Yar’adua jolted by Ribadu’s audacious appearance in Nigeria

Two sources in Abuja have revealed to Saharareporters that Umaru Yar’adua was, in the words of one of them, “in a state of fury” following the surprise appearance in Lagos yesterday of former EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu. One of the sources said Yar’adua’s wife, Turai, also made frantic calls to heads of security agencies demanding to know how Ribadu could have entered the country without detection.

Word went out from the presidency that security agencies must hunt down Ribadu at all cost.

Ribadu stunned the media and Nigerians – and jolted the Yar’adua regime – by visiting the grieving family of the late legal luminary, Mr. Gani Fawehinmi.
Ribadu’s dramatic appearance coincided with another orchestrated effort by Yar'adua's notoriously corrupt Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa to exonerate corrupt public officials wanted in the UK for money laundering. In a widely reported statement, Aondoakaa told the press that the EFCC had cleared former state governors and Yar'adua's private principal secretary currently wanted in the UK in connection with the stealing of $38 million in funds that belonged to their respective states. UK law enforcement agents have indicted former Governors James Ibori and Victor Attah as well as Yar’adua’s principal secretary David Edevbie for funds they divested from V-Mobile.

A close friend of Ribadu’s told Saharareporters that the former EFCC boss, who has been on exile in the UK, said he could not live with himself if he had not returned to Nigeria to personally convey his condolences to the family of Mr. Fawehinmi, a mentor of his and Nigeria’s most visible human rights attorney in more than three decades.

Ribadu, who had been on exile in the UK, sneaked into Nigeria to meet with the family of Mr. Fawehinmi, a mentor of his and Nigeria’s most visible human rights attorney of the last three decades.

Newspaper reports said Ribadu's sudden visit to Fawehinmi's family jolted the family and created a commotion that led to a slight damage to his car. According to our sources, Ribadu has left for France even as Yar’adua’s stunned security agents scurried about looking for him – and sent signals to neighboring West African countries to arrest and hand him over if he was spotted.

A source close to the Yar’adua regime said that Aondoakaa was particularly irked that Ribadu’s unannounced visit took the shine off Aondoakaa's press conference called to claim that Edevbie, James Ibori, Bola Tinubu and Victor Attah had been cleared of money laundering charges in the V-Mobile transactions. At the conference, Aondoakaa accused Ribadu of “swearing to an affidavit” that included the name of Mr. Edevbie in the V-Mobil money laundering scandal. The AGF claimed that Ribadu had sworn to the alleged affidavit in order to embarrass the Yar'adua government. There is currently a Europe-wide arrest warrant for Edevbie.

In a curious twist, the EFCC earlier today circulated a statement refuting Aondoakaa’s assertion that the agency had cleared the three former governors. The EFCC’s disassociation is just part of the unmasking of the attorney general’s web of lies on the case.

Saharareporters’ investigations also exposed the falsehood in Aondoakaa’s claim that Ribadu swore to an affidavit. Our correspondent obtained a copy of Ribadu's statement – not a sworn affidavit – to the Metropolitan police in London, regarding the upcoming trial of Ibori’s associates. We also established that the statement did not mention, much less delve into, the V-Mobile case.

Aondoakaa’s current gambit is driven by his notorious greed for amassing bribes from officials facing possible prosecution for corrupt acts. A source close to Edevbie, whose tenure as Ibori’s Finance commissioner was marked by extensive collaboration in most of the former governor’s money laundering schemes, said Edevbie had paid Aondoakaa more than N280 million in 2007. In return, Aondoakaa swore to an oath to defend Edevbie from any EFCC investigation or prosecution. A top Abuja-based lawyer also told our correspondent that Aondoakaa “most likely acted in his usual shameless manner by collecting protection fees from the former governors implicated in the V-Mobil scam.”

Aondoakaa has established a reputation for shielding, or attempting to shield, corrupt former and serving officials as well as corporations from prosecution. He has written several letters to UK courts to sabotage the trial of Ibori’s associates held for collaborating with the former governor in acts of money laundering.

The Abuja lawyer also punctured Aondoakaa’s claim that he had never filed a nolle prosequi regarding any criminal trial except in the case of Henry Okah. “The man must think our brains are as filled with cash and sand as his own,” said the lawyer, noting that Aondoakaa had intervened to stop the forgery trial brought against controversial businessman Jimoh Ibrahim in 2008. He also noted that Aondoakaa played a questionable role in the case against drug conglomerate Pfizer for carrying out unauthorized drug trials in Kano.

Aondoakaa's latest desperate attempt to exonerate Edevbie and the former governors was so shabbily done that he erroneously included the name of former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, in the list of those wanted by UK law enforcement in connection with the case. A charge sheet obtained by Saharareporters shows that Bola Tinubu's name was not mentioned. Saharareporters had earlier reported that Tinubu's involvement in the scam remained localized. He transferred his loot through Ibilie Holdings into an account belonging to Wale Tinubu, the CEO of OANDO PLC. A source at the London Metropolitan police told Saharareporters that they could not rule out prosecuting Tinubu if their investigations link the former Lagos governor to any of the offshore money laundering scams.



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