The Story

In April 2012, Citadel Oracle Concept Limited responded to a public notice by FIRS in Guardian newspapers inviting qualified firms to apply for pre-qualification to tender to supply laptops. The company was shortlisted and invited to tender.

Few days to the deadline for the submission of the tender, Princess Kama, a member of Joseph’s church, was returning to her base in Abuja from Ibadan. Joseph saw an opportunity to save the cost of traveling from Ibadan to submit the tender at the FIRS. He pleaded with her to help drop the sealed envelop containing the tender documents.

Among the documents in the envelop were a letter from First Bank of Nigeria guaranteeing about N500m credit financing to Citadel Oracle in the event that the contract was awarded to it by FIRS, and an attestation letter from Hewlett-Packard Europe BV recommending Citadel Oracle for the contract.

To facilitate the submission of the tender at FIRS, Joseph transferred N55,000 to Kama through her account No. 3039500299 with First Bank. All subsequent official costs related to the tender submitted by Kama at FIRS was borne by Joseph.

In Abuja, Kama submitted the tender envelop to FIRS, but not after she had opened it and tampered with its contents. Unknown to her, the FIRS, on receipt of the tender, sent a acknowledge mail to company’s official email address enclosed in the tender along with other information.

However, FIRS indicated that further dealings concerning the tender would only be with an official representative of the company. Consequently, Joesph, in order to minimise cost of sending his staff from Ibadan to stay in Abuja to follow up on the contract processes, opted to issue a letter dated December 13, 2012 to the FIRS introducing Kama as the company’s representative authorised to participate in the bids opening exercise and collect the final contract papers.

Immediately after, Kama invited Joseph to a meeting with her uncle in Lagos. Initially, Joseph resisted for some time, because the agenda was not clear. Later, he accepted reluctantly for the meeting, during which he met for the first time a man he later knew to be Chief Onny Igbokwe, the MD of Ad’mas Digital Technology Services.

During the meeting, Igbokwe told Joseph how well connected he was to the top official at FIRS. He said his contact at FIRS told him in good authority that Citadel Oracle was being considered for the contract award.

However, he advised Joseph to walk away with N15m as profit from one of the three contract Lots and allow him and his group execute the contract in the name of Citadel Oracle. In the alternative, if Joseph insisted on executing the contract by himself, he must put down about N85m, to enable him settle some officials of FIRS.

But Joseph immediately rejected both offers, and accused Kama of deceiving him to attend a meeting convened to commit an illegal act contrary to his company’s ethical values and principles. On that basis, Joseph told Kama he had terminated all relationship with her as the representative of the company concerning the contract. Weeks later, Kama called Joseph to inform him that because he refused to accept the conditions offered to him during the Lagos meeting, the FIRS had opted to award the contract to another company she did not disclose. Joseph had given up on the FIRS contract.

About the same time, Kama gave a testimony during the annual convention of the Dominion Church where her family attended with Joseph’s family about a big breakthrough God blessed with. Unknown to Joseph which contract Kama was referring to, Joseph and his family joined in the celebration.

Citadel Oracle auditor was at the FIRS Ibadan Zonal office to submit the company annual tax returns where he was confronted with the allegation that the company was owing an unremitted N8.1m VAT. returns and another N8.1m as outstanding unremitted withholding tax. Initially, it was not clear which contract the FIRS official was referring to. Further inquiries revealed that both were in respect of a contract allegedly awarded by FIRS.

Shocked by the discovery, Joseph wrote to Kama and other suspects on August 2, 2013 to find out what they knew about the contract the FIRS was referring to, since the company was sure it did not execute any contract for FIRS during the year. No response came from any of them.

Citadel Oracle hired the services of the law firm of Afe Babalola & Co. to write to them demanding to know what they knew about the alleged FIRS contract. On Auguust 26, 2013, Afe Babalola and Co wrote to the suspects to demand to know their involvement in the FIRS mystery contract. In response, they called for a meeting to amicably resolve the issue.

The meeting was held at Afe Babalola law office at the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti on September 26, 2013. During the meeting they formally admitted to executing the contract awarded by FIRS to Citadel Oracle, which Kama said was later awarded to another company after Joseph rejected the conditions given to him.

Subsequently, they offered to pay to Joseph about N5.7m, being 70 percent of the share of the profit from the FIRS contract. The offer was rejected. But a demand was made for the suspects to make full disclosure about the contract, in terms of the contract papers, payment and disbursement processes. Rather than meet the demand, the suspects, through their lawyer, Anthony Okah, wrote a letter to Joseph on September 4, 2013 to plead for understanding.

To get those details, Afe Babalola wrote to the Accountant General of the Federation to request for the particulars of the FIRS contract executed by the suspects.

To get the contract papers at the FIRS and open and account for the payment of the proceeds, the suspects forged several documents belonging to Citadel Oracle.

Some of the documents forged included details of the corporate accounts operated by Citadel Oracle with Access Bank since 2008 and 2010. The forged documents were used in opening another account at Access Bank without the consent and knowledge of Joseph.

Afe Babalola Chambers wrote to Access Bank on October 22, 2013 to request for clarifications about the status of the third account, but they refused to supply details.

Joseph went to the headquarters of Access Bank in Lagos to request for the statement of all accounts in its system belonging to his company. Three accounts popped up, including the fake account No. 0059202675 opened on October 1, 2012 by the suspects, which the Bank official refused to release to him, on grounds that he was a signatory and not entitled to the details. Joseph wrote several letters to Access Bank requesting to know the details of account No. 0059202675 operated in the name of his company without him as a signatory. The bank did not respond.

After gathering all the details about the fraud and the role of the suspects, including Access Bank, Joseph filed a petition with the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police urging it to investigate the circumstances the opening and operating of the account. Also, he petitioned the CBN over the unethical conduct of Access Bank over the matter.

Later, on January 20, 2014 and February 25, 2014, Afe Babalola wrote to FIRS to formally demand details of the contract fraud. FIRS response was that it acted based on the letter of authority issued by Joseph to Kama to represent the company.

In September 2014, concluded its investigations into the matter and found all the suspects culpable of the crime. It recommended their being charged for alleged crimes of “forgery, conspiracy, impersonation and fraud”.

On March 9, 2015, DPP Mohammed Saidu Diri wrote to the then Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Bureau (FCIB), Solomon Arase, to inform him that a review of the case file found “enough convincing evidence to prosecute the suspects” for the crime.

However, the arraignment and prosecution of the suspects were stalled, because the police refused to release the case file to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation.

On May 8, 2015, following the appointment of Arase as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Joseph wrote to him highlighting his frustrations to get the suspects tried. But IGP Arase responded on May 14, 2015 with an advice civil matter against them be concluded first, to “prevent a miscarriage of justice.”

In September 2015, Joseph petitioned Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, then the acting President, who later directed the EFCC to investigate the matter.

However, in June 2016, IGP Arase, was retired. Before his exit, he directed that Joseph be charged and arraigned under charge No CR/216/16 for alleged “false petitioning.”

Police prosecutor, Simon Lough, then an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), used the suspects as witnesses against Joseph for allegedly making false allegations of identity theft, impersonation and criminal conversion of contract worth over N170.3 m against his company.

The EFCC conducted an independent probe of the suspects and confirmed their indictment by the police. The suspects were granted bail after they were quizzed, pending their prosecution. Also, the VP directed the AGF to take over the case from the police.

On December 7, 2016, the directive was carried out by DPP Muhammad Umar. But few days later, it was reversed based on a controversial petition by counsel to the suspects, Innocent Eremionkhale, of Integrity Law Firm, who claimed the AGF was not informed about a pending civil case against Joseph.

On April 11, 2017, Joseph again wrote to VP Osinbajo and AGF Malami to accuse the then director, International and Comparative Law in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Stella Anukam, of being behind the controversial petition that misled the AGF into reversing himself on his earlier directive to the police to discontinue prosecuting him.

Apart from Anukam being the lead partner in Integrity Law Firm while still in office, Joseph said Innocent Eremionkhale, the signatory to the petition, and counsel to the suspects was her brother.

In 2017, when the EFCC quizzed the suspects over their roles in the fraud, Joseph said one of the documents used in securing bail for some of the suspects, including Chioma Ekeh, the director of TD and wife of the Chairman of Zinox Group, Stan Leo Ekeh, was Anukam’s signature and a N150m surety.

On November 1, 2018, Femi Falana requested for a Fiat from AGF Malami to prosecute the suspects pursuant to Section 104(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

Meanwhile, the EFCC concluded its probe and found all the suspects culpable of the crime. But regardless, on June 18, 2018, the anti-graft agency opted to selectively arraign and charge only two of the suspects – Igbokwe and Kama, despite protests by Joseph’s counsel.

Joseph said EFCC prosecutor, Jude Obozuwa, relied on strange charges not derived from the facts contained in his petition to the IGP. To prosecute the suspects. While Joseph’s petition said the fraud was based on the forgery of his company’s Board Resolution dated December 18, 2012, the EFCC prosecutor charged the suspects based on a non-existent document dated December 14, 2012.

As a result of the apparent deliberate contradictions and non-diligent prosecution by the EFCC, the suspects were on February 24, 2021 discharged and acquitted by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Jabi, Abuja, presided over by Justice Danlami Senchi, despite indicting the EFCC for failing to file the right charge against the suspects.

On November 15, 2021, the DPP took over Joseph’s trial by the police for the second time since December 7, 2016.

On May 10, 2022, AGF Malami approved the Falana’s request on November 2018 for special powers to prosecute the suspects for the crime.

Pursuant to the Minister’s order, Falana, on September 9, 2022, filed a 17-count charge at the High Court of the FCT against the suspects. Their arraignment was fixed for Tuesday, November 8, 2022, before Justice C. O. Oba. But on Thursday, November 3, 2022, a letter signed by the DPP Babadoko Abubakar, on behalf of the AGF emerged. The letter backdated to October 28, 2022, and addressed to the Principal Partner, Falana & Falana Chambers, Abuja, said the AGF had authorized withdrawal of the Fiat that empowered Falana to prosecute the suspects.

Falana was requested to withdraw from court charge No. FCT/HC/CR/469/2022”in the interest of justice.” Consequently, the Judge struck out the case.

Following the appointment of Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi as the AGF in 2023, the Fiat authorising Falana to prosecute the suspects, which was earlier withdrawn, was restored.

The restoration of the Fiat, following a review of the trial case file, was equally in the exercise of AGF’s powers under Section 174(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which empowers to intervene and terminate any case at any time if, in his judgment, there are sufficient reasons to suspect a possible miscarriage of justice against the accused.

On November 28, 2024, Falana filed a 15-count charge at the High Court of the FCT, Abuja between the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as complainant, and the 13 suspects (as defendants) over allegations of criminal misappropriation of the sum of N162.3 million in account No. 0059202675 domiciled in Access Bank PLC, being proceeds of a FIRS headquarters, Abuja contract awarded to Citadel Oracle Concepts Ltd for the supply of laptops, which was fraudulently diverted and payment received in the name of Citadel Oracle Concepts Ltd without its consent. The amount did not include about N8m deducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as value added tax (VAT) in respect of the full value of the controversial contract.

On December 2023, Fagbemi wrote to Falana to inform him of his decision to reinstate the Fiat previously issued by his predecessor and later revoked in controversial circumstances.

The AGF said the letter was in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 174(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which empowers the AGF to intervene and terminate any case at any time if, in his judgment, based on his review of the trial, there are reasons for him to suspect the possibility of a miscarriage of justice against the accused.

When the arraignment of the suspects began on January 22, 2025 at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court 16 Bwari presided by Justice AO Ebong, most of the suspects, including the Chairman of Zinox Group, Stan Leo Ekeh, and his wife, Chioma, failed to show up.

Hearing on the matter was scheduled to continue on Monday, March 3, 2025.