Atiku: I Was a 419 Victim
• Gani, Falana ask EFCC to prosecute ex-VP
From Andy Ekugo in Abuja and Davidson Iriekpen in Lagos, 06.08.2007
Jefferson Saga
Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, said yesterday that he was a victim of a 419 scam in the controversial United States Congressman Williams Jeffer-son saga.
Atiku, who was reacting to THISDAY story on the US Grand Jury report on the congressman, said the report of the jury showed that he was an innocent public official who, in the discharge of his functions, was exposed to a conman who dropped his name to swindle unsuspecting businessmen.
Speaking through his campaign organisation in a statement issued in Abuja, the former vice president denied that he agreed to take Jefferson's bribe to influence any business transaction in Nigeria. He described the report as "untrue and mischievous".
But Lagos lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), and the President of West Africa Bar Association (WABA), Mr. Femi Falana, said it was clear from the indictment of Jefferson in the American court that Atiku "definitely" has a case to answer.
The Convener of United Action for Democracy (CUAD), Mr. Bamidele Aturu, and another lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, however disagreed with Fawehinmi and Falana, saying Nigerians should not jump into conclusion yet over the issue.
THISDAY had yesterday quoted the Grand Jury report which said Atiku agreed to accept a bribe in the form of a percentage in order to assist Jefferson secure a business deal in the country. This allegation is part of the basis on which Jefferson would be tried on a 16-count charge in an American court.
In a detailed account of the congressman's dealings, the 94-page report which indicted Jefferson, entitled "United States of America V. Williams J. Jefferson," referred to Atiku as "Nigerian Official A... a high ranking official in the executive branch of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria," who "acted in an official capacity for and on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."
It revealed that the congressman received the sum of $100,000 from his cohorts meant as bribe money to the former vice president.
THISDAY had indeed also reported that Atiku has repeatedly denied asking for or receiving bribe in the deal.
In the statement issued by his campaign organisation yesterday, the former vice president was also unhappy that the THISDAY report suggested that he would have been prosecuted in the US save for the fact that he was a foreign citizen.
He said the war against graft and related financial crimes was a borderless one, stating that he would have been prosecuted wherever he may be.
The former vice president said the story was a "doctored and falsely reported conclusions of the US Grand Jury Report."
"I have said for the umpteenth time that in my brief meeting with Congressman Jefferson, I neither solicited nor did the US lawmaker offer me any material inducement for any assistance in respect of his business dealings in Nigeria.
"The Grand Jury report cited by a national newspaper in its highly libelous publication yesterday contained only an allegation by Jefferson that I had agreed to a share of the profit from his communications business in return for some assistance. This is totally untrue.
"Congressman Jefferson has proved to be a conman who tried to use my name to milk his business partners of thousands of dollars he purportedly paid to Nigerian officials as bribes", Atiku said.
In his view, the report of the Jury clearly shows that he (Atiku) is an innocent public official who in the discharge of his functions was exposed to a conman who continuously dropped his name before unsuspecting businessmen to swindle them.
"In the Nigerian parlance, Atiku was a victim of a 419 scam whose name was dropped by the 419ner to swindle unsuspecting businessmen," he said.
Atiku said the story which he described as part of a sustained but vain attempt to smear his integrity "not only failed to take cognizance of the import of the 94-page report of the American Jury on the Jefferson saga, it was also a condemnable selective reporting that stands logic and evidence on its heads to satisfy the malicious intentions of its sponsors."
According to him, the report of the US Jury, states "on or about July 18, 2005, following the meeting with Nigerian official A, Defendant Jefferson and CW traveled from Potomac, Maryland, to Mclean Virginia where Defendant Jefferson, informed CW (co-operating witness), that, during his private meeting with Nigerian official A, Defendant Jefferson had offered, and Nigerian Official A had agreed to accept, a bribe in the form of a percentage of the profits generated by the Nigerian Joint Venture in exchange for Nigerian official A's official assistance in securing necessary approvals from NITEL."
He further explained that the conclusion of the jury was based on the taped conversation between Jefferson and the businessman he was persuading to part with money as bribe allegedly meant for him (Atiku).
He decried the omission of the second leg of Jefferson's claim "which hard evidence eventually proved Jefferson as dropping his name to swindle the businessman who was accompanied by FBI operatives disguised as his company."
"Congressman Jefferson had sought and collected $100,000 from the same 'businessman' on the pretext that he was taking it to Atiku Abubakar. He also reported to the businessman on tape on August 1, 2005 that he had given the $100,000 to Vice President Abubakar," he said.
That claim, Atiku continued, informed the search on the house of his wife on August 3, 2005 during which the money was not found. The former vice president, however, added that when FBI searched the house of Jefferson on August 3, 2005, $90,000 of the marked $100,000 was found secretly stashed in $10,000 parcels, wrapped in aluminium foil and hidden in the food freezer by Congressman Jefferson.
He wondered why the claims of Jefferson should be found tenable even when hard evidence had clearly proved otherwise. He reiterated that he was requested to see Congressman Jefferson by the Nigerian Embassy in the US and that at the meeting he had with Jefferson, he was informed of a Foreign Direct Investment interest in Nigeria by an American company, iGate, which sought to deploy a new technology using the Copper Cables of NITEL.
The promise was that of a venture that would enhance the revenue profile of NITEL, enhance telephony service in Nigeria and crash the price of telephone service in the country, he said.
"While we do not intend to go into the propriety of the actions of Congressman Jefferson in the matter, we wish to draw attention to the fact that the iGate business venture, which started with Jefferson offering his assistance ended with him bringing at least five members of his family as directors, consultants or legal advisers to the company he was assisting. The 94-page Jury report was replete with instances of Jefferson making false claims to secure cash, stock and traveling expenses from the businessmen who eventually became suspicious," Atiku added.
He also stated that "at the time the scam burst, Jefferson had collected about USD3.5 million and several millions of stock and trips expenses to Ghana and Nigeria from the businessmen. Not less than seven of his companies had been dragged into the venture and five of his family members had become beneficiaries of the business initiative. Not one private benefit had been traced to Atiku. Not a dime of this amount was traced to Atiku by the FBI. It is evident that Atiku's name had only become a veritable asset which Jefferson used to swindle his victim," he said.
Speaking on the issue yesterday, Lagos lawyer, Fawehinmi said the former vice president deserved to be prosecuted for the deal. "It is clear from the indictment of Jefferson in the American court that Atiku definitely has a case to answer and I think the EFCC should swing into action because from the indictment against Jefferson, there is definitely a basis to proceed against Atiku in the appropriate criminal court in Nigeria," he said.
Fawehinmi said there must be no delay in the matter, adding: "Nobody, I repeat, nobody must be seen to be above the criminal law of Nigeria. The EFCC must do its duty and charge Atiku to court."
Falana on his part, said in the reports, there were "copious references" to the transaction involving Jefferson and Atiku, who was described as Mr. A. in the report. He said having regard to the description of the house of the former vice president in Maryland, USA, which was thoroughly searched in the course of the investigation, there was no doubt that the former VP had a case to answer.
According to him, "the report by the FBI (Jefferson's indictment), has no doubt corroborated the indictment of the former VP by EFCC, the Chief Bayo Ojo Administrative Panel and the two committees of the senate."
Falana lamented that whereas in the Nigerian situation, the former VP's indictment was politicised, in the US, Congressman Jefferson has not alleged any political victimisation even though he belongs to the Democratic Party while President George W. Bush is in the Republican Party.
But CUAD convener, Aturu, disagreed with Fawehinmi and Falana, saying the indictment of Jefferson was still a mere charge. "Jefferson has not been proven guilty of an offence. So it has absolutely nothing to do with Atiku. It has no legal effect on Atiku," he said. He advised Nigerians to wait for the proceedings in the US to be completed before jumping into conclusions.
Corroborating Aturu's views, Festus Keyamo said the provision of the law was that one cannot condemn a person that has not been heard from even when there was an indictment. "Even when there was an indictment of Atiku in the said report, he (Atiku) was not the person on trial in that instance. That does not mean we should cover Atiku if he has done anything wrong. He has to be placed on a separate trial and given a fair hearing. We cannot condemn him based on the trial of another person where a reference was incidentally made about him."
