PREMIUM TIMES has uncovered one of the most
fraudulent crude oil deals executed by the
Goodluck Jonathan administration, which saw a
campaign official and some other suspected
cronies of the ex-president smiling to the banks
with up to 50 per cent commission from the
proceeds of a foreign crude oil lifting contract,
turning them into instant billionaires.
In the middle of the shady deal is a Nigerian oil
and gas company, Sarb Energy, which acted as a
dodgy middleman in a non-transparent
government-to-government crude oil sale
between the Nigerian and the Zambian
governments.
Sarb Energy, incorporated on September 19, 2008,
was specifically established for the controversial
deal.
This newspaper has established that Sarb Energy
has link with at least one political associate of
former President Jonathan, whose five-year reign
as leader of Africa’s largest oil producer was
characterized by allegations of massive
corruption, especially in the oil and gas sector.
The company’s directors at inception, according
to records at the Corporate Affairs Commission,
were Nimi Barigha-Amange, a former Peoples
Democratic Party’s senator from Bayelsa
(2007-2011), who also served as director of
planning, research and strategy for Mr.
Jonathan’s re-election campaign in 2014; Sylva
Ogbogu, a retired Brigadier General; Akpan
Ekpene, the managing director of the company,
who executed the deal; and Ogba Properties and
Investment Company Limited, a company whose
real ownership remained unclear.
For months, PREMIUM TIMES was unable to
obtain its records at the CAC.
Sarb Energy corporate ownership structure
Mr. Barigha-Amange was a director in Deltoil
Nigeria and Pixy Energy, two other companies
with stakes in Sarb Energy.
The crude oil deal
In a testimony he gave at a Zambian court, Mr.
Ekpene said he sold the idea of the government-
to-government crude oil deal to the Zambian
government in 2008, which then gave his
company, Sarb, a power of attorney to execute
the contract on its behalf.
Under the deal signed with the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation, the Zambian government
was to lift eight million barrels of crude oil worth
N155.4 billion ($969.6million).
After the deal was sealed on April 20, 2011, Sarb
made an initial deposit of $2.5million to the
NNPC in the name of the Zambian government.
Rather than Sarb importing the crude for use of
the Zambian government at home, it was agreed
that the company would sell the commodity to
other traders, split profit 50-50 with the
government and then remit the Zambian
government’s share to official administration
accounts.
But that didn’t happen. What indeed happened
was that the Nigerians sold the crude and failed
to make payments into Zambian government
accounts.
Instead, according to Mr. Ekpene, parts of the
proceeds were diverted into an account held by
Iexoria, a Singapore-based company allegedly
controlled by Henry Banda, the Zambian
president’s son.
No evidence has emerged till date indicating that
Zambia received any revenue from the deal.
The deal sparked controversy in Zambia, with
former President Rupiah Banda charged with
multiple violations of that country’s anti-
corruption laws.
In his testimony during the trial, Mr. Ekpene
claimed the proceeds of the deal were passed
directly to Mr. Banda and his family.
The Sarb managing director told the court that
his company made two wire transfers worth $
550,000 from its Access Bank account in Nigeria
to a Barclays Bank account in Singapore owned
by Iexoria.
Henry Banda, the Zambian president’s son,
controlled Iexoria. Both transfers were made
before that country’s September 2011 general
elections, when Mr. Banda was still president.
A fake consultancy contract was then drawn up
between Sarb and Iexoria to support the
payments, stating that Iexoria was supposed to
carry out a feasibility study for a power plant.
Mr. Ekpene admitted in court the contract was a
ruse as no such feasibility study was done. He
said that approach was adopted to deceive
Access Bank into authorizing the transfers.
He claimed that he also gave Mr. Banda $
500,000 through his son Henry, to boost his
election campaign. He said that was after Mr.
Banda requested $1 million advance payment
from the government-to-government oil deal.
Mr. Ekpene also told the court that he helped
Banda with campaign materials, which he
transported from Nigeria to Zambia, during a trip
in which he admitted concealing $260, 000 cash
in his luggage.
He said he handed over the cash to Banda at the
Government House for his use in the 2008
campaigns.
He said he made the donation to President Banda
because the intermediary in the crude lifting deal,
Major Richard Kachingwe, allegedly insisted that
they needed to support him to win reelection.
Mr. Ekpene may have, however, lied under oath in
court during the Banda trial when he said only 5.7
million barrels of crude were shipped out of
Nigeria in the deal, with the last cargo loading in
December 2012.
PREMIUM TIMES found, from NNPC and Finance
Ministry records, that 11 cargoes, carrying more
than eight million barrels, were lifted in respect of
the deal.
Insiders say Sarb Energy continued to lift from
the NNPC even when the Zambian authorities
believed the deal had ended.
The Magistrate’s Court in Lusaka, the Zambian
capital, however acquitted Mr. Banda in June
2015, saying the prosecution failed to prove its
case that the former leader violated Section 99(1)
of the Zambian Penal Code.
No progress with investigation in Nigeria
Even though Sarb and its official, Mr. Ekpene,
made startling confessions in court in Zambia,
including admitting laundering funds out of the
country, it does not appear investigation is
making progress in Nigeria.
Mr. Ekpene claimed in court that Nigeria’s
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
looked into the contract in May 2013.
But no enforcement action has so far been taken.
The spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren,
said he was not aware that any such
investigation was ongoing. He promised to
crosscheck with the agency’s investigators and
then revert to PREMIUM TIMES.
The spokesperson for the NNPC, Ohi Alegbe, could
not be reached Monday.
When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr.
Barigha-Amange, the PDP politician, directed all
enquiries on the matter to Mr. Ekpene, the
managing director of the company.
“I don’t know much about this matter,” the former
senator said. “Only the MD can talk about it.”
Mr. Ekpene however declined to comment. He did
not answer or return calls. He also did not
respond to an email sent to him more than a
month ago.



http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/192555-exclusive-jonathans-campaign-chief-others-divert-n155bn-crude-oil-money-to-corrupt-zambian-officials.html

Another devil hunting again

Truth must be told, GEJ was corrupt

It takes a thief to catch a thief...
GEJ never had trust issues was never suspicious of his workers.

They betrayed him anyway.

Men, na like this we go dey look.

wake up every morning, all we hear and watch on news is how money is been share by privilege few, under GEJ.

we learn he was with BABA yesterday at Aso rock.
Baba try give am house arrest jo.

We are tired of all this bullshit



Lalasticlala breakfast ready.

Imagine while those accused in Zambia were being tried, ours were left off the hook.

So if una no add gej name una paper no go sell abi? From the whole story the fraud is not on the part of nnpc or the Nigerian government. It is the Zambian government and the middleman serb that are at fault

Gej this gej that na only gej wey don mis rule dis our country I can bet my life more corruption happened under ibb buhari abacha regime nd not to forget obj raped us real bad both from the front nd the back nd buhari is back again too pls u guys shuld leave ebele goodluck azikiwe aka the obas alone he played his part well at least we knw no Nigeria blood is worth his ambition not obj that was looking for a 3rd term to rape us more African rulers nd corruption birds of the same feather

Money Laundry is an offence in nigeria. Why I s EFCC nog looking into that, even if the shady contract with NNPC is Ok. Which I doubt would be. Why can't they just do a straight forward business and enjoy the profits. Why steal, when you know somebody somewhere would find out or dig out.

Baffles me sometimes the way these politician think.

GOD Bless Nigeria and everyplace else.

Enough of the noise. This is no excuse for an almost balkanized Nigeria under Buhari.

Buhari has the details, let him probe the people involved and prosecute the guilty. Until then, this is just the typical distraction of the APC govt from actual governance.

Kapish

Hmm...

Na wa oo