As part of the general requirements for the selection of candidates that will fly its flag in the presidential election coming up in Nigeria in 2023, the All Progressives Congress constituted a panel that undertook the screening of its candidates. One of these presidential aspirants, who also happens to be the leader of the party, is Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

Making the pitch for his candidacy before the panel, Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, claimed, among other things, that he brought Enron, a liquidated American energy company, to Nigeria. For him, this was a demonstration of the premium he pays to solve the country’s intractable energy crises. The APC presidential aspirant also famously claimed he was the one who brought Econet Wireless (now Airtel) to Nigeria.

The matter here is not about Airtel. Those who followed the first GSM auctions conducted in Nigeria in January 2001 had responded well enough by pointing to Zimbabwean entrepreneur, Strive Masiyiwa, and scion of Nigeria’s foremost investment banker, Bolaji Balogun as behind the entry of this business that was to eventually become the first to make a call on the GSM platform in Nigeria early in August of the same year.

As Assistant Editor with Policy, Nigeria’s foremost business magazine of the time, I had followed the Enron scandal quite closely as the company continues to unravel its contrived financial underbelly. I remember that at a point, our publisher, Enitan Sanusi, at one of our editorial meetings, crafted one cover theme that he called, The Enronesque off-balance sheet of Nigerian banks, an edition that was envisioned to reveal how Nigerian banks were also cooking their books.

I cannot remember whether we eventually pulled off this edition, but that was just how closely the issue of Enron was discussed at the place where I worked.

But as the Governor of Lagos State, Tinubu was to later introduce this same company, whose senior management staff served jail terms for financial crimes (CEO, Kenneth Lay, died while awaiting sentencing) ostensibly to solve the state’s electricity challenges.


Photo credit: Ikem’s Journal
The project failed for three major reasons. The first was that Enron was dead in its home country and lacked the soul and expertise to birth operations in another country. The second was that Lagos State was not in a position to generate its own power because electricity is in the exclusive legislative list and Tinubu knew this before he dragged the state into that deal. The third was because the (largely disused and obsolete) equipment brought by that company to Nigeria would be too expensive to run.

This venture cost Lagos heavily and was to eventually drift into oblivion, heralded by deafening conspiratorial silence by those who trumpeted its arrival. For the former Governor to hype this as one of his sterling achievements about 20 years later surprised a lot of us. I had to go back to the archives to read up on Enron again to be sure there was nothing that I missed and which made Tinubu mention the ill-fated company in his list of accomplishments that qualify him to become Nigeria’s president.

There are tons of articles from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Economist, Time, Newsweek, and a host of others. What I did after sampling many of these was to select the article that was short and devoid of the technical jargon of financial reporting. My choice eventually became the one published by Britannica.

I did this so that those who were not here then, those who were here but not paying attention to the issue, and those not old enough to know what was going on in the world of business, can read and appreciate what Enron stood for, and whether or not it is proper for anybody to even make reference as one of his or her standout achievements that should qualify him to become Nigeria’s President in 2023.



Enron’s Downfall and Bankruptcy

As the boom years came to an end and as Enron faced increased competition in the energy-trading business, the company’s profits shrank rapidly. Under pressure from shareholders, company executives began to rely on dubious accounting practices, including a technique known as “mark-to-market accounting,” to hide the troubled operations of the company were transferred to so-called special purpose entities (SPEs), which are essentially limited partnerships created with outside parties. Although many companies distributed assets to SPEs, Enron abused the practice by using SPEs as dump sites for its troubled assets. Transferring those assets to SPEs meant that they were kept off Enron’s books, making its losses look less severe than they really were. Ironically, some of those SPEs were run by the chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow himself. Throughout these years, Arthur Andersen served not only as Enron’s auditor but also as a consultant for the company.

In February 2001, Jeffrey Keith Skilling took over as Enron’s chief executive officer, while Lay stayed on as chairman. In August, however, Skilling abruptly resigned, and Lay resumed the CEO role. By this point, Lay had received an anonymous memo from Sherron Watkins, an Enron vice president who had become worried about the Fastow partnerships and who warned of possible accounting scandals.

The severity of the situation began to become apparent in mid-2001 as a number of analysts started digging into the details of Enron’s publicly released financial statements. In October, Enron shocked investors when it announced that it was going to post a $638 million loss for the third quarter and take a $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity owing in part to Fastow’s partnerships. Shortly thereafter the Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating the transactions between Enron and Fastow’s SPEs. Some officials at Arthur Andersen then began shredding documents related to Enron audits.

As the details of the accounting frauds emerged, Enron went into free fall. Fastow was fired, and the company’s stock price plummeted from a high of $90 per share in mid-2000 to less than $12 by the beginning of November 2001. That month Enron attempted to avoid disaster by agreeing to be acquired by Dynegy. However, weeks later Dynegy backed out of the deal. The news caused Enron’s stock to drop to under $1 per share. On 2nd December 2001, Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Lawsuits and legislation

Many Enron executives were indicted on a variety of charges and were later sentenced to prison. Notably, in 2006, both Skilling and Lay were convicted on various charges of conspiracy and fraud. Skilling was initially sentenced to more than 24 years but ultimately served only 12. Lay, who was facing more than 45 years in prison, died before he was sentenced. In addition, Fastow pleaded guilty in 2006 and was sentenced to six years in prison; he was released in 2011.

Arthur Andersen also came under intense scrutiny, and in March 2002 the U.S. Department of Justice indicted the firm for obstruction of justice. Clients wanting to assure investors that their financial statements could meet the highest accounting standards abandoned Andersen for its competitors. They were soon followed by Andersen employees and entire offices. In addition, thousands of employees were laid off. On 15th June 2002, Arthur Andersen was found guilty of shredding evidence and lost its license to engage in public accounting. Three years later, Andersen lawyers successfully persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to unanimously overturn the obstruction of justice verdict on the basis of faulty jury instructions. But by then there was nothing left of the firm beyond 200 employees managing its lawsuits.

In addition, hundreds of civil suits were filed by shareholders against both Enron and Andersen. While a number of suits were successful, and most investors did not recoup their money.

The scandal resulted in a wave of new regulations and legislation designed to increase the accuracy of financial reporting for publicly traded companies. The most important of those measures, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002), imposed harsh penalties for destroying, altering, or fabricating financial records. The act also prohibited auditing firms from doing any concurrent consulting business for the same clients.


https://breezynewsnigeria.com/2022/06/02/tinubu-resurrects-enron-and-i-travel-down-memory-lane/

Truth is Tinubu is just capitalist

SimplePlan34:
Truth is Tinubu is just capitalist

That's not capitalism but fraudism. How can you buy a dead car to use it to carry people from one state to another if not to defraud them of their money?

IT IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO SPOT LIES AND UNTRUTHFULNESS WHEN YOU HAVE A DISCERNING MIND AND THUGHTFULL.

The below is a classic case of a DISUNGENOUS liar where the writer CLAIMED he in the second paragraph of the quote that he cannot remember the editorial meeting he participated was published or not.

"As Assistant Editor with Policy, Nigeria’s foremost business magazine of the time, I had followed the Enron scandal quite closely as the company continues to unravel its contrived financial underbelly. I remember that at a point, our publisher, Enitan Sanusi, at one of our editorial meetings, crafted one cover theme that he called, The Enronesque off-balance sheet of Nigerian banks, an edition that was envisioned to reveal how Nigerian banks were also cooking their books."

I cannot remember whether we eventually pulled off this edition, but that was just how closely the issue of Enron was discussed at the place where I worked.

IF YOU CANNOT SEE THROUGH THE IDENTITY OF A N UNTRUTHFUL PERSON. ARE YOU THEN HUMAN.

Another was who was Bolaji Balogun compared to ABAT. This fellow should have pointed t other achievements of his idol, Bolaji to buttress his TELL TALE.

IMAGINE HE CLIMED Bolaji BROUGHT Econet TO NIGERIA AND THAT THE Enron PROJECT FAILED DUE TO ITS BANKRUPTCY IN ITS BASE, US. THE FALSEHOOD OF A CRANIUM FULL OF LIES.

Bolaji Balogun did not bring Econet to Nigeria, neither did the Enron power project initiated by ABAT failed due to the reason advanced by the congenital liar.

OBJ, THE Otta BRUTE DID NOT ALLOW THE PROJECT TAKE OFF AND LIKE MANY OTHER OF DISAPPROVAL OF ANYTHING Tinubu WHO HE COULD NOT CAGED AND ROBBED AS HE DID TO ALL OTHER GOVERNNORS AND GOVERNMENT OF THE WEST.

Obasanjo CONFISCATED THE BARGIES BROUGHT INTO NIGERIA BY Tinujbu FOR POWER ENERGY RELIANCE AND SELF SUFFICIENCY OF LAGOS STATE. OBJ CLAIMED POWER GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION IN NIGERIA WAS THE EXCLUSIVE PREROGATIVE OF THE GOVERNMENT AT THE CENTER, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA.

That was the genesis of his loggerhead with Tinubu right at the outset of the Tinubu government in Lagos state. We are all witnesses to the STAND OFF with OBJ in all other matters of governance and what happened to all other government of the West and whilst ABAT remained the last and only man standing in the SW.

THERE WAS NO LOVE LOST BETWEEN OBJ AND ABAT BECAUSE THE Otta BRUTE WAS HELL BENT ON STIFFLING AND SQUIZING THE GOVERNMENT IN LAGOS UNDER Tinubu TO A GROUNDED HALT.

THE BELOW ACCORDING TO A PUBLICATION BY Technext

"Did Bola Tinubu play a role? What we know
Bola Tinubu was the governor of Lagos when the auction by the federal government was conducted through the NCC. Remember that Masiyiwa mentions Lagos as one of the two states that financially supported the license fee.

Then, you will realise that the former governor of Lagos and APC presidential aspirant must have truly played a part in that process."

Bolaji Balogun was to guaranty the investment by his fathers's bank, FCMB and other banks involved in the consortium and also ended as an operation personality in the company to safeguard their monies in the enterprise. Bolaji did not bring Econet to Nigeria, his role was limited to the funding of the project in Nigeria.

TRULY Tinubu WAS PIVOTAL IN ATTEMPTING TO SOLVE THE INSURMANTABLE EPILEPTIC POWER ISSUE OF NIGERIA, BUT THE EFFORT WAS TRUNCATED AND FORESTALLED BY Obasanjo, the VINDICTIVE SADIST.

But for Obasanjo, POWER PROBLEM in Lagos state would have become history.


OBJ TILL DATE, WITH HIS REPULSIVE COMPULSIVE NEAR RETARDED MENTALITY REMAINS THE ARCHITECT AND SINGULAR FACTOR OF A FAILING COUNTRY, THE NIGERIAN STATE. HE IS ALSO A DECIDING MENACE FOR HER FUTURE.

Tinubu has proven his mettle in the administration of both human and material resources with capacity to do more and beyond given the opportunity.


WE DO NOT NEED LIARS LIKE THE WRITER OF FALLACY TO SPIN TO US THE TISSUES OF UNTRUTHFULNESS CRAMMED IN HIS CRANIUM.

Nigeria will only get better without an Obasanjo and his ILL ilk.

[quote author=Mickykarim post=113470996]


I was about responding to the concorted dabbles accordingly but you have said it all


Strive masiyiwa told the story 6yrs back on his FB page. He mentioned the important role Lagos state governor played in birthing econet to life in Nigeria. He didn't omit the greedy % cut requested by the then rivers state governor and 2 other states . Strive is very much alive to denounce otherwise.

Otunba Subomi is also very sound and was still the GMD of fcmb holdings then, he can be visited in his London or ijebu home for confirmation.

As regards the energy coy, Enron. All steps was duly checked and concluded towards making major parts of Lagos state run independent of the national grid.
ABAT knew obj would not like the glory this will bring for Lagos but Asiwaju took a worthy risk and it was about to pay off. Obj had to frustrate the process of bringing in the equipment midway and that was what stalled the project.

Eventually, years later, Lagos settled for IPP project and that's what powers some certain areas of Lagos state till today (e g alausa, gbagada )

The man BAT is not without fault but let's give him maximum accolades cos he has made a delectable positive mark on human, Lagos and the nation as a whole

Tinubu, Modern architect of Lasgidi don't have time for hate and perdition children, I know they are going to still wail about him. This man need to be studied by student of politics in our universities, we need to have a full syllabus on Asiwaju with reference to Nigerian politics

Asiwaju, the slayer of mpukumiri addicts. This mandate is yours and kadara will come to pass

Mickykarim:
IT IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO SPOT LIES AND UNTRUTHFULNESS WHEN YOU HAVE A DISCERNING MIND AND THUGHTFULL.

The below is a classic case of a DISUNGENOUS liar where the writer CLAIMED he in the second paragraph of the quote that he cannot remember the editorial meeting he participated was published or not.

"As Assistant Editor with Policy, Nigeria’s foremost business magazine of the time, I had followed the Enron scandal quite closely as the company continues to unravel its contrived financial underbelly. I remember that at a point, our publisher, Enitan Sanusi, at one of our editorial meetings, crafted one cover theme that he called, The Enronesque off-balance sheet of Nigerian banks, an edition that was envisioned to reveal how Nigerian banks were also cooking their books."

I cannot remember whether we eventually pulled off this edition, but that was just how closely the issue of Enron was discussed at the place where I worked.

IF YOU CANNOT SEE THROUGH THE IDENTITY OF A N UNTRUTHFUL PERSON. ARE YOU THEN HUMAN.

Another was who was Bolaji Balogun compared to ABAT. This fellow should have pointed t other achievements of his idol, Bolaji to buttress his TELL TALE.

IMAGINE HE CLIMED Bolaji BROUGHT Econet TO NIGERIA AND THAT THE Enron PROJECT FAILED DUE TO ITS BANKRUPTCY IN ITS BASE, US. THE FALSEHOOD OF A CRANIUM FULL OF LIES.

Bolaji Balogun did not bring Econet to Nigeria, neither did the Enron power project initiated by ABAT failed due to the reason advanced by the congenital liar.

OBJ, THE Otta BRUTE DID NOT ALLOW THE PROJECT TAKE OFF AND LIKE MANY OTHER OF DISAPPROVAL OF ANYTHING Tinubu WHO HE COULD NOT CAGED AND ROBBED AS HE DID TO ALL OTHER GOVERNNORS AND GOVERNMENT OF THE WEST.

Obasanjo CONFISCATED THE BARGIES BROUGHT INTO NIGERIA BY Tinujbu FOR POWER ENERGY RELIANCE AND SELF SUFFICIENCY OF LAGOS STATE. OBJ CLAIMED POWER GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION IN NIGERIA WAS THE EXCLUSIVE PREROGATIVE OF THE GOVERNMENT AT THE CENTER, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA.

That was the genesis of his loggerhead with Tinubu right at the outset of the Tinubu government in Lagos state. We are all witnesses to the STAND OFF with OBJ in all other matters of governance and what happened to all other government of the West and whilst ABAT remained the last and only man standing in the SW.

THERE WAS NO LOVE LOST BETWEEN OBJ AND ABAT BECAUSE THE Otta BRUTE WAS HELL BENT ON STIFFLING AND SQUIZING THE GOVERNMENT IN LAGOS UNDER Tinubu TO A GROUNDED HALT.

THE BELOW ACCORDING TO A PUBLICATION BY Technext

"Did Bola Tinubu play a role? What we know
Bola Tinubu was the governor of Lagos when the auction by the federal government was conducted through the NCC. Remember that Masiyiwa mentions Lagos as one of the two states that financially supported the license fee.

Then, you will realise that the former governor of Lagos and APC presidential aspirant must have truly played a part in that process."

Bolaji Balogun was to guaranty the investment by his fathers's bank, FCMB and other banks involved in the consortium and also ended as an operation personality in the company to safeguard their monies in the enterprise. Bolaji did not bring Econet to Nigeria, his role was limited to the funding of the project in Nigeria.

TRULY Tinubu WAS PIVOTAL IN ATTEMPTING TO SOLVE THE INSURMANTABLE EPILEPTIC POWER ISSUE OF NIGERIA, BUT THE EFFORT WAS TRUNCATED AND FORESTALLED BY Obasanjo, the VINDICTIVE SADIST.

But for Obasanjo, POWER PROBLEM in Lagos state would have become history.


OBJ TILL DATE, WITH HIS REPULSIVE COMPULSIVE NEAR RETARDED MENTALITY REMAINS THE ARCHITECT AND SINGULAR FACTOR OF A FAILING COUNTRY, THE NIGERIAN STATE. HE IS ALSO A DECIDING MENACE FOR HER FUTURE.

Tinubu has proven his mettle in the administration of both human and material resources with capacity to do more and beyond given the opportunity.


WE DO NOT NEED LIARS LIKE THE WRITER OF FALLACY TO SPIN TO US THE TISSUES OF UNTRUTHFULNESS CRAMMED IN HIS CRANIUM.

Nigeria will only get better without an Obasanjo and his ILL ilk.

With Enron that was being charged for fraud then in Houston Many of us are ignorant illetriates

Idiocy at its peak.

It is finished for Tinubu

DO YOU NOW HAVE THE ELECTRICITY?

Including, the erroneous perception of yourself the IGNORANT illiterate.

And, with all your preference for the ones that are not charged for fraud anywhere.

YOU ARE THE MOST FOOLISH. @Iwaeda.

Travel back to 2015, when dollar was 256, rice 6,000 for a bag, diesel 200, fuel 85 Naira.

@Mickykarim

This is a poor and purely sentimental defense job from you. You claimed the writer was lying that he forgot whether the article was published or not yet went ahead to confirm what he said that OBJ stood in the way of the project.

He could not have been lying about the article since he mentioned his editor who was driving the production of the article then. You can easily contact the Enitan Sanusi for confirmation instead of clutching at straws to prove a no-point.

Another obvious flaw in your argument is "Who was Bolaji Balogun compared to ABAT". While we get it that ABAT is your Lord and Saviour, Alpha and Omega, it bears reminding you that there are so many good things that have happened in this country that ABAT has nothing to do with. Bolaji Balogun if I may, is the son of the first Nigerian to own an investment bank and to run it successfully. I doubt if ABAT can hold a candle to Subomi Balogun business-wise that is devoid of corrupt political money or influence.

Also note that OBJ can hardly be blamed for disrupting the deal if indeed that was the only reason why the deal collapsed. I say this because OBJ only insisted that the power plants must be integrated into the national grid. Note that Tinubu was well aware that electricity was on the exclusive list. The right thing for him to do would have been to first reach out to OBJ on the matter and secure his approval before venturing into something he has no constitutional backing to do. It is this same grandstanding that led to the seizure of Lagos LG funds which at the end of the day, the SC ruled that states cannot create LGs as Tinubu was trying to do then. A lot of you tinubu worshippers usually leave out that part of the story of the LG funds and stick with the "Lagos survived without the funds and the SC ruled that OBJ had no right to withhold the funds" narrative.

It is common knowledge that Lagos state, just like Delta and Rivers invested in Econet because Nigerian banks were not willing to do so at that point in time, for which the banks were later proven right. But that does not in anyway mean Lagos under Tinubu brought Econet to Nigeria. That's a cheap lie. Econet was brought to Nigeria by Bolaji Balogun and Strive Masiyiwa.

Lastly, note that the writer was pointing out that the company was already facing court cases and eventual bankruptcy in its home country so obviously, the deal was destined to fail whether OBJ interfered or not and you claim that power problem would have been solved in Lagos state with diesel powered turbines to be run by a bankrupt business is false and just totally out of line,

Mickykarim:
DO YOU NOW HAVE THE ELECTRICITY?

Including, the erroneous perception of yourself the IGNORANT illiterate.

And, with all your preference for the ones that are not charged for fraud anywhere.

YOU ARE THE MOST FOOLISH. @Iwaeda.

Don't worry, you will know who is foolish, just tell your master to buy enough handkerchiefs

Lalasticlala
Mynd44
Seun

Enron came to defraud Lagos State