{"id":86646,"date":"2021-10-04T18:32:30","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T17:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=86646"},"modified":"2021-10-04T18:32:30","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T17:32:30","slug":"pandora-papers-peter-obi-reacts-after-being-named-in-offshore-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/pandora-papers-peter-obi-reacts-after-being-named-in-offshore-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandora Papers: Peter Obi Reacts After Being Named in Offshore Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"m10899\" class=\"mail-message expanded\">\n<div class=\"mail-message-header spacer\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">.<em>..Desperate political forces afraid of Obi\u2019s rising political profile &#8211; Group<\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal  \" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<div dir=\"auto\"><span style=\"font-family: sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">After being named among top leaders, public officials and celebrites who used offshore shell companies to hide funds, former governor of Anambra State Peter Obi has broken his silence.<\/p>\n<p>Obi denied any wrongdoing following revelations from the Pandora Papers project coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).<\/p>\n<p>The project saw 600 journalists from 150 news organisations around the world poring through a trove of 11.9 million confidential files, contextualising information, tracking down sources and analysing public records and other documents.<\/p>\n<p>Several current and former world leaders, and public officials were named in the project.<\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\nIn 2010, Mr Obi set up Gabriella Investments Limited, a company named after his daughter, in the British Virgin Island.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Obi told Premium Times that he did not declare companies and the funds and property he jointly owns with his family members or anyone else in his asset declaration filings with the Code of Conduct Bureau because he was unaware that the law required him to do so.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t declare what is owned with others,\u201d he said. \u201cIf my family owns something I won\u2019t declare it. I didn\u2019t declare anything I jointly owed with anyone.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\nThe online newspaper claimed that the project revealed Obi approached Acces International, a French company, to help him incorporate an offshore entity.<\/p>\n<p>On the day the company was incorporated, about 50,000 shares of Gabriella Investment were issued in favour of Hill International Holding Corporation, a shell International Business Company operating under the laws of Belize.<\/p>\n<p>Obi said the offshore entity is the holding company for most of his assets and that the business structure he adapted was to enable him to avoid excessive taxation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am sure you too will not like to pay inheritance tax if you can avoid it,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\nObi later renamed Gabriella Investment in 2017 to PMGG Investments Limited.<\/p>\n<p>The former vice-presidential candidate said that British Lloyds Bank\u2019s advice informed his offshore structure decision.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if he is concerned that Nigerians would be disappointed at him following the findings, Obi said he was more concerned about his UK and US schools alumni network, his business and foreign creditors.<\/p>\n<p>He insisted that he served well as Anambra governor and Nigerians already have their opinions about him.<\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Meanwhile a human rights group, Nigerians For Justice (NFJ), has dismissed what it called an \u201cobvious sponsored inquest\u201d against the Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2019 elections, Mr. Peter Obi.<\/p>\n<p>The group in a statement issued on Monday in Asaba, Delta State capital, said that the PREMIUM TIMES report on Obi\u2019s foreign business activities published earlier today tried to create a wrong impression about him. The statement signed by NFJ\u2019s Chairman, Mr. Francis Ezeoka, accused the newspaper of bad faith and of doing a hatchet job \u201clacking in substance\u201d and \u201cpurity of motive.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\nThe statement linked the report to desperate political forces afraid of Obi\u2019s rising political profile ahead of the 2023 elections.<\/p>\n<p>It said that PREMIUM TIMES betrayed its motive right from its opening paragraph where, without even the benefit of the said reports, it started passing judgement, thus betraying the fact that they were on a sponsored mission targeted at tarnishing Obi\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n<p>NFJ, which described Nigerians as very intelligent and discerning people, said it was confident that they would ask PREMIUM TIMES the ultimate questions: \u201cDid you trace any missing government money to any company Obi has real or imaginary interest? Is any public money missing in any public establishment Obi has had contact with, such as Anambra State, Security and Exchange Commission?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group also wondered the nexus between Obi\u2019s numerous speeches the report referred to and the actual issue the newspaper pretended to be investigating.<\/p><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\nDismissing the report as failing short of expectations by trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, NFJ said: \u201cThere is nothing in PREMIUM TIMES\u2019 investigations or report that impeaches Obi\u2019s integrity. It provides no proof of corruption by Obi but merely alleges failure to declare his foreign assets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo prove that he has nothing to hide, we learnt that Obi made himself available to PREMIUM TIMES and honestly answered all their questions. Apparently disappointed that they could not establish a case of corruption against him, the newspaper resorted to editorialising and playing the prosecutor contrary to the journalism tenet of fair reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know many fantastically corrupt Nigerians and the property they acquired while in government, as well as how they stole the money of their states and ended up plunging their states into debt and yet PREMIUM TIMES did not consider them objects of investigations,\u201d NPF further said.<\/p>\n<p>It advised the public to disregard the sponsored report, assuring that fighting corruption is good, but must be differentiated from witch-hunting.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mail-message-footer spacer collapsible\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8230;Desperate political forces afraid of Obi\u2019s rising political profile &#8211; Group \u00a0 After being named among top leaders, public officials and celebrites who used offshore shell companies to hide funds,&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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