Petroleum. When the time came to put National Oil (Nolchem) on the auction block, the attempted bid
rigging and kickback schemes could not have been more open.
National Oil was the former Shell Nigeria downstream business in which the government had bought
a majority stake though Shell remained technically a partner and shareholder. The first bidding round
yielded no actionable prices from our perspective. We cancelled the auction, waited a few months
and re-launched the bidding. I do not know what’s so difficult to understand about the concept of an
auction, but this time around we had a group of potential buyers who were under the impression that
’highest price wins’ does not necessarily have to mean that the highest price actually wins.
Engen of South Africa, which was the former Mobil South Africa, pre-qualified, as had Mike
Adenuga of Consolidated Oil and another friend of Atiku’s, Chief Igweh, the owner of Bolingo Hotels
in Abuja. Shell and a consortium led by Mr Kola Abiola also submitted bids. When we opened the
bids and were writing the evaluation report, President Obasanjo sent for me. He asked what was
going on with National Oil, because Shell’s management had come to him complaining that they
wanted to buy it back, but we had frustrated them. From Engen’s corner, South African President
Thabo Mbeki had also called President Obasanjo and said Engen’s bid was being unfavourably
considered.
“Mr President, Sir. Let me explain what is going on.” I said. “This is what Shell wanted to buy the
company for and we think it is worth more than that, it is even below our reserve price, which is why
we cancelled the bid in the first place. I cannot recall the exact numbers but think Engen was bidding
something like 28 naira per share, Bolingo was bidding 34 naira per share and Mike Adenuga was
bidding something like 36 naira per share and that was the highest price. This is the deal we’re being
offered. We are recommending the highest price for acceptance because all the bidders have
submitted sound business plans and so are technically qualified.”
The president waited a moment to see if I had anything else to say, which I did not. “Ok,” he said
finally. “This is what is on the surface. Now tell me what is behind the scenes. Who is behind which
company?”
Obasanjo always wanted to know what was happening behind the scenes – he never entirely believed
what was on the table was all there was. I think this was when I had begun to know him a bit better
and he also had begun to trust me a bit more. My sense was that he began to realize I was open with
every piece of information I had. I did not hide anything because I did not care who won the bid, I just
wanted to sell the companies I thought were draining the economy and move on.
“Well, the face behind this company is Bolingo, - Chief Igweh, Atiku's friend and PDP financier,
ConPetro is Mike Adenuga’s and this company is Engen South Africa.”
“Has the vice-president spoken to you in favour of any particular company?”
“Yes, he did. He told me that both former President Ibrahim Babangida and Oba Sikiru Adetona, the
Awujale of Ijebuland, had asked him to intervene in favour of Mike Adenuga, for Consolidated
Oil/ConPetro. I had told the vice-president that no one could do anything to influence the outcome, so
just to tell Adenuga to submit the highest price that he could pay. There was no other way to cut
corners. ConPetro did submit the highest price and we therefore intend to recommend that the
company be sold to him.”
Obasanjo appeared satisfied with my explanations.
That is what happened. Everything was all properly done, bids were publicly opened, and the highest
bid price won. We signed and sealed the agreement and payments were made. The six-month
transitional period embedded in the share sale agreement during which sudden board and management
changes needed prior BPE approval began. That should have been the end, right? Wrong. Mike
Adenuga had no intention of complying with the transitional provisions regarding board
reconstitutions and job security during the period to enable a proper governance audit. He stormed the
company’s head office with a detachment of armed mobile policemen like a cowboy, and asked the
managing director, Mr Ojo, to vacate office immediately and leave the building, and also demanded
that respected former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, should step down as chairman of the
board without the prior knowledge and approval of the NCP. I was away from Nigeria on assignment
and was livid on being briefed of these violations of the sale agreement. I therefore directed that the
share certificates conclusively evidencing the sale should not be handed over by the BPE to
ConPetro, until the Director of Legal Services reviewed the agreement, recommended options for us
and appropriate sanctions. That was when the games started!
First, Mike Adenuga sent one of his senior people with an envelope containing cash to Tijjani
Abdullahi as his ‘thank you’ and demanded for the share certificates. Tijjani declined both the offer
and the request. Then a couple of days before my return to Nigeria, the vice president called Tijjani,
over-rode my directives, and instructed him to hand over the share certificates to Mike Adenuga
without further delay. Thirdly, a day after I returned to the office, a BPE deputy director, Charles
Osuji came to me to say he had a message from Mike Adenuga – a person I was quite upset with at
that point. I was a little surprised because Charles was not working on the NOLCHEM transaction,
but on the privatization of Nigeria Airways. The message he carried was a Zenith Bank account
statement with twenty five million naira, then the equivalent of about US$250,000 in an account in
some name I did not know.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Well, Mike Adenuga gave this to me to give to you as a ‘thank you gift’ for selling the company to
him, so I opened an account to receive the money.” he said.
“I did not sell the company to him,” I replied. “The federal government sold the company to him and
everything was done properly until his violations of the share sale agreement. We all did our job, and
that was nothing special. We do not need anything from him. We are reviewing the agreement to
decide on the next steps.” I looked at the bank statement. “Whose name is this?”
“Well I went and opened an account in this bank with a fictitious name. It is to show you that I will
transfer the money anywhere you want.”
“No, I do not want anything.” I said. “Charles, you are a nice guy, a good staff, do not get involved in
this kind of thing. I will consider this as a first serious infraction and not report to the council, so just
go back to Mike, give him his money back, tell him I do not want it, I do not work like that. And
advise him not to test our will by violating the share sale agreement again.”
So Charles left. A few days later, he was back.
“Mike said in addition to the money in the account, he wants you to have an additional one hundred
thousand dollars in cash. He thought the amount will now be adequate.” Charles said.
Furthermore, Mike had apparently given him the $100,000 in cash, and it was sitting right outside in
his car parked downstairs. I was supposed to go with him and collect it.
“Charles, you ar
e not listening. Did not you understand what I said to you? Take back the money. If
you do not take back the money, I will have to report this first to the privatization council and you
will be fired. You will lose your job, and possibly, be prosecuted as well.”
“You can’t do that to me, Sir. I am trying to help you. You have nothing. Since you came here, what
have you got?”
I shook my head.
“I do not need anything. Did you think I came here because I needed something? I am here voluntarily
to work, not to collect bribes. Who appointed you the custodian of my interests? Did I ask you to do
this?”
“No, but it is my duty as your staff to look after your interests because you are being foolish.”
I may be naive, but till today, I believe that Charles believed he was doing the right thing, and
probably thought he meant well for me.
“Look, thank you very much, take back the $100,000 and give him back his 25 million naira and bring
me zero balance in this account you have showed me so that I know he has got his money back.”
“Ok sir, but Sir, you are making a mistake. Nigeria is not worth suffering for.”
“Just do it and come back quickly.”
The next day Charles came back.
“Mike said he will not take the money back and that I should tell you that the vice-president, Atiku
Abubakar, was consulted before offering you this gift.”
As chair of the privatization council, the vice-president was my boss.
“Really?” I said.
“Yes.”
“Tell him I still do not want his money. Bring me the zero balance tomorrow.”
I then went to the vice-president’s office and told him the story. At the end, I said,
“Now, I have just been told today – I was going to report this to you if he did not do what I said. I am
keeping it under wraps because I think I can handle it. So I am giving him a chance to just get out of
this and we will retain his services, which is why I have not yet reported it formally to you and the
council. I have just been told that Mike Adenuga had your prior consent to offer this money. Is this
what you are doing? Your administration is verbally fighting corruption and encouraging this kind of
offers?”
The vice-president appeared shocked. “Nasir, he is lying. It is not true.”
“Well, Mike sent Osuji to tell me that you knew about the cash offer.”
So he picked up his land-line phone and said, “Get me Mike Adenuga.” On getting a
connection, he put Mike on speaker phone.
“Mike, how are you? Did we ever discuss Nasir El-Rufai with you?”
“Yes sir,” said Adenuga through the speaker.
“And what did I tell you?” asked the vice-president.
“Sir, you told me he is a straightforward person and that I should not try to give him any money or try
to thank him in any way.”
“So why did you send him money even though I told you not to?”
“I am sorry sir. I just thought they did a good job and I ought to thank him as the leader of BPE. I am
sorry sir.”
The vice-president hung up the phone, turned to me and asked, “Now do you believe that I told him to
do it?”
“Well sir, what do we do now?”
“Well, Charles must be fired immediately. You should bring a memo immediately to approve his
disengagement.”
Charles was a deputy director, so I could not fire him; I had to bring a request showing cause to the
council to authorize his firing. The vice-president said, “Bring it, I will approve as chairman of the
council and the council in full session will ratify it at the next plenary session. He has got to go, this
conduct is not acceptable in a privatization agency.” As instructed, Mrs Modupe Abiodun-Wright
took all the steps leading to drafting the memo for VP’s approval and Osuji’s appointment was
terminated.
A few weeks later, I reported the matter to the council for ratification in full session. Some members
of the council were very angry. The attorney general, Bola Ige, opined that both Charles and whoever
offered the cash should be prosecuted. Furthermore, the VP and I were obliquely accused of being too
lenient with Charles and the council accordingly decided that Charles’ termination was to be
converted to dismissal. Now, dismissal means he had lost everything – he receives no terminal
benefits, he receives no retirement benefits, nothing. That was what finally happened. He lost
everything. As for Adenuga, when I reported the matter to the council, I did not reveal his identity; I
just stated the facts of the case. Once the attorney-general realized who was behind the scenes pulling
the strings and sending the 'thank-you' cash, his resolve to prosecute considerably weakened, contrary
to the desires of the council at large. The extent to which Adenuga’s attempted payment served to not
only thank me but to give a taste of what was to come from successful bids of his in future
privatization ventures I do not know, but at the BPE we became cautious with anything related to him
from that point on. He did finally get a telecommunications license which was not issued by the BPE
but another regulatory agency, with the help of the vice-president and concurrence of the president.
As for whether I ever gave receiving the money a second thought, I can say in no uncertain terms that I
did not. This is where some people have a difficult time understanding me to the point of disbelief,
but I am really very proud of my parentage, person and my family name and would hate a situation in
which I would be caught red-handed doing something dishonest. I do not know how I would be able
to live with myself. I was really more concerned with Charles' bad judgment and future consequences
on his career than anything else. I was and am still convinced that he was misguided into believing
there is anything like free cash. He therefore situated himself as the negotiator and conduit of the
gratification, thought I deserved to have it, convinced delivering it would make him look more useful
in my eyes, and saw nothing wrong morally with his actions. I was quite certain he was just a pawn
and at the end of the day he would be the loser because anyone worth a billion dollars has the
capacity to limit what damage can be done to him. Mike Adenuga was worth more than a billion
dollars at the time and I therefore knew nothing adverse would happen to him in a country like ours,
while Charles would ultimately be the fall guy, and that was exactly what happened in the end. I tried
my best to avoid that outcome, but Charles just did not see it.
As soon as I left the BPE, Charles launched an effort to get back into the organization using the usual
route in Nigeria - petition to a parliamentary committee headed by someone from his ethnic group.
That attempt at reinstatement failed in spite of the willingness of BPE's leadership at the time to
accept him. He made another attempt during the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee hearings on privatization
from 1999 to 2011, which I understand was set up to ‘nail El-Rufai’ (again!). Charles Osuji appeared
before the committee, and admitted under oath on national television - that he took monies from
Adenuga to pass on to me, but never did. The committee chairman and members appeared shocked,
one even called him a criminal - yet he walked out of the Committee Room a free man, suggesting that
he was procured by my
political adversaries to give that testimony in the hope that the pre-arranged
newspaper headlines the following day would damage my reputation. The DG of BPE, Bola
Onagoruwa, who was Assistant Director (Legal Matters) at the time of the incident, and therefore
familiar with the case immediately discredited the testimony there and then, and testified that Charles
lied under oath about the details of what happened.
Once the National Oil saga was over, there were not many more attempts to bribe me in that manner
while I was at the BPE. Word about this got around and everybody got the message, not unlike my
days in the private sector. The construction industry – and this seems to be the case in any country
around the world, for some reason is widely acknowledged to engage in practices that were not
always above board. At El-Rufai &Partners, we were constantly offered money in virtually every
construction consulting job we had in the first five years of our practice. We always politely refused.
Quantity surveyors keep the construction industry books, the financial accounts, so anyone wanting to
do anything financially dishonest needs to have the quantity surveyor on his side. Eventually, word
went around that these El-Rufai & Partners guys are crazy, they do not accept money, will not be
compromised, and we began to get clients who heard that we could not be bribed. Anyone who took
us on as consultants would be comfortable in knowing that we would not allow his or her money to go
to waste, so we got a lot of work, particularly from private sector clients, because of that reputation.
The Accidental Public Servant Page 21
