He may be the owner of Abuja’s most luxurious
building and a friend to several Nigerian government officials, past and
present, but the noose is tightening on Aliyu Abubakar in Nigeria and in
Europe.
About a week after Nigeria’s anti-graft agency,
EFCC, filed money laundering charges against him for his role in the Malabu
$1.1 billion scandal, evidence has emerged that Italian authorities also want
him for “international corruption” for his role in the matter.
Prosecutors in Milan, Italy, have therefore written
to Nigeria’s Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, seeking the presence of Mr.
Abubakar in criminal proceedings relating to
the Malabu scandal.
The Italian request contained in a letter of
notification to Mr. Malami are also connected to the recent nine-count charge
filed by the EFCC against Mr. Abubakar, and eight others for their roles in the
scandal.
Apart from Mr. Abubakar, others being prosecuted by
the EFCC include a former Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke; former petroleum
minister, Dan Etete; Malabu oil and Gas; and five other shady companies
controlled by Mr. Abubakar.
It was to Malabu oil and gas, a company whose
roots is marred in corruption,
that the Nigerian government in 1998 controversially
allocated OPL 245, considered Africa’s richest oil block.
PREMIUM TIMES had reported
how Mr. Adoke and former finance minister, Yerima Ngama, approved
the transfer of about $1.1 billion from Nigerian government’s account in London
into Malabu accounts controlled by Mr. Etete.
The money was paid by oil giants, Shell and ENI, into a federal government account, for OPL 245, estimated to contain 9
billion barrels of crude.
Only $801 million of the
money could be transferred to Mr. Etete due to legal issues raised by Emeka
Obi, a businessman who is also being charged by the Italians, in a British
court.
After the transfer to Mr.
Etete, over half of the money was paid to the accounts of the five shady companies controlled by Mr. Abubakar.
Investigations by
authorities in Nigeria, UK, and Italy have found Mr. Abubakar – described by
anti-corruption officials as ‘Mr. Corruption’ for his involvement in various
questionable high profile deals – and others culpable in the scandal.
Mr. Abubakar is believed to
have acted as a front for several politically exposed persons who
benefitted from the funds including Mr. Adoke and Roberto Casula, who was
then the head of Eni’s business operations in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr. Casula received $50 million cash in his Abuja home,
Italian investigators found, while PREMIUM TIMES reported how another former
Attorney General, Bayo Ojo, received $10 million.
The letter seeking Mr.
Abubakar’s presence in Italy, as well as another letter, containing the charge
against him, were jointly written by prosecutors in Italy’s Directorate of
Criminal Justice, the office of International Judicial Cooperation and the
Italian ministry of foreign affairs.
The purpose of the letters
is to inform the accused, owner of the luxurious building beside Transcorp
hotel, Abuja, and the Nigerian government of the allegations against the
controversial businessman.
According to the letters,
dated October 14 and 15, Mr. Abubakar is expected to avail himself in Italy for
trial.
In the “Notice of Proceedings,”
the Italians stated that “Aliyu Abubakar. No. 32 Gana Street, Maitama Abuja
(Nigeria) is hereby notified that criminal proceedings are pending against him
at this Public Prosecutor’s Office for the following offence: International
corruption with the aggravating circumstance of transnationality. Re. OPL 245.”
“Aliyu Abubakar is hereby
requested to declare its domicile in Italy or to choose a domicile in Italy in
order to be able to receive the notifications regarding the proceedings.”
The letter of notification
was signed by an Italian director of foreign affairs, Stefano Opillo, while the
notice of criminal proceedings against Mr. Abubakar was contained in a letter
signed by Milan’s public prosecutors, Fabio de Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro.
Mr. Abubakar could not be
reached on Friday. Also, the spokesperson to Attorney General Malami, Salihu
Isah, did not return calls or reply text messages sent to him on whether
Nigeria would honour the Italian’s request.
Nigeria is, however,
expected to ensure Mr. Abubakar’s availability to the Italians even it means
extraditing him should he decline to make himself available voluntarily.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how
Nigeria and Italy recently signed a mutual legal assistant
treaty that guarantees such cooperation.
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