By Samuel Itsede
A whistle-blower, John Okupurhe, has written a letter to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), accusing the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation of refusing to pay him commission after exposing over $1bn (N420bn) hidden in Unity Bank Plc.
Okpurhe said this in a letter written by his lawyer, Aliyu Lemu, dated June 22, 2020.
The whistle-blower said the account was secretly being operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority to illegally collect revenue from vessels.
He said upon discovery, he informed the Office of the AGF of the secret account in line with the whistle-blower policy, and that an agreement was signed.
The agreement stated that Okpurhe would be entitled to a commission if the information provided turned out credible.
The whistle-blower said after playing his own part, the AGF’s office began to play games.
The letter read in part, “Pursuant to the whistleblower policy of the Federal Government, our client approached the Office of the AGF with confidential information in respect of hidden public funds concealed in a commercial bank in Lagos contrary to the Treasury Single Account policy which requires all public revenue or funds to be domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Our client presented the Office of the AGF with qualifying information on a cloned account with the Nigerian Ports Authority which was being used to illegally collect revenue from vessels by the signatories who are no longer in the service of the NPA.
“Upon establishing that our client’s information qualified under the whistle-blower policy, the Office of the AGF signed a whistle-blower agreement with our client through his appointed counsel- Mamman, Maiyaki & Co.
“The information provided by our client eventually led to the exposure of the hidden/concealed funds in Unity Bank Plc to the tune of $1,034,515, 000.”
The whistle-blower said the Office of the AGF had been making flimsy excuses as to why the commission was not paid.
He said the Head of Asset Management and Recovery Unit, Mrs Ladidi Mohammed, informed him that the matter was in court and that plans had changed.
Okuprhe said when asked who filed the suit, she (Mohammed) could not come up with the answer. Also, she could not disclose in which court the matter was pending.
He added, “On the next day, one Ms Bunmi, who deputises for Mrs Mohammed, called our client and asked him to come alone without a lawyer. Upon arrival, she informed our client that there was no pending matter in court on the account.”
The whistle-blower said he was told that because the money involved was huge, the Office of the AGF recommended a private firm with which he should enter into a contract to help him get the funds.
The whistle-blower said upon the insistence of the AGF’s office, he was made to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the company to forfeit 60 per cent of his reward.
He said in a dramatic twist, his lawyer was attacked by armed policemen in his office who robbed him and made away with the original copy of the agreement signed with the AGF.
Okpurhe called on the President to quickly intervene as failure to pay him could compromise the whistle-blower policy and affect public trust in the government.
The AGF’s spokesman, Umar Gwandu, did not respond to calls on Saturday.
However, a top source at the AGF’s office said the matter was being investigated by the Department of State Services.
She said, “The AGF has ordered that the case be investigated by the DSS so we cannot speak on the matter for now. The truth is that the whistle-blower’s information was not accurate. He is just going about trying to intimidate us.”
