This is the story of how Chief Olabode George, in an attempt not to go to prison by appearing to be thorough, ended in jail. It is the story of how intrigues and power play, both within and outside the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led to the imprisonment of the once powerful power player in Lagos politics.

By Jide Ajani , Deputy Editor & AbdulWahab Abdulah

THE Lugard Street Meeting (Chairman’s Office)It was sometime in 2003 and the venue of the meeting was the Lugard Street Guest House of the chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority. Time was about 7.00 p.m.

In one of the rooms were some executive directors of the NPA, including the then managing director, Aminu Dabo. The chairman at that time was Olabode Ibiyinka George, who was national vice chairman, South West, of the PDP. He was in another room while the board members waited. George walked into the room and simply told the members that they should resolve whatever differences existed among them or else they would not leave the room. He stormed out. That night, the meeting was inconclusive.

What Sunday Vanguard has been able to piece together is that there was an in-fighting which was already brewing among the directors. It had to do with the procedure  for awarding contracts and the directors were at each other’s throat.  The matter came to the knowledge of George who became livid. He ordered an internal probe of activities of the management of NPA and the findings were shocking.

The report of the internal probe revealed that some contracts had been awarded and they were split. George reported the matter to then President Olusegun Obasanjo. His refrain then was that he would not allow some people to send him to jail in old age – George turns  64 on November 21, 2009. In fact, the report of the internal probe was at some point discussed at the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, where it was decided that a more comprehensive probe be conducted.

The Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were then brought in. The report of the investigation conducted by the two bodies was what was taken to the Lagos High Court to prosecute George and Dabo, as well as Captain Olusegun Abidoye, Alhaji Abdullahi Aminu Tafida, Alhaji Zanna Maidaribe and

Alhaji Sule Aliyu. They bagged  28 years without an option of fine for offences bordering on disobedience of lawful order and splitting of contracts by the NPA board. The jail term will run concurrently for two and a half years.
Guilty as charged?

The first question to ask is: Was Olabode Ibiyinka George guilty or not? The simple direct answer is yes, in his capacity as chairman of the board. Having resolved that, should he have been sent to jail? The honest answer to that is, well, it depends on the pronouncement of the presiding judge who, in this case, was Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court.

From left; Chief Olabode George, Alhaji Aminu Dabo, former managing director, NPA; Captain Olusegun Abidoye and Alhaji Abdulahi Aminu Tafida

That said, how did Bode George get himself being sent to jail on account of the mess that became the contract splitting scandal? To some, it was administrative misdemeanour, which they claim should not have attracted jail terms but  fines. Justice Oyewole disagreed. Part of the report which was taken to court for the prosecution noted: “The committee has been able to establish conclusively fair prices in respect of contracts awarded by the board, management committee and the executive directors”

Disobedience of lawful order
The judgment also pointed out that no board member benefitted from the contracts. It further said no money was traced to any of the board members as kick backs from the said contracts. The judgment noted that no contractor was short-paid.

The contract costs were never known to have been reviewed downwards by the EFCC which scrutinized the contracts and ensured payment to the contractors. The court found them guilty of the offences of inflation of contract at the NPA between 2001 and 2003, disobedience of lawful order and abuse of office. In the judgment which lasted for over three hours, Justice Oyewole sentenced them to two years each on a 14 count-charge and six months each on another 28 count-charge.

The court, however, exonerated them on 28 out of the 68 counts for which they were arraigned on August 8, 2008. Seven out of the offences on which they were freed bordered on abuse of office, while 21 were on wilful disobedience of lawful order. Justice Oyewole, in the judgement, held:  “When public office is abused, the entire system is assaulted. This must not be condoned or treated with kid gloves if the quality of services in our public life is to attain an appreciable standard of civilized world.

For the right deterrent to be served, therefore, sufficient firmness must be demonstrated. I hold that the defendants while employed in the public service as chairman and directors respectively on the board of the NPA at the material times of exhibits D2 and D3 did approve split contracts. It is an arbitrary act which prejudiced the approving authorities’ superior to the NPA board constituted by them at that time, and that they thereby abused their offices.”

Power show and the road to jail
For George, there may have been the temptation of allowing politics and business to mix; and, at least, going by the judgment, there is suggestion that he may have committed errors of omission and commission while he served as the NPA chairman.

But George had always in private discussions, while the case was on, insisted that the prosecution would be put to shame, declaring that his innocence was not in doubt. Now, between a massive dose of naivety and an uncommon belief in self, George may have actually become the judge in his own case and, thereby, absolving himself of all forms of culpability.

You are wrong,    the court has    declared. George had always insisted that it would be irresponsible for him to defend himself alone while members of the board on trial could be held accountable. Perhaps he was wrong; very wrong. He blew the first whistle in the hope that he would quarantine himself from the power game in both the management and between some directors but the action ended up infecting him. The root of his problem remains political.

George would have become the national chairman, PDP, had Obasanjo not tinkered with the zoning arrangement which made Patricia Etteh from Osun State to become speaker of the House of Representatives and he, Obasanjo, chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, of the  PDP.  Once Obasanjo denied George that opportunity, the latter felt hurt. He had served as national vice chairman, PDP, South West; then deputy national chairman, South, PDP; before he became the national deputy chairman of the PDP.

Insiders familiar with the contract-splitting palava insist that there were wives of very prominent Nigerians who benefitted from the contracts.  Sunday Vanguard was reliably informed that, indeed, some of the contracts were split with a view to awarding them to such persons.  One of the wives of those mentioned before the trial commenced is the  wife of a former governor who continues to flex his muscle while the other prominent one is the wife of another powerful present day opposition figure.

What transpired was that while the case was being  packaged for prosecution, a decision was taken to ensure that it did  not end up being entangled in a web of multifarious trials and, therefore, should be focused on the abuse of the process of award. Upon the assumption of office of President Umar Yar’Adua, George was very visible in the early days of the government so much so that he distanced himself from Obasanjo.

But what made matters worse for George was that there were very powerful interests in PDP and outside who just wanted him dealt with at all costs. First was the decision of the EFCC to try him in a Lagos High Court.
PDP’s & AC’s reactions

National secretary of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, who is also the chairman, Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, has declared that the last is yet to be heard of the matter. The PDP in Lagos, in a reaction from its chairman, Sentonji Koshoedo, said, “It is shocking. It is sad, it is a blow not only on Lagos PDP but on the South West and the nation as a whole.

He deserves honour for his (George) contributions to Nigeria. Lagos PDP will suspend all activities till further notice. Morale of members has been dampened. A lot of work will have to be done to rejuvenate the party. We will not allow this to affect our focus. Our goal to succeed come 2011 is unshakeable.”

The Lagos AC, however, viewed the whole thing in a different way. Reacting on behalf of the party, Joe Igbokwe, the publicity secretary, said, “Such judgment will help democracy to grow, it will serve as a lesson to others that public office is not to be abused because, if it is abused, it causes colossal damage to the people and the society. If people are allowed to get away with offences, people will continue to indulge in it because nothing will happen”