Docked At Last

At last, the controversies that have surrounded the operations of the Police Equipment Fund, PEF, are on the way to being resolved, as two key officials of the organisation were arraigned before a Chief Magistrate Court located in Zone Six area of Abuja last Tuesday. For journalists, it was a long wait for Kenny Martins, PEF National Coordinator, and Ibrahim Dumuje, his deputy, who had been arrested by the police two days earlier. Eventually, the police arrived with the duo at about 2pm.

In the dock, Martins and Dumuje, who were charged along with two other persons, Joni Icheca and Cosmas Okpara, both senior lawyers, looked anything but ruffled, as the as the two-count charge of conspiracy and forgery was read out to them. The Police alleged that the four accused persons on or about 31 March, 2006, at the Corporate Affairs Commission, Wuse, Zone 5, Abuja, conspired to commit a felony by forging documents relating to the Corporate Affairs Commission, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 96 (1) of the Penal Code, cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990. They were also accused of, on the same day, forging form CAC. 7 of Nigerstalg Limited, with intent to defraud the PEF, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 364 of Penal Code Act Cap 532 . The four accused persons pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge. Based on an application by their lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, Chief Magistrate Sunday Ochemena granted Martins and his co-accused bail in the sum of N1 million, with each having one surety who must have landed property in Abuja. Further hearing was adjourned till 4 June 2008. The appearance of the duo in court last Tuesday may well mark the beginning of a long-drawn legal process after months of sustained media propaganda by the Kenny Martins-led management of PEF, the Nigeria Police which has been the major beneficiary of the Foundation’s activities, Lagos-based lawyer, Festus Keyamo, and his client, Ewulum. Ewulum claimed to have been one of the two originators of PEF, but that the idea was hijacked from him by Martins and the others. Even getting Martins to court last week was a battle of wits between Keyamo and the Police. When the case first came up last week, the police prosecutor informed the court that the PEF National Coordinator and his deputy were on the run. He also told the court that investigation into the allegations against the two PEF officials was still going on, adding that all efforts to get the duo to answer questions which the police want to ask them had failed. But Keyamo told the court that Martins was not only before the Inspector-General of Police penultimate week, he also had five policemen attached to him. He, therefore, argued that it should not be hard for the same police to bring him to court if they were willing to. The police prosecutor, U.S. Nwodo, however, still applied for a warrant of arrest, which was granted by the Chief Magistrate. But Martins’ lawyer insisted in court last week that his client’s walk to the Force Headquarters was on his own accord after reading in the newspapers that he had been declared wanted. It was gathered that Martins had reported at the Force Headquarters at 10am last Monday and was immeadiately moved to the Inspector-General’s office for questioning. The PEF National Coordinator was later taken to the Police Special Fraud Unit, SFU, where his interrogation continued. This magazine gathered that the police eventually decided to move against Martins, following a report published in some newspapers last Monday in which he alleged that Mike Okiro, the Inspector-General of Police, had once advised him to offer N10 million and a sports utility vehicle, SUV, to Keyamo as settlement. This, he reportedly said, was to bribe the lawyer, who had been raising various allegations of fraud against the managers of PEF, into silence. Martins claimed to have disregarded the advice. In a statement released from the Force Headquarters last Monday night and signed by Force Public Relations Officer, Agberebi Akpoebi, Okiro described Martins’ allegations as false, malicious and unfounded. “It is surprising that a personality such as Kenny Martins, who knows his right under the law, would state that the IGP ‘forced’ him to offer bribe to parties involved in a case with him. The IGP wishes to advise Kenny Martins to uphold the truth at all times and tell Nigerians how he managed the fund of the Foundation rather than attempt to drag the Nigeria Police Force and its good name into a case before the court,” the statement said. Keyamo was no less vehement in his denial of the allegations, which he described as a desperate attempt by Martins to distract attention from the crimes he had committed. “I challenge him to come out of hiding and report this allegation to law enforcement agencies for investigation. If he does not do so, I will make a petition and submit myself for investigation. These concoction, fabrication and lies do not deserve the dignity of a detailed response other than this dismissive position I have taken,” the lawyer said. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo inaugurated the Presidential Committee on Police Equipment Fund, PCPEF, in March 2006. The PCPEF was mandated to help source funds for equipping the Nigeria Police for improved performance. Under the chairmanship of Martins, PCPEF embarked on various fund raising activities across the country. The Committee reportedly raised billions of naira from corporate entities, government agencies and parastatals and from some foreign donors interested in helping the Nigeria Police. But the PCPEF would later transmute into a registered non-governmental organisation in a manner considered curious by the public. The Foundation, however, launched into its present stream of controversies late last year when Godson Ewulum, who claimed to be the originator of the idea in conjuction with one Agharite who later died in a plane crash, wrote the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, accusing Martins of fiddling with PEF funds. In a petition filed on his behalf by Keyamo, his lawyer, Ewulum accused the Martins-led management team of the PEF of fraudulent activities and mismanagement of over N50 billion belonging to the Foundation. The foundation was also alleged to have spent over N5billion on car gifts to government departments, security agencies, the National Assembly and individuals in the guise of strengthening national security. This was despite the fact that it was specifically established to help equip the police. But Martins immediately denied the allegations, saying that the NGO had raised less than N10 billion. But the allegations refused to go away. After a period of foot dragging, Keyamo was eventually invited about two months ago to substantiate his allegations against Martins. EFCC is yet to make its findings public or charge any of the officials of PEF to court. In the same vein, the House of Representatives had at its sitting on 12 December 2007, also in reaction to the petition by Ewulum, mandated its Committee on Public Petitions to investigate PEF. But the Committee’s public hearing conducted about two months ago was full of drama. Tunji Abayomi and Mike Ozekhome, two lawyers of PEF and Martins, almost engaged Keyamo in fisticuffs during the televised event. The two PEF lawyers argued that sections 88 and 89 of the Nigerian Constitution did not confer the the power to investigate private organisations on the committee. According to them, the issue is before a court of law and conducting a hearing on the matter would be prejudicial to court proceedings. But Keyamo said the issue in court is of defamation and not a criminal offence. This argument was upheld by the House, prompting protests from Martins’ counsel, who subsequently walked out of the hearing. Though the committee is also yet to release the report of the public hearing, it is doubtful if it made any earthshaking discovery while the sitting lasted. For one, the question of how much is in the purse of the PEF and the identity of the donors remained largely unresolved. Martins had insisted in press interviews that he had never received donations from any state, local or federal government. But Alhaji Aliyu Yahaya Gusau, a deputy director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, told the committee that local government chairmen under the aegis of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, made the donation to the Presidential Committee on Police Equipment Fund. Gusau said the money was sheduled to be deducted in two tranches, but former President Obasanjo issued an order that the money be deducted from the Excess Crude Account after the 2007 elections. He said the Accountant-General of the Federation was instructed to warehouse the N7.74bn in the account of the PCPEF with Zenith Bank plc, Ikeja branch in Lagos. Gusau also explained that the government granted waivers to Messrs Globe Motors and Coscharis Motors to import 2,500 units of vehicles for the PCPEF. Zenith Bank officials confirmed the payment and declared the name of the account as Presidential Committee on Police Equipment Fund and not Police Equipment Foundation. But ALGON through its spokesman, Michael Eguma, told the committee that it could not find any correspondence on the donation made, adding that its former secretary left with all the secretariat files. Also, an official of First Inland Bank plc told the committee that in March 2006, N50m was advanced to the PCPEF to enable it run its activities pending its formal launching. The loan, he said, was not paid until May last year. Eleven other banks, including FCMB, UBA, Spring Bank, Diamond, Wema, ETB, and Fidelity told the committee that Chief Kenny Martins, Ibrahim Dumuje and Dr Yaro Gella opened accounts with them in the name of PCPE. Intercontinental Bank said it donated N15m to the committee and that in September 2007, Chief Martins submitted memo articles requesting the change of the name of the account from Presidential Committee on Police Equipment Fund to Police Welfare Fund. The bank said it was constrained do so, but later transferred N100m of the PCPEF into a fixed deposit account of the Police Welfare Fund with a minimum guarantee of 20 per cent. Chief Broderick Bozimo, the former minister of Police Affairs, said he was aware of the establishment of the Presidential Committee on Police Equipment Fund, but added that the government in 2006 withdrew from the fund’s activities when the then Federal Executive Council rejected government’s participation in soliciting funds for the police from private individuals He added that under the memorandum of understanding signed with the government, the fund’s initiators are to render account of all their transactions to government. Howarth Dafinone, who also appeared before the committee said, though he was the appointed auditor of PCPEF, he had not received any correspondence from the the body since it began operation and was not even aware of its change of name to Police Equipment Foundation. Another twist was added to the controversy when the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, resigned his membership and also petitioned the Presidency and EFCC to investigate the alleged fraud in the organisation. President Umar Yar’Adua reportedly ordered an investigation of the fund after this. Martins told journalists at the Maitama office of PEF recently that there was nothing seedy about the change in status of the Foundation from Presidential Committee to a Fund. He insisted that the change was done with the approval of the federal government and with the knowledge of the Corporate Affairs Commission. “We had documents shown and advertised. We have letters from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice to Ministry of Police Affairs and Federal Government ratification of agreements and approval to register Police Equipment Foundation,” he said. But one of the charges against him was that the document with which the Presidential Committee was turned into an NGO was forged. Martins now has a lot of explanations to make to Nigerians even as the trial continues.