The counsel to Chief Jide Omokore, the Chairman of Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited, has called on the media, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other government agencies involved in criminal investigations against the businessman not to vilify him or other Nigerians who are under investigation.
This, according to the lawyer and former General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Lawal Rabana, SAN, is necessary to avoid creating a bias in the minds of the public before the evidence against such people is tested in court.
Rabana took particular exception to media reports consistently linking Omokore to former Petroleum Minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, as her business associate, saying his client is a bona fide business man who should not be confined to the shadows of the former minister.
Rabana said in a statement made available to The Nation: “There is too much prosecution of people on the pages of newspapers, The EFCC does not seem to observe the basic tenets of what the rule of law is all about.
“The rule of law is that if you arraign a man in court, allow the court to make its findings, conclusion and pass judgment. The EFCC, from the utterances and the statements they dish out to the public, are always conclusive.
“They will tell you we have investigated A or we have arrested B, creating the impression that the man is already guilty, therefore biasing the minds of the Nigerian public against some of these people who, at the end of the day, may not have committed the heinous crimes or allegations leveled against them.
“So, for me, the fight against corruption is not what you achieve through newspapers’ sensational stories.
“It is through the facts you are able to put together and present to court to secure a conviction and retrieval of whatever is involved in the corrupt practices.”
Rabana also faulted the impression that Omokore is Diezani’s associate, saying that the oil magnate, who is facing prosecution for alleged money laundering offences, “is a businessman who has his own companies, bides for jobs, entered into contracts with NDPC and NNPC to provide some services under the strategic alliance agreement and which has being ongoing, and that has nothing to do with his relationship with Diezani. It is an agreement between institutions and the company.”
Rabana lamented that any time the former minister’s name is mentioned, the next thing is tol link Omokore’s name to whatever she is accused of in what appears to be a deliberate attempt to discredit his client. He urged the EFCC and the media to draw the distinction.
He said: “If you are investigating Diezani, investigate her and limit your investigation to what has been traced to her, either by her conduct or by her diversion or by her abuse of office, and that is if it has been established.
“But this should not be extended to independent and third parties whose only offence is that they had a business transaction with the organisation she headed.”
He said “the totality of the allegations against Jide Omokore and his companies is that they failed to remit some monies to the government coffers, arising from the operations of the strategic alliance agreement.
“And the totality of that money involved, which has always been the source of disputes between the company and NPDC, is about 800 million dollars.
“There is a charge in court already and the figures have been specified. It is not anywhere near the figure bandied in the media.
“There is also a civil aspect where the government has gone to seek Mareva injunction. The figures are there.
“So, where does Jide Omokore and Atlantic come into contact with $10 billion? It is very unfortunate, and that is the impression Nigerians will continue to have.
“But let me say that it does more damage to the image of the country and to the government that, if it is true, you have a system, you have institutions and $10 billion of government money is being taken out systematically by an individual to buy properties all over the world.
“Ten billion dollars would buy a whole county in America. 10 billion dollars would buy six, seven states in Nigeria. So, it’s an institutional failure to allow such a thing to happen,
“There must be a sustained policy. There must be a drive by key government functionaries to ensure that it does not happen. It is not after it has happened that you begin to turn everybody into a devil.
“So, for me, the fight against corruption may hit the rocks if the strategy is not changed.
“EFCC should talk less. EFCC should not prosecute people on the pages of Newspapers, let them go to court and prove their case.”
The former NBA General Secretary stated that without prejudice to the outcome of the court trial, “it’s a civil breach of contract, whose remedy lies in the recovery of that money, and the Federal Government did the right thing by approaching the Federal High Court through a Mareva Order of Injunction to say that these companies are owing us so much money and we fear that they might not be able to pay us at the end of the day, therefore hold on to the their assets.
“That is a civilized approach, and it is in accordance with the rule of law.
“Even though that procedure is a subject of litigation I don’t want to go into the merit.
“Therefore, if a breach of every agreement becomes criminal, then I can tell you 90% of Nigerian businessmen would be in jail or would be facing prosecution either from the police or the EFCC.
“People don’t go to arbitration. Any little thing that shows that there is a disagreement between you and government, the EFCC is coming in. Like this particular one.”
Credit: Nation
