In our review of high profile corruption trials today, former Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili set record with an unprecedented N100 billion fraud on record allegedly perpetrated by a single governor of a single state in Nigeria’s history.

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Peter Odili – N100 billion fraud

Dr. Peter Odili, former Governor of Rivers State, had a rough time with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) even before the end of his two-term tenure in 2007. His travails started when the anti-graft agency investigated the finances of Rivers State, and he was alleged to have diverted over N100 billion of the state’s funds.

The case was stalled when presiding judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba, heeded Odili’s request and granted a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from probing him.

Former governor Odili is one of the nine governors whose corruption cases are in perpetual limbo in the courts. Draft charges that never made it to the court for prosecution regarding the brazen looting of Rivers State treasury by the state’s former governor, Peter Odili, showed how Mr. Odili used a combination of government officials and personal companies as fronts to fleece Rivers State to the tune of N100 billion between 2004 and 2007.

The draft charges, which were prepared by well-known Nigerian lawyer Festus Keyamo on behalf of EFCC under the chairmanship of Mrs. Farida Waziri, revealed that between December 2004 and September 2006, Emmanuel Nkatah, a personal staff of the governor operating at the Rivers State liaison office in Abuja, alone withdrew over N4 billion from Zenith Bank account No: 6010916567 which belonged to Rivers State Government House.

The 220-count draft indictment targeted Mr. Odili and 24 others regarding allegations of theft, conspiracy to commit theft, money laundering and fraud. The draft charges listed other accused persons and beneficiaries of Mr. Odili’s extensive looting.

The list includes founder of Arik Airline, Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, former Minister of Aviation, Babalola Borisade, two former Peoples Democratic Party chairmen, Ahmadu Alli and Barnabas Gemade.

Also listed as co-accused are Pauline K. Tallen, Mrs. Olufemi Agagu, Ike Nwachukwu, a retired general, and Ukandi Damanchi, a professor.

Of particular interest in the indictments is Mr. Odili’s corrupt entanglement with several major media organs. The charge sheet listed some media companies that received huge sums of money from Mr. Odili’s loot.

The dole-out to the media were designed to buy their silence. The biggest chunk of the payoff went to Nduka Obaigbena’s Leaders and Company Ltd, the publishers of ThisDay newspapers, Raymond Dokpesi’s Daar Communications PLC, owners of African Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM, John Momoh’s Channels Television Ltd, and Newswatch Communications Ltd, publishers of Newswatch magazine whose chief executive was then Ray Ekpu.

In particular, the charge sheet stated that between 2004 and 2007, ex-Gov. Odili channeled almost N2 billion to Daar Communication, over N300 million to Leaders and Company, N50 million to Channels Television Ltd and over N100 million to Newswatch Communications Ltd. all received as part of the loot from Mr. Odili’s slush fund.

In addition, Mr. Odili was notorious for doling out cash to numerous prominent editors, columnists and reporters. Subsequently, he received little or no negative publicity during his eight-year rule.

Mr. Odili’s legal trouble started on October 31, 2006, when a petition came into the office of the EFCC.

The commission launched investigation into various allegations of corruption and financial crimes leveled against Mr. Odili and other officials of the Rivers State Government.

On December 12, 2006, the EFCC issued an interim investigative report and prepared a draft of 223 charges against the governor.

In a counter-move, the then Attorney-General of the state, and later Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Odein Ajumogobia, on February 23, 2007, sued the EFCC, the then Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rotimi Amaechi, and other defendants at a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.

In the suit, Mr. Ajumogobia asked Justice Ibrahim Nyaure Buba of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt to bar the EFCC from investigating, prosecuting or ever harassing Mr. Odili and officials of his administration.

In the suit Number: FHC/PH/CS/78/2007, the then Attorney General claimed that the EFCC had no powers to investigate the State Government and that such a move went contrary to provisions of Nigerian Constitution which gave such power to the State House of Assembly.

The suit asked the court to bar the EFCC from sharing whatever information it had gathered with the media or coercing the State House of Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings on the governor.

On March 20, 2007, Justice Buba granted the Rivers State Government all that the state’s Attorney-General prayed for in what is now called a perpetual injunction.

Upon leaving office, Mr. Peter Odili again went to court and asked that he should be made a beneficiary of the perpetual injunction granting him permanent immunity from prosecution. Again, Justice Buba’s court agreed.

The judge imposed “a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from arresting, detaining and arraigning Odili on the basis of his tenure as governor based on the purported investigation.”

In 2007, the Nuhu Ribadu led EFCC claimed they immediately filed an appeal but the Court of Appeal never assigned the case as Mary Odili was a judge with enormous powers at the Appeal Court during the period.

Again in 2008, the EFCC filed an appeal against Justice Buba’s ruling.

In the brief, the EFCC argued that the commission had the right under the statute that created it to investigate economic crimes allegedly committed by the State government and Mr. Odili.

It also argued that the Buba court was wrong in proceeding with an “Originating Summon” when it was obvious that the parties were in serious contentions on the facts.

The appeal described Justice Buba’s action as “at best incompetent,” insisting that the court “lacked jurisdiction” to hear the case.

It concluded that the judge was wrong to have issued the declaratory order and injunction against the Appellant (EFCC) which amount to prohibiting it from carrying out its statutory functions and setting aside its report when in fact the report was not even placed before him.

Ten years after, the EFCC’s appeal is still at the Appeal Court of Nigeria in the Port Harcourt judicial division waiting for the lower court’s verdict to be vacated.

Meanwhile, Mr. Odili also went to the same court and on January 27, 2011, won a ruling that he should be joined as an interested party in the substantial case. However, no date has been set for the hearing.

In his autobiography, Conscience and History, published in 2012, Mr. Odili acknowledged that he negotiated the charges against him with then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Mr. Odili offered to drop his presidential bid in exchange for a sort of soft landing that initially included being offered the Vice-Presidential slot. That slot was later given to Mr. Goodluck Jonathan.

In spite of the swirl of corruption around Mr. Odili, he had no difficulty persuading Lincoln University, one of America’s most prestigious historically Black Colleges, to accept donations from him, a fact noted by Human Rights Watch.

By the end of 2006, Mr. Odili had become one of the school’s largest donors with at least $1.64 million donations.

During that year, the university bestowed a controversial honorary degree on Mr. Odili.

Lincoln held a luncheon in his honor, and named a building after him, the actions that drew outrage from Nigerian groups as well as Human Rights Watch. EFCC is yet to take any concrete step on the matter.

The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay, once questioned the order stopping the EFCC from investigating Rivers State government officials.

The Federal High Court had earlier given a judgment which set a perpetual injunction against the anti-graft agency from investigating, arresting or interrogating the state government officials suspected of corruption.

He said the order is clearly illegal and unconstitutional and therefore should be appealed and set aside.

He alleged that Nyesom Wike-led state government has been resisting new set of investigations by relying on the unresolved Peter Odili’s case.

Read also:

High profile corruption: How a widow sent ex-Gov Nyame to 12 years in jail

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[This Publication includes part of a compendium by Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) covering corruption cases as at 22nd of November, 2019.