Some traditional rulers and the wives of two former Heads of State may have been implicated in the N84billion Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) contracts bazaar, The Nation has learnt.
A source said last night that top-ranking members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were prominent among beneficiaries of the deals. The PDP stalwarts are believed to have used companies run by fronts to win the contracts.
Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Olabode George was last Friday charged on 163 counts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged contracts scandal. Arraigned with him at an Ikeja High Court were former NPA Managing Director Aminu Dabo, O. Abidoye, Abdullahi Tafida and Zana Maidaribe.
A source said in Abuja that some Emirs and Obas had been implicated by some of the suspects on trial. “One of the suspects said about 30 per cent of the Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) issued during the tenure of Chief Olabode George as chairman of the NPA board were allocated to traditional rulers,” said the source, who added:
“The suspect also alleged that 50 per cent of the contracts in question were awarded to the wives of two former Heads of State. So, the trial might be revealing if the suspect lives up to his threat. One of the suspects had been telling a former Head of State that if he was picked up by the EFCC, he would open up and would not suffer in vain.”
Another source said in Lagos that PDP top shots used “non-existent companies” to win the contracts. “There is no record of their registration at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC),” the source added.
Investigations, according to him, showed that 24,000 contracts were awarded by the NPA board under George as non-executive chairman. The board�s activities were investigated by the EFCC under its former chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, but “the records were destroyed by people who did not want the matter unearthed,” said the source.
A forensic investigation led to fresh compilation of all the evidence, it was said. The NPA board was initially investigated by the Ministry of Transportation before an inter-ministerial panel was raised to look into its books.
Another suspect, it was learnt, claimed that proceeds from the alleged shady contract awards were spent to improve PDP�s fortunes in some states. “It is left to the suspects to reveal what they had been telling EFCC operatives in the court,” said the source.
Investigations revealed that George�s boast about his readiness for the EFCC upon arrival from a foreign trip last week might have precipitated his arrest at dawn last Thursday.
The Nation
learnt that security reports showed the PDP chieftain as trying to take advantage of his closeness to President Umaru Yar�Adua to evade prosecution over the alleged NPA fraud.
A source said: “George�s remarks at the airport were daring. It is true that he is close to the President, he is also suspected to have abandoned former President Olusegun Obasanjo�s camp. He ran into trouble with Obasanjo when he shifted loyalty to Yar�Adua. He also started having problems with Obasanjo when he was installed the Atona of Yorubaland by the Ooni of Ife; and following his aspiration to be Chief of Staff to the Yar�Adua, which the ex-President did not endorse.
“But he should not have taken his relationship with Yar�Adua for granted. Apart from being the Director-General of the presidential campaign in 2007, he had been on at least three foreign trips with the President. For someone close to the President, therefore, he should have minded his utterances.
“With the security report on his comments at the airport, the EFCC and the Federal Government had to prove a point that no one is above the law. That was why George could not get in touch with the powers that be when EFCC operatives stormed his house at about 10.30p.m. last Wednesday. For about two and a half hours, he desperately worked the phones to get government to intervene.
“The Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr. Demola Seriki, and a Professor were with him, but they were helpless. When he became frustrated, he decided to give up to the EFCC at about 12.45a.m on Thursday. You can imagine his frustration.”
The source added that before George was arrested, he had met with the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mike Aondoakaa (SAN), who told him that there was no cause for alarm. “So, he felt abandoned when EFCC operatives stormed his house. He described the team as a platoon.”
George had sued The News magazine for alleged libel following a report on the NPA contracts. But shortly after an EFCC operative, Bamanga Bello, testified for the magazine in the suit, the PDP chief travelled abroad. He returned last week, daring the EFCC to arrest him.
His trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Joseph Oyewole of the Ikeja High Court.