Discredited ex-AGF, Aondoakaa Slammed With Conflicting Multiple-Fund-Disbursements By Obasanjo And Yar’Adua For Nigeria Embassy Cases In The US–Reports
22 September 2011 written by Republic Report New York
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New York [RR] ABUJA–Discredited ex-Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Aondooakaa has been slammed with conflicting report over multiple collection of funds and claims of multi-funds disbursement in the Abubarkar, Kudirat and other Nigerian Embassy cases, when indeed he pocketed over $4Million, RepublicReport.com gathered Thursday.
According to Ugwuonye and other government sources, Aondooaka opening his mouth wide yesterday, brought multiple queries in his outburst. Credible sources said Aondooakaa should be asked to explain what happened to all the funds he collected in the said cases, specificially in 2006 and in 2008 respectively.
“Aondoakaa should be queried on what happened to the money that Obasanjo approved in December 2006 for the Abubakar case, and why he went back to dupe President Yar’Adua for more funds worth $4Million and what happened to these funds.
[PHOTO: Dubious ex-Attorney General of the Federal Aondooakaa slammed with conflicting reports of funds released on Embassy case]
Elombah.com reported Thursday that discredited ex-AGF, “Oandooaka pocketed not less than 4 million dollars”. Earlier today, RepublicReporters reported that Multiple litigation were brought against Feds and its Embassuy officials.
Sources said, “Expatriate Nigerians brought a suit in the U.S. courts against Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar for actions he took while he was interim Head of State between the death of Military Dictator Sani Abacha in June, 1998 and the election of Olusegun Obasanjo as President in May, 1999.
“They accuse him of culpability in the murder of Late Moshood Abiola and his wife, Kudirat.
Funds were set aside for Abubakar’s case by Obasanjo. Part of those funds was still in the Ministry of Justice when Oandooaka took over. Yet he went back to Yar’adua to get more money for the same Abubakar case.
A source disclosed to us, “What you saw yesterday as a break down was not the document they used to get money from the central bank. What Oandooaka cannot show anybody is what document contained the approval by the President”.
“Yar’adua’s govt alone gave Oandooaka a blank cheque to close Abubakars case. No particular amount was voted at the Executive Council when the matter came up. They only voted that Government should continue to finance the case. It was for each AG to handle the details”, a government source familiar with the case told elombah.com.
“They kept things vague so they could manipulate the details”, he added
RepublicReport New York earlier reported that it is dubious for discredited ex-Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Aondooaka who was accused by WikiLeaks leaked US-Diplomatic Cables of ambushing NNPC $57Million at the order of then boss, late President Yar’Adua to bribe three Justices seating on the Presidential Tribunal in 2007/2008, so it could rule favorably unbehalf of Yar’Adua who was rigged into office at the behest of former President Obasanjo, against ANPP led by Mohammadu Buhari. For him to curiously turn around to use an online portal to alleged that Emeka Ugwuonye was paid in full of his legal services his firm ECU Associates rendered to Feds, is incredibly a smear campaign of calumny which has failed time and again; Ugwuonye himself called it: HOGWASH!
In another source, “one US diplomatic cable, Attorney General Bayo Ojo told a US Ambassador on December 9, 2001, that President Obasanjo is deeply angry over what he sees as U.S. failure to resolve satisfactorily U.S. legal processes against Gen. Abubakar.
Dubious Obasanjo was said to have wanted the US Government to intervene in the case, but was told that the US Executive has no power to influence matters in the US Judiciary, unlike what is obtainable in crumbling Nigeria judicial and legislative arms of government that is plagued with epidemic corruption at all level.
Read full text report beneath:
The source confirmed that on 22 of January 2008, Mr. Abubakar, in memo AAA/757/CHCASE, authorized the AGF to act on his behalf with the Honourable Minister of Finance “to affect the necessary remittance of payments to all the parties as per the President’s approval.”
In one US diplomatic cable, Attorney General Bayo Ojo told a US Ambassador on December 9 2001, that President Obasanjo is deeply angry over what he sees as U.S. failure to resolve satisfactorily U.S. legal processes against Gen. Abubakar.
Obasanjo wanted the US Government on intervene in the case, but was told that the US Executive has no power to influence matters in the US Judiciary.
Sources told elombah.com Obasanjo took particular interest in the Abubakar case. He was concerned about possible legal prosecution should he leave office and lose his civil and criminal immunity to prosecution.
Obasanjo was therefore very angry at “alleged U.S. failure to protect a former Nigeria Chief of State from legal action in U.S. courts.”
During a July 2006 meetings in the US Justice Department, then Attorney General Bayo Ojo had sketched out a political (rather than legal) resolution, but, he complained, there was no official U.S. response, despite his efforts then and those subsequently by Nigeria’s Ambassador in Washington, George Obiozor.
The Wikileak Diplomatic cable showed President Obasanjo believed, the Attorney General complained, that this legal action against a former Chief of State is especially unfair because Gen. Abubakar was merely the Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council and Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces during the period he was in office, and yet is being held individually accountable for actions taken by that provisional government.
“It beggars belief that despite the huge funds that Obasanjo voted for the project, letters from Emeka Ugwuonye and US lawyers handling the matter still landed on Obasanjo’s desk asking for payment”.
“The situation was carried over to Yar’adua”, we were told.
According to reports, out of the more than 4 million dollars voted for the project by Yar’adua, only the following was disbursed:
· $750,000.00 was paid to ECU Associates, owned by Mr. Ugwuonye, representing Mr. Abubakar;
· $800,000 was paid to the plaintiff’s counsel;
· N30 million was paid to Summit Chambers, Mr. Abubakar’s Nigeria lawyers; and
· $50,000, to the Federal Ministry of Justice, for documentation; and the entire process was concluded and documented.
Contacted on the matter, Attorney Emeka Ugwuonye told elombah.com; “if you want to get closer to the truth, try to find out what happened to the money that Obasanjo approved in December 2006. I am actually surprised to hear that President Ya’Adua approved another amount of money. So, money was approved several times then”.
“For instance, when did Oandooaka get the 2 million he would have added which I was to transmit to Ogebe? He had millions of money at his disposal under the general capture “Abubakar’s case”, he said.
Issues regarding this controversial matter began as Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States (U.S.), Brig. Gen. Oluwole Rotimi (rtd) was recalled. Posers over certain aspects of the sale of nation’s property in Washington, DC and state of Maryland for about $25 million were raised.
Rotimi queried the decision of the Nigerian Embassy’s attorney, Emeka Ugwuonye to retain a $1.55 million tax refund on the sale of the property.
While Rotimi argues that the money belongs to the Federal Government and should be returned to the treasury, Ugwuonye insists that he had an agreement with the embassy to put a lien (a legal hold) pending the resolution of issues sorrounding the money in lieu of other money owed him by the government for legal services rendered by his law firm of over 20 lawyers.
The Guardian Newspaper of March 08, 2009 wrote they learnt from the Embassy and other sources that before Rotimi assumed office, the Head of the Nigerian Embassy Chancery/Administration, Mr. Y. S. Abdulahi was authorised in August 2007 by the government to allow the lawyer impose the lien in case his fees for services rendered to the government were not paid at the time of the tax refund.
Ugwuonye had been retained by the Embassy to manage the sale of the property several years before the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency, when the sale of the property started.
He was also the lawyer that represented former head of state, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar in the human rights violation case brought against him by Chief Anthony Enahoro and others in a U.S. District Court, first in Detroit, and later in Chicago.
Four Embassy houses were sold in the early years of President Obasanjo’s first term and in 2007. The property included buildings that housed the Nigerian Embassy’s operations.
The first was an abandoned property on M and Wootin Street in the U.S. capital. The building used to serve as the Embassy’s offices in Washington, DC. It was sold for about $2.5 million. The second was the Nigerian Embassy office on 16th Street, sold for $7 million, while another one on M Street was sold for $12 million. They were abandoned after Nigeria built a bigger embassy office in the U.S. at International Court in Washington, DC. Former Vice President Abubakar Atiku commissioned the new office in 2003.
The 4th property sold was the Ambassador’s residence on Connecticut Street, close to Washington, DC but actually located in the adjoining state of Maryland. The residence was considered a security concern because it was too close to the main road.
The sales were done when Prof. George Obiozor held sway as Nigeria’s envoy.
While the transactions were completed late in 2007, a tax refund, which had been withheld – a common practice in U.S. real estate sales (according to Guardian) – from Nigeria by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service was later released through the Nigerian Attorney in the sum of $1.55 million.
Ugwuonye said that he invoked his right to impose the lien because other fees owed him were not being paid by the government.
Rotimi, who arrived in Washington, DC in March 2008, said it was during the handover process that he was made aware of the transactions. He confirmed in a telephone chat that the embassy felt that the money belonged to the government and should be refunded.
According to him, the Embassy has paid the attorney his legal fees, adding that “we do not owe him a kobo, or dollar.” Asked if he was aware that Ugwuonye had an agreement with the embassy that empowered him to invoke a lien on the refund, Rotimi challenged the lawyer to provide such proof.
Ugwuonye said the Bills for services rendered to the Government of Nigeria for over a period of 9 years were never paid and he is in court seeking to be paid in full.
Continuing he added: “I never claimed that we did not get some money for the work we did on the Abubakar case for the 7 years we worked on that case. In fact, in the bills we sent to the Government, we provided receipt for every penny received. Each billing statement showed what was paid (which was usually less than 25% of what was owed) and what was outstanding at any point in time. On each occasion, we only asked for what was outstanding. They know this.
“Whatever I billed Nigerian government was not even up to half of what they now pay another law firm in fees. For instance, the law firm of Patton and Bogg that represents them charge them 1 million dollar per annum for each case they have for the Embassy and they now have two cases for the Embassy, including the one against me. This firm gets paid 2 million dollars up front each year as minimum fee, which means that they could bill more than that at the end of each year. Nigerian government would not get another lawyer to render the same quality service as I did for them for less than double the amount I charged them. Anyway, nobody is saying anything yet about the fact that I represented them so well. They never lost any case for the time that I was their lawyer and they never got into any serious legal problem for the 9 years I was their lawyer. I kept them out of harms way all along”.
Elombah.com is in possession of documents signed by former AG, Chief Akindolu Olujumi asking Mr Ugwuonye to act in Azikiwe vs Nigeria Airways in 2004.
Another letter by Salman A. Salman, another AG confirmed the appointment in 2006.
In a statement released yesterday, Ugwuonye said:
“The case of General Abubakar was only one out of several other cases we handled for Nigerian Government. Indeed, the bulk of our fees outstanding come from those other cases. If you recall very well my several statements in the past, I had indicated that fees owed to us for many years of services were in excess of 3 million dollars. You can now ask yourself how much would remain outstanding if we deduct the amount of $750,000 plus $1.5 million. I am asking them to pay for the difference. Also, if all they owed me were $750,000, there would have been no legal basis to withhold double that amount.
“For the avoidance of doubts, as of this present date, the Government of Nigeria still owes this firm significant amount, which we are asking the courts to order Nigeria to pay to us. They allowed the bills to accumulate from zero to what it became and they only paid tiny bits each time because they withhold the bold of our fees as pressure factor for kickbacks”
Latest Wikileaks revelations show late President Umaru Yar’Adua was aware that former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Michael Aondoakaa engaged in corrupt practices and posing an embarrassment for his administration, but was unable to sack him because Aondoakaa threatened to expose how he was used by the late Yar’adua to bribe Judicial officers.
The report alleged that the former Minister of Justice had extorted money from suspects in exchange for protection against prosecution, and so Late Yar’adua viewed both Aondoakaa and Ibori as liabilities to his re-election and intended to sack Aondoakaa, but could not do so.
Particularly Aondoakaa, who allegedly pocketed a bribe of 40 million Naira (about 267,000 dollars) from an Indian firm regarding an investigation into the Ajaokuta steel plant deal.
“He remarked that Aondoakaa had reversed progress on prosecutions, taking the country backwards in this area, and opined that Yar’Adua would dismiss the Minister by December. He predicted other changes as well since the President recognizes he has “some round pegs in square holes.”
A wikileaks report alleged that the late Yar’Adua viewed both Aondoakaa and Ibori as liabilities to his re-election and intended to sack Aondoakaa, but could not do so.
Former Speaker of the House of Repreentatives told a US Ambassador that the former Attorner General, Michael Aondoakaa “was the money conduit” through which Late President Umaru Yar’adua bribed the judiciary as regards to the President’s Supreme Court case.
In another missive of the Embassy cables, October 23, 2009, Presidential Economic Advisor, Sani Musa, told embassy officials that Yar’Adua had become aware of corrupt activities by certain Cabinet members. Claiming that Yar’Adua did not know Aondoakaa before his appointment, Yar’Adua subsequently received evidence of his wrongdoing.
In the leaked October cables, Musa maintained that Yar’Adua genuinely wanted electoral reform, recalling that he had acknowledged in his inaugural address the “flawed” process that brought him to power. Yar’Adua, he said, became frustrated at the Justice Minister’s power.
He said, Yar’Adua, became frustrated at the Justice Minister’s efforts to block key recommendations, including the more transparent selection of the Independent National Electoral Commission chairperson.
For months, civil libertarians called for the dismissal of Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa, a move that seemed to have some support inside the GON.
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Director-General, Lanre Ipinmisho predicted to INLOFF that President Yar’Adua would sack Aondoakaa after he declared publicly that his office had cleared three former governors — James Ibori (Delta State), Bola Tinubu (Lagos State), and Victor Attah (Akwa Ibom State) — of corruption charges related to a banking scandal.
Ipinmisho described this statement as possibly the “final straw,” with Yar’Adua not only pressing the AG to retract his statement but “ordering” the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to issue a statement contradicting the former Minister.
Aondoakaa was later stripped of his SAN rank by the Nigeria Bar Association. Has sacked by Goodluck Jonathan immediately former President Yar’adua passed away.
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