Real Madrid and Portugal football star, Cristiano Ronaldo told a Spanish judge Monday that he has “never tried to avoid taxes.”
“I have never hidden anything, and never tried to avoid taxes,” the 32 year-old mega football star said according to a statement released by his public relations firm.
The Real Madrid forward, who is from Portugal, was questioned to determine whether he committed tax fraud worth almost 15 million euros ($17.5 million). Ronaldo spent more than 90 minutes answering the questions of investigating judge Monica Gomez.
Judge Gomez took Ronaldo’s testimony as part of an investigation to determine if there are grounds to charge him. The session at Pozuelo de Alarcon Court No. 1 on the outskirts of Madrid was closed to the public because it is part of an ongoing investigation.
In June, a state prosecutor accused Ronaldo of four counts of tax fraud from 2011-14 worth 14.7 million euros ($16.5 million). The prosecutor accused the Portugal forward of having used shell companies outside Spain to hide income made from image rights. The accusation does not involve his salary from Real Madrid.
Ronaldo denies any wrongdoing.
“Spain’s Tax Office knows all the details about my sources of income because we have reported them,” Ronaldo told the judge, according to his statement. “I always file my tax returns because I think that we should all file and pay our taxes.
“Those who know me know that I tell my consultants that they must have everything in order and paid up to date because I don’t want trouble.”
Both before and after his court appearance, Ronaldo used an alternative entrance to avoid a large swarm of more than a hundred journalists from Spain and aboard gathered near the main door to the court.
Court officials had said that either Ronaldo or his lawyer would speak to the media after he saw the judge, but instead the player’s spokesman, Inaki Torres, stepped up to the temporary podium in front of the courthouse to announce that Ronaldo “was on his way home.”
Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland, in Ogun State, is alive, hale and hearty, contrary to widespread rumours about his demise.
The 83-year old monarch, who is spending his 57th year on the throne was reported to have died today by some bloggers and websites. But it was all fake news.
The respected monarch debunked the rumours about his death in a telephone conversation with the News Agency of Nigeria.
The Awujale has for the past week been a guest of Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island, in Lagos, where he has been staying after a routine medical checkup in a Lagos hospital, two weeks ago.
Awujale expressed surprise that some bloggers could be spreading rumours about his death without confirming from the palace in Ijebu-Ode or from his chiefs.
“Why are people spreading rumours about my death, when I am right here at Oriental”, asked the baffled King.
He enjoined journalists to check veracity of their information, before rushing to publish. NAN
Premium Times EXCLUSIVE: Ex-President Jonathan’s house burgled
An Abuja home of former President Goodluck Jonathan has been burgled, PREMIUM TIMES can confirm.
However, in what appears a curious twist, the house was not burgled by known thieves, but by police officers assigned to guard the house.
The Nigeria Police have thus arrested three of its officers for stealing items valued at several millions of naira from the Abuja residence of the former president.
The items were alleged to have been stolen by the officers from the residence located at No. 89, Fourth Avenue in the Gwarimpa district of Abuja.
They include sets of furniture, dozens of plasma television sets, refrigerators, air-conditioner units and box-loads of clothes such as designer suits imprinted with the former president’s name, male and female Ijaw traditional attires, lace materials and bowler hats.
PREMIUM TIMES exclusively gathered that the three mobile police officers conducted a systematic looting over a period of three months beginning from around March 2016, until they totally stripped the house of all movable items, which they sold piecemeal to dealers at the Panteka second-hand materials market in Tipper Garage, Gwarimpa.
Mr. Jonathan’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Eze, confirmed the theft to PREMIUM TIMES. He also confirmed that the affected officers have been arrested.
According to a security source involved in the investigation, by the time family members of the former president were made aware of the looting early this month, the house had been stripped bare.
On getting wind of the arrest of the policemen, two dealers who had been the main recipients of the stolen items were said to have closed down their shops at Panteka market and have since remained at large.
Mr. Jonathan had lived in the house for about a year when he was vice president. His mother was said to have assumed residence there after Mr. Jonathan moved to the Aso Rock Villa upon becoming Acting President in 2010.
PREMIUM TIMES could not ascertain when and the reason Mr. Jonathan’s mother vacated the residence, leaving it under security guard of the police.
THE LOOTING
Our investigations revealed that the looting was discovered when a neighbour noticed “severe damage to the house” and called a member of Mr. Jonathan’s family to ask whether the house was undergoing renovation.
The former president was said to have personally gone to inspect the property after which he reported the vandalization to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.
After a team of officers dispatched to the scene confirmed the crime, Mr. Idris was said to have ordered the arrest of the three police officers who were still on guard duty at the residence.
“They were arrested about two weeks ago,” the police source familiar with the development told this newspaper last Tuesday.
A trader at the Panteka market, who confessed to being close to one of the fleeing buyers of the stolen items, was interviewed by PREMIUM TIMES undercover reporter.
According to the trader who declined to be named, the police officers first brought some items to the market for sale in early 2016.
“It all started sometimes around March 2016 when a mobile police sergeant came to Tipper Garage market and brought some items for sale. He approached one of the wholesalers to buy them, but the trader said he does not buy items from an unconfirmed owner,” he said.
“He identified himself as Sergeant Musa and told the trader that he was one of the security men guarding Mr. Jonathan’s private residence at Gwarimpa. He took the trader to follow him to confirm that he was not a thief who had come to sell off stolen properties in the market.
“The trader followed him to the residence where he met two other policemen, an inspector and a sergeant. They convinced him that the items were part of gifts to them.”
The source told PREMIUM TIMES that it was not long before he noticed that the stream of transaction had no end, as the Sergeant Musa continued to invite the trader to the residence to pick up fresh items.
“At a point, the trader became scared when he suspected foul play and told Sergeant Musa that he was no longer interested in the transaction,” he said.
He said Mr. Musa however got another customer, a wholesaler in the market, who would eventually buy almost 80 per cent of all the properties removed from Mr. Jonathan’s residence.
SELLING JONATHAN’S PROPERTY
When PREMIUM TIMES’ undercover reporter went to the Tipper Garage market, he found out that both the purchase and resale of the items were not hidden, as many of the traders were aware of the racket.
“Whenever particular or specific items of our interest were brought for sale from Mr. Jonathan’s residence, we used to buy from the wholesaler who bought them in large quantity,” a trader said.
Investigation by PREMIUM TIMES confirmed that the traders sold off the stolen items such as suits, women wears, traditional cloth popularly called ‘babban riga,’ Ankara fabrics at about N5,000.00 apiece and bowler hats. It could, however, not be confirmed how much the bowler hats were sold for.
A petty trader at the market said he witnessed the sale of one of the sets of furniture.
“The policeman sold one to the wholesaler who is now on the run at N50, 000.00. The wholesaler sold it at N180,000.00 to a lucky buyer in the market who in turn instantly sold it at N390,000.00.
“I personally bought babban riga, and a suit with Jonathan’s name printed underneath it at the cost of N5,000.00 each.”
The petty trader, who claimed to be an apprentice at Tipper Garage, said they were scared when they heard that the three police officers had been arrested in connection with the theft of the properties from Mr. Jonathan’s residence.
Tipper Garage and Panteka market at Gwarimpa are popular locations for buying and selling of second-hand items in Abuja.
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the spokesperson of the Police FCT Command, Mamza Anjuguri, on phone, he refused to confirm the alleged looting or arrest of the three policemen.
“You should give me time to make some inquiries,” he initially pleaded last week.
He subsequently did not pick the reporter’s calls or reply to his text messages.
The divisional police officer for Gwarimpa also declined to speak with our reporter.
“I cannot talk to the press. You can go and talk with our PPRO,” he said.
LIST OF CLOTHES SAID TO HAVE BEEN STOLEN AND SOLD
1. Niger Delta traditional attires in about 20 Ghana-must-go sacks.
2. Suits, each one with “President Jonathan” inscribed in the inner side, in five big Ghana-must-go sacks.
3. About 10 big Ghana-must-go sacks of women attires made from lace materials sewn in Niger Delta style.
4. More than 10 bundles of Ankara materials, known as Atamfa.
5. About 10 sets of babban riga.
6. One big Ghana-must-go sack containing clothes with PDP logo neatly sewn on each one.
TheCable has obtained copies of the controversial strategic alliance agreement (SAA) between the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Ltd and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts (AEDC) Ltd that allegedly ripped off Nigeria by billions of dollars between 2011 and 2015.
The SAAs are often derided by industry experts as the biggest organised scam in the history of Nigerian oil industry.
NPDC is the oil development and production arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) while Atlantic Energy is owned by Jide Omokore and Kola Aluko, believed to be cronies of Diezani Alison-Madueke, who served as petroleum minister from April 2010 to May 2015.
Nigerian authorities, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), have also frozen the Nigerian assets of the trio over suspicion of money laundering and procurement fraud.
THE JOURNEY TO SAA
In 2010, Shell, as part of its business restructuring, decided to sell off its entire 45% minority stake in eight of the oil mining leases (OMLs) it was operating in joint venture (JV) partnership with NNPC, who held 55% on behalf of the Nigerian federation.
The indigenous companies that bought Shell’s minority stakes are: Seplat (OMLs 4, 38 and 41), FHN and Afren (OML 26), Neconde and Kulcyzk Oil (OML 42), Shoreline and Heritage Oil (OML 30), Elcrest and Elad Oil & Gas (OML 40) and ND Western and Petrolin (OML 34).
However, NNPC decided to take over the operatorship of these OMLs — as allowed by the governing law — but took the strange decision of appointing the non-performing NPDC, its subsidiary, as the operator of the JVs.
NNPC also transferred the assets to NPDC, although it would have ordinarily given them to the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), its directorate that oversees the federation investment in the JVs, production sharing contracts (PSCs) and services contracts (SCs).
NPDC is NNPC’s wholly owned subsidiary set up in 1988 to undergo petroleum exploration and production, but it had neither the expertise nor the experience to be the operator of the OMLs.
NPDC, which had never explored its own oil blocks, was inexplicably given eight wells to operate and manage by NNPC. There was something considered fishy about the agreement from day one, as criticisms would later trail the decision.
In what was obviously an orchestrated scheme, NPDC, complaining of lack of expertise and finance to operate the JV, decided to go into SSAs with two companies in 2011. The deals were shrouded in secrecy until they had been signed and sealed.
“NPDC claimed it did not have the finance to operate the oil wells, but what else is money if not an oil well? The same oil wells were used by Atlantic to raise the funds, so why didn’t NPDC do same?” a senior NNPC official, who said he monitored the negotiations at the time, told TheCable.
The beneficiary companies that signed SAAs were Seven Energy, where Aluko was an employee and a director with about 1% equity, and Atlantic Energy, founded by Omokore and, again, Aluko.
Kola Aluko, one of the Atlantic Stars
Aluko enjoyed the high life, seen here in company with British super model Naomi Campbell
Both deals were initially criticised as lacking in transparency because the procurement laws were not followed, but, as Alison-Madueke defended her action then, the petroleum act gives the minister discretionary powers to award oil blocks. And she was correct.
But while Seven Energy could boast of some experience in the oil industry, having been established in 2005, Atlantic Energy was a complete greenhorn, incorporated only on July 19, 2010 — three months after Alison-Madueke was made minister.
In a spate of five weeks, between April and May 2011, Atlantic Energy was awarded SAAs by NPDC to develop and finance production from OMLs 26, 42, 30 and 34 — four oil blocks in all. Even by Nigerian standards, four blocks would be considered too many to give to a one-year-old company.
TheCable understands that Aluko eventually resigned from the management and board of Seven Energy on November 30, 2011 to focus on Atlantic Energy, where he is co-CEO with Omokore.
Some of their associated companies, registered in tax havens, are: Atlantic Energy Holdings Ltd, Atlantic Energy (Brass) Ltd, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Ltd, Tenka Ltd and Earnshaw Associates Ltd.
These companies played key roles in the money laundering chain funded from the lucrative OML deals between NPDC and Atlantic Energy.
DEVIL IN THE DETAIL
The SAAs signed with Atlantic Energy, analysed by TheCable, came with a number of conditions which, on the surface, looked harmless.
Atlantic Energy was required by Article 4.1(a) to provide all the funds required for NPDC’s 55% share of operating costs.
For raising the finance, Atlantic Energy was to recover its costs by lifting crude oil. It was also agreed that it should share profit with NPDC. In all, the “loan” was to be paid back to Atlantic Energy with crude oil, believed to be approximately 60,000 barrels per day. TheCable was unable to confirm the actual liftings.
Article 2.1 of the SAA mandated the company to pay non-recoverable “entry fees” as a pre-condition for the commencement of operations. The terms were $0.30 per barrel and $0.010/mcf for participation in developing reserves of 449 million barrels of crude oil and 449 million bcf of natural gas respectively.
All these were to be paid within 70 days before the commencement of operations, according to Article 2.2.
“Entry fees”, according to industry experts who spoke with TheCable, is a nebulous term used to mask the need to pay “signature bonus” that every other company pays for oil blocks.
“I can assure you that it is only in the Atlantic Energy contracts you will find such a term in the petroleum industry,” another senior NNPC official, who cannot be named, told TheCable.
Atlantic was also required, under Article 4.1(d), to pay $350,000 in the January of every year to NPDC for the provision of training facilities for the staff. The payment, to be made in the first five years, was for each of the four OMLs.
The interest of local companies was also built into Article 5.1(d) which mandates NPDC to “give preference to such goods and services which are available in Nigeria and can be rendered by Nigerian citizens provided they meet the required specifications and are competitive in price”.
vacation
As things have turned out, Atlantic never fulfilled the obligation of paying $350,000 yearly for the training of NPDC staff — and nothing was done by the government to enforce this, which came to a total of $1.4 million per year for the four OMLs.
As at May 2016, the unpaid arrears amounted to $7 million “with the full knowledge and connivance of all the government officials involved, and so we now know where the money went,” the source told TheCable.
Contrary to the agreement that Atlantic would finance NPDC’s 55% share of the productions costs, totalling $1.4 billion in the first four years, the company made a total payment of $305 million only — and yet, it continued to lift crude oil as payment for NPDC’s equity in what is now coming out as a cleverly orchestrated scam.
Atlantic Energy was allowed to lift 21 cargoes of crude oil valued at $677 million despite failing to meet its obligations.
At a senate public hearing on the missing oil revenue in February 2014, then-central bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (now Emir Muhammad Sanusi II of Kano), alleged that over $7 billion worth of oil was lifted by NPDC/Atlantic between January 2012 and July 2013, yet only $400 million was paid by NPDC as petroleum profit tax (PPT) and none by Atlantic.
The proceeds of the crude sale, he said, were also not remitted to the federation account, an allegation that would eventually lead to his exit from the central bank.
In fact, Atlantic not only lifted crude to pay for NPDC’s share of operational costs, it also shared between 20-70% of the profit — without paying taxes and royalties to the federation.
Nigeria’s PPT is as high as 85% — an obligation dodged by Atlantic apparently because of its links to powerful persons in government.
The profit sharing arrangement was too good to be true.
Under Article 10 (d) (i)-(v), the two parties were to share “profit oil” and “profit gas” in ratios of 90% for NPDC to 10% for Atlantic (“profit oil” and “profit gas” with regards to undepreciated costs associated to capital costs prior to execution of agreement); 40% to 60% (upon full recovery of development costs by Atlantic); and, thereafter, it would be 70% to 30%.
Up to the full recovery of development costs related to the continental resources, “profit oil” was to be shared 40% to 60% and, thereafter, 70% to 30%. For the “profit gas” upon full recovery of development costs regarding non-associated gas by Atlantic, NPDC would take 30% and Atlantic 70%, and reverse to 30% to 70% thereafter.
“Profit gas” from the continental resources was to be shared 30% to NPDC and 70% to Atlantic, and thereafter, 70% to NPDC and 30% to Atlantic.
Ordinarily, since the 55% equity belongs to the federation, all the profits accruing to NPDC should have been paid into the federation account, as is the case with other JVs.
The companies that bought Shell’s 45% paid a total of $2.3 billion to acquire the eight OMLs, but NNPC incredible valued its own 55% at $1.8 billion. Yet, NPDC paid just $100 million out of the $1.8 billion.
The federation suffered loss after loss from the SAAs and this might have impacted negatively also on the ability of the country to build reserves during periods of high oil prices.
Jide Omokore; so, did the money go
In the civil suit brought by the US department of justice, Alison-Madueke was accused of corruptly benefiting from Atlantic Energy.
The department specifically linked the favours to the SAAs approved by Alison-Madueke when she was minister, and a wiretap allegedly caught her saying “we stuck our necks out regarding the SAA and we supported it”.
These are some of the benefits enjoyed by the former minister from Omokore and Aluko.
§ Property at 96 Camp Road, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, valued at £3,250,000
§ Property at 39 Chester Close North, London valued at £1,730,000.
§ Property at 58 Harley House, Marylebone Road, London valued at £2,800,000.
§ Property at Flat 5 Park View, 83-86 Prince Albert Road, London valued at £3,750,000.
§ Property at Banana Island, Lagos, with 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses worth $37.5m
Omokore used to boast to his friends that he owned three private jets, a claim often repeated by Aluko himself, sources in the know told TheCable.
But Omokore was more world famous for dating Porsha Williams, a star of TV reality show Real Housewives Of Atlanta.
He gave her “a bevy of pricy gifts” – according to an American magazine – one of which was a $300,000 Rolls Royce.
Aluko, on his part, bought luxury property in very expensive and exclusive neighbourhoods across New York, Beverly Hills, London, Las Vegas, Dubai, Paris, Monaco and Miami.
He also bought Galactica Star Yacht in June 2013. The one-of-its-kind custom-built Super Yacht cost him $73 million. He bought a Formula One team in Monaco and was seen hand-in-hand with British super model, Naomi Campbell, a lady often seen in company with billionaires.
Listed among Aluko’s property collections are:
§ 157 West 57th Street, Unit 79, New York
§ 1049 Fifth Avenue, Units 11B and 12B, New York
§ 807 Cima del Mundo Road, Montecito, California
§ 815 Cima del Mundo Road, Montecito, California
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Before the US department filed the civil suit against Alison-Madueke, Omokore and Aluko, the EFCC had, on July 4, 2016, arraigned suspects before a federal high court on a nine-count bordering on money laundering and procurement fraud.
Those charged to court are Omokore; Victor Briggs, former NPDC MD; Abiye Membere, former NNPC group executive director, exploration and production; and David Mbanefo, NNPC manager planning and commercial.
Omokore was alleged to have used the SAAs to “swindle the NPDC and the Nigerian government of monies running into billions of dollars through the lifting of crude oil from some oil wells between March 2013 and May 2014″.
The others were accused of conspiracy in inducing the NPDC to facilitate the lifting of crude by Omokore, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited. They were also charged with receiving car gifts from Omokore and his companies.
They all pleaded not guilty and the case is still ongoing.
Aluko’s assets are being auctioned around the world as debts pile up and the noose tightens around him.
His Apartment 79, a penthouse apartment in One57, one of New York City’s most expensive residential buildings, has been foreclosed and will be auctioned.
He previously sold his LA home for $21.5 million, four years after buying it for $24.5 million.
More facts are still unfolding as the saga comes into the open, but claims that the SAAs are the biggest scam in the history of Nigeria’s scam-filled oil industry may not be an exaggeration.
It’s been 84 days since President Muhammadu Buhari travelled out of the country — and reports of his absence have continued to dominate news headlines locally and around the world.
On Sunday, US news network CNN made a mockery of his absence on GPS, a programme hosted by Fareed Zakaria.
The American journalist, during a segment called ‘GPS challenge,’ posed a trivia to viewers of his show.
“The head of state from which country has not set foot in his homeland in over two months?” read the trivia which had multiple options, including Syria, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Nigeria.
President Buhari has been in the UK since May 7, where he has been receiving medical treatment.
Though he has been rarely seen in public since his trip, news of his improving health and wellbeing has been widely reported as well as photos of him receiving seven governors that recently paid him a visit in London.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, who had also paid Buhari a visit, announced that he would soon be back home.
This is the second time the president is visiting the UK for medical vacation in 2017, the first being shorter than the present.
Governors and several public figures have come out to defend Buhari’s absence, and to say he has made a miraculous recovery.
CBS news quoted Local police as calling the man’s survival a “miracle escape,”,
The car was not so lucky.
South Yorkshire Police posted Twitter photos of the smoking, wrecked car, saying it “went airborne (and) burst into flames” beside a highway in northern England.
The Ferrari 430 Scuderia, worth about $260,000 new, ended up a burning heap in a field.
The police said in a Facebook statement that the driver “only had minor cuts and bruises” after Thursday’s smash, but they also detected “a sense of damaged pride.”
The force said the driver, not identified, told officers: “I’ve only just got it, picked it up an hour ago.”
Police urged local drivers to take care on the roads.
Brazilian striker Neymar stormed out of a Barcelona training session on Thursday as speculation mounted about a world-record move to Paris St Germain. A personal appearance in China next week was cancelled because he was said to be “busy with transfer business”.
Pictures of Barca training in Miami for today’s game against arch-rivals Real Madrid in the International Champions Trophy showed Neymar having to be kept apart from teammate Nelson Semedo before removing his bib and stomping away from the session.
Suggestions that he might have weighty matters on his mind increased when Chinese travel agent Ctrip posted on its official Weibo account that it has had to cancel an event with Neymar because he is “busy with transfer business”.
Ctrip said the event was scheduled for Shanghai next Monday and that anyone who had bought tickets would be refunded.
PSG have reportedly held discussions with Barcelona about a transfer for the 25 year-old that would smash the world record £89 million Manchester United paid for France midfielder Paul Pogba last year.
Neymar’s buy-out clause was set at over €200 million but that does not appear to have deterred PSG, who are backed by Qatari finance and lost their French league title to AS Monaco last season.
A Nigerian student, Moses Akoh, in Manila Philippines is at the verge of making musical fame in the country, with his debut album, The Sound.
Akoh was one of the biggest revelations from last year’s Philippines hit reality singing competition, I Love OPM.
Manilastandard.net reported that Akoh, a praise/worship leader wowed the audience and judges with his rendition of South Border’s classic hit, “Kahit Kailan.”
“Apart from his perfect enunciation and tone, (he’s fluent in both English and Tagalog) the burly singer won the audience over as soon as he hit that quintessential high note”, the paper said.
Here is the full story of Akoh, according to Manila Standard
“More than his voice, the judges were also impressed by Moses’ love for the Philippines and the Filipino people. As Martin Nievera remarked, “If we could love our country the way you do, what a country we would have. That’s one lesson we should learn with this show.”
He may not have won the grand prize, but his soulful style and unpretentious demeanour caught the attention of RnB King, Jay-R, who saw great potential in him and took him under his HomeWorkZ Music roster.
With his singing talent, it’s only a matter of time before this Moses writes his own commandments and sparks his own upheaval in the local music industry.
Soft-spoken and humble, the aspiring singer acknowledges the importance of originality and strives to find his own unique sound and niche.
Moses says, “I think we live in an evolving world, one that is constantly changing in a dynamic manner. To stay relevant in this ever-changing world, especially in the area of music, originality has and newness has to be at the forefront of our creative process. People are always in search of something new and we, as musicians, cannot afford to be left behind, and keep chewing on past glories and sounds, when we can explore the new frontiers. Excellence is the key.”
Despite having spent most of his singing stints backed up by a choir, Moses found himself in a totally new but challenging environment when he was asked to participate in HomeWorkZ Music’s Original Music Only concert tour, held recently in some of the metro’s club circuit as well as key U.S. cities.
He exclaimed, “One word ‘FANTASTIC. At first, I didn’t know what to expect, but as everyone began to perform their originals, I got to appreciate the creativity of everyone and how hard they worked to get their music done, with excellence.
“I got to be blessed with the amazing talent of all the HomeWorkZ artists and even the guest performers. For me, I was full of joy to have been able to bring my message of Jesus to the bar setting — bringing worship to the bars. My heart desire is to see people get closer to The Father above, through my music.”
Moses’ fans need not wait further. Under Jay-R’s mentorship and musical guidance, Moses’ debut album, The Sound will be out anytime soon. NAN
The Governor, who spoke shortly after the signing ceremony, said the development was in furtherance of his vision of enhancing food security and creating employment in the State.
It is estimated that the partnership would create about 200,000 jobs across the agriculture value chain, while it would also bring about the cultivation of 32,000 hectares of farm land to produce rice paddy, equating to an estimated 130million Kg of processed rice per year (an equivalent of 2.6milion 50kg bags of rice).
Governor Ambode, who was in Switzerland with some cabinet members said the landmark event also provides the platform for the State to partner with other South West States in consonance with the region’s resolve towards achieving economic integration.
The Governor emphasized that the partnership with Buhler was in sync with his administration’s economic agenda of diversification of the nation’s economy and conservation of foreign currency reserve.
“The state of the art rice mill will be sited in Imota, Ikorodu and it requires 32,000 hectares of land for cultivation of rice paddy. This investment is expected to create thousands of jobs in rice value chain. In addition to the current arrangement with Kebbi State, Lagos would go into partnership with neighboring states, to ensure sustainable inputs for the mill and foster regional economic integration,” Governor Ambode said.
According to the agreement, the partnership with Buhler covers supplies and installation of the rice mill, including silos. It also covers maintenance and technical support as well as technical training of Nigerians in the ever growing sub-sector of the Nigerian economy.
The rice mill will be the single largest mill of its kind in Nigeria and is expected to be delivered within twelve months.
Other members of the State’s delegation were the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Akinyemi Ashade; Special Adviser to the Governor on Overseas Affairs & Investment, Professor Ademola Abass; Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon Suarau Oluwatoyin; and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Olayiwole Onasanya. NAN
John Fashanu Arrested, Detained Over 10 Million Naira Land Scam
John Fashanu held in Nigerian hell-hole jail pen with 200 other prisoners after being accused of land scam
The former Wimbledon and England star spent two days locked up with 200 others as officers investigated claims he acted as a fixer in a scam to sell plots that were not for sale.
John Fashanu was left in a Nigerian jail pen with 200 others after being held over an alleged dodgy land deal, police have revealed.
The former Wimbledon and England star spent two days locked up as officers investigated claims he acted as a fixer in a scam to sell plots that were not for sale.
He was arrested at his home on the Sun City Estate, in the capital Abuja, and taken in on suspicion of “criminal conspiracy”, detectives said.
It is alleged that earlier this year the former I’m a Celeb favourite acted for a friend looking to buy land.
The pal claims he was told by Fashanu, 54, of two contacts who would help with buying “forgotten lands” – plots owned by chiefs that the state were unaware of.
He was allegedly given £23,000 in cash to fix the deal with his “boys”. But when the new “owner” went to claim his land, it is alleged he found it not for sale and not in the hands of local chiefs.
Fash, who once fronted Nigeria’s version of Deal or No Deal, was taken before a superintendent last week to explain himself before being left in a packed pen, police sources said.
Officers are now looking for the other two men said to be involved. It is believed they are still in Nigeria, where the average yearly wage is £1,600 (660,000 Nairi).
Fashanu has agreed to pay the money back, although he denies wrongdoing.
A source close to the former Gladiators presenter said last night: “This is a business deal between friends that has gone south and the police were asked to basically mediate.
“It will all be sorted very quickly. It was just a business deal.”
It is understood Fashanu was released after surrendering his British passport and agreeing to pay back a first instalment of the money.
Sources said he looked to sell some of his cars to raise the cash as he waited for funds from his numerous business interests to clear in his bank account.
The London-born celebrity’s Nigerian barrister Hyp Egbune confirmed he had this week paid a second instalment of the money owed.
He said: “The matter is being resolved. He won’t be charged to court is my understanding.
“We are repaying the money and that should settle this matter.
“The person who made the complaint has been a mutual friend for quite a number of years and we are more interested in keeping that relationship so we are making amends. We hope to do that as soon as we can. It is quite a lot of money so we hope to do it as soon as we can. We want to have this resolved.”
Nigerian police Deputy Inspector General Hyacinth Dagala said: “John Fashanu was arrested on July 17 in connection with an allegation of criminal conspiracy and obtaining the sum of N9,550,000 [Nigerian Naira] under false pretence.
“He was granted administrative bail on July 18 but because of his inability to produce the requisite surety on that day, he remained in detention until July 19 when he was released.”
Fashanu is a respected businessman and philanthropist, who now has the grand title of Ambassador in his adopted nation. Once said to be worth upwards of £6million, he spends his days in Nigeria cutting business deals, hanging out with politicians and fighting to stop people trafficking.
He and third wife, TV personality Rachel Bakam, are regulars on the social scene at glitzy parties.
Last year, the couple were given chieftaincy titles. Fashanu became Ofia-Afulu-Agu of Okwe Kingdom (meaning The Forest that Contains the Lion) and his wife Ugo-Di-Namba of Okwe Kingdom (Beautiful Eagle Queen from Another Kingdom).
Fash has been a UN ambassador for Nigeria, a Unicef goodwill ambassador for 53 African countries and a former board member of the Nigeria Football Association.
During his playing days, in 1997, he was acquitted in a high-profile match-fixing trial along with goalkeepers Bruce Grobbelaar and Hans Segers. In 2015 he was arrested over an unlicensed gun found in his Nigerian house during a police raid. He ended up paying a fine.
Born to a Guyanan mother and Nigerian father, Fashanu became a Barnado’s boy when they split. He was then fostered in Norfolk.
His first marriage, to model Melissa Kassa-Mapsi, ended in divorce in 2004 after nine years. They had two children. In 2015 he went through a messy split in Nigeria, claiming wife Abigail Onyekwelu tried to knife him.
Fash had already suffered heartbreak when his brother Justin, Britain’s first openly gay professional footballer, hanged himself in 1998.
He later told of his remorse for disowning him because of his homosexuality and paying him £75,000 hush-money not to come out.
1979 – Plays his first professional game for Norwich City.
1986 – Signs for Wimbledon, scoring 107 goals in a seven-year spell.
1988 – Wins the FA Cup with the Crazy Gang, beating Liverpool in one of the greatest upsets ever.
1992 – While still playing, Fashanu starts his TV career, presenting Gladiators on a Saturday night. His ‘awooga’ cry becomes his catchphrase.
1993 – Fashanu is sent off as he lies on a stretcher after a clash with Viv Anderson, with whom he had a long-running feud.
1995 – As an Aston Villa player, snaps his knee ligament in a tackle with Ryan Giggs. Retires from the football at the end of the season.
1996 – Quits Gladiators.
1998 – Elder brother Justin kills himself, eight years after coming out as Britain’s first, and still only, openly-gay footballer.
2003 – Charms the nation to come runner-up on the second series of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here. Culled fromDaily Mirror UK
ms were alleged to have been stolen by the officers from the residence located at No. 89, Fourth Avenue in the Gwarimpa district of Abuja.
