Date Published: 05/05/10

Ex EFCC boss, Ribadu, and Prosecutor, Jacob, accused of massive fraud in fresh petition

...How N3.5Billion proceeds from sale of UBN stocks varnished
...How convicted 419er Nwude allegedly paid  $40m to Ribadu for soft landing

Nuhu Ribadu

Erstwhile Chairman and prosecutor of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Mr Rotimi Jacobs respectively, and three others have been accused of abuse office, perversion of justice, bribery, corruption and stealing of about N10 billion by chief Emmanuel Nwude who was tried and convicted of financial crimes in 2005 by the EFCC.

Arguing that his trial and conviction was a grand scheme by Ribadu and others to enrich themselves, Nwude alleged that over N3.5 billion being proceeds from the sale of his Union Bank of Nigeria plc stocks, dividend warrants valued at over N350 million, N2.4 billion realized from the sale of his Roussel Centre and over N1 billion realized from his various bank accounts have neither been remitted to the Federal Government, EFCC, nor paid to the victims he allegedly duped.

Nwude supported his petition with confessional statements made to the EFCC by Mr. Babajide Ogundipe also fingered in the petition,  in admitting that there exists a fee sharing agreement between him and Rotimi Jacobs of the EFCC. Ogundipe’s statement was further corroborated by Mr Hanafi Abdulmumini, a go-between in the transactions leading to the purchase of Russel Centre by Prince Frederick Akinrutan from the law firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore. 

In the petition obtained by Thetimesofnigeria.com, dated March 15, 2010 and addressed to Mrs Farida Waziri, Executive Chairman of EFCC by Mr. Ugo E. Ilechukwu, counsel to Nwude, Ribadu was further accused of malicious prosecution and persecution.

Others accused with Ribadu includes Messrs Babajide Ogundipe, Mohammed Belgore and Gabriel Osakwe.

Laying the foundation to his allegations, Nwude fingered Mr Babajide Ogundipe who was hired to recover judgment debt in respect of a foreign judgment as the architect of his woes.

Ogundipe, explained Nwude, failed to effect his clients’s directive abroad, and thereafter returned to Nigeria, and contacted first the police and later Ribadu to assist with his office as Chairman of EFCC to recover the said foreign debt.

“Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in order to oblige him the use of his office directed him to Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, the EFCC prosecutor to agree to fee sharing with him before they could commence action against our client.

“That upon reaching a fee sharing agreement with Mr Jacobs as directed by Ribadu, our client and the other defendants in the London suit were arrested and their properties expropriated” The petition states.

Nwude further argued that a matter that was otherwise civil was criminalized via series of misinformation, and subsequently “The impression and information disseminated to the public by EFCC Chairman was that our client and others defrauded a Brazillian Bank to the tune of N242 million leading to the collapse of the bank.

“On the strength of the misinformation, consequently he used his officers to arrest and detain our client for over two years without trial and tried to force him to part with USD 40million in consideration for his release, a demand our client refused to accept.”

Nwude further contends that Ribadu using the powers of his office, obtained an interim forfeiture order from the Federal High Court of certain assets to the Federal Government.

But rather than the said properties being taken over by the Secretary to EFCC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) according to section 27 of the EFCC Act, 2002, the properties were handed over to the law firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore to manage and to finally dispose of.

Nwude urged the Federal Government and EFCC to re-open the file to his case and institute a fresh investigation to unravel the truth.

By Tony Icheku