ThisDay (Lagos) - The daughter of former president Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) and sitting Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, has been linked to a fradulent N3.5 billion contract in the power sector, while her father, President Obasanjo, was still at the helm of the nation’s affairs.

The matter, presently at the International Court of Arbitration  in Paris, France, involves an Austrian company, M. Schneider, which has petitioned the Presidency, ICPC, Code of Conduct Bureau, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over what it called the “fraudulent, corrupt and criminal nature involving Senator (Mrs) Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello (alias Mrs Damilola Akinlawon), then serving as a Commissioner with the Ogun State Government”.

In an immediate rebuttal of the allegations, Senator Iyabo-Obasanjo has said that she was not directly involved in the business although she confessed to using a false name as well as being acquainted with one of the principal characters in the deal - Prince Albert Awofisayo.

The involvement of Senator Iyabo in the power project was said to have been at the instance Prince Albert Awofisayo, who in several correspondences with M. Schneider of Austria, allegedly insisted that the involvement of Obasanjo-Bello was the guarantee that the company would secure the power project contract. Awofisayo had entered into negotiation with M. Schneider of Austria to set up a Nigerian company named M. Schneider Energy (Nig) (MSEN) Ltd as a special purpose company to secure power project contracts in Nigeria, even though M.Schneider did not possess the requisite experience or record of performance to secure any power or energy contracts in Nigeria or any other part of the world.

For her strategic role, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello through her company (Akiya Nig. Ltd) was given 10 per cent equity in the company at incorporation. Iyabo was also to collect a 10 per cent commission on any contract secured for M. Schneider (Nig) Ltd.

M. Schneider Nigeria eventually won two of the bids for power projects while it was on the line to win another two before disagreement among its shareholders put spanners in the works. The company was awarded the contracts relating to Substations in Benin North and Line Bay at Obudu respectively at values totalling over 15 million euros in offshore cost and over N762 million in local cost.
The breakdown of the contracts is: Lots 19-2-Offshore Price, 13,595,940.31 euros and local price of N569,440,123.00. The second contract, Lot 20-2 has a price of offshore 2,077,416.34 euros and local price of N193,535,970.00, bringing the total value to 15,673,356.60 euros and N762,976,093.00.

However, a disagreement over money sharing and control of the company soon set in, and the parties to the business deal landed themselves in court. The contracts were eventually cancelled.

A critical question that is left to be answered by Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello is centered around her admission of using a false name to form a company that she very well knew was formed with the single goal of obtaining FG contracts under the leadership of her father. According to Senator Obasanjo-Bello in her rebuttal, the company [MSEN] put in bids for the power projects without any input from her.  “It went through a normal, transparent process. I didn’t even know anybody at NEPA, so I could not have influenced anything. The company won the contracts. It is true that I used a pseudonym. It was Prince Awofisayo who funded the whole project. I did not put in a penny and I did not receive a penny from it.”

Who is she kidding here? First she claims she did not know anyone at NEPA…one wonders if she needed to know someone at any Nigerian corporation to influence or get a contract, with her daddy as President. Second, she claimed she did not receive a penny from the deal! WoW, Senator OBJ must think Nigerians are fools! So she agreed to partner with someone to form a fraudulent company, influence (knowingly or unknowingly) and win FG contracts, and then did not benefit financially from such deals?

Wonders shall indeed never end in Nigeria! We eagerly await former President OBJ’s pronouncement on her daughter’s “infidelity”. Maybe current President Yar’Adua can also contribute his two cent to this “matters arising”.

Read more about the controversial contract scam here: http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=98505
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=98504

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