Femi Falana
Instead, he asks her and the Government to make efforts
to collect the outstanding $200 billion owed the country by the NNPC,
oil companies and looters. In case government is confused about where
the huge trove of dollars is being kept, Falana gave a catalogue of the
outstanding sums.
Falana threatens to file a court action against the Federal Government if it fails to heed his advice.
In his words: We are compelled to call on the Federal
Government to muster the political will and courage to recover the
aforesaid withheld or stolen wealth of not less than $200 billion
belonging to the Nigerian people. However, if you refuse to accede to
our request we shall have no alternative than to initiate legal
proceedings at the Federal High Court with a view to restraining the
Federal Government from further plunging the nation into external
indebtedness.”
8th April, 2016
The Honourable Minister of Finance,
Federal Ministry of Finance,
Ahmadu Bello Way,
Central Business District,
Abuja, FCT.
Dear Honourable Minister,
REQUEST FOR THE COLLECTION OF OUTSTANDING REVENUE OF $200 BILLION WITHHELD FROM THE FEDERATION ACCOUNT OR STOLEN BY LOOTERS
Following a recent report that the Federal Government had concluded
arrangements take a loan of $2.5 billion from the World Bank and $1
billion the African Development Bank we wrote to the Administration
requested to jettison the plan. In our letter dated February 12, 2016
addressed to your good self we urged the Federal Government to explore
alternative sources of raising revenue to fund the 2016 budget instead
of increasing the nation’s external debt of $64 billion. In particular,
we requested the federal government to embark on the recovery of the
revenue of $42 billion withheld from the Federation Account from
1999-2012 by some transnational oil companies, the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation and other agencies of the federal government.
In your reply dated
March 17, 2016 you assured us that the issues raised in our letter were
receiving the attention of the Federal Government. We were therefore
surprised to learn that the Administration had applied to the Chinese
Government for another loan of $2 billion. In urging the Federal
Government to desist from taking the loan of $2 billion from China or
any other country we are compelled to advise the Federal Government to
intensify efforts to recover the nation’s wealth which has been
criminally diverted by a handful of local and foreign looters. The
Federal Government may wish to direct the relevant agencies and the anti
graft bodies to collect the stolen wealth including the following:
(a) The National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
has confirmed that from five cycles of independent audit reports of
NEITI covering 1999-2012 the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC), some oil companies and certain agencies of the federal
government had withheld $20.2 billion for the Federation Account. The indicted oil companies and agencies should be made to remit the said sum of $20.2 billion into the Federation Account.
(b) In 2006, the Central Bank of
Nigeria apportioned $7 billion out of the nation’s external reserves to
14 Nigerian banks. In 2008, the CBN also gave a bailout of N600 billion
($4 billion) to the banks. The indebted banks should be asked to repay the $11 billion loan.
(c) On September 6, 2016 the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced that
arrangements had been concluded to recover the sum of $9.6 billion in
over-deducted tax benefits from joint venture partners on major capital
projects and oil swap contracts. Since the NNPC is said to have recovered the said sum of $9.6 billion it should be remitted into the Federation Account.
(d) Sometime in 2009, Mobil
Producing Nigeria Unlimited applied to the federal government for the
renewal of three oil blocks. Upon granting the application the NNPC
asked Mobil to pay the sum of $2.5 billion for the renewal of the
licences. Curiously, the $600 million paid by the Mobil was accepted by
the federal government. One of our clients has requested the EFCC to
investigate the circumstances surrounding the fraudulent transaction. The outstanding sum of $1.9 billion ought to be collected from Mobil and paid into the federation account.
(e) From 1998-2014 the Federal
Government collected over $4 billion from the over $5 billion stolen
from the vaults of the CBN by a former military ruler, the late General
Sani Abacha. I have submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial
Commission to investigate the alleged criminal diversion of the
recovered loot by some former public officers. The governments of the
United States and Switzerland have promised to repatriate $458 million
and $321 million respectively recovered from the loot.
(f) In 1999, the Abdulsalami
Abubakar military junta enacted theDeep Offshore Inland Sharing Contract
Decree to give effect to certain fiscal incentives for the oil and gas
companies operating in the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin under
production sharing contracts. Thus, by virtue of section 5 of the Act,
the payment of royalty in respect of the Deep Offshore production
sharing contracts shall range from 4 to 12 per cent while no royalty
shall be paid whatsoever in areas in excess of 1000 metres depth! Since
the 15-year period of for non-payment of royalties expired in June 2014
the should collect arreas of royalties running to hundreds of million
of dollars owed by the oil and gas companies operating in the area.
(g) The $470 million contract
awarded to ZTE, (a Chinese company) in 2009 by the federal government
for the construction of CCTV cameras in Abuja and Lagos has been
abandoned. Hence, the cameras which were installed did not capture the
criminals who recently launched bomb attacks in Abuja and killed scores
of citizens. Since the contract was not executed the federal government should recover the contract sum of $470 million.
(h) In the Appropriation Act, 2011 the sum of N245 billion was earmarked for fuel subsidy. In
violation of the budget law the federal government fraudulently paid
out N2.5 trillion ($16 billion) to a cabal of fuel importers. The
investigation conducted into the large scale fraud by the Police and the
anti graft agencies was compromised due to pressure from the Jonathan
administration. The EFCC should revisit the matter.
(i) On July 6, 2012 the Supreme Court of Nigeria set aside the
fraudulent sale of the federal governnent owned Aluminium Smelting
Company of Nigeria (ASCON) located in Akwa Ibom state to RUSAL for
$250 million and directed the company be sold BFIG, the winner of the
bid for $410 million. The federal government should direct the National
Council of Privatisation to comply with the judgment. The federal government stands to realise an additional sum of $160 million from the sale.
(j) For contravention of the law on compulsory registration of
all SIM cards the NCC imposed a fine of $5.2 billion on MTN last year.
Based on plea by the MTN management and the intervention of the
Government of South Africa the fine was reduced to $3.9 billion out of
which MTN has paid the paltry sum of $250 million. Since MTN has
withdrawn the suit challenging the payment of the fine the federal
government should take steps to ensure the prompt payment of the
outstanding balance of $3.65 billion.
(k) Under the Jonathan
administration it was estimated that the nation was recording oil theft
worth $7 billion to criminals annually. An investigation being carried
out by a team of lawyers hired by the federal government has so far
confirmed that hundreds of millions of barrels of oil were stolen by oil
companies and shipped to many countries. According to the lawyers the
total amount recoverable by the Nigeria Government from the Sellers and
Buyers who stole Nigeria’s hydrocarbons and shipped same to the United
States from January 2011 to December 2014 stands at US$12.7 billion. Since
the verification is programmed to cover 10 years it is estimated that
Nigeria can recover not less that $100 billion from the undeclared
millions of barrels of oil shipped to the United States and other
countries. The EFCC should collaborate with the lawyers to recover
the missing fund and prosecute the transnational oil companies involved
in the grand oil theft.
(l) On February 20, 2014, President
Goodluck Jonathan fired the then Central Bank Governor, Alhaji Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi for having the temerity to expose the NNPC for not
remitting $20 billion to the Federation Account. Following the
reconciliation of the accounts of the NNPC by the federal government the
missing sum was said to be $10.8 billion. To douse the tension
generated by the scandal the Federal Government appointed a firm of
auditors to audit the books of the NNPC. But in a bid to cover up the
scandal the Federal Government ensured that the auditors were denied
access to vital documents. At the end of the investigation the auditors indicted the NNPC for withholding $1.8 billion from the Federation Account.
(m)
Rising from its monthly meeting at Abuja on September 17, 2015 the
National Economic Council accused the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) of failing to remit N3.8 trillion to the Federation
Account under the Jonathan administration. The Council set up a
committee of 3 state governors to trace the missing fund. Last month,
the Auditor-General of the Federation indicted the NNPC for withholding
N3.2 trillion from the Federation Account in 2014. The Revenue
Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission has said that ” the total indebtedness of the NNPC to the Federation Account is N4.9 trillion ($32.6).”
In its reaction to the allegations the NNPC has challenged the figures
but admitted that it has withheld the sum of N326 billion! The federal
government should investigate the conflicting figures to dtermine the
actual amount withheld by the NNPC.
(o) The
unprecedented looting of the public treasury via the NNPC took place
under the rogue regime of President Goodluck Jonathan has continued
unabated under the President Buhari who is currently waging a war
against corruption. Last week, a firm of auditors revealed that out of
the sum of $6.4 billion realised from the sale of crude oil and gas by
the Federal Government in the first quarter of 2016 the NNPC remitted
only $2 billion to the Federation Account and withheld the colossal sum
of $4.2 billion. Up till now the NNPC has not explained how much of the sum of $4.2 billion was spent on its operations in 3 months.
(p)
The presidential panel instituted by President Buhari to investigate
the criminal diversion of the fund earmarked for procurement of weapons
for the armed forces from 2007-2015 has established that over $8 billion
was stolen by handful of serving and retired military officers and
their civilian collaborators via the Office of the National Security
Adviser and the Nigerian Air Force. The Panel is currently probing
similar fraudulent arms procurement in the Nigerian Army and Nigerian
Navy. The EFCC has
commenced the recovery of the said sum of $8 billion and prosecution of
individuals and corporate bodies implicated in the criminal diversion.
(q)
The United States’ Government has successfully prosecuted Halliburton
and its top officials for bribing Nigerian public officers with $180
million and recovered fines of about $1.3 billion. Although
no one was prosecuted in Nigeria the federal government about $200
million was paid by Halliburton and other indicted companies through
plea bargain.
(r)
The sale of the OPM 245 for $1.3 billion otherwise known as Malabo oil
deal has continued to generate controversy. Allegations of bribery and
money laundering are being investigated by the British Police, the
Italian Police and the EFCC. Apart
from the $210 million signature bonus paid to the federal government
the sum of $190 million has been frozen in the United Kingdom and
Switzerland. The Italian Police has also frozen $200 million from the
proceed of the transaction. The federal government ought to take a
final decision on the matter so as to end the controversy surrounding
the sale of the oil block.
In
the light of the foregoing, we are compelled to call on the Federal
Government to muster the political will and courage to recover the
aforesaid withheld or stolen wealth of not less than $200 billion
belonging to the Nigerian people. However, if you refuse to accede to
our request we shall have no alternative than to initiate legal
proceedings at the Federal High Court with a view to restraining the
Federal Government from further plunging the nation into external
indebtedness.
Femi Falana SAN.
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