Nigerians resident in the United States of America have scheduled a solidarity march next Thursday at the country's embassy in Washington, DC, to protest alleged corruption, money laundering, abuse of power and sundry civil rights violations committed by Ambassador Ade Adefuyi, the country's ambassador to the US.
The protest march, it was gathered, is being organised by a group known as the International Human Rights Monitors (IHRM) in concert with other human rights organisations.
However, our correspondent in New York reports that Ambassador Adefuye has absolved himself and the embassy of involvement in any fraud. Also, embassy officials in Washington DC have denied knowledge of any planned protest.
But Mrs Carol Olubufunmi, who spoke to leadership weekend from the USA, maintained that plans had been concluded for Thursday's march on the Nigerian embassy.
According to a report posted on Republic Reporters website, the executive director of IHRM, Mr. Carl Umunna, speaking on the planned protest said, "It is critical and important that Nigerians from all walks of life see this as an opportunity to show outrage over these corrupt politicians and their criminality, negligence, and failed leadership across all political spectrum of what is called Nigeria."
Speakers at the protests that is scheduled to start at 12.30 pm would include Tino Bendel, Chepper (Occupy Wall Street Activist), Abdi Ega, C.K. Ekeke, and Carl Umunna.
Their eight-point demand includes:
- That Nigerian Ambassador Ade Adefuye resign immediately because he has abused his 'diplomatic immunities, rights, and privileges' and is now a liability and cannot discharge embassy responsibilities effectively and efficiently;
- Immediate overhaul of the embassy in Washington, DC; that the federal government institute an independent panel of inquiry with respect to missing $25 million accrued from real estate sales deposited in M&T Bank, and others, investigate the criminal activities of Ambassador Adefuye, EFCC, on what really happened to the missing funds, including investigation of money laundry allegations;
- That better equipped FBI and CIA be consulted in this investigation since EFCC that President Goodluck Jonathan ordered three weeks ago to investigate embassy scandals.
- That government should overhaul Nigerian embassies around the world, since Nigerian embassies official's operations are one and the same wherever they are located,
- We demand that the government make public Petrol Production and Distribution (PPD) policies directed at 500% local production of petroleum products within a space of 10 months,
- The government audit and make public the Nigerian Washington DC Embassy accounts, and explain what happened to the $25 million accrued from Nigerian real estate sales, 2004, with monthly interest of $350,000 since 2004 to 2012 with accurate embassy inventory, among others.
This is even as a Nigerian business woman resident in the US, Mrs Carol Olubufunmi, has accused Ambassador Adefuye of defrauding her to the tune of $528,000 USD being the cost of her organising a seminar in Washington, DC, which the wife of Vice-President Hajiya Amina Namadi Sambo attended with 30 other Nigerian women.
The seminar which was organised by the Pan African Women Network, owned by Mrs Olubufunmi, according to a statement posted by her counsel, Mr. Emeka Ugwuonye, was hijacked by Ambassador Adefuye and his wife Mrs. Catherine Adesola Adefuye.
It further claimed that, when the vice president's wife returned to Abuja, fund that was transferred to defray the debts to the embassy was seized by the ambassador, which has made it impossible for the said Mrs. Olubufunmi to meet her contractual demands with other persons and groups that assisted her in organizing the event.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Adefuye has reacted to the series of allegations of multiple fraud and money laundering made against him by those he described as "the enemies of Nigeria."
Speaking in an exclusive interview with our correspondent yesterday, the Nigerian envoy said his leadership of the embassy in Washington, DC, has never engaged in any form of fraud, money laundering and ill-treatment on the embassy staff or Nigerians living in the United States.
Denying the allegation made against him by Mrs Olubufunmi that he defrauded her of the total sum of 528,000 US dollars, Ambassador Adefuye said that the whole allegation was false.
Said hed: "The so-called Mrs Olubufunmi did not at any time give me or any staff of the Embassy the said money. What happened was that she organised a fake conference where she invited the wife of the vice president, Mrs Amina Sambo.
She did this without the knowledge of the Embassy. At the end, we found out that all the people she mentioned to the vice-president's wife that would be attending the event did not show up and this made the Embassy take an urgent step in order not to put the wife of the Nigeria's number two citizen in any mess."
Ambassador Adefuye added that the organiser of the event, Mrs Olubufunmi, bypassed the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC as a way she thought she could prevent the authenticity of the event from being verified.
According to Nigeria's envoy, when Mrs Amina Sambo arrived the venue of the "Fake conference" entitled "Pan African Women Network" there was nobody to receive her as the whole hall was empty, stressing that this made the Nigerian Embassy to organise a befitting reception for the second lady in order to avoid a disgrace.
Asked by why he thinks the organizer of the event is accusing him of having duped her the total sum of 528,000 US Dollars, Ambassador Adefuye said that the befitting reception which he ordered the Embassy to organize for Mrs Amina Sambo really got Mrs Olubufunmi angry and this made her start saying that he (the Ambassador) hijacked her event and as well defrauded her.
"I did not even know that a lot of money was involved in the fake conference that she said she organised and I think she wanted the Embassy to refund the expenses she had incurred in the purported conference.
"As a result of this, Mrs Olubufunmi went to Sahara Reporters to start publishing damaging stories about me that I had defrauded her of 528, 000 US Dollars, which she did not give to me or any staff of the embassy."
Speaking on the allegation that he is maltreating staff members of the Embassy, the Ambassador said that he had always maintained an open-door policy since his inception as the head of the mission in 2010.
He also said that it was a lie that he always handed over whoever that had problems with him to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
On this issue, the ambassador said, "I have never handed anybody over to the EFCC in my life. The only person that has problems with the EFCC is one Mr. Ugwuonye who diverted the money that belonged to the Embassy into his own account.
I have no gain in sending any Nigerian to jail but I have made it clear that all I want is that the money should be got from him and returned into the Embassy's account. Apart from this man, no other person can publicly say that I have handed him or her to the police or the EFCC."
On the alleged disappearance of almost 25 million US Dollars realized from the sales of Nigeria's properties in 2004, the ambassador said it was all lies, stressing that he was at the National Assembly two weeks ago to give account of his stewardship.
He added that he was able to present an accurate detail of all the money he met when he got to the Embassy as the ambassador, adding that he also gave Nigeria's lawmakers the details required regarding the running of all the accounts of the Nigerian Embassy between 2010 when he assumed duties and now.
Speaking further, Adefuye said that no amount of protest or allegations would make him resign as the Nigerian ambassador to the United States, stressing that the president that appointed him to head the mission believed in his pedigree before doing so.
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These case need to be investigated by the CIA inconjunction with EFCC,,,corruption has eating deep into the lifes of our people,,mrs Sambo came for the confrence not for you,,you spent the embassy fund for reception that never concern you, and you are still flapping in defence.untill death by hanging will stand as a punishment for corrup office holders before this will stop.mrs funmilayo did not contact you simply bcos of your corrup life style,, and secondlly she has a personal understanding with the wife of the vice president not you, do you think Nigerias are fools, you came to give your stewardship to the National Assembly where we have Arm robber that appointed you through your under ground lobby, thiefs we have as senators are now checking your stewardships, arm robbers will always support arm robbers..Give your stewardship to ICPC and EFCC to check...Just Thank God that am not in the USA,,,.immergency reception my foot..is about time we started acting drama to all our corrup leaders.
This matter needs to be investigated. Nigerian ambassadors are no different from corrupt Nigeria. Corruption has replaced garri as the staple food of Nigerians especially those holding public office.
Too long comment is bullshit... Let the case be simply investigated by CIA, EFCC etc. as this old folk can never accept that time changed and and any currupt official must be exposed. THat Nigerian embassy wherever has become a place to make money than to serve its people.. Those fools that are not even qualified to find good job globally, that call themseves embassy official, behave as if they are anything. YOu need to see how embassy workers in BErlin Germany use to behave, while im watching them like a typical black man survering from mental slavery and acting as if he knows anything when he see's his brother he is surposed to humbily help. Black man wake up..
This is pure sensational misleading journalism. It is a lame attempt to win sympathy for the isolated campaign of vile calumny and blackmail, obfuscation and lies against the person of the Ambassador. Why do you folks descend so low to attempt to sway public opinion to pursue your personal misgivings?
The said Mrs Olubunmi, one of the facilitators of this misguided protest, organized a fake conference where she invited the wife of the vice president, Mrs Amina Sambo. She did this without the knowledge of the Embassy. At the end, all the people she mentioned to the vice-president’s wife that would be attending the event did not show up and this made the embassy take an urgent step in order not to put the wife of Nigeria’s number-two citizen in any mess. That is within the prerogative of the Embassy. She now demanded to be paid some $500,000 for ‘services rendered’!! Does that make sense to YOU that she incurred $528,000 to organized a no-show 3-day event? The said Mrs. Carol Olubunmi has taken the matter to court. And guess who her “Counsel in crime” is? Mr. Emeka Ugwuonye!!!
Check out the records of Emeka Ugwuonye as it relates to the Nigerian Embassy. This is a man who within one year allegedly got:.
- paid $275,000 for Embassy job on M Street Property in DC (reduced by Ambassador Obiozor from $470,000, because "that is too much".) - paid $750,000 by the Nigerian Government (via the Ministry of Justice) for work done for former President Abdusalami Abubakar - paid two $65,000 checks for real estate work on two properties on Connecticut Avenue; - to impound $1.5 million of Embassy tax refund money, and says that he is still owed $2 million additional money
This was ALL before Ambassador Adefuye's time. Why are we all chasing the shadow and leaving the substance?
Emeka, Carol and their cohorts have colluded with there fellow disgruntled elements that “Ambassador Adefuye and the Nigerian Embassy have orchestrated inhumane and cruel treatment of Diaspora Nigerians in collusion with the Economic and Finance Crimes, Commission (EFCC).” How ignorant can that be? Have you been following the efforts of the Ambassador ALL OF THIS WHILE since he arrived in 2009 to "to reach out to the Nigerian-American community"? Do you know how many local communities he has visited to promote a more inclusive community of Nigerians in the US? Do you know how the Embassy Staff in Washington DC dot over the Ambassador and relate with him like family members? Have you even done a survey of Nigerians in US to feel their pulse? How many Nigerians in US have been formally reported to EFCC? Two, Carol Olubunmi and Emeka? Why? To protect you and me, to protect Nigeria from being defrauded. Since when did that become a crime?
Emeka was taken to court for converting to his own use $1.5 million dollars belonging to the Embassy. The EFCC had to lock him up for some time. He is now only out on bail. This is why he has been attempting to embarrass Nigeria, the person of the Ambassador, and the Government. But people know him for who he is. Ask Prof. Augustine Esogbue. Ask Prof Joe Igietseme? Talk with Folashade Arowoselu. Dialogue with Richard Soyombo. Reach out to Dr. Ola kassim, Prof Bolaji Aluko and a host of others who have toiled to build the Nigerian Community in Diaspora in US. Ask them about one Emeka Ugwuonye. You would hear a mouthful!!
Enough of this nonsense. Nigerians in USA resoundingly support Ambassador Adefuye and do not subscribe stifled tantrums.
Regards Titus Olowokere Atlanta, GA