The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has seized 29 properties from the
immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu; a former Chief of
Accounts and Budgeting in NAF, Air Vice Marshal Jacob Adigun (retd.); and a
former Director of Finance and Budget, Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo (retd.).
No
fewer than 11 properties were seized from Amosu; 12 were seized from Adigun and
six from Gbadebo.
It
was learnt on Sunday that the properties included three plazas, six mansions, a
quarry, a hospital, a block of flats, animal farms, a school, two hotels, some
uncompleted buildings and some parcels of land.
According
to documents made available, the properties were acquired mostly in 2014.
The
properties seized from Adigun were said to be worth N9.6bn.
Some
of the properties include a shopping plaza known as Capadar Plaza on Adetokunbo
Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, which is worth N980m; a residential mansion on Lake
Chad Street, Maitama, Abuja, worth N450m; an executive mansion in Imo River
Close, Off Dandube Crescent, Maitama, worth N710m and a four-unit terrace on
Agadez Street, Off Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2, worth N720m.
Other
properties, said to belong to Adigun, include a 35-room uncompleted hotel on
Salt Lake Street, Maitama, Abuja; a parcel of land located on Bourdillon
Street, Ikoyi, Lagos; a block of 12 service flats, located on Agodogba Street,
Park View Estate, Ikoyi, said to be worth N1.8bn and a quarry in Bwari area of
Abuja worth about $694,000.
The
source added that all the properties had been temporarily seized.
He
added, “Adigun spent most of his own share of the money on properties and so we
did not recover much cash from him. Amosu, however, returned over N2.3bn and
raised two bank drafts.”
He
added that some of the properties seized from Amosu included a house on Adeyemo
Alakija Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, worth N250m; a duplex at House 11,
Peace Court Estate, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, worth N110m; a N40m property located at
NAF Harmony Estate, Asokoro Base and a five-bedroomed house at Valley NAF
Estate, Port Harcourt, worth N33m.
Others
include a hospital on Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja, known as St. Solomon Hospital
with equipment worth $2.15m and a N95m house on Umaru Dikko Street, Jabi,
Abuja.
The
properties seized from Gbadebo include a fish farm worth N10m; a N20m poultry,
located at Musa Close, Oyibo Ayobu, Lagos and a school known as Bloomsville
International School, Divine Estate, Isheri-Olofin , off Lagos-Ibadan
Expressway.
The
three suspects will be arraigned by the anti-graft agency this week.
The
retired military officers were accused of diverting public funds to the tune of
N21,467,674,707.43 in 2014.
Others
charged alongside the accused persons are Delfina Oil and Gas Limited, McCallan
Oil and Gas Limited, Hebron Housing and Properties Company Limited, Trapezites
BDC, Funds and Pricey Limited, Degree Oil and Gas Limited, Timsegg Investment
Limited and Solomon Healthcare Limited.
One
of the charges read in part, “That you (accused persons) on or about the 5th
day of March 2014 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court,
conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit conversion of the sum
of N21,467,674,707.43, property of the Nigerian Air Force which was derived
from stealing which is contrary to Section18 (A) of the Money Laundering Act of
2012 (as amended) and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.”
According
to other charges, the accused persons had allegedly used some of the
aforementioned companies, which they own, to award phantom contracts to
themselves.
A
prosecution witness for the EFCC, in a case against a former Chief of Defence
Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.), had revealed in court how N558m
was diverted from the accounts of the air force monthly.
The
EFCC was said to have based its investigation on the alleged diversion of N558m
and the diversion of funds allocated to the Nigerian Air Force for the procurement
of arms, fighter jets and other equipment.
Amosu
and his predecessor, Badeh, were, in January, arrested for the
non-specification of procurement costs, absence of contract agreements, award
of contracts beyond authorised thresholds, transfer of public funds for
unidentified purposes and general non-adherence to provisions of the Public
Procurement Act.
The
investigation also centred on the payment of N4,402,687,569.41 for unexecuted
contracts; the procurement of two used Mi-24V helicopters instead of the
recommended Mi-35M series at $136,944,000.00; four used Alpha-Jets for the NAF
at US$7,180,000, funded by ONSA; the cannibalisation of engines from NAF fleet
to justify procurement of jets; and the excessive pricing of 36D6 Low Level Air
Defence Radar at $33m instead of $6m per one.
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