APC chieftain attacks ex-Rep Chidi Duru over PenCom

Former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, a chieftain of the All progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Kashim Imam, has accused a former Member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Nze Chidi Duru of being the brain behind some of what he described as faceless and fallacious media attacks against the National Pension Commission and its leadership under the Director-General, Chinelo Anohu-Amazu.

Speaking to newsmen including Naij.com’s Michael Abimboye, he also discountenanced  claims by Hon. Duru that PenCom has defied court orders, saying that courts of the land know when their orders, not Chidi Duru, and could have punished PenCom if there is anything such thing. Excerpts:

Alhaji Kashim Imam

How did you come across Hon. Chidi Duru?

I knew him, when our Political Association- The Peoples Front, moved into the SDP. He was selling Fire Alarms on Molony Street, in Lagos then. He became a Personal Assistant to Chief Ojo Madueke, and then later he also became a PA to Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe. And you know, he was also a member of the House of Representatives. But contrary to the impression being created by him, that the Pension Reform Bill 2004, was his, I want to confirm that the Bill was not a Private one. So, it couldn’t have been his Bill. In fact, it was an Executive Bill emanating from the Fola Adeola Committee set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to reform our ailing pension system. Instructively, the woman who is now the DG of PenCom to day, Mrs. Anohu-Amazu, was a member of that Committee. So, you see why anyone who understands the origin of the reforms will not be surprised at the professional way she has been running the place and the innovations she has brought to the place. So, when people like Duru and his fronts make noise, it is because the woman has insisted on doing the right thing.

How was your Pension Fund Administrator, FGPL, formed?

Technically speaking, Duru, cannot even be said to have invested a dime in the business. But we did not know this, until much later. The initial deposit we were supposed to make, that is the initial capital, was never contributed by him. I agree with you, we ought to have verified this ab initio, this we did not do based on trust.

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But like I said, findings later showed that all the cheques he issued for the payment of his own share of the initial deposit, were never presented for clearance. He issued cheques to the tune of N30 million, but sadly, the money could not be traced in the company’s account. And this much was established by the regulatory body, PenCom, during its investigations.

Talking about the cheques, can you provide us with details of these cheques?

Chidi issued three different cheques, of 10million each, of Guardian Express Bank, with nos: 221 and 227 and another Diamond bank cheque. Similarly, his friend and “Co investor” Mr. Nnamdi Anammah, who was MD of Springlife Bank, also claimed to have invested N32million for his shares, issuing the following dude cheques- UBA Plc No.3, Reliance Bank Ltd No.194, Zenith Bank Plc No. 23 and UBA Plc No. 18833. Interestingly, Chidi came to my house one day and told me that his friend, Mr. Anammah, did not invest a dime in our company. Chidi subsequently attempted to appropriate to his company, BP Outsourcing Ltd, the N30 million shares in his name, and the N32million shares in the name of Mr. Anammah. Mr. Anammah has since gone to court, also claiming that Chidi did not invest a dime in the First Guarantee Pension Limited.

Again, when two shareholders pulled out, Olisa Metuh and Nick Opara Ndudu, he issued cheques from the account of the company, to refund their money to them, yet he fraudulently appropriated their shares, as his own. Instructively, Metuh, asked for a refund of his money, upon realization that Chidi had fraudulent intentions.

How much did you invest?

I invested a total amount of N100 million in the business. Several others like Pat Asadu, Ghali Na’bba, Terngu Tsegba, George Ozodinobi and others also invested. Chidi Duru did not invest a dime in the company he is now claiming from inception. He is just a fraudulent fellow.

How do you mean by fraudulent fellow?

He is fraudulent for several reasons. The initial N30 million he claimed to have invested was fraudulent as the cheques he issued were never cashed. This is criminal. For eight years, he ran the company as if it was his personal property, repeatedly stealing from the company. He ran the company without any regard for corporate governance code and ethics. He stole the initial capital contributed by other Shareholders through the award of spurious contracts to himself, his company and his wife.

Specifically, he awarded three contracts. One, Leasehold Improvements-whatever that means. He didn’t buy a new property, but he paid his company, Grand Towers, the sum of N150 million, for the said contract. It was awarded without any due process. Two, Office Equipment, this contract sum too was over N150million. This is aside the contracts he awarded for the purchase of computers and IT Software.  Three, is the Lease of Vehicles- he did not buy those vehicles out-rightly, yet he claimed to have leased those vehicles for over N150million.

He took money from the account of the company and paid off Olisa Metuh and Nick Opara and appropriated same shares to himself. He took money from the account of the company to pay for land in Lagos. He fraudulently paid himself spurious allowances running into millions of naira as Chairman of “board executive committee.” He bought generators and maintained same for his personal business premises and his house with funds belonging to the company. He used company’s money to pay for his “travels.” He used the company’s money to pay for his hotel bills, security bills, flight tickets and refund for “marketing expenses.”

There are several other transactions, shrouded in secrecy and double invoicing.  He with the connivance of his siblings namely Mrs. Joan Mbachu and Ugochukwu Duru, diverted brokage commissions on investment by the company, amounting to several millions of naira, to a Zenith Bank account, and from there to his personal account.  Going by the amended PenCom Act, this criminal act carries a jail term of five years. His sister in-law, Ugochukwu’s wife, who is a staff of Zenith bank, and who was also the Account Officer, has since been dismissed from Zenith Bank, on account of the fraudulent act. Chidi’s siblings were also dismissed by PenCom, from FGPL and their case referred to the EFCC, for criminal prosecution, in March 2012. Therefore, it is not only Chidi that should be jailed; the siblings too should be in jail.

And honestly, I am surprised that up till now, he has not been sent to the gulag, four years after all his fraudulent activities were investigated and established by PenCom. In fact, he was actually indicted by the National Pension Commission, PenCom, for all these infractions and referred to the EFCC for prosecution.

What happened next after the indictment?

Following his indictment, Chidi, at the stakeholders’ meeting summoned by PenCom, in May 2011, pleaded with the Agency, to give him a soft-landing and he offered to resign with immediate effect. His letter of resignation to PenCom was dated July 21, 2011. After the resignation, he subsequently got his lawyers to write, withdrawing the letter of resignation, and since then he’s been going about dishing out lies to the public.

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How come it took you this long to challenge his claims?

Importantly, we did not want to drag the name of the business in the mud, so as not to discourage retirees. Again, all along, I have been reluctant in granting an interview, for number of reasons. One, I trained as a banker and also worked as a banker before I left the sector. Our business in FGPL is similar to banking. At the hint of trouble in any bank, people rush to withdraw their savings. And this is very similar to that.

Two, at the last count, there are 12 cases pending in court, and I do not want to run foul of the contempt of court. Three, the lady he has been maligning, I mean Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, the PenCom DG, had insisted that we refrain from granting interviews, for the reasons that I have just listed. But when lies are repeatedly told, and it is allowed to go unchallenged, there is the tendency for the reading public to be tempted to believe it as the gospel truth.

Funny enough, he is dishing out his tissues of lies from a hideout. He is on the run. The EFCC has been looking for him to arraign him in court for stealing and forgery. But I understand they can’t find him.

In fact, one of his sureties, his biological sister, Mrs. Christy Chinyere Ekweonu, a Director in the Federal Ministry of Justice, was arrested and detained for 11 days by the EFCC. Yet, the coward that Chidi Duru is, refused to come out from hiding. He should come out and clear his name, if he is clean, as he claims.

It is believed that the Justice ministry has intervened in the matter and that PenCom is defying Court orders. How true are these claim?

All those letters you see, emanating from the Ministry of Justice in his favour, were all the hand work of his sister. It will interest you to know that he has a sister working in the Ministry of Justice, by name Mrs. Chinyere Ekweonu. Interestingly, she was the one that stood as surety, for Chidi, when he was granted bail by the EFCC, after his initial arrest. She was also arrested by the EFCC a few months ago as Duru jumped bail. She is the one that has been writing all letters emanating from the Ministry, in favour of Chidi, in this matter. She is the Director of Legal Reporting, in the Ministry.

Are you aware of petitions by Chidi Duru and his other claims in the media against PenCom by Nze Chidi Duru over and a group, including a claim that PenCom defies court orders?

The petitions and his other false claims that PenCom is defying court orders were done for the sole purpose of getting the PenCom DG sacked. Since it is a new government, making changes here and there, he hopes the lady will get sacked, through the petitions. But the lady he is deliberately maligning was not the DG of PenCom when the Target Report, which indicted him and led to his removal from Board of Fist Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL), was authored.

Ironically, here is a lady, sitting on over Five Trillion naira, without any hint of scandal. If anything, the DG has helped to save First Guarantee Pension Limited FGPL and grew its Assets, from N38 billion to about N120 billion and made a profit of about N3billion in four years, from the red, in debt of N400 million deficit, when Chidi held sway, more like a Sole Administrator  for eight years. And of the eight years he (Duru) spent, we had four different Managing Directors in just six year, as he was firing them at will, once they dared challenge his style of administration, which had little or no regard for corporate governance code and ethics.

Unfortunately for him, however, the last one he fired, Mr. Wilson Ideva, petitioned PenCom, that was how the bubble burst.  Since then, he has been going about maligning everyone in sight. And because he has nothing at stake, he wouldn’t mind if the business collapses. You know, when you fight corruption, corruption also fights back.

What is the link of the South African Investor in the whole episode?

Now, I wouldn’t know the relationship between him and the South African investor, Novare Holdings, represented by one Derrick Roper. But what I know as a fact is that, Chidi, forged our signatures to fraudulently invite Novare Holdings, the South African investor, into the company.  As if that was not bad enough, after misleading PenCom, through the forgery of our signatures, the Agency approved Roper, conditionally, as a part time director.

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But Chidi offered him an employment letter, dated June 15, 2010, as an Executive Director (Technical), with his emolument put at N20 million per annum, including benefits of 10 vacations to South Africa, each year, all to be paid by the company.

Interestingly, he did not only forge our signatures to invite the Novare to our company, in fact, he went ahead to forge an Expatriate Quota, inviting the South Africans into the country. When we petitioned the then minister, Mr. Abba Morro, over the development, the minister was scandalized after Duru’s forgery was established.

The investigations carried out by PenCom, also established that part of the funds transferred into our company, supposedly by the South African investor, was again diverted to BP Outsourcing Ltd and GT Retail Limited, a property company and these two are linked to Chidi. All these are contained in the Target Examination Report, carried out by PenCom, in 2011.

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