Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has exposed a company called Samano, which it described as a strong member of an international crime syndicate that had, since 2015, been intimidating it in attempts to defraud it of $125 Millions.

The Corporation has already instructed its lawyer, Afe Babalola & Co, to process a legal action against the alleged fraud star, against the backdrop of its persistent blackmail in social media and other media outlets.

In a long statement today, July 30, the NNPC lawyer said: “we act as Counsel to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.”

The Corporation said the activities of Samano are at best diversionary and in furtherance of its scheme to fleece Nigeria. “SAMANO’s attempt to shift attention from the on-going criminal charges against its Managing Director and agents will not fly. NNPC has instructed Counsel to take appropriate legal actions against SAMANO and its officers for the injury done to the Corporation and its officials by the falsehoods peddled by SAMANO and its agents.”

Read the full text of Afe Babalola and Co statement:

The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been drawn to several online publications, particularly the Sahara Reporters’ publication of 26th July 2020, captioned “EXCLUSIVE: How Nigerian Government Officials, NNPC Staff Sold 48 Million Barrels Of Stolen Crude Oil, Issued Death Threats To Whistleblower,” sponsored by SAMANO SA DE CV. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is also aware of several television broadcasts and commentaries in respect of the same subject. These publications replicate the content of a recent letter forwarded to NNPC on behalf of SAMANO SA DE CV by its Solicitors, Messrs. Lords & Temple.

The Management of the Corporation states emphatically that these publications are replete with falsehoods, offensive, gold-digging and a calculated attempt by the said SAMANO SA DE CV (SAMANO) working in concert with its local and international agents to intimidate, blackmail and extort money from the Federal Government of Nigeria and NNPC. Given the attention which these publications have generated, NNPC deems it necessary to make the following clarifications:

SAMANO first contacted officials of the Federal Government of Nigeria sometime in 2015 indicating that it had been approached by an unnamed group in the People’s Republic of China to buy 48 Million Barrels of Nigerian Crude Oil which they believed to have been stolen from Nigeria. According to SAMANO, this crude had been stolen and shipped to China before the inception of President Buhari’s administration in 2015.

SAMANO requested that it be allowed to purchase the stolen crude after its recovery by the Federal Government.

Shortly thereafter, SAMANO indicated that it was not interested in buying the said stolen crude as it only obliged the Federal Government with the information to assist the President Buhari-led administration’s fight against corruption.

The Federal Government and NNPC receive hundreds of spurious claims of this nature daily, and they always turn out to be false.

NNPC also believed that based on the operations and state of the international crude oil market in 2015, it was impossible to ship 48 Million Barrels of Crude Oil from Nigeria to China without any record or trace of same.

For context, as of 2015, the daily production of crude oil in Nigeria was below 1.6 million barrels. Therefore, 48 million barrels of crude oil would have been the total production capacity of the country for a whole month. It was and remains simply impossible for one-month crude oil production for the entire country to disappear without any record or trace from the shores of the country.

NNPC was also aware that as at the material time and considering the fact that the People’s Republic of China is one of the most regulated economies in the world, the export of Crude Oil from Nigeria to China was exclusively undertaken by four known companies approved by, under the control, ownership, and management of the Chinese Government. It would, therefore, have been impossible to transport 48 Million Barrels of Crude Oil from Nigeria to China without the active involvement of the said companies. Again, from an economic perspective, it made little sense that anyone would store that volume of Crude Oil in China for such a considerable period having regard to the attendant significant storage costs. It is noteworthy that the Chinese Government had, through its officials, stated emphatically in response to this allegation at different fora including the United Nations General Assembly that there was NO stolen Nigerian Crude Oil stored in any port or terminal or storage facility in China.

Despite these reservations and in view of the fact that transparency, accountability, the fight against corruption and the recovery of the country’s looted resources have been integral components of State policy under the administration of his Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Government of Nigeria set up the Presidential Committee on Recovery of Stolen Nigerian Crude Oil in response to the claims made by several companies including SAMANO over alleged stolen Nigerian Crude Oil stored in China.

The said Presidential Committee requested that SAMANO furnish it with evidence in proof of its allegations to enable it to investigate and verify its claim. Still, SAMANO refused, neglected or failed to provide the Committee with any cogent and verifiable evidence in support of its allegations.

Notwithstanding the failure of SAMANO to produce verifiable evidence in support of its allegations, for completeness, relevant officials were mandated to pay an in-person visit to China and further investigate SAMANO’s claim.

During this fact-finding trip to China, it was discovered that SAMANO’s claim was false as there were no 48 Million Barrels of stolen Nigerian Crude Oil or any stolen Nigerian Crude Oil in any port, terminal or storage facility in China. It was also discovered that all the documents previously presented by SAMANO in support of its claims were not genuine. A report of this finding was issued by the Committee to Mr. President.

Consequently, the Federal Government terminated all communications with SAMANO as it became apparent that its claim was a hoax.

When SAMANO realized that the Federal Government was no longer interested in the non-existent stolen crude, it resorted to blackmail and intimidation of key officials of the Government. SAMANO threatened that it would publicize the fact that the non-existent crude had been recovered, sold and proceeds looted by senior government officials and other personalities when it knew this was absolute falsehood.

SAMANO made several demands including the demand that it be paid the sum of $125,000,000:00 (One Hundred and Twenty-Five Million United States Dollars) by the government officials to prevent it from disclosing this false information to the public.  This demand soon metamorphosed into harassment as SAMANO embarked on a mischievous exercise to embarrass the Federal Government of Nigeria on international media platforms and before several international institutions like the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) all in a calculated bid to blackmail the Federal Government of Nigeria and NNPC into paying it a significant amount of money as compensation.

As a result of the constant harassment, NNPC was constrained to make a formal report to the Department of State Security (DSS) and Nigeria Police while other victims wrote petitions in respect of the same subject to the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation.

After a thorough investigation by the Police and DSS and confessions by agents of SAMANO, it was discovered that the allegations of conspiracy, forgery, obtaining money by false pretence, blackmail and extortion were well-founded and that some of the fraudulent activities of one Mr Ramirez and Mr Jose Salazar Tinajero (both agents of SAMANO) constituted a threat to the national security of Nigeria.

During its investigation, the Nigerian Police discovered that SAMANO is part of a notorious crime syndicate that habitually intimidates, blackmails, and defrauds government officials and other high-profile persons. For instance, it was discovered that Mr Ramirez, SAMANO’s representative, was indicted by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas as the mastermind of a scheme leading to the loss of several millions of dollars through various mail and wire frauds between 2010 and 2013. The Police became aware that Mr Ramirez fled the United States of America and settled in Nigeria where he continued his criminal activities in conjunction with SAMANO and its Managing Director. There is a subsisting warrant issued by the United States Government for the arrest of Mr. Ramirez. His wife has been convicted in the United States for her role in a visa lottery scam he masterminded.

NNPC is aware that this investigation led to the filing of Charge No.: FCT/HC/BU/CR/134/2019 between Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Marco Antonio Ramirez & 4 Others at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Some of the offences in the charge are criminal conspiracy, forgery, extortion and attempt to obtain money by false pretence.

NNPC also understands that Mr Ramirez and his cohorts are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for other unrelated offences at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in Charge No: FCT/HC/CR/147/2016 and the Federal High Court, Lagos in Charge No: ID/2763/2016.

NNPC is convinced that the chameleonic posture of SAMANO as a potential buyer, then gratuitous informant and subsequently a whistle-blower demonstrates its desperation to hoodwink and defraud the Federal Republic of Nigeria by all means.

In its latest correspondence to NNPC, SAMANO claims that it is entitled to compensation for supplying information on the missing crude oil pursuant to the Federal Government’s Whistle Blower Policy. However, the information (which has proved to be pure falsehood) forming the basis of this claim was furnished in 2015 whilst the Whistle-blower Policy of the Federal Government only commenced in December 2016.

SAMANO also failed to follow due process or establish that the information it allegedly provided led to any recovery or that the information was disseminated through the proper channel – the Federal Ministry of Finance online portal or in writing to the Federal Ministry of Finance or the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit Unit. SAMANO’s actions were contrary to the laid down policy of the government on whistleblowing. Indeed, SAMANO does not qualify as a whistle-blower under this policy, particularly as no benefit whatsoever was derived from the piece of falsehood it provided at the time.

In view of the foregoing, NNPC urges members of the public to disregard the publications sponsored by SAMANO. They are at best diversionary and in furtherance of its scheme to fleece Nigeria. SAMANO’s attempt to shift attention from the on-going criminal charges against its Managing Director and agents will not fly. NNPC has instructed Counsel to take appropriate legal actions against SAMANO and its officers for the injury done to the Corporation and its officials by the falsehoods peddled by SAMANO and its agents.

SIGNED: AFE BABALOLA & CO.

President Muhammadu Buhari, ex Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,  Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad  Nami and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello have sent greetings to Nigerian Muslims as they celebrate Eid-el-Kabir tomorrow, July 30.

In his message, President Buhari appealed to Nigerians to continue to exercise patience and understanding over the inconveniences created by the precautionary measures taken for Covid-19, especially the regulations on places of worship.

President Buhari said that the outbreak of coronavirus has made it difficult for people to gather in places of worship as they are used to, urging worshipers to follow the guidelines for the safety of their lives, and loved ones.

“The coronavirus has had devastating adverse impacts on our social, economic and spiritual lives.

“The preventive guidelines we have introduced to contain the spread of this deadly disease have unfortunately limited  people’s freedom to gather and worship in large numbers in  Mosques and Churches.

“Every measure that has been introduced to contain this disease may have its unintended consequences on the daily lives of our people, and I, therefore, call on Muslims and other faiths to continue to show more understanding with the government as we take correct steps to protect our people through the social distancing.

“No elected government would intentionally take away its people’s religious freedom by limiting the number of people that will gather in worship centres at thesame time.

“These guidelines are dictated by necessity in order to safeguard public health and should therefore not be perceived as infringement on people’s right to worship.’’

The President commended sacrifices of Muslims and Christians in abiding by the COVID-19 guidelines for the good of society, assuring that: “On our own part, we shall continue to provide economic reliefs to the people to minimize the unintended hardships these guidelines have inflicted.’’

He reminded worshippers that COVID-19 is worldwide affliction with Churches and Mosques closed around the world and social distancing imposed to safeguard public health.

While wishing Muslims a happy celebration, the President called on worshipers not to forget the symbolic significance of the sacrifices of the Eidel Kabir.

“Muslims should imbibe the noble virtues of our great prophets in order to establish closer connectivity between religious teachings and practice

“We can create the greatest impact by putting into practice the noble teachings of our religion. In whatever we do in life, we must put the fear of God in our daily activities in order to make our society better.’’

The President reminded the people of his efforts to root out corruption in the country, stating that the efforts had so far brought a lot of changes in country’s polity and appealed for support and understanding as investigations are carried out into both legacy

That was even as ex Vice President Atiku noted that for the first time in living memory, Muslims in our country fasted this year without spiritual acts of worship that accompany the Holy Month of Ramadan, and had Eid celebration devoid of the mandatory congressional prayers. Historically too, this would be the fourth time in all time that the holy pilgrimage of Hajj would suffer restrictions.

According to him, the essence of the Eid el Kabir festivities is a reminder of a life of service as exemplified by Prophet Ibrahim (AS) and encouraged by Prophet Muhammed (SAW).

“In this season of a virus pandemic, we should acknowledge that part of the sacrifices required of us is adherence to instructions and protocols towards the containment of the spread of the corona virus.

“In the last four months or so, we have been united in our common resolve to beat this disruptor to our lives. We have drawn strength from one another. We have been guided by the dictum that no man/woman is an island, and that a threat to one is a threat to all. Above all, love has in this season of great uncertainty, broken down the walls of divisions that seek to compromise our resolve to stand united.

“And, as Muslims in Nigeria celebrate Eid el Kabir Sallah, it is my hope that we will continue to pray for the country and work assiduously for the promotion of love, mutual respect, peace and tolerance in order to build a stronger and more united country.”

Also, in his Sallah message, Asiwaju Tinubu joined Nigerian Muslims and Muslims all over the world in observance of Eid-el-Kabir.

He said that this year’s observance comes at a unique moment in history where the normal activities of society have been upset and altered by the threat of deadly sickness.

“This sickness has touched Muslim, Christian as well as those who profess no religion at all. It has descended on both the high and the not-so-high. “We have lost friends and loved ones. Too many people have died and far too many good people are still suffering because of the economic consequences of this scourge.

“Thus, this Eid shall not be a moment of vigorouscelebration simply because it is our tradition to do so. The pressing weight of events compels us to rekindle in ourselves a greater commitment to the true spirit and reason for this holy observance.

“Coming as the end of religious activities spanning the first ten days of the Islamic Month of DhulHijjah, Eid-el-Kabirenjoins us as Muslims to show mercy and compassion to our fellowhuman beings.Given the challenges that have come this year, there is no time like the present to sow brotherly love and kindness.

“We thank Almighty Allah that he has given us the breath of life and allowed us to keep it. This means that we should be grateful for life and, in being so, that we should strive to live according to His munificent purposeas exemplified in the miraculous preservation of Prophet Ismail’s life.”

The Executive Chairman of FIRS, Nami, said also that his organization joined the rest of the country to felicitate with Muslims nationwide, adding: “we thank the Almighty God for sparing our lives to witness yet another Sallah festival especially in this year that has been very difficult for individuals and businesses.

“Nonetheless, the Service will continue to identify with the challenges of the times,  which the taxpayers are going through.

“In furtherance of this, and, in addition to a number of COVID-19 palliatives already in place, as well as in the spirit of this Eid celebration,  we hereby grant a further one-week extension from the 31st July 2020 deadline for Companies with December accounting year end to file their Year 2020 annual Income Tax Returns.”

Similarly, the FCT minister, Muhammad Musa Bello congratulated the Muslim faithful on the celebration of Eid-el-Kabir and advised them to use the occasion to offer supplication to Almighty Allah (SWT) for a quick end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The minister reminded the Muslim Ummah that the celebration of Eid-el-Kabir is significant because it is a festival of sharing and caring for the less fortunate members of the society and called on them to use the occasion to reach out to the needy, especially those who have been negatively impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Musa Bello also called on residents not to be complacent about COVID-19 as it still remains a highly infectious and deadly disease adding that the protocols of facial coverings, physical distancing and regular hand washing have been put in place to safe-guard against contracting the virus.

“Non-adherence to these basic protocols, the Minister continued, only puts more people at risk, increases the pressure on the economy and prolongs return to normal life.”

The Minister used the occasion to express his appreciation on behalf of the FCTA and residents of the FCT, to all health and other essential workers in the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19.

He said that the FCTA and many residents of the city understand and appreciate the enormity of the sacrifices they are making in the course of the fight against the disease.

President Muhammadu Buhari has made it clear that he will not be receiving visitors on Sallah day,  which comes up on Friday, July 31.

The President, who also avoided visitors during the Eid-El-Fitr a fortnight ago because of the raging coronavirus, said that he would observe the coming Eid El-Kabir prayers with his family at home.

President Buhari confirmed that the decision was based on advisories from the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), and the Presidential Task Force, PTF on COVID-19.

A statement by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said that in order to stop the spread of the disease, the President will not be receiving Sallah homages by religious, community, party and government leaders.

The President advised all citizens to observe the occasion as advised by state and local authorities.

Buhari wishee all Muslims a safe and happy Eid, even as he reiterated the protocols as issued by the PTF that large gatherings, as much as possible, should be discouraged.

He said that where small groups choose to hold the Eid together, face masks are absolutely necessary, “as is social distancing. Advisedly, such prayers should hold outdoors and worshippers are encouraged to bring their own prayer mats.”

Federal Government has warned that there is no basis for landlords in Nigeria to increase house rent for their tenants in relation to the stamp duty payable on tenancy and lease agreement by tenants in the country.

According to a statement today, July 28 by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), tenants, not landlords, should pay the applicable stamp duty by themselves at any commercial bank of their choice, not to any landlord.

The Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Mohammad Mamman Nami, was quoted as making this clarification in Abuja as part of his ongoing national public enlightenment campaign on the Stamp Duty Act.

Nami, who spoke during a live radio programme: “The Midday Dialogue” on Nigeria Info FM Abuja, said that since the responsibility of stamp duty payment is not that of the landlord, there is no justifiable reasons for any landlord to increase rent purportedly on account of the stamp duty which is chargeable on the instrument of the transaction, that is, the tenancy or lease agreement or receipt exchanged between the landlords and the tenant, and not the actual rent fee the landlord is collecting from tenants .

“The stamp duty is charged at graduated rates. Stamp duty on rent or lease from 1 year to less than 7 years is 0.78%. If your rent is N100,000 stamp duty due on it is N780. Your stamp duty could be as low as N200 or N300  if you live in a room and parlor or in the village where rent is low. If you can afford to pay your rent between 7 to 21 years, your stamp duty is 3% on the rent. If you can afford to pay rent at once from 21 years and above the stamp duty due is 6%, which is very rare but we created room for it because some renters prefer long leases.

“Once you’ve reached an agreement with your landlord on the amount to pay for your rent of less than 7 years, you should calculate 0.78% of the amount, go to a nearby bank and ask to pay the 0.78% into the stamp duty account. Collect the teller and tender it to your landlord to legalise your transaction with him or her.

“It is  the responsibility of the landlord before he or she issues a receipt or sign a rent or lease agreement with a tenant to make sure that the tenant presents evidence of stamp duty payment. A landlord that does not insist on evidence of stamp duty payment will bear the cost of the stamp duty if the FIRS eventually finds out. You do not pay stamp duty on your own residential accommodation if you are the owner of the property even if you live in a 10-ten storey building.”

Nami also disclosed that the Finance Act 2019 has exempted 60% of taxpayers, including Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) from paying tax as only companies which make up to N25 million turnover now pay tax or collect Value Added Tax (VAT). This has therefore relieved millions of Nigerians and SMES, including many businesses impacted by COVID-19, of their tax obligations to the government, which is a form of long-term tax palliative to them even before the pandemic,” he added.

The FIRS chairman stressed that the global economic downturn occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic has made it necessary for the three tiers of government to close tax loopholes in the country in order to fund the budget, provide needed public infrastructure and meet overhead cost like salary payment at federal, state and local government levels.

Nami enjoined Nigerians to pay their taxes as and when due.