How he blackmailed Nigerians, took bribes
Group lists cases of human rights abuses, nepotism and corruption
The Coalition of Nigerian Youths for Good Governance (CNYGG), said Obono-Obla was recently sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari after he was swamped with a barrage of evidences against Obono-Obla.
The mandate of the Panel is to investigate cases that would be referred to it by the government as against the Panel initiating its own cases which Mr. Obla did in a bid to go after people for personal reasons.
Until his sack last week, he was chairman, Special Presidential Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property. According to the President of the group, Mr. Tari George, Obono-Obla almost ruined the anti-corruption drive of the Buhari administration, all for the sake of enriching himself.
Mr. George stated that he continuously violated the mandate of his office. He listed the violations as human rights abuses, blackmail, bribery and conduct unbecoming of an official of government. He said he used the Panel as a vendetta.
He explained that some of the violations were disclosed by every other member of the Panel of which he is chair. He put quite simply as, “The rest are opposed to his renegade activities”.
He noted that documents received by the group showed that he even tried to usurp the powers of anti-graft agencies, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, claiming that his office did a better job than both agencies.
In one of documents, CNYGG said the, “excesses of Mr. Obla were not limited to individuals, government agencies and private companies, but extend to foreign missions in Nigeria.”
CNYGG said Obono-Obla has at different times been queried for his unprofessional and unruly violation of his mandate and that on more than one occasion he has begged to be forgiven.
There was the case of a pregnant woman, Nkeiru Okpalanozie Negwa, who was accused by the Panel of receiving bribe as an electoral officer, in the February 2019 elections, in order to manipulate results. She was arrested on 7 June 2019 and severely beaten to the extent she began to bleed. She was rushed to DEDA Hospital Jabi on 8 June 2019 by the operatives of the Panel, where she received treatment.
There were other cases of corruption, nepotism and violation of financial regulations. Mr George said, “The Panel’s fund is domiciled with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for transparency; however, Mr. Obla has received several donations on behalf of the Panel without declaring such donations to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation or retiring same.
He added that there is a certain, Mr.Nnadi Ifebi, a friend of Mr. Obla and not a member of the Panel that signs correspondences as Obla’s Chief of Staff and sends out invitations to their victims usually to extort money from them in the process.
“Mr. Obla flies around the country in chartered flights and undertakes foreign trips with some of his aides,” Mr. George said, adding that, “the purpose and the source of funding for the trips were unknown to other members of the Panel.”
Following series of violations for which Mr. Obla was queried, he submitted a written undertaking Ref. SPIP/SH/OVP/2017/VOL.1/1 dated 10 November 2017 to the effect that the Panel would thenceforth: “only act on a written mandate received from the Presidency, and will seek authorization from the Presidency to undertake fresh mandates in accordance with extant laws of the Federation.”
But Mr. Obla has erred even more despite apologizing for threatening, coercing and blackmailing people in the past. CNYGG says not only has Mr. Obla continued to act outside of the mandate of his Office, he is also flouting two court orders. “The Court of Appeal and Federal High Court have restated the limitation of the mandate of the Panel (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CR/78/2018 and Suit No. CA/A/278/2018) but Mr. Obla continues to act outside his mandate,” the group said.
“The two courts respectively held that the panel has no powers to apply for forfeiture of properties; the Recovery of Public Property (Special Provisions) Act 2004 did not empower the panel to initiate and prosecute criminal charges against anybody, and that its functions terminate upon its compliance with Section 4(4) of Act which requires it to, at the end of its investigation, submit its findings to the Head of the Federal Government.
CNYGG said that however this has not been the case. The group then produced petitions against Mr Obla and the Panel which have been submitted to the Presidency, they include Mr. Obla demanding account statements of individuals and companies.
Mr. George then went on to read one of the many petitions against Mr. Obla. Submission dated June 2019 from Unity Bank Plc. details alleged reconciliation exercise following a request on 7 September 2018 from the Panel for hard and soft copies of statement of account of both naira and domiciliary accounts of sixteen (16) departments and agencies of the Federal Government; alleging arbitrary/excess bank charges on their accounts. The departments and agencies are:
i. Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
ii. Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
iii. Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
iv. Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
v. Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
vi. Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
vii. Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).
viii. Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
ix. National Examinations Council (NECO).
x. Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries.
xi. Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
xii. Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).
xiii. Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).
xiv. Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
xv. Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC).
xvi. National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
The bank alleged that none of the above listed agencies were aware of the investigation and although the reconciliation was ongoing with the NNPC, NPA and NCS, the Panel had issued demand notices and demonstrated unwillingness to admit further evidence.
There was another petition from one of Nigeria’s leading financial institution against Mr. Obla. “Petition dated 28 November 2017 from Ugochukwu Okwesili, Head Litigation, United Bank for Africa challenging a demand by the Panel for the statement of accounts of four of its customers in relation to a matter he claimed had been thoroughly investigated by the Office of the Inspector General of Police, the Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Ministry of Justice, and clearance was issued by the three authorities.”
“Petitions dated 2 January 2018 and 16 May 2018 from Peter N. Eze, solicitor to Senator Ike Ekweremadu, challenging allegations by the Panel that the senator had illegally acquired the official residence of the Deputy Senate President and directive to vacate same and declare his assets to the Panel; and filing by the Panel of an application at the Federal High Court for an order to temporarily attach/forfeit certain properties of the Senator. The petitioner claimed that there was no prior invitation or impartial investigation by the Panel.”
“Petition dated 14 May 2018 from Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria to the HAGF accusing the Chairman of the Panel of excesses, unprofessional conduct and certificate forgery, and prayed the HAGF to bring same to the attention to the Body of Benchers and prosecute him accordingly.
“Petition dated 14 May 2018 from Darlington Ozurumba Esq., solicitor to Senator Albert Bassey Akpan to the Chairman of the Panel requesting a retraction and written apology for “false and unfounded allegations” against the Senator, which were contained in a letter written by the Chairman to the United Kingdom Home Office secretary. Specifically, the letter termed acquisition by the Senator of landed properties in the United Kingdom as suspicious given his income as a public servant, and urged the Home Office Secretary to issue an Exclusion order against him on grounds of tax evasion and money laundering.”
CNYGG urged President Buhari to immediately order the prosecution of Mr. Obla and other members of his Panel that was part of the gross violations, stressing that, if the President does not act swiftly it would be a dent on his anti-corruption fight. Mr. George said the group still had hundreds of documents in its possession and will be willing to provide them to the Federal Government on request.
