government officials and top politicians, including Mike Oghiadomhe, a former Chief of Staff to President Goodluck Jonathan, Tony Anenih, chair of the board of trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison Madueke.
The EFCC was still holding Mr. Tenebe today after arresting him last week for alleged theft of massive amounts of crude oil.
An EFCC source disclosed that Mr. Tenebe, who hails from
Edo State, told investigators that his powerful political
patrons and protectors enabled him to carry out lucrative
crude oil theft from Nigeria under the guise of evacuating
stolen crude on behalf of the federal government. Among
the political patrons are Ms. Alison-Madueke, Mr.
Oghiadomhe, Mr. Anenih, a close confidant of President
Jonathan, and James Jephthah.
The stolen crude oil was reportedly sold in Ghana.
The suspect came under renewed scrutiny after US
investigators informed Nigeria's law enforcement
authorities that several vessels linked to Mr. Tenebe's Fenix
Impex Nigeria Limited were involved in the ferrying of
stolen crude from Nigeria to Ghana via the Saltpond oil
platform in the West African country.
Our EFCC source disclosed that the anti-corruption agency
was able to arrest Mr. Tenebe only because US
investigators were involved. The source added that, since
the suspect's arrest last week, the EFCC had been under
intense pressure from several quarters to muddle up the
case in order to spring the suspect free.
Our sources revealed that this is the second time Mr.
Tenebe and his main collaborator have been in trouble this
year. Earlier this year, the suspect and Peter Omoh Dunia
(aka Peter Black), a close political associate of Tony Anenih
in Edo state, were also arrested, but they were able to pull
political strings that ensured their release without
prosecution.
In March 2014, Nigerian soldiers, who were under the
command of Brigadier General Azinta, had arrested Mr.
Tenebe and Mr. Dunia. The two men's arrest came after
soldiers found fraudulent crude oil evacuation contracts in
their possession. One Rear Admiral Austin Oyagha of the
Nigerian Navy reportedly signed the evacuation documents
on behalf of the Nigerian navy.
Following their arrest by the soldiers in Benin City, Mr.
Tenebe and Mr. Dunia were caught red handed when they
tried to bribe Brigadier General Azinta, the brigade
commander of the Nigerian Army in Benin. Both men were
in possession of $65,000, which was meant to bribe General
Azinta.
Our EFCC source disclosed that the brigade commander
reportedly played along with his would-be bribers for some
days before arranging their arrest. The army officer handed
over the bribe money to investigators as evidence against
the two suspects.
However, the brigade commander was told that the
suspects would be moved to Bayelsa State and handed over
to the Joint Task Force (JTF). The move was part of a design
to ensure their smooth release without prosecution. One of
our sources told SaharaReporters that James Jephthah (aka
Octopus), a very close friend of President Goodluck
Jonathan, used his access to Aso Rock to obtain approval
for the transfer of the case to Bayelsa where he eventually
influenced the JTF to release Mr. Tenebe.
The EFCC officially declined to comment on the ongoing
investigation of the Saltpond scam. However, a top official
of the agency disclosed that the Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, had ordered the
agency not to take any action until her return to Abuja. Ms.
Alison-Madueke is currently on a short vacation in the UK
while awaiting the completion of the multi-million dollar
renovation of her Abuja mansion.
A source at the EFCC told SaharaReporters that Mr.
Tenebe's political contacts had helped him to get appointed
as an agent who sells crude oil seized from illegal
marketers. The source added, however, that Mr. Tenebe's
politically powerful sponsors also arranged for the suspect
to lift additional hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil,
which he sold at great profit to different European oil
dealers using Ghana as the point of sale.
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