Am Ready To Go To Jail: Former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke

Recorded conversation between ex-Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has surfaced

In the conversation, she threatened to confess the dealing between her and Aluko to Nigerians.

She said she is ready to go to jail but not alone as she will drag other co-conspirators.

Former Minister of Petroleum, Alison-Madueke has been caught in yet another corruption scandal and this time she reportedly said she is ready to spill the beans.

It has earlier been reported that Madueke is being investigated for a series of fraud and money laundering in Nigeria, Uk and United States and has threatened to reveal the part of alleged co-conspirators, Kola Aluko and Jide omokore.

In a recorded conversation recovered by investigators probing the corrupt allegations against Madueke, she claimed to be ready to say her part in the alleged fraud.

According to a report by Premium Times, Alison-Madueke, Aluko and Omokore were listed as persons of interest in the civil complaint filed at the US District Court, Houston, Texas.

The complaint revealed how the three individuals laundered millions of dollars on behalf of Alison-Madueke, which was used in buying properties in the US and the UK for her family in return for oil contracts to Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Ltd (AEDC) and Atlantic Energy brass Development Ltd (AEBD), two shell companies owned by Omokore.

Madueke, in the recorded conversation ,could be heard saying: “You and Jide [i.e., OMOKORE] had some of the most support that we could possibly give. At a time when we’re not doing anything else, we stuck our necks out regarding the SAA and we supported it. [INAUDIBLE] How the two of you have ruined it is incredulous and incredible to all of us.

“I spoke to you several times about your general behaviour, acquisition of assets, etc., asking you to be a bit more careful because [INAUDIBLE] will start following you. I remember we had this open discussion more than once. You kept telling me that there was no issue because you did it in a certain way, you did it in a certain—and I kept telling you that it doesn’t matter how you do it.

“Once you start acquiring, acquiring, acquiring at a certain level, then you’ll be—whether you like it or not, whether it was done in the most transparent—you understand?— manner or not, because they will want to trace where it came from. This is an age of terrorism,

“If you want to hire a yacht, you lease it for two weeks or whatever. You don’t go and sink funds into it at this time when Nigerian oil and gas sector is under all kinds of watch, as we have been for some time, and where Atlantic [i.e., AEDC and/or AEBD] itself has been the subject of all kinds of speculation.”

In another conversation, Madueke, while responding to speculations that Aluko might want to blackmail her, called Aluko's bluff and threatened to spill the beans.

She said she was ready to reveal to Nigerians all that happened and was ready to follow Aluko and Omokore to jail.

Madueke, during the conversation said: "I said tell him (I.e. Aluko) to bring everything out, and then you know what will happen? No problem, I will be happy to escort all of you to jail along with myself. I said, in fact, you will be shocked by what I'll do.

"Because when it comes to that, I will come out and tell the Nigerian people this is what happened oh. Oh, Yes, I will blame myself, but it (INAUDIBLE)...place and everything. Anything they want to say, I am happy to go.

"But I will come out openly and say it so that they can judge me openly, And then all of us go and sit on the gate. Let us see who survived (INAUDIBLE), me or you."

Details of the conversation has now been filed as part of a civil complaint by the US department of Justice seeking the forfeiture of over $144 million slush fund.

She also confessed the fact that both Aluko and omokore were in the habit of gifting her furniture but insisted that the furniture were not more than $4 million dollars.

She said: "The furniture they gave me didn't come to more than four million dollars, altogether. It is true I was with (INAUDIBLE)."

Meanwhile, Kola Aluko, declared wanted by the EFCC, has been identified as the owner of Apartment 79, a penthouse apartment in One57, one of New York City’s most expensive residential buildings.

However, the apartment would be sold to the highest bidder by a Luxembourg based Banque Havilland, in a foreclosure auction in July, the New York Post reported.

The penthouse sale is seen as the most expensive foreclosure in New York City.

source: www.naij.com

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Boko Haram: Group Deploys 1, 730 personnel to Borno

A humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Sunday said it had deployed more than 1, 700 personnel to Borno to provide emergency support services to communities ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency.

The organisation also known as ‘MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES’, said it was providing intervention in the areas of health care delivery, food and nutrition support as well as water and sanitation services.

Mr Moctar Abassi, the MSF’s Head of Mission, told newsmen in Maiduguri that the personnel included 1, 600 Nigerians and 130 expatriates.

Abassi said that the organisation had extended its outreach to 11 locations, to enable it render support to the displaced persons and vulnerable persons in the state.

He listed the benefitting areas to include Maiduguri, Pulka, Gwoza, Monguno, Damasak, Benisheik, Dikwa, Banki, Ngala, Rann and Bama.

“MSF is running 11 health centres, including seven in-patient therapeutic and nine out-patient feeding centres.

“In 2016, the organisation provided a range of quality medical and nutritional services to both displaced persons and host communities,” he said.

Abassi disclosed that the organization had provided free medical treatment to over 290,000 out patients and conducted 56,160 antenatal consultations while 5,181 deliveries were recorded.

He added that the organization had also immunised 87,900 children against measles and distributed over 1099.2 tonnes of food items under its nutrition support services.

Commenting on water and sanitation services, Abassi said that 282 latrines were constructed,38 tanks and 87 taps were provided to the affected communities.
NAN

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Peoples Democratic Party(P.D.P) Holds National Caucus, BOT And NEC Meeting

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has fixed its expanded National Caucus, Board of Trustees (BoT), and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings for Monday, July 17, 2017.

The notice of the meeting was jointly issued in Abuja on Saturday by Sen. Ben Obi, the National Secretary of PDP National Caretaker Committee, and Amb. Aminu Wali, the National Secretary of BOT for BOT Chairman.

It stated that the meeting of the expanded National Caucus would hold at 8 a.m, at PDP National Secretariat (Wadata Plaza), Abuja.

Those invited to attend the meeting were former presidents and vice presidents, PDP governors, NEC members, BoT members, National Assembly members, former PDP governors, former PDP ministers and all former national officers of the party.

It added that the BOT and NEC would also be holding separate meetings on Tuesday, July 18,2017, at the same venue.

The party recently emerged from a prolonged leadership crisis following the intervention of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court upheld the Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party as the authentic committee.

In its ruling on Wednesday, the Apex Court held that the appeal filed by Makarfi at the Federal High Court in P/H was not an abuse of court process as wrongly held by the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal.

Resolving the preliminary issue, the Supreme Court has dismissed the preliminary objection by the Ali Modu Sheriff faction, holding that the appeal by the Ahmed Makarfi faction was valid.

The second issue formulated is being considered by the Supreme Court. The issue is whether the PDP’s National Convention held on May 21, 2016 and where Sheriff was removed as National Chairman of the party was illegal.

In February, a Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers state affirmed Sen. Ali-Modu Sheriff as the authentic chairman of the PDP.

The appellate court also nullified the party’s National Convention held in the Rivers capital in 2016 and the National Caretaker Committee of the party constituted at the convention.

Two out of the three-member Appeal Court, Justice B.G. Sanga and Justice A. Gumel, in the judgment, said the Port Harcourt convention was an abuse of court process.

However the Makafi led faction of the party had vowed to approach the Apex Court.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Committee, Mr Dayo Adeyeye, said then that the judgement was a “big disappointment, travesty and miscarriage of justice”.

“The minority judgement is very sound in law, logic and fact. It gives us hope that we will have our day in the Supreme Court.

“Whereas the lead judgement left out the main issues and laboured unconvincingly to work to a preconceived answer, the minority judgement thrashed all the issues and upheld the judgement of the High Court in Port Harcourt, delivered by Liman J on July 4, 2016. `

“We will certainly appeal to the Supreme Court. No reconciliatory effort will stop it. We need the Supreme Court to make a pronouncement on the issue, once and for all,’’ he said. (NAN)

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N-Power Releases New Date For Assessments

Below is the new schedule for the test:

1) Those who applied for the N-Power Tax programme will start their test on July 15th and end on July 19th

2) Those who applied for N-Power Health programme will start on July 20th and end on July 24th

3) Those who applied for N-Power Agro will start their programme on July 25 and end on August 1st

4) The candidates for N-Power Teach will start on August 2nd and end on August 16

photo credit: N-Power twitter handle

Mean while the application for N-Agro, N-Health and N-Teach is still on going, if you have not applied Log-on to www.apply.npower.gov.ng to submit your application

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