Headline

$9.6bn Judgment Debt is Fraudulent Attack on Foreign Reserve – FG

Published

7 years ago

August 31, 2019

Eric

The Federal Government has alleged that the awarded 9.6 billion dollar judgment debt against Nigeria over a botched gas contract is a calculated attempt by international and local scammers to deplete the country’s rising foreign reserves.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the allegation on Friday when he featured on a TV Continental programme, “This Morning’’, monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria.

“Anytime the foreign reserves of the country is rising, there is always this attempt by vultures that will come with one scam targeting the reserves.

“It is also important to state here that, these international scammers will not have succeeded without the collaboration of the people within.

“That is why the federal government is focusing its searchlight on this particular contract to unravel those behind the move to inflict economic injury on Nigeria and its people,’’ he said.

Mohammed said that 9.6 billion dollar (about N3.5 trillion) translates to 20 per cent of the nation’s foreign reserves.

The minister reiterated that the contract as conceived was designed to fail and there were deliberate efforts to circumvent all the checks and balances to prevent a breach.

Specifically, he said the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources which signed the contract had no technical knowledge and the capacity and competence to execute a gas contract of such magnitude.

The minister also disclosed that the contract was not approved by the then Federal Executive Council as required by law.

He said when the contract was signed in 2010, there were about seven other gas development projects that were signed about the time that followed due process.

Mohammed reassured that government would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the judgment is set aside, the case is resolved and Nigerian assets not attacked.

A UK court had in a ruling authorised an Irish engineering and project management company, Process and Industrial Developments Ltd. (P&ID), to seize 9.6 billion dollars in Nigerian assets over the failed contract.

The judgment was a fallout of the contract purportedly entered into in 2010 between the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and P&ID.

(NAN)

Headline

UK Court Acquittal: Diezani Goes Spiritual, Says God Will Always Be God

Published

2 days ago

June 18, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has reacted to her acquittal by a London court after bribery charges brought against her were dismissed.

The Southwark Crown Court in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday acquitted the former minister of all charges, including five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Reacting to the judgment, Alison-Madueke expressed relief and said she and her family had endured years of emotional distress over the case.

Speaking to News Central, she said she has remained in the United Kingdom since the legal proceedings began 11 years ago.

She said: “I’m just thankful to God, it’s been arduous, almost 11 years. It’s been traumatic not just for me but for my family, friends, my 93-year-old mother in Port Harcourt and for my son.

“It has been a hard journey, but I tell you this, God will always do as He will. God will be God and God is not a man that He should lie; when He promises you something, He will see it through.

“For almost 11 years I have been here. I did my job to the best of my ability.”

Headline

I Never Saw Report that Led to Natasha’s Suspension, Says Ireti Kingibe

Published

2 days ago

June 18, 2026

Eric

The lawmaker representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), at the Senate, Ireti Kingibe, says she did not see any report that led to the suspension of Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Kingibe made this disclosure on Wednesday when she featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’.

She said she was at a retreat with Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, when she heard about the report.

“I never saw the report that led to Natasha’s suspension. I was at a retreat. I had earlier stated that I was there with three or four other senators who are members of the committee.

“We attended the Committee on Petitions and Public Complaints, signed the attendance register, and I later left for the tax reform retreat, which I considered more important at the time.

“It affects my constituents much more than disciplining a senator, and I figured that the other people who were not part of that committee would take care of it.

“I even complained to other Senators, specifically to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. I complained to him very bitterly that I had not seen that report. I didn’t see it then. I have not seen it till now,” she said.

Headline

UK Court Clears Ex-Petroleum Minister Alison-Madueke of All Corruption Charges

Published

3 days ago

June 17, 2026

Eric

Former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was on Wednesday found not guilty by a London jury of six bribery charges, after ‌a rare corruption trial of a high-profile former energy official.

Alison-Madueke, minister for petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015 under then-president Goodluck Jonathan, stood trial charged with five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery, which she denied.

Prosecutors ⁠alleged Alison-Madueke, 65, was given “a life of luxury” in London from oil and gas industry figures seeking lucrative contracts in Nigeria, which has long grappled with mismanagement and corruption.

But the former minister, who was also briefly president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said she never took any bribes and had no real influence over the awarding of lucrative government contracts.

After a trial at London’s Southwark ‌Crown ⁠Court, Alison-Madueke was acquitted by a jury of all six charges she faced after more than 46 hours of deliberation.

The not guilty verdicts are a major blow to British authorities, which began their investigation into corruption allegations against Alison-Madueke ⁠more than a decade ago.

Alison-Madueke stood trial alongside oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who was charged with one count of bribery relating to Alison-Madueke ⁠and a separate count of bribery of a foreign public official.

Alison-Madueke’s brother Doye Agama, 69, was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery ⁠with his sister relating to payments made to Agama’s church.

Both Ayinde and Agama denied the charges against them and were also acquitted by the jury.

Source: Reuters