Nigerian court acquits former Mtel CEO, others in Siemens bribery case

A Nigerian court of appeals has freed a former Mtel CEO and three others accused of receiving bribes from Siemens.

The German telecom equipment maker company is alleged to have paid more than US$100 million in bribes to officials in Nigeria, Libya and other countries in order to win supply contracts.

Global suppliers including China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE are seriously competing for contracts in the region. There have been a number of cases over the last few years in which senior government officials and managers of telecom companies have been accused of offering bribes to win telecom equipment contracts.

In 2007, the Nigerian government canceled a supply contract with Siemens and suspended dealings with the company pending investigations into allegations that it gave more than $14 million in bribes to Nigerian government officials in order to be offered a supply contract.

One of the accused is the former CEO for government-owned mobile telecommunications company Mtel, Edwin Moore Momife. The other three are the former director of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Maigada Shuaibu; former general manager of finance at Nigerian Telecommunications (Nitel), Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Ossai, and former permanent secretary at the Federal Ministry of Power and Steel Mahmood, Sadiq Mohammed.

In its ruling, the court of appeal said the country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), failed to establish a lawful case against the accused.

Justice Tinuade Akomolafe Wilson, who read the judgment said, "Momife and the three other accused had no case to answer because the Siemens officials implicated in bribery case as conspirators were neither charged nor declared wanted in Nigeria."

The court held that the main accused person, Momife, "could not have conspired with himself to commit the alleged crime."

The court said in order to establish a case against Momife and the other accused, the EFCC could have taken the officials to court with Siemens officials who allegedly bribed the accused.

The ruling by the appeals court effectively overturned the decision of the High Court that earlier found all four of the accused guilty of bribery. Momife and the other accused officials were detained by the court but later released on bail. They appealed the decision of the High Court.

Momife and his co-defendants were also accused of having received for themselves and their family members air tickets to attend the FIFA World cup in Germany in 2006 in addition to receiving frequent sponsorship to Germany for medical check-ups.

Momife admitted having received air tickets from Siemens but the court said it found no evidence of a relationship, business or otherwise, between Siemens and the accused.

In 2007, Siemens was indicted by a court in Germany for paying bribes to government and officials in African countries including Cameroon, Libya and Egypt in order to win supply contracts, It was slapped with a fine of about $201 million.

Siemens accepted responsibility for misconduct and provided names of bribe recipients. The EFCC asked for a certified copy of the Germany court's judgement in order to help it identify the people who were involved in the bribery and how much was given to them. It is not clear whether the copy of the judgement was given to EFCC by the Germans.

In 2010, the World Bank, as a major funder of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects in Africa, imposed a two-year bidding rights ban on Siemens because of the company's alleged corruption in Africa's telecom sector.

Siemens has since committed to paying $100 million to support global efforts over the next 15 years to support anti-corruption efforts.

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A Nigerian court of appeals has freed a former Mtel CEO and three others accused of receiving bribes from Siemens.
The German telecom equipment maker company is alleged to have paid more than US$100 million in bribes to officials in Nigeria, Libya and other countries in order to win supply contracts.
Global suppliers including China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE are seriously competing for contracts in the region. There have been a number of cases over the last few years in which senior government officials and managers of telecom companies have been accused of offering bribes to win telecom equipment contracts.
In 2007, the Nigerian government canceled a supply contract with Siemens and suspended dealings with the company pending investigations into allegations that it gave more than $14 million in bribes to Nigerian government officials in order to be offered a supply contract.
One of the accused is the former CEO for government-owned mobile telecommunications company Mtel, Edwin Moore Momife. The other three are the former director of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Maigada Shuaibu; former general manager of finance at Nigerian Telecommunications (Nitel), Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Ossai, and former permanent secretary at the Federal Ministry of Power and Steel Mahmood, Sadiq Mohammed.
In its ruling, the court of appeal said the country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), failed to establish a lawful case against the accused.
Justice Tinuade Akomolafe Wilson, who read the judgment said, "Momife and the three other accused had no case to answer because the Siemens officials implicated in bribery case as conspirators were neither charged nor declared wanted in Nigeria."
The court held that the main accused person, Momife, "could not have conspired with himself to commit the alleged crime."

The court said in order to establish a case against Momife and the other accused, the EFCC could have taken the officials to court with Siemens officials who allegedly bribed the accused.
The ruling by the appeals court effectively overturned the decision of the High Court that earlier found all four of the accused guilty of bribery. Momife and the other accused officials were detained by the court but later released on bail. They appealed the decision of the High Court.
Momife and his co-defendants were also accused of having received for themselves and their family members air tickets to attend the FIFA World cup in Germany in 2006 in addition to receiving frequent sponsorship to Germany for medical check-ups.
Momife admitted having received air tickets from Siemens but the court said it found no evidence of a relationship, business or otherwise, between Siemens and the accused.
In 2007, Siemens was indicted by a court in Germany for paying bribes to government and officials in African countries including Cameroon, Libya and Egypt in order to win supply contracts, It was slapped with a fine of about $201 million.
Siemens accepted responsibility for misconduct and provided names of bribe recipients. The EFCC asked for a certified copy of the Germany court's judgement in order to help it identify the people who were involved in the bribery and how much was given to them. It is not clear whether the copy of the judgement was given to EFCC by the Germans.
In 2010, the World Bank, as a major funder of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects in Africa, imposed a two-year bidding rights ban on Siemens because of the company's alleged corruption in Africa's telecom sector.
Siemens has since committed to paying $100 million to support global efforts over the next 15 years to support anti-corruption efforts.
- See more at: http://www.cfoworld.com/operations/88714/nigerian-court-acquits-former-mtel-ceo-others-siemens-bribery-case#sthash.xi1ffT2i.dpuf

INEC honours corper for rejecting bribe to rig during Ondo by-election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today honoured a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Ismail Lawal, who rejected a bribe to rig the inconclusive Ilaje-Ese-Odo House of Representatives By-election in Ondo State in favour of a particular party.
Lawal was said to have been put under duress by loyalists of the party, who offered him N8000 to turn the result in their favour but rejected to do their wish.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Mr. Akin Orebiyi made this known at the inauguration of the State Advisory Committee on Voter Education and Publicity.

Orebiyi said Lawal showed probity, honesty and integrity in the
conduct of the election, saying Nigeria needed the likes of the Corps member for its progress and development.
The REC noted that the Commission had put in place some structures that would make it difficult for officials to rig elections.
According to the REC, the electoral process and structure put in place did not permit influence or interference from within INEC or outside it.
His words “With the process and structure put in place by the Commission under Professor Attahiru Jega’s watch, no one,not even he, the Chairman, or the National Commissioner, Resident Electoral Commissioner or Electoral

Officer can rig election successfully in this country. And we are not
willing to do so”.
Orebiyi therefore urged the people of the country to adopt the electoral process as there own and make it work.
He said the committee was put together to achieve a hitch free Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise slated for July 23 to July 27 in the state, adding that it would be preceded by the distribution of Permanent
Voters’ Card (PVC) from July 18 to July 20.

The REC said the committee would work together and closely in order to ensure adequate voter education and public enlightenment on electoral activities going forward to 2015 and beyond.

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AfDB fines Dutch firm N912m over NLNG bribery scandal

THE AFRICAN Development Bank, AfD, has imposed a fine of  $5.7 million (N912 million) on a Dutch firm, Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V.  for its alleged involvement in bribe payments for Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, contracts.

The fine was announced in a statement  by the Bank Group, yesterday, entitled, ‘ÁfDB charges Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. US $5.7 million in monetary sanction for corrupt practices.’

The Bank said, “Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. admits to corrupt practices from 1995 until 2004 by affiliated companies in relation to the award of AfDB-financed services contracts for liquefied natural gas production plants on Bonny Island, Nigeria.

“The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group on May 28, 2014, announced the conclusion of a Negotiated Resolution Agreement with Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. following the company’s acceptance of the charge of corrupt practices by affiliated companies in an AfDB-financed project. A

“As part of the Negotiated Resolution Agreement, the Bank’s Integrity and Anti-Corruption Department, IACD, levies a financial penalty of US $5.7 million against the company.

“The funds will flow into AfDB projects preventing and combating corruption in the Bank’s Member Countries on the African continent.

“In total, the AfDB has collected US $22.7 million in fines from four companies, including Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V., involved in bribe payments in connection with the liquefied natural gas production plants project on Bonny Island, Nigeria.           “In addition to the payment of a monetary sanction, the Negotiated Resolution Agreement foresees the debarment for a period of three years.

“These companies are eligible for cross-debarment under the April 2010 Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions entered into by the African Development Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank Group.

“The Portuguese entities affiliated to Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. played an active role in funneling bribes to public officials.

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Oman court jails ex-minister 3 years over bribery

MUSCAT (AFP) – An Omani court has sentenced a former minister to three years in jail over graft charges, in a first for the Gulf sultanate which has vowed to combat corruption, newspapers reported Monday.

They said ex-commerce minister Mohammed bin Nasser al-Khusaibi was found guilty of bribing another official to award a contract linked to a Muscat airport expansion project to a company in which he was a shareholder.

The Muscat court on Sunday also slapped Khusaibi with a hefty 800,000-riyal ($2-million) fine, the Oman Daily Observer said.
An accomplice, a former undersecretary at the transport and telecommunications ministry, was handed the same jail term and fined.

The general manager of the company, a non-Omani Arab national, was sentenced to six months in jail, to be followed by deportation.
The Observer said a former refinery CEO who is also a member of Oman’s upper chamber had been sentenced to three years in jail for corruption in an earlier trial.

But Khusaibi was the first former government member to be handed a jail term.
A businessman has also been jailed for 18 years over several corruption cases, while an ex-chief for ports at the transport ministry received a three-year sentence, said the daily.

It did not specify when the earlier sentences were handed down, but said they were part of a government drive to “maintain transparency”.
The normally sleepy sultanate was caught up in the 2011 Arab Spring, with demonstrators taking to the streets to demand improved living conditions and reforms.

A key demand of the protests, which degenerated into clashes with security forces in which two demonstrators were killed, was the sacking of ministers accused of corruption.
Sultan Qaboos carried out major cabinet reshuffles, dismissing several ministers over corruption allegations.

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Dutch nationals’ abduction: I didn’t offer N3.4m bribe to Police —Community leader

Yenagoa—Chairman of  Dodo River Regional Development Association in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Mr. Berry Negrese, yesterday, denied claims by some politicians that he was forced to pay N3.450 million as bribe to the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara and the security aide to Governor Seriaka Dickson, Col. Bernard Kenebai, for the rescue operation of the abducted Dutch nationals and bail bonds for the detained Nigerian journalists.

An online news medium had, in a report on Wednesday, alleged that the duo of the Bayelsa Police Commissioner and the Security Adviser to the state governor were involved in the extortion of N3.450 million from the Chairman of Dodo River Development Foundation for security mobilisation to facilitate the release of the abducted Dutch nationals.

Mr. Negresse, who  briefed newsmen, yesterday in Yenagoa, said the claims that a bribe was given to the police was false and a calculated attempt to rubbish the professional effort adopted in the rescue operation of the Dutch nationals.

He said: “The report by the online news medium is untrue and a fabricated report targeted at rubbishing the efforts of the police and the state government.  The police, the state government and the Ijaw Youth Congress, IYC, should be commended for their effort in the rescue operation. The report is a ridiculous lie. I speak as the Chairman of Doddo River Regional Development Association and as a man who followed the rescue exercise from the beginning to the end. At no point time did anybody demand money from us.

“The police only asked me for the phone number which the kidnappers used in contacting me. While I was still trying to negotiate and find a way to pay some ransom to the kidnappers out of fear for the safety of the Dutch nationals, the police called me that they had secured their release. I was surprised at the speed and professionalism they adopted.”

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Nigerian Immigration Service denies asking Davido for bribe

Music star, Davido recently accused officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service of harassing him for money and making him miss a very important flight at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos.
The accusations infuriated his fans – and many of them took to their various social media pages to insult the Nigerian Immigration service.

Responding to the accusation, the Immigration service, some hours ago, refuted claims by Davido on Instagram that NIS officers did not allow him to depart from the country because of his refusal to bribe them.
In a statement by the NIS Public Relations Officer, Emeka Obua, the service revealed that Davido had approached Immigration Officers at MMIA on the fateful day with the intention of travelling out of the country and presented a US passport number 460918874 issued at Georgia on December 14, 2009 and valid till December 14, 2019.
It explained that the officer that attended to him drew his attention to the fact that his US passport had no Nigerian visa on it with which he would have been admitted into the country, and Davido reportedly responded that he had a Nigerian passport but forgot it at home.

Read statement below:
“The officer now informed him that he should go and bring the Nigerian passport to convince him that he did not enter Nigeria illegally with a foreign passport without visa. Adeleke started arguing with the officer, who had to refer the case to his superiors and the verdict was that he could not make the trip unless he produced the said Nigerian passport.

“Livid with anger, Adeleke, in company with his bodyguards, started protesting in a disorderly manner, prompting the Comptroller of Immigration in-charge at MMIA to intervene. He advised Adeleke to call his bodyguards to order (caution) and comply with the lawful instruction which would not only erase any doubt as to his immigration status but also establish his claim to dual citizenship.”

He left and on the following day, produced his Nigerian e-passport with number A02227477 issued at Abuja on August13, 2010 and valid till August 12, 2015.
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Bribery allegations: Show evidence, Fayemi tells Fayose

The Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation  has challenged the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Mr Ayodele Fayose to come forward with “incontrovertible evidence” over allegations that governor  Dr Fayemi has bribed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Spokesperson of the organisation, Mr Dimeji Daniels faulted the claims made by Mr. Fayose saying “we are tired of all this scare-mongering by the PDP candidate. Let him be a man of honour for once.”
It, however, challenged him to come forward with the “so-called incontrovertible evidence that he has.” Arguing that Fayose is fond of screaming blue murder when in fact he is the one guilty of same offence.”

On the allegation that the Fayemi and the APC orchestrated violence in the state, he said “Governor Kayode Fayemi’s convoy must have passed the route where Fayose’s campaign office is located over a hundred times over the past three and a half years and his convoy was never attacked for once until Ayo Fayose became the candidate of the PDP. The governor’s convoy had not been attacked anywhere in the entire state since 2010 until the emergence of Ayodele Fayose as candidate of the PDP and indeed both times directly in front of Fayose’s campaign office. “

Furthermore, he maintained that “From the antecedents of our candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and that of the PDP candidate, Ayo Fayose, Ekiti people, and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians, know Fayose is the one who thrives on violence as his ideology. The spate of attacks on APC members started when Fayose came into the race with his usual style of violent politicking. What he is doing now is to draw cheap sympathy, but he used up whatever goodwill he ever had during his reign of terror in Ekiti between 2003 and 2006 when the whole of Ekiti sent him packing.”

Absolving Fayemi of influencing traditional rulers in the state, the spokesman said  “I am not aware that any of our revered traditional rulers is not allowing the PDP candidate to campaign in their domain. But then, any kabiyesi who heard about how the PDP unleashed terror on Egbe and some other towns, they might not want a rehash of such in their domain because they have a duty to protect their people. Don’t also forget that Fayose desecrated the traditional institution when he was governor.”

Source

The Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation  has challenged the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Mr Ayodele Fayose to come forward with “incontrovertible evidence” over allegations that governor  Dr Fayemi has bribed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

*Fayemi , Fayose

Spokesperson of the organisation, Mr Dimeji Daniels faulted the claims made by Mr. Fayose saying “we are tired of all this scare-mongering by the PDP candidate. Let him be a man of honour for once.”
It, however, challenged him to come forward with the “so-called incontrovertible evidence that he has.” Arguing that Fayose is fond of screaming blue murder when in fact he is the one guilty of same offence.”
On the allegation that the Fayemi and the APC orchestrated violence in the state, he said “Governor Kayode Fayemi’s convoy must have passed the route where Fayose’s campaign office is located over a hundred times over the past three and a half years and his convoy was never attacked for once until Ayo Fayose became the candidate of the PDP. The governor’s convoy had not been attacked anywhere in the entire state since 2010 until the emergence of Ayodele Fayose as candidate of the PDP and indeed both times directly in front of Fayose’s campaign office. “
Furthermore, he maintained that “From the antecedents of our candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and that of the PDP candidate, Ayo Fayose, Ekiti people, and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians, know Fayose is the one who thrives on violence as his ideology. The spate of attacks on APC members started when Fayose came into the race with his usual style of violent politicking. What he is doing now is to draw cheap sympathy, but he used up whatever goodwill he ever had during his reign of terror in Ekiti between 2003 and 2006 when the whole of Ekiti sent him packing.”
Absolving Fayemi of influencing traditional rulers in the state, the spokesman said  “I am not aware that any of our revered traditional rulers is not allowing the PDP candidate to campaign in their domain. But then, any kabiyesi who heard about how the PDP unleashed terror on Egbe and some other towns, they might not want a rehash of such in their domain because they have a duty to protect their people. Don’t also forget that Fayose desecrated the traditional institution when he was governor.”
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/04/bribery-allegations-show-evidence-fayemi-tells-fayose/#sthash.6TGmRve1.dpuf