\u201c The EFCC in Lagos had come calling brusquely on Mike Adenuga (Jnr),
\nChairman Globacom on 9 July 2006. They broke his gate, swarmed into his
\nhouse and kept him under \u2018arrest\u2019. When I heard about the arrest, I called
\nthe legal firms, of Ayanlaja SAN & Adesanya SAN as well as Professor
\nBiodun Adesanya SAN to take up the matter and secure Mike\u2019s release. They
\nswung into action and gave indication that they would take the matter to
\ncourt.
\nBy evening, it was no longer necessary to go to court as Mike, following
\nhis statement to EFCC, had been released with instructions to report
\nregularly to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja. Mike proceeded to Abuja,
\naccompanied by his lawyer, Prof. Biodun Adesanya SAN. Indirectly related
\nto this case, the EFCC had quizzed and released Mohammed Babangida,
\nIbrahim Babangida\u2019s son. The EFCC purportedly were on the trail of some
\nmoney belonging to the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF), but there
\nwas really more beneath the veneer.<\/p>\n
While Mike was in Abuja, he was counselled to see Obasanjo to extricate
\nhimself. For four days, he made attempts to see Obasanjo but was
\nunsuccessful. After a few days in Abuja with no case pressed against him
\nby EFCC, he returned to Lagos. Not long afterwards, and in the heat of
\nthis mess, Obasanjo did two things that puzzled me. He called Mike to meet
\nhim at a social event in Lagos \u2013Engr. Olapade\u2019s birthday celebration. Mike
\nand Obasanjo were both captured by press photographers in the newspapers
\nat the event. Following the celebration, Obasanjo asked Mike to accompany
\nhim to Ota. It was in Ota that he solicited for the construction of the
\nAdministration Block of his university, Bells University in Ota. Mike
\nagreed and Carchez Turnkey Projects Ltd handled the project for him. It
\nappeared the whole matter, the EFCC hunt, simmered and Mike continued
\nabout his business. On a trip to Ghana, he ran through his Nigerian daily
\nnewspapers and discovered that the situation was unfolding in a more
\nrevealing version. The EFCC had arrested Mohammed Babangida. Mike read
\nbetween the lines and proceeded to the UK on exile. When I visited the UK,
\nMike came to see me, and wanted me to facilitate a meeting with Obasanjo
\nso that he could present his side of the case. The allegations against him
\nwere as follows:
\na. That Abubakar Atiku, the Vice-President, gave Mike Adenuga money from
\nthe Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) which were invested in
\nMike\u2019s bank, Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB), and that the funds were used in
\npaying for the Globacom licence.
\nb. That as a result of the connection in (a) Atiku was a major shareholder
\nin Globacom. And Atiku used his clout to ensure that PTDF money got into
\nETB.
\nc. That General Ibrahim Babangida, the former Head of State, was also a
\nmajor shareholder in Globacom.
\nIt was not enough for Mike to merely present his case to EFCC, for it
\nseemed the EFCC was under some remote control. The Presidency was after
\nAtiku. Atiku at some point was the Chairman of the PTDF; an attempt was
\nbeing made to indict him for alleged illegal and unauthorized channelling
\nof PTDF money into Globacom. All sorts of rumours were flying around and
\nthe Presidency wanted to pin down the case against Atiku. If Ibrahim
\nBabangida also fell into the trap, so much the better.
\nA wide opening presented itself and EFCC seized it.
\nG. Subair is Mike\u2019s second cousin. His father died young and he grew up,
\njust as I did in my early life, living with Mike\u2019s mother. He worked for
\nMike and was seconded, amongst other things, to open the Kaduna office for
\nGlobacom. In need of accommodation or office space, he leased, on behalf
\nof Globacom, a house, at 2-3 Dawaki Road in Kaduna belonging to Mohammed
\nBadamasi Babangida and used that address in official correspondence and
\nmemoranda. Mohammed is the first son of President Ibrahim Babangida. This
\nwas Babangida connection to which EFCC hung on when they were rummaging
\nthrough Globacom documents. This was, according to them, irrefutable
\nevidence that Babangida was a major shareholder in Globacom and that his
\nson, Mohammed Babangida, or G. Subair or Mike was fronting for Babangida
\nin this venture.
\nMike told me how he had raised money through the BNP Paribas Bank in
\nFrance and how he paid to New York for the Globacom licensing fees. All
\nthe money involved could be traced with supporting documents to France and
\nNew York in the form of a huge loan. The Bank BNP Paribas on its part had
\na letter stating clearly their involvement in the transaction and Mike
\nwanted to present this among other documents to President Obasanjo. I
\ncalled Obasanjo and relayed the facts as I had them from Mike to him. I
\nrequested for his fax number so that I could fax Mike\u2019s letter explaining
\nall the transactions and the Bank of Paribas letter to him. As soon as he
\ngave me the fax number, I faxed the documents to him. Still, Obasanjo was
\nnot satisfied. It seemed that it was all a ruse because they were really
\nafter Atiku and Babangida and wanted Mike to implicate them. Mike refused
\nto cooperate. If he was not going to cooperate, they thought, harassment
\nwould do it. On 19 August 2006, I made a statement to the press asking
\nObasanjo to caution Nuhu Ribadu, the head of the EFCC, about his mode of
\noperations. I denounced the harassment of citizens by EFCC and urged them
\nto go to court if they had anything concrete against anyone.
\nWhile Mike was in exile, we shared a moment of relaxation together. We
\ntook a holiday together in south of France with some members of our
\nfamilies. I had with me my wife Olori Kemi, my daughter, Ronke and Oba
\nAdekoya, the Dagburewe of Idowa. Mike came along with his two daughters
\nand his niece.
\nWhile on this holiday, the President of France, Jacques Chirac, was going
\nto be holding a conference with African Heads of State in Nice.
\nCoincidentally, we got to know that Obasanjo was booked to stay in the
\nsame hotel where we were staying. Later, we learnt he had changed his mind
\nand would not be attending the conference. Then not long afterwards, we
\nwere told he had decided to attend after all. By the time he finally
\ndecided to attend, all the rooms in the hotel were fully booked and he was
\nnow booked into another, Embassy Hotel, which was a stone\u2019s throw from
\nwhen we were. I got to know that he would check in at 8.00am on the day of
\nthe conference. At 8.330am, I went to his hotel and took Mike along with
\nme. From the reception, I spoke to him on the phone. When he asked from
\nwhere I was speaking, I told him I was downstairs in the lobby of his
\nhotel! He said he would send someone down immediately to lead me up to his
\nsuite, and he did so. I left Mike behind in the hotel lobby. When I got to
\nhis suite, there were already a number of people in the corridor, in his
\nliving room and the dining room waiting to see him. His ADC took me
\nstraight to see him in his bedroom. I had hardly settled down when he
\nstarted talking to me about his deputy, Abubakar Atiku. He was at daggers
\ndrawn with Atiku. When he exhausted all he had to say about Atiku, he
\njumped on Theophilus Danjuma, his estranged friend. They fell out after
\nDanjuma had served him as Minister of Defence. I sat there just listening.
\nHe needed to get a lot off his chest. He told me how would leave the
\nChirac conference immediately after the opening because he wanted to
\nattend a PDP campaign in Gombe at 5.00pm that same day. He was lead
\ncampaigner for the PDP and Umaru Yar\u2019adua for President.
\nHe reeled off a number of events where he was going to be engaged in the
\ncoming months, including the opening of the Obajana Cement Factory. Wait a
\nminute! Something struck me at the mention of Obajana Cement Factory. I
\ntold him that I had heard that he and Aliko Dangote jointly owned the
\ncement factory. I told him that I heard Dangote was fronting for him in
\nthe venture. His reply was to query whether I believed what I heard. I
\ncountered by saying whether I believed it or not was irrelevant to the
\nquestion that I had asked him. He said nothing further on this. Before we
\nleft his room, I pointed out to him that now that he was approaching the
\nend of his term in office, there were some people to whom he owed
\napologies: Chief S.O. Bakare (Oluwalogbon) was one. Chief Bakare gave
\neverything to support Obasanjo when he was down. In spite of Obasanjo\u2019s
\ncondemnation by the populace, Bakare still stood by him. I had forewarned
\nBakare that Obasanjo would eventually dump him. Notwithstanding, he stood
\nby Obasanjo. In the end Obasanjo walked away. A few months in office they
\nseparated as friends.
\nI told Obasanjo that Mike Adenuga was in Cannes and that I had brought him
\nwith me. He was waiting in the foyer downstairs. I told him that the
\nreason I brought Mike along was that it was not unlikely that Obasanjo
\nwould hear that Mike was in Cannes while he was in town and would deem it
\ndiscourteous if Mike did not show up to pay his respect. Now that I had
\ntold him, that Mike was downstairs, it was now up to him, if he wanted to
\nsee Mike, to send someone to bring him up. Obasanjo objected to Mike
\ncoming to see him in his suite. Instead, he said he would see Mike
\ndownstairs on his way to the conference. At this point, I volunteered to
\ngo downstairs and wait with Mike. Obasanjo again objected, insisting that
\nhe and I should go down together. Soon after, his ADC came into the room
\nto remind him about the time. He went into his bathroom, got ready and we
\nwent to the lift with his Foreign Minister.
\nWhen we got down, Mike came forward to greet him. \u2018I have nothing against
\nyou, it is a matter of principle\u2019 Obasanjo told Mike. Mike in turn said,
\n\u2018Your Excellency, I understand. Thank you.\u2019 That was all the exchange they
\nhad.
\nWhen Obasanjo left office in 2007, we met at the 90th birthday ceremony
\nfor Chief T.O.S Benson in Lagos on 23 July 2007. As a matter of fact, we
\nsat side by side. In the course of our conversation, I told him I was
\ngoing to be in Abeokuta the following day. He said he would be in Ota when
\nI was there, but that he would specifically come to Abeokuta to host me
\nfor lunch. He kept his word. So much so that he called me on the phone
\nwhen lunch was ready! I assured him that I would not miss lunch and I
\nwould be with him as soon as I was through with my meeting.
\nI went as promised for lunch with Oba Adekoya, the Dagburewa of Idowa.
\nWhen we got there, Obasanjo also had Alhaji Ola Yusuf from Owu, Abeokuta,
\nwho had come to see him and he too joined us for lunch. We were four at
\ntable. It was sumptuous lunch, and I had never been treated to anything
\nlike it in our long relationship.
\nMike Adenuga was still in exile abroad and Obasanjo steered the lunch talk
\nin his direction. He asked me to ask my son meaning Mike Adenuga, to
\nreturn home. I requested that he should leave the matter until after lunch
\nand it would be tackled on a one-to-one basis between us. He agreed.
\nAfter lunch, we went into his private sitting room. I declared that what
\nNuhu Ribadu, Chairman of EFCC, was doing in respect of Mike Adenuga was
\nwrong and he was doing it at Obasanjo\u2019s behest. I told him that I
\nrefrained from interfering because I wanted to see how the law would pan
\nout on the issue. The kernel of the matter really, as I told him, was his
\ndisagreement with Abubakar Atiku, his deputy, and they had taken the
\nmatter almost life-and \u2013death level. Mike Adenuga was a pawn in the crisis
\nand he should be given the right to defend himself.
\nI reminded Obasanjo that he was no longer in office and he should back off
\nin his pursuit of Mike. I went further to let him know that if Nuhu Ribadu
\ndid not desist from molesting Mike, I would go into the ring with them.
\nHere I made clear that I would take him and Ribadu to unnecessarily and
\nunjustifiably pursue Mike. Obasanjo promised to see Ribadu and to ask him
\nto back off. He further promised to give me a feedback on this.
\nWhen I did not get his feedback, I called him a number of times, but the
\nphone would ring and not be answered. Eventually, I called his aide,
\nBodunde Adeyanju, who on picking my call passed the phone to Obasanjo to
\nspeak to me. Obasanjo told me Ribadu was out of the country and he would
\nget back again to me on Ribadu\u2019s return. I told Obasanjo how difficult it
\nhad been to reach him on the phone. I offered a solution. I would ask Mike
\nto send him a phone which he would give his aide, Bodunde, as an
\nintermediary. This way, all I had to do was call that number and Bodunde
\nwould pass it to him if he wanted to speak to me. He agreed and Mike sent
\nthe phone down the next day. But still Obasanjo did not come back to me on
\nthe issue.
\nMike remained in exile in London and nothing much was heard again or
\nraised by the EFCC about him. Later in 2007, I called Mike in London and
\ntold him I wanted to know why he had refused to return home. Since he had
\nno skeleton in his cupboard, then he should return home. I explained to
\nhim that the purpose of the wealth with which he had been divinely endowed
\nwas to care for his needs, and his interests. It was also for use to
\ndefend his honour and integrity. For these reasons, I urged him to return
\nhome.
\nThereafter, Mike returned home. Nobody touched him and no institution has
\nprosecuted him because there was no genuine reason from the onset for
\nanybody to touch him. However, the construction project at Bells
\nUniversity slowed considerably while Mike was in exile and a few
\nsolicitous calls from Obasanjo to Mike while he was in exile did not
\nchange the pace of work. On his return from exile, the school Bells
\nUniversity had the temerity to write to him seeking for a meeting to
\ndiscuss the continuation of the project. When I got to know, I offered to
\nbe in attendance at the meeting and sent word round that I would be in
\nattendance. I had the intention to lambast all of them. They must have
\nsensed it because up till now, the meeting has not been held!
\nAll the enormous goodwill which Obasanjo carried into office was
\nsquandered with a performance that left him with a second term short of
\ntangible achievements. Eight years in office was ample time to put
\nelectricity on a very strong footing. Eight years was enough to put down a
\nstrong foot against corruption and make a clear difference. Eight years
\nwas adequate for orderliness and the rule of law to triumph in every facet
\nof our society. These were the basis upon which I gave him my support for
\nthe office. Some new State Governors have shown how much good can be
\nachieved in a shorter time.\u201d
\n\u2018Awujale: The Autobiography of Alaiyeluwa Oba S.K Adetona, Ogbagba II\u2019,
\nMosuro Publishing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201c The EFCC in Lagos had come calling brusquely on Mike Adenuga (Jnr), Chairman Globacom on 9 July 2006. They broke his gate, swarmed into his house and kept him…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n