The former senator was said to have escaped to Accra, Ghana, where is presently on self exile while the whereabouts of the ex-militant commander was unknown, as at Sunday.
Investigation by LEADERSHIP revealed that the senator fled the country moment after the money was paid into an account operated by some ex-militant leaders in a new generation bank in Port Harcourt (name withheld), by the Nigerian National Petroluem Corporation (NNPC).
The former lawmaker was appointed a consultant to a company registered to handle oil pipeline protection jobs in Rivers State by some ex-militant leaders in the region.
The pipeline surveillance job was awarded to the ex-fighters by the Presidency for an undisclosed monetary value, to curb oil theft and pipeline vandalisation in the creeks of the state.
The company, Adef Engineering Services Limited, has the Leader of the proscribed Niger Delta Peoples Vounteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahedeen Asari-Dokubo, and other ex-militant commanders in Rivers State, Chief Ateke Tom, Soboma Jack, Egberi Papa and Farah Dagogo, as directors.
The company was registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in 2010 with initial share capital of 40million with Tom, Asari-Dokubo and Dagogo owning 9,000,000 shares each while Egberi Papa and Soboma Jack were alloted 5,000,000 each. The balance of 3,000,000 was alloted to those described as “critical beneficiaries and stakeholders.”
One of them served as managing director and he was saddled with day-to-day running of the company while Ateke Tom emerged as chairman.
The ex-lawmaker was appointed as a management consultant with a monthly package of N110 million, representing N40 million consultancy fee and N70 million exigency allowance.
LEADERSHIP learnt that the board of the company met and resolved that the salaries and allowances of the workers be paid as and when due on a monthly basis while the remaining fund be kept in the account for the payment of dividends of the directors at the end of each financial year in line with their shareholding.
But trouble started when the directors were not paid their dividends at the end of the financial year on the excuse that the management of NNPC failed to meet its obligation to the firm.
This development, LEADERSHIP further learnt, prompted the embattled directors of the company to commence investigation into the claim.
The enquiry later revealed that the former senator and the managing director of the company as well as their collaborators in NNPC and the bank, diverted N2.050 billion into another secret account in the bank.
Consequently, the ex-lawmaker and the ex-militant leader disappeared as the directors of the company embarked on their manhunt.
LEADERSHIP gathered that part of the money was used to acquire a 13-seater private jet, Legacy 600, which was initially parked at the hanger of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.
The senator and the ex-militant leader, were reported to have made a part payment for the aircraft, valued at N4 billion.
But enquiry by LEADERSHIP revealed that they could not meet subsequent obligation to the owners of the aircraft.
To this end, latest report available to LEADERSHIP indicated that the owners of the aircraft had impounded it on the premise that the buyers defaulted in the payment of the balance.
Asari Dokubo, who is one of the beneficiaries of the funds, confirmed the report in an interview with LEADERSHIP.
Dokubo said the senator had fled to Accra, Ghana, where the mother hails from, while the ex-militant collaborator, remained underground.
Dokubo said concerted by the efforts by the directors of the company to track down the senator were futile as he had gone to Accra, Ghana, on two ocassions, on his manhunt.
Already, Dokubo said the directors had written a petition to the authorities in the Presidency as well as the Inspector General of Police, National Security Adviser and the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), on the festering matter.
Narrating the ordeal of the directors of the company, he said, Dokubo said, “We have not seen (name withheld), who is our consultant, they stole our money, our dividends and ran away, himself and (name withheld). They submitted forms to us that we are signatories, they went behind to the bank and open another account. They were operating a different account. Out of trust, you trust your brother, we believe that “dog no dey eat dog.”
“They ran away with N2.050, 000,000. We hold (name withheld) responsible because we went, they said we should submit our passport’s data page, the bank came, we signed documents as signatories, not knowing that the whole thing was fake, they have another account that they are operating behind the back until this thing happened and they ran away with our money.
Asked on the way forward, Dokubo stated, “We have reported to the Presidency, to the IG of police, to NSA and formally to the SSS and our lawyers have petitioned the IG, NSA and to the SSS. We are waiting for reply from them. The money was meant for the directors of Adef Engineering Services Limited, myself, Ateke Tom, Soboma Jack, with Egberi Papa and Farah Dagogo.”
Lamenting that all efforts to nab the self-exiled senator were futile, he added, “I have been to Ghana twice to look for him, I cannot find him, He cannot even come back home to bury his father. It is greed, how can a young man throw away all that he had achieved because of his inability to control his appetite for other people’s money?”
On the fate of the aircraft, he disclosed, “They did acquire an aircraft with part of the money but the rumour we are hearing is that the owners of the aircraft have impounded it because they defaulted in payment.
Source: Leadership
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