CASE NUMBER 10885:

BODE GEORGE: CHIEFTAIN OF KIRIKIRI PRISON

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Alleged Perpetrators(s)

Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George Arc. Aminu Dabo Captain Olusegun Abidoye Alhaji Abdullahi Aminu Tafida Alhaji Zanna Mandaribe Alhaji Sule Aliyu

Location (Town / State)

Lagos, Lagos

Date of Event

01 Jan 1970

Date of republication

01 January every year

Case category (Choose all that apply)

Case Summary

Former Nigerian Ports Authority Chairman and Governor of Ondo State, Chief Bode George spent thirty months at the Kirikiri prisons as a chieftain for embezzling and diverting public funds to the tune of N60 million.

Full story

Bode George was Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) from 1999-2003. He was also the former Governor of Ondo State from 1988-1990 and a very close friend and ally of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He also served as Deputy National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

During his stay in office as the NPA Chairman, he introduced many reforms including decongesting the jam-packed Lagos seaports. He also actively campaigned for foreign investments in the Nigerian ports. He sought to over-see the privatization of ports operations, but could not achieve this before his administration was disbanded in October 2003.
Despite his somewhat stellar record, Chief Bode George also managed to enter into the history books as one of the locus classicus convicts of EFCC prosecutions in Nigeria. The new Managing Director of the NPA, Chief Adebayo Sarumi, hired auditors to review major existing contracts. Their review found irregularities which was then passed on to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission headed by Nuhu Ribadu which started investigations in 2005.

Furthermore, Chief Bode George was PDP's national vice-chairman in the southwest zone. Later he became PDP Deputy National Chairman, South, and then the National Deputy Chairman of the PDP. In 2002, he was rumoured to have imposed levies on prospective aspirants for political offices within the PDP. In January 2003, Chief Olorunfunmi Bashorun, the founding chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, and other leaders, petitioned the National Chairman over a crisis in the party. They accused George and his client Alhaji Murtala Ashorobi of favoritism. In March 2008, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor dismissed Bode George from the Governing Board of the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI).

The EFCC headed by Nuhu Ribadu issued a report on 1st April 2005 which stated that NPA board members, including Chairman Bode George, and the management of the NPA should be held responsible for deliberate and flagrant violations of government rules and regulations governing the award of contracts, and should be sanctioned for contract splitting and inflation of contract price in utter disregard to laid-down government rules and regulations. However, Former President Olusegun obasanjo who was a very close friend of Chief Bode George dismissed the findings as inconclusive, and ordered another investigation. The second EFCC report cleared Chief Bode George.
In November 2005, the EFCC invited Bode George to a meeting to discuss a party issue where his name had come up. The opposition party, Alliance for Democracy called for the prosecution of Chief Bode George and the board and management of the NPA over allegations of frivolous award of contracts worth N60 million. These allegations were again dismissed by former President Obasanjo.

In August 2008, the EFCC under its new head Farida Waziri arrested Olabode George in Lagos and arraigned him and five others on a 163 count-charge of conspiracy, disobedience to lawful order, abuse of office and alleged illegal award of contracts worth N84 billion while he was chairman of the NPA. He was arraigned before Justice Joseph Oyewole of the Ikeja Division of the High Court of Lagos. The prosecution later reduced the charges to 68 counts. In October 2009, Chief Bode Geroge and his five cohorts were found guilty and convicted on 47 out of the 68 counts. He was sentenced to up to 28 years imprisonment, but the counts for disobedience to lawful order were ruled to run concurrently for six months, and the counts for contract inflation then to run concurrently for two years, making a total of 30 months. Bode George’s lawyers sought to appeal the decision of the High Court, but their appeal was however turned down by the court.

While in the custody of Kirikiri prison, Bode George and his fellow convicts were placed in the VIP Section of the prison where they were given privileged treatment as a result of the former positions they occupied. They were not required to wear the prison uniform, and they reportedly eat meals prepared by their families.
Chief Bode George was released from prison on the 26th February, 2011 after he had served his jail term. His release was marked by fanfare and celebrations which were sponsored by his PDP bigwigs including former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The fanfare celebrations which included a church thanksgiving service sparked massive outrage amongst Nigerians who felt that a convicted felon should not be celebrated in such manner, but be treated like a common thief.

External links/URLs

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/10/the-ribadu-committee-report-on-npa-that-nailed-bode-george-others/

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/11/breaking-news-court-turns-down-bode-georges-bail-application/

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/03/celebra

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