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Revealed: How Obasanjo Tried To Humiliate Mike Adenuga, By Awujale
The paramount ruler of Ijebuland,Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona has sensationally revealed how former President Olusegun Obasanjo tried to rope in business mogul,Otunba Mike Adenuga in for corruption in 2006.
The case in question was the botched attempt to arrest Adenuga by security operatives that year.
The incident forced the multi-billionaire into exile.
The revered traditional ruler writing in ‘Awujale: The Autobiography of Alaiyeluwa Oba S.K Adetona, Ogbagba II’ recalled efforts made to stop Adenuga from alleged persecution by Obasanjo and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) led at the time by Nuhu Ribadu.
His words: “The EFCC in Lagos had come calling brusquely on Mike Adenuga (Jnr), Chairman Globacom on 9 July 2006. They broke his gate, swarmed into his house and kept him under ‘arrest’. When I heard about the arrest, I called the legal firms, of Ayanlaja SAN & Adesanya SAN as well as Professor Biodun Adesanya SAN to take up the matter and secure Mike’s release. They swung into action and gave indication that they would take the matter to court.
“By evening, it was no longer necessary to go to court as Mike, following his statement to EFCC, had been released with instructions to report regularly to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja. Mike proceeded to Abuja, accompanied by his lawyer, Prof. Biodun Adesanya SAN. Indirectly related to this case, the EFCC had quizzed and released Mohammed Babangida, Ibrahim Babangida’s son. The EFCC purportedly were on the trail of some money belonging to the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF), but there was really more beneath the veneer.
“While Mike was in Abuja, he was counselled to see Obasanjo to extricate himself. For four days, he made attempts to see Obasanjo but was unsuccessful. After a few days in Abuja with no case pressed against him by EFCC, he returned to Lagos. Not long afterwards, and in the heat of this mess, Obasanjo did two things that puzzled me.
“He called Mike to meet him at a social event in Lagos –Engr. Olapade’s birthday celebration. Mike and Obasanjo were both captured by press photographers in the newspapers at the event. Following the celebration, Obasanjo asked Mike to accompany him to Ota. It was in Ota that he solicited for the construction of the Administration Block of his university, Bells University in Ota. Mike agreed and Carchez Turnkey Projects Ltd handled the project for him. It appeared the whole matter, the EFCC hunt, simmered and Mike continued about his business.
On a trip to Ghana, he ran through his Nigerian daily newspapers and discovered that the situation was unfolding in a more revealing version. The EFCC had arrested Mohammed Babangida. Mike read between the lines and proceeded to the UK on exile. When I visited the UK, Mike came to see me, and wanted me to facilitate a meeting with Obasanjo so that he could present his side of the case. The allegations against him were as follows:
a. That Abubakar Atiku, the Vice-President, gave Mike Adenuga money from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) which were invested in Mike’s bank, Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB), and that the funds were used in paying for the Globacom licence.
b. That as a result of the connection in (a) Atiku was a major shareholder in Globacom. And Atiku used his clout to ensure that PTDF money got into ETB.
c. That General Ibrahim Babangida, the former Head of State, was also a major shareholder in Globacom.
“It was not enough for Mike to merely present his case to EFCC, for it seemed the EFCC was under some remote control. The Presidency was after Atiku. Atiku at some point was the Chairman of the PTDF; an attempt was being made to indict him for alleged illegal and unauthorized channelling of PTDF money into Globacom. All sorts of rumours were flying around and the Presidency wanted to pin down the case against Atiku. If Ibrahim Babangida also fell into the trap, so much the better.
“A wide opening presented itself and EFCC seized it.
“G. Subair is Mike’s second cousin. His father died young and he grew up, just as I did in my early life, living with Mike’s mother. He worked for Mike and was seconded, amongst other things, to open the Kaduna office for Globacom. In need of accommodation or office space, he leased, on behalf of Globacom, a house, at 2-3 Dawaki Road in Kaduna belonging to Mohammed Badamasi Babangida and used that address in official correspondence and memoranda. Mohammed is the first son of President Ibrahim Babangida. This was Babangida connection to which EFCC hung on when they were rummaging through Globacom documents. This was, according to them, irrefutable evidence that Babangida was a major shareholder in Globacom and that his son, Mohammed Babangida, or G.Subair or Mike was fronting for Babangida in this venture.
“Mike told me how he had raised money through the BNP Paribas Bank in France and how he paid to New York for the Globacom licensing fees. All the money involved could be traced with supporting documents to France and New York in the form of a huge loan. The Bank BNP Paribas on its part had a letter stating clearly their involvement in the transaction and Mike wanted to present this among other documents to President Obasanjo. I called Obasanjo and relayed the facts as I had them from Mike to him. I requested for his fax number so that I could fax Mike’s letter explaining all the transactions and the Bank of Paribas letter to him. As soon as he gave me the fax number, I faxed the documents to him. Still, Obasanjo was not satisfied. It seemed that it was all a ruse because they were really after Atiku and Babangida and wanted Mike to implicate them. Mike refused to cooperate. If he was not going to cooperate, they thought, harassment would do it. On 19 August 2006, I made a statement to the press asking Obasanjo to caution Nuhu Ribadu, the head of the EFCC, about his mode of operations. I denounced the harassment of citizens by EFCC and urged them to go to court if they had anything concrete against anyone.
“While Mike was in exile, we shared a moment of relaxation together. We took a holiday together in south of France with some members of our families. I had with me my wife Olori Kemi, my daughter, Ronke and Oba Adekoya, the Dagburewe of Idowa. Mike came along with his two daughters and his niece.
“While on this holiday, the President of France, Jacques Chirac, was going to be holding a conference with African Heads of State in Nice. Coincidentally, we got to know that Obasanjo was booked to stay in the same hotel where we were staying. Later, we learnt he had changed his mind and would not be attending the conference.
Then not long afterwards, we were told he had decided to attend after all. By the time he finally decided to attend, all the rooms in the hotel were fully booked and he was now booked into another, Embassy Hotel, which was a stone’s throw from when we were.
“I got to know that he would check in at 8.00am on the day of the conference. At 8.330am, I went to his hotel and took Mike along with me. From the reception, I spoke to him on the phone. “When he asked from where I was speaking, I told him I was downstairs in the lobby of his hotel! He said he would send someone down immediately to lead me up to his suite, and he did so. I left Mike behind in the hotel lobby.
“When I got to his suite, there were already a number of people in the corridor, in his living room and the dining room waiting to see him. His ADC took me straight to see him in his bedroom. I had hardly settled down when he started talking to me about his deputy, Abubakar Atiku. He was at daggers drawn with Atiku.
The Nigerian Citizens Association South Africa (NICASA) has alleged the killing of a 58-year-old Nigerian cleric, Bishop Taiwo Michael Fakunle, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Fakunle, an indigene of Iye, Ilejemeje Local Government Area of Ekiti State, was allegedly killed on at his residence in Kensington, Johannesburg.
National President of NICASA, Rev. Frank Onyekwelu, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, saying the circumstances surrounding the cleric’s death had left his family, friends and members of the Nigerian community devastated.
According to him, two suspects allegedly gained access to Fakunle’s residence and opened fire on him, reportedly shooting him more than seven times.
Onyekwelu described the incident as a “horrific and senseless act of violence” and condemned the killing, expressing concern over the continued loss of Nigerian lives to violent crime in South Africa.
He said, “This was not merely an ordinary loss of life; it was a horrific and senseless act of violence that has robbed a family of a loved one and the Nigerian community of another precious life.”
Onyekwelu said NICASA had reported the incident to the Consulate General of Nigeria in Johannesburg, adding that a murder case had been opened at Jeppe Police Station.
He called on the South African Police Service (SAPS) and other relevant authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the killing.
“We demand a thorough and credible investigation that will establish exactly what happened, identify all those responsible, apprehend the perpetrators and ensure that they are brought before the courts to face the full might of the law,” he said.
NICASA also urged Nigerian diplomatic authorities in South Africa to continue engaging with relevant South African authorities and monitor the progress of the investigation until justice is served.
NELFUND has rejected allegations that the Federal Government’s student loan scheme is being used to favour supporters or children of members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyerr, dismissed the claim as “completely ridiculous.”
Moreover, he said the structure of the application system does not allow political affiliation to determine who receives the loans.
Sawyerr spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.
He explained that the loan scheme is operated through an electronic application process.
Applicants are required to provide personal and academic information, including their names and matriculation numbers.
According to him, the system is designed to establish whether an applicant meets the requirements for the programme.
It does not collect information that would enable NELFUND to determine whether a student belongs to the APC or supports another political party.
“I have not heard this allegation, but I can tell you that it’s a completely ridiculous idea that the administration of Bola Tinubu is focused on trying to fund people who support the party. We are talking about students; many of them are yet to vote, some of them are going to be voting for the first time, [and] many of them are not party members.
“How, in any event, do we determine who is a party member and who isn’t? Even if you are running a manual process, how do you do that? You can’t. It’s unlikely to yield you any result.
“It is a process you have to apply for this loan electronically. If you don’t have a name, you can’t apply for this loan. You provide your matriculation number; you have to be in a public institution,” he said.
The NELFUND boss said the allegation also failed to take into account the nature of the beneficiaries targeted by the programme.
He noted that many students accessing the loans are young people who have not yet participated in an election. Some are also not members of any political party.Executive Branch
Sawyerr therefore maintained that using political affiliation as a basis for deciding beneficiaries would be impractical under the existing system.
He said NELFUND’s focus is on Nigerian students who meet the conditions for the loan and are enrolled in eligible public tertiary institutions.
Sawyerr described the demand for the scheme as “overwhelming”, saying many students and their families were struggling to meet the financial demands of tertiary education.
“The demand has been overwhelming, because clearly a lot of people have struggled to get into these institutions,” he said. “They are hanging on by the skin of their teeth to stay in the institution, and this programme came as a rescue for them.”
He disclosed that NELFUND had so far disbursed about N162 billion in upkeep allowances to students.
The fund is also examining application and disbursement figures as demand increases, with the agency seeking to understand the financial requirements needed to sustain the programme.
The student loan initiative was introduced by the Federal Government as part of efforts to reduce financial barriers to higher education.
President Bola Tinubu signed the Student Loans Act into law in April 2024, paving the way for the current NELFUND structure. The scheme provides interest-free financial support to eligible Nigerian students in public tertiary institutions.
It covers approved institutional charges and upkeep support for qualified beneficiaries.
The programme was designed to give students access to funding without requiring them to depend entirely on their parents or guardians to remain in school.
NELFUND has repeatedly stressed the importance of an electronic process in managing applications and disbursements.
The system allows applicants to submit their information for verification before their applications are processed.
Sawyerr further insisted that the system does not discriminate based on religion, ethnicity or gender.
“We have a system that is focused on people who are Nigerians and meet the standard. The system doesn’t recognise your gender. There is no bias in the system at the front end or the back end.
“This is a system that doesn’t care whether you are of one tribe or the other. This system does not have a view or an opinion on whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, or an African traditional religionist; it doesn’t want to know.”
The NELFUND chief also spoke about the impact of the scheme on student retention.
He said available figures indicated that the programme had contributed to a reduction in the number of students dropping out of tertiary institutions, with the reduction put at about 20 per cent.
Sawyerr also addressed concerns surrounding repayment of the loans.
He maintained that beneficiaries would not be subjected to an unreasonable repayment burden, noting that repayment would be tied to their ability to pay after completing their studies.
Under the current structure, repayment is expected to commence two years after beneficiaries complete the National Youth Service Corps programme.
The NELFUND boss also disclosed that funds President Tinubu announced would be recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and channelled into the student loan scheme had not yet been received by the fund.
The UK Government has appointed Alastair Long as His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Africa, with a mandate to deepen economic ties and expand commercial partnerships between Britain and the continent.
The UK Department for Business and Trade welcomed Long to the position, according to a statement issued on Monday by the British Deputy High Commission.
The mission said Long would work with African governments, investors, businesses and institutions to strengthen economic relations between the UK and African countries.
It added that his responsibilities would include expanding commercial partnerships, supporting UK and African businesses, attracting investment and helping to build sustainable, resilient and productive economies across the continent.
“Long returns to a region he knows well, having previously served as Deputy Trade Commissioner and then HMTC for Africa between 2019 and 2022.
“Before taking up his current position, he served as His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain from August 2023,” the mission said.
Long said he was thrilled to resume his work in Africa.
He described Africa as the future, saying he had witnessed the continent’s “boundless energy and ambition” during his previous assignments.
“The UK is committed to being a partner that supports African and British growth by listening to African priorities and bringing the very best the UK has to offer.
“I look forward to engaging across the continent, with the UK business community, and with the UK Government team, to realise as many mutual opportunities as possible.”
Long succeeds John Humphrey, who had served as the UK Trade Commissioner for Africa since June 2022.
The British Deputy High Commission said Long inherited strong UK momentum in Africa and would bring extensive trade expertise to the role, as well as the focus and energy required to deepen partnerships and unlock further opportunities for mutual benefit.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the HMTC leads the UK’s overseas efforts to promote trade, investment, export opportunities and trade policy objectives.
The Commissioner works closely with the wider diplomatic network and other government officials to coordinate Britain’s overseas efforts to promote UK trade and prosperity.
The office also has responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade’s work in Africa, including growing the overall trade and investment relationship, improving market access for British companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, and developing trade policy.
Long joined the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in 2002 and has held previous postings in the Middle East and North Africa.
He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge University, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
NAN
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