US Govt. Memo: AondoAkaa Demanded $20M To Sign Document
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 10, (THEWILL) - The last has not been heard about corruption allegations against the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa as a US Government memo has stated that he demanded $20 million to sign a document during his tenure.
Aondoakaa was this week stripped of his Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) status by the Legal Practitioners Privileges’ Committee (LPPC) for acts of misdeeds and corruption in office.
The recent reports emanating from Wikileak’s exposure of cables between American Embassy in Nigeria and the US State Department in Washington, reveal that the former Minister had asked a visitor for the amount to enable him sign a contract agreement; $2 Million that day and $18 million to be paid the next day.
The revelation is coming from the January 27, 2010 meeting held in Abuja when Shell’s Regional Executive Vice- President for Africa, Ann Pickard and Shell’s Government Relations Representative, Peter Francis met with then American Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders.
The report quotes Pickard as saying that “her former associate (name with-held) had told her that she was present when Mike Aondoakaa asked the visitor that he would sign a document only if the visitor paid $2 million immediately and another $18 million the next day.” The meeting provided the Shell chief an opportunity to brief the Ambassador on the problems inherent in the oil and gas industry and acts of corruption in the country.
Pickard was updating Robin Sanders that things were going from bad to worse, especially the security situation in the country as Nigeria now had one of the highest negative ratings for maritime operations, thereby creating problems for Shell in hiring oil tankers to load, as tanker operators will work only under highly selective conditions. She gave an example of last year that there were about 80 piracy attacks on land and water combined, while already 15 have been tallied this year, which includes 3 for shell and 3 for ExxonMobil.
On Corruption, Pickard told the Ambassador that Nigerian entities control the lifting of many oil cargoes and there are some “very interesting” people lifting oil, adding that oil buyers would pay former NNPC GMD, Engr. Abubakar Yar’Adua, Tanimu Yakubu and Hajia Turai Yar’Adua large bribes to lift oil.
It was further revealed that the International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria are concerned about the “very flawed” new petroleum sector energy bill before the National Assembly and that the IOCs will be asking the United States, Dutch and the United Kingdom to convey points of interest to government policy makers on the bill.