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Donnington Nigeria Ltd has sued Mr Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Rural Electrification Agency (REA), and others to a Federal High Court, Abuja on criminal charges bordering on breach of the Money Laundering Act.
Ahmad (2nd defendant) was sued alongside a company, Velocity Logistics & Marine Limited (1st defendant), where he was alleged to be a director and shareholder, on a 12-count charge before Justice James Omotosho.
In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/175/2023 dated and filed May 4, Ahmad was alleged, in one of the counts, to have aided Velocity Logistics, a designated non-financial institution, between Jan. 2014 to Jan. 2018 in failing to report in writing, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) any lodgement or outflow transaction from the company’s Zenith Bank account number: 016639377 of the sums above N5 million as required under Section 10(1)b of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 (as amended) and thereby committed an offence under Section 18(a) of the said Act and punishable under Section 16 (2)(b) of the same Act.
Donnington Nigeria Ltd, the complainant, also filed three different charges against three other companies and their directors.
In charge number: FHC/ABJ/CR/183/2023, the complainant, suing on Federal Government’s behalf, preferred 20 counts against Winslow Logistics Ltd and Mr Alkali Habib, a director and shareholder.
In charge number: FHC/ABJ/CR/176/2023, Sahams Crystal Investment Ltd and Abdulmumini Haruna are being sued on 14 counts also bordering on money laundering infractions.
Donnington also filed 10-count charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/183/2023 against Equip Logistics Services Limited and Edwin Iyk Anyadigibe, its director and a shareholder for failure to comply with the requirements of submitting to the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, a declaration of the activities of the company contrary to the money laundering act, among others.
Upon resumed hearing in the matter on Monday, Counsel to the complainant, Ugbede Idachaba, informed that the matter was scheduled for the arraignment of the defendants.
However, the REA’s MD and is also the director of Velocity Logistics & Marine Ltd, Mr Ahmad, and others were not in court.
Lawyers to all the defendants, including Mohammed Ndarami, SAN, who represented Ahmad and Velocity Logistics, and Victor Opera, SAN, who appeared for Equip Logistics, said the charges filed against their clients were incompetent and that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the suits.
Justice Omotosho adjourned the four suits until June 26 for arraignment and for hearing of the preliminary objections filed by the defendants.
Recalled that Donnington Ltd, in its arguments, said though there had been a long-held rule that a private citizen cannot institute and prosecute crime in Nigeria except with the consent and authorisation of the Attorney-General of the Federation, it said that “the rule has been overruled by the 2022 decision of the Supreme Court in the case of RAPHAEL OBIJIAKU Vs CHIEF JOE OBIJIAKU & 2 ORS (2022) 17 NWLR (PT. 1857) 377 at 405 Paras E- F.”
Background Information on the issue
Donnington Nigeria Ltd dragged five company directors and their companies before Justice James Kolawole Omotosho of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on criminal charges bordering on infractions of the Money Laundering Act, especially the non-declaration of their companies’ financial transactions as specified under Sec 5 (1) (a) (I) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2011.
This non compliance is punishable under Section 16 (2) (b) of the same Act.
The MD/CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency, Mr. Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, who doubles as the Director of Velocity Logistics, and four other directors and their companies: Winslow Logistics(Alkali Habib),
Equal Logistics(Edwin Iyk Anyadigibe), Sahams Crystal Investment (Abdulmumini Haruna) and Antaser Nig Ltd (Innocent Nwobodo) were to be arraigned for money laundering and breach of public procurement law, in relation to the multi-billion Naira Cargo Tracking Note Contract on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
The above charged companies are designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, otherwise known as DNFBPs.
They and their Directors are in violation of Anti-money laundering act in place to prevent financial crimes, terrorism financing and various illicit finances with Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering(SCUML), a department in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in charge of ensuring compliance.
A case like no other, it’s the first time in Nigeria’s history a company or individual would draw prosecutorial power from the 2022 decision of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the case of RAPHAEL OBIJIAKU V CHIEF JOE OBIJIAKU & 2 ORS (2022) 17 NWLR (PT. 1857) 377 at 405 Paras E- F, which empowers private citizens to institute and prosecute crimes of any kind.
The genesis of the issue is that Donnington Limited on request got Executive Directive from President Muhammadu Buhari to take up the newly introduced Cargo Tracking Note aimed at securing seaports and shore against all forms of crimes from terrorism, shipments of illegal weapons, other sharp practices and also generate revenue for the federal government.
At the President’s instance, the Executive Directive was validated by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who on the recommendation of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) also approved that the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources should engage a competent consultant to undertake the ACD/CTN on behalf of the federal government.
It was at that juncture of engagement by the federal government that the company bought equipment/items and recruited staff as well as set up a portal which was dedicated for the reintroduction of Cargo Tracking Scheme and engaged foreign partners from the United Kingdom and Dubai, UAE namely: Messrs Vortex Limited, UK and DP World, UAE, who came to Nigeria on three occasions to make presentations at an immeasurable expense.
To its greatest surprise, notwithstanding the company’s financial commitment to the project and satisfying all the legal procurement requirements the Bureau of Public Procurement refused the company Certificate of No-Objection, in defiance of the Attorney-General’s directive.
Instead the BPP Director-General issued the No-Objection Certificates to the five companies that were not in the picture from inception.
By that act, the contract was usurped from Donnington and to add insult to the injury of its Director(s) without communication.
It may interest you to know that those companies and their Directors are not direct beneficiaries of the ill-gotten contract but are proxies of some persons in government; three ministers, two presidential aides, a prominent government official from North-East and a governor from North-West.
It is most pertinent to add that the Bureau of Public Procurement erred in awarding those companies Certificate of No-Objection in many ways.
First, they all are in breach of public procurement act, with one of them, the Managing Director of Rural Electrification Agency and Director of Velocity Logistics, Engr Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad also breaking the Public service rule as it’s illegal for government officials to engage in private business except agriculture.
The other Directors including Ahmad equally broke the Anti-money laundering law in respect of SCUML as four of them failed to register their companies with the Anti-money laundering watchdog as required by the law governing the operation of non-financial businesses, while all are guilty of failing to report their cash inflows and outflows in excess of N5m and N10m for individual Directors and businesses respectively.
The interesting thing about this SCUML issue Donnington has against the defendants; is that it is what the federal government is relying on to dodge payment of $11billion judgment debt, a London court awarded Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Ltd against Nigeria.
Nigeria cannot condone contravention of the Money Laundering Act and non-compliance with statutory provisions by company directors chasing government contracts, while at the same time complaining that the contract P&ID Ltd (a foreign firm) is seeking to enforce against her was gotten through dishonest means, without due process.
