Shahara Reporters reveal how Duke escaped ICPC nose

Author: Posted by Admin Sahara
Saharareporters,
Extensive investigations by a team of Saharareporters’ correspondents have revealed the shady role played by Mrs. Miriam Uwais as well as Justice Emmanuel Ayoola to scuttle the money laundering and corruption case against former Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State and his wife, Onari. Mrs. Uwais, the wife of former Chief Justice of the Federation, Mohammed Uwais, is fast emerging as “Abuja’s power lawyer,” according to one of our sources, an agent with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). She and her husband were prominent players in the regime of former President of Nigeria, Mr. Umaru Yar’adua. Former Chief Justice Uwais was Yar’adua’s main man entrusted with the controversial task of “electoral reforms.”
ICPC agents interrogated Duke and his wife over what one agent described as “their massive corrupt enrichment” during Duke’s tenure as a two-term state governor.

Mrs. Uwais represented Donald Duke and his wife before the ICPC. One agent familiar with the interrogation told Saharareporters that “Mrs. Uwais used her powerful influence to ensure that Duke was never properly interrogated even though the petitions against him are elaborate.” The agent stated that “There’s avalanche of evidence indicting Duke for corrupt enrichment.”
One of the petitions, published last October by Saharareporters, detailed a variety of financial scams and money laundering activities by the former flute playing “boyish governor”.

Duke’s ostensible “clearance” has further exposed the direction of Yar’adua government’s so-called anti-corruption crusade and also the underlying reason why the ICPC was never an effective anti-corruption agency under Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, a retired Supreme Court judge who has headed the ICPC for several years.
When Duke was first invited to appear before investigators at the ICPC, he declined the invitation on the advice of his lawyer, Mrs. Uwais. Our sources said she told the former governor to tarry a while she worked on Justice Ayoola, the ICPC chairman and an old acquaintance of the Uwais family.
She succeeded. When Duke and his wife eventually showed up before ICPC agents, they had obtained unusually favorable terms of interrogation brokered by the ICPC chairman. Our sources within the commission disclosed that Justice Ayoola had specifically instructed ICPC investigators “to treat Duke nicely.” Ayoola also ordered that Duke and his wife be interrogated at an ICPC “safe house” in Abuja instead of the interrogation rooms normally used for the interrogation of suspected money launderers.

An agent told our correspondent that when Duke and his wife, Onari, were driven to the safe house, Mrs. Uwais stood firmly between the Dukes and agents, insisting that she witnesses the entire interrogation session. After a prolonged argument, Mrs. Uwais grudgingly agreed to let the agents do their job.

During several hours of questioning, a flustered Duke admitted to stealing and money laundering, according to one agent familiar with the session. “He pleaded with the agents to let things die down since he had already left office and didn’t get caught up in EFCC’s gale of indictments of former governors. He even offered agents millions of naira if they would help kill the case against him,” said one of our sources for this report.

We have learned that, while Duke was undergoing interrogation, Justice Ayoola, who was traveling outside Nigeria, made several calls to the investigation team. In one of his calls, he asked the agents to let Duke and his wife go home that day, promising to “work with the agents when he returned from the trip.”
Saharareporters has since discovered that former Chief Justice Mohammed Uwais had been on the phone pressuring Justice Ayoola to “call your boys to order.” Duke had Mrs. Uwais a lavish retainership in the expectation that her husband would help clear the corruption mess at the ICPC. Justice Ayoola and Justice Uwais had a long-standing relationship. Several sources at the Supreme Court told Saharareporters that Justice Uwais had helped Ayoola when the latter returned from the Gambia where he served as a chief judge. Ayoola worked for Uwais as a speechwriter and also helped the then CJN to pen Supreme Court judgments. Our sources also said that Uwais championed Ayoola’s elevation to the Supreme Court.

ICPC sources told Saharareporters that, as soon as Duke’s interrogation ended, Justice Ayoola ordered the investigators to stay action on the final report. “This was an attempt to find ways to help Duke who had indicted himself before investigators,” one ICPC source told us. “Mrs. Uwais also moved in on the team of investigators and offered some of them substantial bribes to sway their final report. They did not disappoint.”

Saharareporters found out that, as soon the team completed investigations on Duke, they sent a copy of their draft findings to Mrs. Uwais. She in turn doctored the findings to reflect the conclusion that Duke was not guilty.
However, some team members who were not privy to the bribe – or had refused to accept – sent a different report to the chairman indicting Duke and his wife. But the two-page findings, which were made in bullet points by the leader of the team and sent to the commission’s chairman, are now gathering dust on Justice Ayoola’s desk.
However, the report that “exonerated” Duke and his wife was massively circulated to the media. The next day, screaming headlines in local newspapers reported that Duke had been cleared of all corruption and money laundering accusations.
Former Governor Duke was so elated by the ICPC “clearance” and the newspaper reports that he offered unsolicited advice to Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, who was hiding from EFCC operators, to come out and face the agency the same way he faced ICPC investigators.
Several members of the ICPC investigation panel, speaking anonymously to Saharareporters, said Duke could not have been exonerated because “he was caught red handed.” They also stated that Duke and his wife admitted to investigators that they were involved in money laundering and corruption.

The investigators particularly pointed to the underhanded way in which the Cross River State-owned Metropolitan Hotel was sold. The six storey building is in a prime location, precisely opposite the Governor’s office and adjacent to the Calabar stadium and International Conference Centre as well as the Millennium Park. It is also easily accessible to the Calabar airport and located near several banks. The hotel was valued at over N2 billion naira, but Duke approved its sale for a paltry N200 million to interests connected with Duke. 

Duke’s wife also admitted to misappropriating four hundred and eighty million naira (N480 million) through her Enterprise Nigeria Foundation, an NGO owned and managed by her. The monies were deducted from local government accounts without recourse to due process. The funds were never accounted for.

Duke’s corruption and massive financial shenanigans are now blossoming in other parts of the country, especially in Lagos. The ex-governor has built three sets of high-rise luxury flats on No. 9A Gerard Road, Ikoyi, in Lagos. The flats, known as ADMIRALTY TOWERS, are rented out to multinational oil companies at $5,000 per month.
One of Duke’s corruption-oiled luxury investments is currently playing out in Ikoyi, Lagos where the former governor is locked in a battle with the Federal High Court establishment over his questionable purchase of the Lagos residence of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court at 1 Temple Road in Ikoyi Lagos.

The recently retired Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice (Mrs.) Roseline Ukeje, facilitated Duke’s acquisition of the property. One judicial source told Saharareporters that “Mrs. Ukeje’s legendary corruption remains unrivaled in the history of the Federal High Court system.”
Our sources said Justice Ukeje connived with Duke to bid for the house after she convinced former President Olusegun Obasanjo – through Andy Uba, the former president’s senior domestic aide – to waive the residence of the Chief Judge for sale to buyers. Though Obasanjo cancelled the sale of Federal Government houses in 2005, Justice Ukeje retained her right to bid for her residence.

Duke, who had already purchased No 3 Temple Road, where he is currently building a massive five-star hotel, also bought the Chief Judge’s house for N555 million. He then decided to occupy the residence as soon as Justice Ukeje indicated to him that she was about to move out of the building to a house she purchased for 400 million naira on Glover Road in Ikoyi. 

On March 27, 2008, Duke addressed a letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court stating that the right of ownership to the Chief Judge’s house was conferred on him by virtue of a Certificate of Occupancy for a duration of 99 years.
The letter reads in part: “The right to the property was granted me via C of O in August 2006 and because of the exigency of my public office, I was unable to take possession of the said property earlier.
“Consequently, upon the above, I respectfully wish to inform you of my intention to take up the possession of the said property before the end of April 2008.”
The C of O was perfected on May 25, 2007, four days before the ex-governor handed over power to Senator Liyel Imoke.
Mrs. Helen U. Esuene signed the document on behalf of the Federal Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development.

To prevent Duke’s occupation of the property, the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court, Mr. Ayo Emmanuel, filed a suit against the Minister of Housing, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Implementation Committee of the White Paper on the Commission of Enquiry into the Alienation of Federal Government Landed Property.

Meanwhile, Duke had already effected a take-over of the property with the help of soldiers provided by the Chief of Army staff.
A source knowledgeable about Duke’s deal with former Justice Ukeje told Saharareporters that the former chief judge had notified Duke of her date of relocation from the property. “Armed with that information, Duke had the opportunity to seize the property before the new chief judge could move in.”
Our sources said the guards at the property had initially disallowed Duke’s soldiers from taking over the property. “For several weeks, the guards refused to let the soldiers into the compound, thereby creating a hostage-like situation on the property. Court officials provided the guards with food, medicine and change of clothing until the aging guards could no longer bear it. That’s when Duke and his soldiers took over the property.”

On April 8, 2008, Justice Tijani Abubakar of the Federal High Court granted an injunction restraining Federal Government agents from selling the disputed property. “That ruling has put a wrench into Duke’s plans to convert the chief judge’s residence to a five star hotel,” said one of our sources. The judge also restrained the Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development and his agents from interfering with the property, pending the determination of the motion.

The ruling was informed by item 16 (iii) of the Federal Government’s approved guidelines on the sale of its properties in Lagos, which exempted the sale of houses occupied by federal judges that are based in Lagos.
The item stipulates: “For special, diplomatic or statutory reasons, the following properties shall be exempted from sale: State House Dodan Barracks; Vice-President’s Guest House; Houses occupied by Federal Judges that are based in Lagos; Properties excluded from sale by Government directives; Properties approved for redeployment; Properties allocated to the African Union and currently in use; and Properties allocated to United Nations Agencies and currently in use.”

The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court intends to join Duke in the lawsuit as it progresses. An agent at ICPC told Saharareporters: “It will be interesting to see how, Duke, who so far has been playing hooky with anti-corruption police, will be able to explain how he came about the sudden wealth that turned him into an estate mogul overnight – less than a year after he left office as governor.”

A source close to Governor Imoke told Saharareporters thatDuke’s massive investment in hotels is ironic “with his TINAPA white elephant project falling apart and unoccupied by the bogus international businesses for which it was purportedly built.”
Meanwhile, the stakes are getting higher for Mrs. Uwais who is the Federal Government’s lawyer in the multi-million dollar Pfizer case.

More importantly, she is following in the footsteps of her husband whose Supreme Court ruling in 2003 has provided the precedent for several bizarre rulings by electoral petition tribunals. Justice Uwais is Yar’adua’s “magic man” to fix and reform Nigeria’s electoral troubles, but his wife’s legal work in Kebbi State has proved that the expected electoral reform “is nothing but a ruse and an organized illusion,” according to an official of an NGO that monitors democratic practices.

Mrs. Uwais was a prominent member of the legal team that packaged the controversial election appeals ruling in Kaduna that reversed the nullification of Usman Dakingari’s election as governor of Kebbi. Dakingari is Yar’dua’s son-in-law.

Several judicial sources told us that Mrs. Turai Yar’adua financed the ruling which an Abuja-based lawyer described as “shameful and weird,” while President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullahi, collaborated on the case.
The case further solidified Mrs. Uwais’ reputation as Abuja’s preeminent power-lawyer who is sought after by corrupt public officials.
http://www.saharareporters.com/www/news/detail/?id=632

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