Three convicted ex-governors and two current federal ministers allegedly defrauded their states in the south-south region of Nigeria of over N161 billion.
The five former governors from four states in the south-south region of Nigeria, namely Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Edo states, allegedly embezzled a total of N161.16 billion (161,160,000,000) from their state coffers, while governing their states between 1999- 2015.
Out of these 5 ex-governors, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has only been able to secure the conviction of James Ibori (Delta), Lucky Igbinedion (Edo) and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (Bayelsa) who, in total, embezzled N46.7 billion while in office. The embezzled sum stands at 28.98% of the total.
The remaining two former governors of Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom, Timipre Sylva and Godswill Akpabio were accused of embezzling the remaining 71.02%, which amounted to N114.46 billion.
Despite the whopping amount the EFCC was prosecuting Messrs Sylva and Akpabio for, they are currently serving as ministers in President Buhari’s federal cabinet.
Timipre Sylva is the current Federal Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, while Godswill Akpabio is the current Minister of the Niger Delta.
According to Abiodun Oliyide, an investment banker and the CEO of Riverbank Partners Limited, “If N160 billion naira was invested in 2015 at the 8%, using the inflation rate as IRR, the value of the money today would be about 253.9 billion naira”.
This is barring every other means or opportunity cost of the funds to the development of the Niger Delta region of the country.
Who is Godswill Akpabio?
Akpabio was the governor of Akwa Ibom (2007-2015). He was arrested and quizzed in October 2015 for allegedly embezzling 108 billion naira.
This made the EFCC write letters to Zenith Bank, Keystone Bank, First City Monument Bank, Skye Bank (now Polaris bank), and United Bank for Africa, seeking information on the funds.
Akpabio, amidst the probe, defected to the ruling party, APC. Ironically, the President made him the Minister to still oversee the same region and since then nothing more has been heard about his EFCC probe.
Recently, Akpabio was quizzed by the EFCC for another alleged contract corruption in his current ministerial role, to the tune of 40 billion naira.
Despite a vote of no confidence by stakeholders from the region, the President unexpectedly, considering his anti-corruption campaign, has been silent about the concerns against the Minister of Niger Delta, Mr Akpabio.
Here’s what you need to know about others:
Diepreye Alamieyeseigha
Alamieyeseigha was arrested in September 2005 by the London Metropolitan Police and was charged on three counts of money laundering. At the time of his arrest, the Metropolitan police found about £1m in cash in his London home.
Later they found a total of £1.8m ($3.2m) in cash and bank accounts. He was found to own four homes in London valued at £10 million. 0n November 2005, while his trial was ongoing in London, Alamieyeseigha dressed and disguised to be a female and escaped back to Nigeria.
He was later arrested by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in December 2005 and charged for money laundering and corruption offences. At least, without the addition of his many looted and repatriated monies abroad, a total of 3.7billion naira was recovered by EFCC.
Alamieyeseigha was held in EFCC custody for two years while he was being tried. On July 26, 2007, he pleaded guilty to the corruption charges filed against him by the EFCC.
At a Federal High Court sitting presided over by Justice Mohammed Shuaibu, he was sentenced to two years jail term. The sentence was counted from the time he was arrested in 2005 till the day he was sentenced. On the 27th of July 2007, he was released.
In December 2009, the federal government hired a British law firm to help dispose of four expensive properties acquired by Alamieyeseigha in London. Alamieyeseigha had bought one of these properties for £1,750,000.00 in July 2003, paying in cash.
Timipre Sylva
Forty-eight (48) houses linked to the former Bayelsa Governor, Timipre Sylva, were seized by the EFCC in 2013 over corruption allegations but were returned three years later. While the status of his case is unknown, he currently serves as the petroleum minister under President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was initially alleged to have misappropriated N6.46 billion during his four-year term and later accused of stealing over N19.2 billion naira and was charged for money laundering and stealing state funds through three proxy companies- Marlin Maritime Limited, Eat Catering Services Limited, and Haloween-Blue Construction and Logistics Limited- to fraudulently siphon money belonging to Bayelsa State during his tenure as governor.
Although the 19.2bn suit was initially dismissed on June 10, 2015, the EFCC, which faulted the dismissal for procedural errors, filed fresh charges a week after. Meanwhile, nothing has surfaced on the case after 2015 as those confiscated houses were later returned to him.
James Ibori
After serving two terms as governor of Delta State (1999-2007), James Ibori was charged by EFCC in December 2007, for theft of public funds, abuse of office and money laundering.
In December 2009, Mr Ibori was discharged and acquitted of all the charges brought against him by the EFCC. The commission filed an appeal, challenging the judgement and began a new round of investigation.
Ibori was later extradited to the UK for prosecution after a failed application for asylum. At Southwark Crown Court he admitted 10 counts of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
READ MORE: Okorocha’s Predecessors (1): EFCC investigated 30 Ex-governors for embezzling N975 billion
Lucky Igbinedion
Igbinedion plundered the Edo State treasury for eight years when he was governor between 1999-2007.
He was accused of stealing over N3 billion from the Edo State’s treasury. In 2008, a Federal High Court in Enugu sentenced him to six months in prison with the option of a N3.5 million fine. The controversial plea bargain agreement he reached with the EFCC also required that he return N500 million and three of the houses he acquired with stolen public funds to the Federal Government.
In May 2015, a Federal High Court sitting in Benin City sentenced the younger brother to Lucky Igbinedion, Michael Igbinedion and Patrick Eboigbodin, who were both personal aides to the former governor, to six years and 20 years imprisonment respectively, over money laundering charges amounting to N25 billion brought against them and three others by the EFCC.
South-South Nigeria: A region sitting on oil
With 6 states, the south-south region sits on a total of 176,032 square kilometres of land filled with crude oil and it is the only region having all its states under the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
With the heavy oil explorations happening in the region, it is faced with oil spillages which have continued to impact peoples’ health and disrupt their livelihoods, as they can not farm and their water sources are contaminated.
Big oil spills are common in the Niger Delta where over 40 million litres of crude oil is spilt annually, resulting in human deaths and damage to the local ecosystem.
A 2018 study by the Journal of Health and Pollution found that more than 12,000 oil spill incidents have occurred in the oil-rich region between 1976 and 2014. Pipeline corrosion and tanker accidents caused more than 50 per cent of them. Other incidents can be attributed to operational error, mechanical failure, and sabotage mostly from militant groups, the study said.
Nigeria’s Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2017 set in motion a $1 billion clean-up and restoration programme of the Ogoniland region in the Niger Delta, announcing that financial and legislative frameworks had been put in place to begin implementing recommendations made by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Yet, several government officials and stakeholders in the community affirm that little or nothing has been done on renovating the land. Recent reports of misappropriation of funds of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) over the years reveal that the region can not make the required progress if corrupt political and community leaders hold sway in Nigeria’s south-south region.