all countries that mutual voting deals are against Fifa rules.
England, Russia, Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium are competing to stage the 2018 World Cup, while the United States, Australia, Qatar, Japan and South Korea are all in the hunt for 2022.
Fifa's 24-man executive committee will decide who wins on 2 December, when they meet in Zurich to conduct a secret vote.
The US - the last remaining non-European bidder - pulled out of the running for 2018 on Friday to focus its efforts on 2022, where it is competing with Japan, South Korea and Qatar. On the same day, England pulled out of the bidding to host in 2022.
The alleged vote-selling scandal has plunged the voting process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups into crisis and chief executive Sepp Blatter admitted "it was a sad day for football" before insisting "confidence will be restored".
Adamu allegedly said he wanted $800,000 (£500,000) to build four artificial football pitches. This would be against Fifa's rules.
The Sunday Times footage appears to show him asking for money to be paid to him directly for endorsing a US bid.
Temarii, who is alleged to have asked for a payment to finance a sports academy, has already pleaded his innocence.
"I am 100% convinced of my integrity," Temarii, head of Fifa's technical and development committee, told Inside World Football. "That's why I have stayed on."
Temarii suggested his comments on the Sunday Times video had been taken out of context.
However Fifa ethics committee chairman Claudio Sulser explained that the decision to provisionally suspend Adamu and Temarii was "fully justified and should not be put in question," said Fifa ethics committee chairman Claudio Sulser.
"It is crucial to protect the integrity of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process. We are determined to have zero tolerance for any breach of the code of ethics."
Four other Fifa officials - Slim Aloulou, Amadou Diakite, Ahongalu Fusimalohi and Ismael Bhamjee - have also been provisionally suspended.

Son of Dog: Disgraced former Justice minister Aondoakaa sacked as SAN

 Disgraced former Attorney General of the Federation under the Yar’Adua regime Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, who gained national notoriety during his tenure as the nation’s No 1 law breaker, has been barred from using the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
The dishonorable former minister gained national notoriety and infamy when he turned the constitution and the laws of the land on their head in his campaign to protect his paymasters who were being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The decision to sack the notorious former minister from the body of SAN was taken by the legal privileges committee of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Mr. Sunday Olorundahunsi, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria told reporters that the committee took the decision to sack the notorious Mr. Aondoakaa due to a number of allegations against him, including using his position as AGF to “emasculate the anti-corruption institutions.” He said the committee reviewed Mr. Aondoakaa’s response to a petition written against him by the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR). He accused the former minister of “lying and deception” to protect former Delta State governor Mr. James Ibori and his associates, who were being prosecuted for corruption.
“...the committee, after due consideration of the said response, has decided in its wisdom, to suspend him[Aondoakaa] from the use of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria and all other privileges attached to that rank, pending the outcome of the investigation by the sub-committee set up by the legal practitioners privileges committee,” Mr. Olorundahunsi said.
According to him, the petition accused the disgraced former minister of guilty of “deliberate mis-interpretation, mis-application, and incompetence.” The petition also said Mr. Aondoakaa also showed “an inadequate knowledge of the law.” Recently, the disgraced minister had been barred by a Calabar High Court from holding any public office in future, while ruling on a lawsuit that accused Mr. Aondoakaa of derailing the rule of the law during his tenure. Also the despised former minister has recently been banned from entering the United States of America.
www.xclusivenigeria.com

Cecilia Ibru goes to jail

Cecilia Ibru: End game

The end of the road came yesterday for Mrs Cecilia Ibru, the former managing director of Oceanic Bank PLC, as she was convicted of bank and securities fraud by the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos presided over by Justice Dan Abutum. The judge handed down a six months jail sentence on Mrs Ibru; she will also forfeit over N191 billion naira in cash and assets.
Justice Abutum said Mrs Ibru had knowing committed the criminal activities, and therefore sentenced her to six months in jail. He also asked her to hand over N150 billion stolen funds and assets.
The former high flying Mrs. Ibru has staggering assets spread around the world, and they include:
1. Good Shepherd House, IPM Avenue , Opp Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos (registered in the name of Ogekpo Estate Managers)
2. Residential block with 19 apartments on 34, Bourdillon Road , Ikoyi (registered in the name of Dilivent International Limited).
3. 20 Oyinkan Abayomi Street, Victoria Island (remainder of lease or tenancy upto 2017).
4. 57 Bourdillon Road , Ikoyi.
5. 5A George Street , Ikoyi, (registered in the name of Michaelangelo Properties Limited),
6. 5B George Street , Ikoyi, (registered in the name of Michaelangelo Properties Limited).
7. 4A Iru Close, Ikoyi, (registered in the name of Michaelangelo Properties Limited).
8. 4B Iru Close, Ikoyi, (registered in the name of Michaelangelo Properties Limited).
9. 16 Glover Road , Ikoyi (registered in the name of Michaelangelo Properties Limited).
10. 35 Cooper Road , Ikoyi, (registered in the name of Michaelangelo Properties Limited).
11. Property situated at 3 Okotie-Eboh, SW Ikoyi. 12. 35B Isale Eko Avenue , Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi.
13. 38A Isale Eko Avenue , Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi (registered in the name of Meeky Enterprises Limited).
14. 38B Isale Eko Avenue , Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi (registered in the name of Aleksander Stankov).
15. Multiple storey multiple user block of flats under construction 1st Avenue , Banana Island , Ikoyi, Lagos , (with beneficial interest therein purchased from the developer Ibalex).
16. 226, Awolowo Road , Ikoyi, Lagos (registered in the name of Ogekpo Estate Managers).
17. 182, Awolowo Road , Ikoyi, Lagos , (registered in the name of Ogekpo Estate Managers)
18. 12-storey Tower on one hectare of land at Ozumba Mbadiwe Water Front, Victoria Island .
19. 5, Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island, Lagos (registered in the name of Casi Properties & Investment Ltd).
20. 18A, Adetokubo Ademola Street , Victoria Island, Lagos (registered in the name of Casi Properties & Investment Ltd).
21. 270, Ozumba Mbadiwe , Victoria Island, Lagos (registered in the name of Casi Properties & Investment Ltd)
22. 270, Ozumba Mbadiwe , Victoria Island, Lagos (registered in the name of Ogekpo Estate Managers Limited).
23. 15,000 square metres of land at Okunade Water Front, Lekki Peninsula .
24. 7,000 square metres of land at Okunade Water Front, Lekki Peninsula - (registered in the name of Melake Properties Limited).
25. 8,000 square metres of land at Okunade Water Front, Lekki Peninsula - (registered in the name of (Casi Properties Limited). 26. 1,000,000 square metres of land in Lekki.
27. 101 hectares of land along Lekki Expressway behind Chevron Nigeria .
28. 103 hectares of land bought from Dom Gas
29. Plot 5, Igbo-Efon, Off Lekki/Ajah Expressway, Victoria Island, Lagos by 1004 (registered in the name of Casi Properties & Investment Ltd)
30. Block 6, Flat 1 &2, Femi Okunnu H/Scheme Phase IV- Lekki (registered in the name of Oceanic Homes Savings & Loans Ltd)
31. One storey building at 50 Marina , Lagos .
32. 10 storey building at 60 Marina , Lagos .
33. 60, Marine View, Apongbon, Marina , Lagos (registered in the name of Dele Oye & Associates)
34. 10, Sobo Arobidu Street , Ikeja, GRA (registered in the name of Jeedab Fibre Limited).
35. Property at 10A Sobo Arobiodu Street , Ikeja (registered in the name of Chiaroscuro Limited).
36. AP Filling Station (Beside Former Hotel Bobby) Onipanu Lagos , (registered in the name of Vivi Oil Investments Limited).
37. Building at 154, Ikorodu Road , Lagos (registered in the name of Casi Properties & Investment Ltd).
38. Ilemba Hausa Road , Ajamgbadi, Lagos (registered in the name of Vivi Oil & Gas Company Limited).
39. Land at Iyana Ipaja Round About, Iyana Ipaja, Lagos , (registered in the name of Vivi Oil Investments Limited).
40. Building at 7, Randle Road , Apapa, Lagos , (registered in the name of Ogekpo Estate Managers Limited)
41. Block 34, Flat 6, LSDPC Housing Estate, Ebute-Metta Lagos (registered in the name of Ogekpo Estate Managers Limited)
42. Three residential towers at Port Harcourt , GRA. 43. 22 Sani Abacha Way, Port Harcourt, GRA (registered in the name of Velvox Investment Company Limited).
44. Metro Plaza Building , 991/992 Zakari Maimalari Street , Central Area, Zone 5, Abuja , (registered in the name of Abinof Food Company Limited).
45. The 4 Floor Building at Herbert Macaulay Way , Wuse Zone 6, Abuja (registered in the name of Casi Properties and Investment Ltd).
46. Metro Plaza Building, ANNEXE B, Zakariya Maimalari Street, Cadastral Zone, AOO, C.B.D, Abuja (registered in the name of MST Properties West Africa Ltd).
47. Flats 1-4, Block D33, Abuja Games Village , Abuja (registered in the name of Convent Trade & Services Limited).
48. Block D33 (Flat 1-4) Games Village , Abuja (registered in the name of Casi Properties and Investment Ltd).
49. Block B40, Flat 5 & 6, Zone 3, Gymnastic Games Village (registered in the name of Oceanic Homes Savings & Loans Limited).
50. Executive Guest House, 4 bedroom Bungalow, Ndanuba Street , Maitama, Abuja (registered in the name of Ogekpo Estate Manager Limited). 51. Executive Guest House, Ali Akilu Crescent , Asokoro, Abuja , (registered in the name of Ogekpo Estate Managers Limited).
51. 29 Real estates in Dubai
52. Seven residential properties in Dubai
53. 15 Real Property in South Africa
54. Other properties in London, England
55. Abridged Shares In listed Nigerian Companies without limitation:

Hoodlums explode bombs in Abuja, disrupting independence celebrations…FG promises retribution

A series of explosions rocked parts of Abuja, the federal capital territory as senior government officials and foreign dignitaries gather to celebrate the golden jubilee of Nigeria's independence. The device detonated at about 11am, some 40 meters from the state box where President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo and other visiting heads of government and international delegates were sitting, leaving two mobile policemen with serious injuries. The policemen, who suffered first degree burns from the explosion, lay on the floor while their colleagues tried to administer first aid and ward off journalists who had rushed to the scene to take pictures.
The federal government had been determined to make the independence celebration a bold statement of festivities. There were grand military parades and calisthenics display by some 1600 school children aged nine to sixteen. The event was witnessed by thousands of Nigerians who cheered and clapped to commemorate the nation's 50^th anniversary.
President Jonathan has said that the perpetrators of the bomb explosions in Abuja earlier today will surely be found and dealt with. The incident has so far claimed about eight lives in the Federal Capital Territory, according to police reports.
"To those behind these vicious acts, the president wants you to know that you will be found, and you will pay dearly for this heinous crime," a statement from the office of the president read.
The presidential spokesman, Ima Niboro, described the bomb explosion which occurred near the Ministry of Justice in Abuja as ‘a low, dirty and wicked act of desperation by criminals and murderers, who do not wish Nigeria well.
"Coming at a time that the world had gathered together to celebrate Nigeria at 50, these bomb attacks are the worst anniversary gifts any nation can get," the statement said. "Their purpose was to ensure that the celebration at Eagle Square was cancelled by all means. It is sad and unfortunate.
"President Goodluck Jonathan grieves with the families that have lost loved ones in the incidents. The president shares their consternation and understands their confoundment, as they mourn while the nation celebrates.
"The president wants these families to know that their loved ones have not died in vain. Rather, they have paid the supreme price for our unity; and in their death, they have watered the tree of our freedom."
According to a Federal Road Safety marshal who spoke with NEXT, there were two explosions, probable timed to follow each other.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the first explosion came from a commercial bus parked along Shehu Shagari Way, near Bayelsa House. This explosion drew a crowd towards the scene when a more powerful explosion went off, this time, from a smaller car. As a result of the two explosions, other cars parked around the area immediately caught fire. The marshal said the fire affected between 10 and 20 cars.
He added that he counted at least 15 people hauled into the Civil Defence trucks that were first on the scene, but could not confirm their status.
He,however said the victims were security guards, policemen and some children selling sachet water on the street. An SSS official was also mentioned as one of the victims, as well as a family of four in one of the cars.
Victims were first rushed to the State House clinic, but when facilities became strained, were moved to other locations.
The situation is now under control, as the fire service has put out the various fires. People have resumed normal activities but the area is still cordoned off.
www.xclusivenigeria.com
01/10/10