Business

Pandora Papers: How Peter Obi’s secret businesses allegedly broke the law

Published

3 years ago

October 5, 2021

Peter Obi, the ex-governor of Anambra State, is widely regarded in Nigeria as an advocate of good governance, openness and transparency.

In addition to speeches on his governance records and statistics-laden prescriptions for Nigeria’s development, he likes to talk about how hugely successful he became in business before diving into politics.

In speeches and in printed literature, Obi is never shy, reeling out his numerous business affiliations and accomplishments. On his website, for example, the former governor said he “was chairman of Next International Nigeria Ltd, then chairman and director of Guardian Express Mortgage Bank Ltd, Guardian Express Bank Plc, Future View Securities Ltd, Paymaster Nigeria Ltd, Chams Nigeria Ltd, Data Corp Ltd and Card Centre Ltd.”

On that same platform, the former governor also described himself as the youngest board chairperson ever appointed by Fidelity Bank Plc, a 34-year old Nigerian lender listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

But beyond the facade of priggish speeches and appearances, an investigation by PREMIUM TIMES has now shown that Mr Obi is not entirely transparent in his affairs as he likes Nigerians to believe.

The investigation is part of the global International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)-led Pandora Papers project.

The project saw 600 journalists from 150 news organisations around the world poring through a trove of 11.9 million confidential files, contextualising information, tracking down sources and analysing public records and other documents.

The leaked files were retrieved from some offshore services firms around the world that set up shell companies and other offshore entities for clients, many of them influential politicians, businesspersons and criminals, seeking to conceal their financial dealings.

The two-year collaboration has so far revealed the financial secrets of not less than 35 current and former world leaders, more than 330 public officials in more than 91 countries and territories.

Obi is one of the individuals whose hidden business activities were thrown open by the project.

Indeed, he has a number of secret business dealings and relationships that he has for years kept to his chest. These are businesses he clandestinely set up and operated overseas, including in notorious tax and secrecy havens in ways that breached Nigerian laws.

PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Obi with written questions and had an in-person interview with him weeks ahead of this publication.

The former governor admitted that he did not declare these companies and the funds and properties they hold in his asset declaration filings with the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Nigerian government agency that deals with the issues of corruption, conflict of interest, and abuse of office by public servants.

He said he was unaware that the law expected him to declare assets or companies he jointly owns with his family members or anyone else.

The Pandora Papers, the biggest cross-border collaboration of journalists in history, is an investigation into a vast amount of previously hidden offshore companies, exposing secret assets, covert deals and hidden fortunes of the super-rich – among them more than 130 billionaires – and the powerful, including more 30 world leaders and hundreds of former and serving public officials across the world.

The confidential documents also feature a global cast of fugitives, convicts, celebrities, football stars and others, including judges, tax officials, spy chiefs and mayors.

The leaked records came from 14 offshore services firms from around the world that set up shell companies and other offshore nooks for clients like Obi, who seek to shroud their financial activities, often suspicious, in secrecy.

PREMIUM TIMES

Business

Your pension funds safe, won’t be accessed illegally, FG tells workers

Published

56 mins ago

May 17, 2024

Trends Admin

Your pension funds safe, won’t be accessed illegally, FG tells workers

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, says the Federal Government has no plans of illegally accessing the N20 trillion pension funds for infrastructure development.
He said noone should entertain any fear over the safety of the contributions of workers that make up the pension funds.
Edun had earlier said the spoken on a move to use the pension funds as part of the government’s efforts to bridge Nigeria’s estimated 20 million housing deficit, and provide massive housing and mortgage loans at 12 per cent interest rates, with 25-year repayment plans.
The minister’s comments had elicited serious reactions from notable groups and Nigerians, including the organised labour and a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who advised the government to suspend the move.
Atiku said the move was potentially disastrous for retired Nigerians dependent on their pensions.
But in a statement personally issued on Thursday, Edun said the stories making the rounds that the government planned to illegally access the savings and pension contributions of workers were false.
He stated that the pension industry was guided by rules, adding that the government would be strictly guided by extant rules in accessing the pension funds of workers.
The minister stressed that government would not go outside the stipulated limitations on what the funds could be invested in.
The statement read in partu, “It has come to my notice that there are stories making the rounds that the Federal Government plans to illegally access the hard-earned savings and pension contributions of workers. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
“The pension industry, like most the financial industries, is highly regulated. There are rules. There are limitations about what pension money can be invested in and what it cannot be invested in.
“The Federal Government has no intention whatsoever to go beyond those limitations and go outside those bounds, which are there to safeguard the pensions of workers.
“What was announced to the Federal Executive Council was that there was an ongoing initiative drawing in all the major stakeholders in the long-term saving industry, those that handle funds that are available over a long period to see how, within the regulations and the laws, these funds could be used maximally to drive investment in key growth areas, including infrastructure, housing, and, of course, to find a way to provide Nigerians with affordable mortgages.
“Within this context, there is no attempt, nor is it being considered, to offer unsafe investments for pension funds or even insurance funds or any investment funds.
“No attempt whatsoever to increase the risk. No attempt whatsoever to lower the returns that would otherwise be earned.”

Aviation

Updated: We’ll resume Lagos-Dubai flights on October 1, says Emirates

Published

19 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Trends Admin

Updated: We’ll resume Lagos-Dubai flights on October 1, says Emirates

Emirates Airlines on Thursday announced that its flight operations to Nigeria would resume on October 1, 2024.

It said this in a statement, “The service will be operated using a Boeing 777-300ER. EK783 will depart Dubai at 0945hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1520hrs. The return flight EK784 will leave Lagos at 1730hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0510hrs the next day.

“Tickets can be booked now on Emirates.com or via travel agents.”

It quoted Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, Adnan Kazim, as saying the Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular in Nigeria.

“We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers back onboard,” Kazim said.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Wednesday said the Emirates Airlines had given a definite date to resume flight operations to Nigeria and would make the announcement in a matter of days.

Emirates Airlines suspended flight operations to Nigeria in October 2022 over its inability to repatriate its $85 million revenue trapped in Nigeria.

Business

Dollar crashes against Naira at official market

Published

1 day ago

May 16, 2024

Trends Admin

Dollar crashes against Naira at official market

The Naira on Wednesday appreciated at the official market, trading at N1,459.02 to the dollar.

Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, revealed that the Naira gained N61.38.

This represents a 4.04 per cent gain when compared to the previous trading date on Tuesday, when the local currency exchanged at N1,520.40 to a dollar.