Aiteo Chief Executive Officer, Benedict Peters, is the latest Nigerian fossil oil mogul to live named inward the representative surrounding the bribery allegations against quondam Nigerian Oil Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Three London properties linked to the alleged bribery of Mrs. Alison-Madueke have got been frozen nether the U.K. Proceeds of Crime Act, at to the lowest degree i of which is owned yesteryear Mr. Peters.
The order, issued inward September 2016 together with obtained yesteryear Africa Confidential, forbids defendants Benedict Peters, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, Atlantic Energy’s Kola Aluko together with Jide Omokore, Christopher Aire (a jeweller for Mrs. Alison-Madueke) together with Donald Amamgbo (her cousin) from disposing of or dealing alongside the properties.
 |
Benedict Peters bought this £2.8m luxury floor inward Harley House, London, inward March 2011, alongside the assist of London-based estate agent Daniel Ford. The holding is straightaway frozen. |
Messrs Alison-Madueke, Aluko together with Omokore were named inward the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DoJ) asset forfeiture, which stated that the same London properties totaling to a greater extent than than £10m were bought for the fossil oil government minister inward society to secure lucrative Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs), which saw prized Nigerian fossil oil assets passed to the minister’s cronies for pittance.
Mr. Peters’ fellowship Aiteo has been linked to the 2015 INEC bribery system that saw Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s son, Ugonna Madueke, distribute $115million to INEC officials via Fidelity Bank inward 2015.
But the inclusion of Mr. Peters every bit a accused inward the London case, which relates to an endeavour to influence the quondam Minister’s contracting decisions, suggests that international investigations could live to a greater extent than broad ranging than was previously known.
Mr. Peters’ company, Aiteo, did non straight create goodness from the SAAs, but it flourished nether Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s fossil oil ministry. As good every bit term contracts from the NNPC, Aiteo benefitted from the fossil oil swaps, together with bought Shell’s prize asset, OML 29. With Peters straightaway inward the frame, these deals could facial expression upwards the same scrutiny from international police enforcement every bit the notorious Atlantic SAAs.
London, via Houston
Mr. Peters has admitted to beingness the possessor of the Seychellois company, Rosewood Investments Limited, who until straightaway has been known every bit “co-conspirator #2” inward the DOJ’s case. Rosewood Investments bought the £2.8m luxury floor inward Harley House, London, inward March 2011, alongside the assist of London-based estate agent Daniel Ford.
Mr. Peters afterward bought luxury furnishings for the floor from Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s favourite Houston store, according to the U.S. of A. of America documents. The DoJ affidavit says over the course of report of 2 days inward May 2011, Mr. Peters bought over $107,000 of slice of furniture – including a sideboard worth to a greater extent than than $10,000 – that was afterward shipped to the U.K. together with installed at Harley House.
Construction workers renovating Harley House over the summertime of 2011 were introduced to Mrs. Alison-Madueke every bit “the architect”, together with Kola Aluko, who was co-ordinating the renovation of Harley House inward the summertime of 2011, forwarded the plans for the floor to the quondam minister.
Mr. Peters could non live reached to comment for this story. All his known telephone lines were switched off the multiple times PREMIUM TIMES called inward 3 days. He is nevertheless to reply to an e-mail research sent to him.
An official of his Sigmund Group, who was contacted yesteryear telephone, said he could non utter for Mr. Peters, together with would non render his latest contact details.
Diezani’s deals: the swaps together with the blocks
The Swaps
Mr. Peters ran tank farms nether the aegis of Sigmund Communnecci Limited until 2008, when a “re-branding” practise renamed the fellowship to Aiteo. Its success nether the Goodluck Jonathan authorities has made it perchance Nigeria’s largest indigenous fossil oil together with gas company.
Aiteo entered into its outset offshore processing understanding (OPA) contract alongside the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) inward 2010 which gave the fellowship 90,000 barrels of fossil oil a day. Under the contact terms, Aiteo was supposed to refine the unsmooth together with import a gear upwards value of fossil oil products inward return. Aiteo received a second, similar, contract for a farther 30,000 barrels of fossil oil a solar daytime inward 2011, together with a 3rd bargain inward 2014 – also for 30,000 a day.
Former Governor of Central Bank, Lamido Sanusi, published an explosive memo inward 2014 that pointed to possible NNPC losses of $20billion betwixt Jan 2012 together with July 2013, together with listed the fossil oil swaps every bit potential leakage points. Experts pointed to numerous loopholes inward the contracts that could have got toll NNPC millions – including a clause stating that records relating to the contract could live disposed of after a year.
President Muhammadu Buhari cancelled the swap contracts every bit shortly every bit he assumed the Nigerian presidency inward 2015, but it took until March 2017 for Aiteo to repay $202m inward “reconciliation” charges – together with at that topographic point has been petty transparency over how this figure was arrived at.
The blocks
By arguably the nearly lasting bargain that Mrs. Alison-Madueke presided over during her fourth dimension at the fossil oil ministry building was the sale of Shell’s onshore assets inward the Eastern Niger Delta. The gem inward the Shell’s divestment portfolio was the Nembe Creek Trunkline, a critical unsmooth fossil oil pipeline that takes unsmooth from the Delta to Bonny Export terminal – together with the OML 29 fossil oil block.
The Aiteo consortium was announced every bit the highest bidder for the nearly valuable block, OML 29, inward March 2014, merely a calendar month after Sanusi’s memo was published.
Aiteo together with its partners, Igho Sanomi’s Taleveras together with a petty known trader, Tempo Energy, bid $2.85m for the block, which commentators considered inflated. None of the companies had sense of production, together with Shell encouraged the consortium to bring together upwards alongside a fellowship that did.
It took over a twelvemonth to for the bargain to live completed, together with inward that time, Shell’s Chief Financial Officer warned investors that it was “difficult to predict” how the fellowship would larn blessing of the sales from the government. Under the Petroleum Act the Minister has ability of blessing for the sale of fossil oil licences inward which NNPC has stake.
The buy of the block was finally completed merely days earlier the 2015 election, financed yesteryear Citi Bank, First Bank, Zenith Bank, together with Union Bank Nigeria. The CBN demanded the reclassification of the loan inward summertime 2016 – every bit the Nigerian banking sector reached close crisis because of its exposure to Jonathan era deals.
The transaction was also partly funded yesteryear $512m of “seller financing” from Shell – nether which Shell retains the exclusive rights to marketplace position fossil oil from the block for the outset v years.
PREMIUM TIMES