Fresh pardon for Vaswani brothers
National News Jun 19, 2010 The twice deported Vaswani brothers – Sunil, Haresh and Maresh – have been granted a fresh presidential pardon to return to Nigeria.

The presidential pardon, Sunday Vanguard gathered in Abuja, was sequel to a review of their case by the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoka was said to have raised a memo on the issue to President Goodluck Jonathan asking that the Indian businessmen be allowed to return to Nigeria.

The President approved the recommendation last Wednesday.

In November last year, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos quashed the deportation of the Vaswani brothers and some of their foreign workers.

Besides, the court presided over by Justice Mohammed Liman declared that the Federal Government acted wrongly in withdrawing their resident permits and expatriate quota status, as it did not follow due processin their deportation.

The court restrained government and its agents from “enforcing or giving effect to the letter dated April 8, 2009, withdrawing the expatriate quota status of the plaintiffs.”

The brothers were first deported in May 2003 by the Obasanjo government which accused them of defrauding the country of huge import duties.

Their case was however reviewed by the Yar’Adua government which, in a December 12, 2007 letter to the Vaswanis ,said their deportation order had been revoked.

The then Chief of Staff to the President, General Abdullahi Mohammed said government action was based on a “careful study of your case as presented, and, after appraisal, and analysis of submissions by the various relevant government agencies, and in the spirit of justice, fairness and observance of the rule of law”.

Gen. Mohammed said: “consequently, you are as from now being given an unfettered right of return to Nigeria should you choose to do so, just as all relevant agencies concerned have been informed of this development”.

But in April 2009, the Vaswanis were deported for a second time for alleged N2.5 billion tax evasion.

Repatriated with them were 21 of their foreign workers.

The chairman of the Economic and Other Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri, at a press conference in Abuja at the time said the Vaswanis brought into Nigeria nine vessel loads of rice without paying import duties

Presidency fin-gered in Vaswani brothers’ return 
By Our Correspondents   
Sunday, 20 Jun 2010   

   
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Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke 

Fifteen months after the Federal Government ordered the deportation of the Vaswani brothers from Nigeria on import duty evasion, the Indian businessmen are once more back in the country, SUNDAY PUNCH investigation has revealed.



Their latest return, it was learnt, was facilitated by the office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke.



Indeed, some of their associates and senior managers that were sent packing last year were sighted by one of our correspondents at their Stallion Motors Lagos office on Friday.



The Vaswanis own the motor company which controls seven top brands of vehicles in the country. They are also into the importation of a wide range of goods into the country.



The FG had in April 2009 deported the three brothers, Sunil, Haresh and Mahesh, as well as their 28 associates following their alleged involvement in shady deals that cost Nigeria hefty financial losses.



But a Federal High Court in Lagos presided by Justice Mohammed Liman, had on November 4, 2009, set aside the deportation order on the Vaswanis.



Liman who said the FG action was illegal also restrained the authorities from confiscating or sealing the business operations of the Indian businessmen.



However, the EFCC appealed against the order and the matter is still in court.



They had earlier been deported by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo but were recalled by the administration of the late President Umaru Yar‘Adua.



The EFCC, under the superintendence of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, had exposed the huge loss the government was incurring on import revenues occasioned by the activities of the Vaswanis.



Also, the EFCC, under Mrs. Farida Waziri, has been trailing the Vaswani brothers, which led to the sealing of their operational business offices in Lagos and Kano.



Waziri had in August 2009 initiated a N2.5bn case against an ex-Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr. Hamman Bello Hammed; Popular Foods Ltd., allegedly belonging to the Vaswanis, Hannatu Sulaiman and others, on the loss of revenue to government due to business activities of the Indian businessmen.



The case is before Justice Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court Lagos.



It was gathered that Adoke sent a memo to President Goodluck Jonathan on the need for the FG to pardon the Vaswanis so that they could return to the country to continue their business.



The AGF allegedly based his plea on the fact that their companies had thousands of Nigerians in their employ.



A Presidency source told SUNDAY PUNCH that the President approved Adoke‘s memo on June 9.



The EFCC had in 2009 explained that its decision to seal off their offices was as a result of their refusal to honour its invitations.



Its spokesman, Mr. Femi Babafemi, had said then, ”They have remained evasive and continued to dodge all the efforts to get them interrogated.”



The Senior Special Assistant to President Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ima Niboro, did not respond to the text message sent to his phone on the matter.



Efforts to get the AGF to react to the Vaswanis return saga was abortive as his telephone line was not available.



However, his media adviser, Mr. Onyema Omenuwa, told SUNDAY PUNCH that he was not aware of such a memo.



Further, he was pressed to get in touch with his boss and get back to our correspondent; but his feed back was not available as at the time of filing this report.



Meanwhile, an employee of the company, who could not confirm whether Haresh and his brothers were in the country on Saturday, admitted that virtually all the other senior managers sent packing with the Vaswanis were back at their duty posts.



He added that one of the managers attended a function held on Saturday at the Volkwagen Place, Gbagada, Lagos.



He also expressed delight at their return, saying there were fears of mass sacking as the group planned to scale down its business in Nigeria.

This are favours to clear the way

Is Jonathan actually any different from our past corrupt, incompetent and complacent leaders?

here we go again, sometimes i just wonder if we can ever really do things right in this country, CAN THIS HAPPEN IN GHANA take a thought to it, our political fix it men have done it again.

shanktang have you been in ghana,why are u nigerians so crazy about ghana -niegrian comparissons,cant u analyze pbjectively,i am in ghana and i know of so many high profile sorruption cases and judicial am twisting here so dont even compare,because the nigerian media choose not to make public ghana corrupt practises dosnt mean we dont know them.face nigerian problems and stop acting inferior

@PROJECT

God bless you

am begining to have a second thought about this jonathan. lets look at it this way a nigerian caught evading tax in india their home country, not once but twice deported. will they let that nigerian go Scot free? i know in most countries tax evasion is a very serious offence.

this jonathan man is allowing power intoxicate him

RICHIE BOI:

am begining to have a second thought about this jonathan. lets look at it this way a nigerian caught evading tax in india their home country, not once but twice deported. will they let that nigerian go Scot free? i know in most countries tax evasion is a very serious offence.

lol! second thoughts? Wait until you know the man you just voted in come april 2011. It would be too late

RICHIE BOI:

am begining to have a second thought about this jonathan. lets look at it this way a nigerian caught evading tax in india their home country, not once but twice deported. will they let that nigerian go Scot free? i know in most countries tax evasion is a very serious offence.

The main problem is that Jonathan , regardless of how anyone may try to whitewash his image, is a loyal disciple of the "business-as-usual" style of politics that is ruining Nigeria. Do I think he is entirely useless? No but I don't think he will achieve much either and I hope to be proven wrong for Nigeria's sake.


Jonathan is simply too much of an 'accidental' leader and a visionless career politician for my liking. He may not be the worst but he is nothing special either and there are far, far better Presidential candidates than him available.

vaswani brothers turning into the symbol of discontinuity in nigerian polity.

they started during the abacha days

Obj used them but later expelled them from Nigeria
Yar'adua brought them back in and then expelled them again from Nigeria

So what did Jonathan see that will be any different from his predecessors.

Absolutely Ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nonsense. . . . GJ is a clown!

Ibime:

Nonsense. . . . GJ is a clown!

lol

@post same o same o

Ibime:

Nonsense. . . . GJ is a clown!

lol

U got to love Southerners!!!!

I wish Northerners will also learn to criticize their brothers when they are wrong!!!!!

This dishonesty has been apparent from the beginning. Nothing good can come from Peoples Demonic Party.

This Adoke man makes Aondoaka look like a schoolboy, have you people been counting his mistakes decisions in just 3 months.

I don't expect much for whoever is in power in Ghana.

Nigeria so fuc ked up - Not this vasawmi brothers again- To all the GJ cock sukers - I am please so say - No bloody revolution - no change in Nigerian

Abacha used and dump
Obj used and dump
Yar adua used and dump

Now Jonathan wants to use and later dump

Ibime:

Nonsense. . . . GJ is a clown!

yup.

Nonsense. . . . GJ is a clown!

very wrong.

GJ is not the clown.

It is the 150million Nigerians who can do nothing against the people that's destroying their lives are the clowns.

what a waste of a country!

Shall we continue like this All these OGA at the TOP, God dey oooo

So this scumbag has done this before.