In April 2012, Citadel Oracle Concept, an Oyo State-based ICT equipment supply and maintenance firm, submitted a bid for the supply of 668 computers to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) at a total cost of N170.3 million.
“My company was used by some people to perpetrate fraud within the FIRS. We bided for a contract. We bided for a contract worth N170.3 million during the period,” Joseph Benjamin told FIJ.
“After that, one Chief Onny Igbokwe, the owner of Ad’mas Digital Technologies Limited, a Port Harcourt-based company, who also introduced himself as a consultant for the FIRS came to me on December 12, 2013, claiming Citadel Oracle Concept had been selected as the winner of the contract.
“The meeting was arranged by Princess Kama, our company’s appointed representative in Abuja during the FIRS bidding.
“He then said the decision to award the contract to us was just a mere formality as Zinox Technologies, a company owned by Leo Stan Ekeh, had already been selected internally by the FIRS hierarchy and would be the company to execute the project.
“Igbokwe subsequently told me point blank that after the contract is formally handed over to our company, we will not execute it. He added that the project would be carried out by Zinox.
“He then said we would be paid N15 million for acting as a conduit during the deal.
“This then means the funds for the project would be received in our company’s name, and that Zinox would then execute it.
“I then told Igbokwe that if the contract had indeed been awarded to my company, I would execute it. I added that if the contract had indeed been awarded to another company, I would not be a party to a sham contract by acting as a conduit.”
With that, Benjamin opted out of the deal that was proposed to him by Igbokwe and eventually lost the contract.
STRANGE ACCOUNT, SHOCKING DISCOVERY
In August 2013, Benjamin visited FIRS’ office in Ibadan to file Citadel Oracle Concept’s tax returns for the year.
While he was getting the tax filing done at the office, the government agency’s officials he was liaising with accused his company of under-declaring its earnings and not including an N8.1 million withholding tax and value added tax (VAT) for a N170 million FIRS contract that was awarded to him in what he was doing.
“Through my findings, I would later discover that Igbokwe and some of my former employees had impersonated Citadel Oracle, cloned its official letter-headed paper, and used it to issue an acceptance letter for the FIRS contract,” Benjamin said.
“The fraudsters also opened a corporate account in Citadel Oracle’s name and used it to receive funds for the contract. They achieved this by approaching the Access Bank branch on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, where some of the financial institutions’ officials connived and availed them with original copies of documents Citadel Oracle had initially used to open its original corporate account.”
In the end, the impersonators were able to open and operate Access Bank account number 0059202675. Noteworthy was the fact that the said account was opened on October 1, 2012, a public holiday.
While bidding for the contract, Benjamin had included a First Bank corporate account in the documents he submitted, but the money was not paid into it.
“I was shocked that FIRS elected to ignore the First Bank account I initially submitted, which was accompanied by a letter of recommendation from the bank’s (First Bank) management guaranteeing to provide finance to the company for the project,” said Benjamin.
“In the documents that were filed for the contract on behalf of Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, the company’s office address was listed as Suite A11 New Banex Plaza, Aminu Kano Crescent, Abuja.
“Interestingly, the address is the Abuja office of Ad’mas Digital Technology Limited, Mr Igbokwe’s company.”
Apart from Igbokwe, other names involved in the fraud include Chris Ozims, the Group Company Secretary/Legal Adviser for Technology Distribution and Zinox Group, Folashade Oyebode, a director at Technology Distribution and Obilo Onuoha, then a relationship manager with Access Bank.
In his statement to the police after his arrest in 2013 for his involvement in the scandal, Onuoha said the Citadel Oracle Concept account was opened by a board resolution executed by “its promoters that was introduced by Zinox Technologies/Technology Distributions”.
The FIRS made an initial payment of N53.76 million into the Access Bank account for the supply of 233 laptops.
A second payment of N62.53 million was paid into the same account three days after the first one was made. On the same day, another N37.842 million was lodged in the account as payment for the supply of 164 laptops.
N62.53 million was later transferred out of the account to unknown beneficiaries.
On January 25, 2013, an accountant at Technology Distribution (TD), a company owned by Leo Stan Ekeh, had also advised Chioma Ekeh, the company’s managing director, to approve a N115.268 million transfer from the newly created Access Bank account to the company’s account with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB). Chioma is the wife of Leonard Stanley Ekeh, the chairman and owner of Zinox Technologies Limited.
LEGAL STEPS WERE TAKEN
Benjamin told FIJ that he subsequently contacted Afe Babalola and Co., a leading law firm in Nigeria, for help on the matter. This was also the period the matter was reported to the police’s Special Fraud Unit (SFU) in October 2013.
“After telling Chief Babalola everything, his firm wrote separate letters to Igbokwe, Kama, Ozims, Oyebode and Chioma Ekeh, ” Benjamin said.
“After a while, they responded to the letter, saying they would like to have a settlement meeting.
“While the meeting lasted, Babalola told them to make full disclosure of the part they played in the fraud that was committed.
“Was there a contract in the first place? Who executed the project? And why was the decision not to carry Citadel Oracle Concept along made? Was the money for the project paid over the counter? Or was an account indeed opened for the receipt of the project fund? Which bank opened the account? Who opened the account? Did you give delivery note? Is there anything to even show that the contract was indeed executed? How much is the contract worth in the first place?
“Chief Babalola then said if they are able to provide answers to all the questions that have been asked, they can now start talking about settlement.
“Subsequently, they told Chief Babalola that they would go and come back another time.”
A week later, the accused party sent a letter to Babalola, stating they would like to pay a N5.7 million compensation to Benjamin.
Benjamin said Babalola wrote the Auditor General of the Federation on the matter.
“During the period, Chief Babalola also wrote a petition to SFU. SFU carried out an investigation and subsequently arrested some staff of Zinox as they were signatories to the account,” said Benjamin.
“The Zinox staff were arrested alongside Igbokwe and Kama. After their arrests, the police discovered that they all participated in the fraud.
“As they were preparing to charge them to court, suddenly, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) said the case file had been sent to the Federal Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) in Lagos.
“The DPP subsequently sent an advice that all the persons involved in the fraud should be prosecuted.
“This was when Leonard Stanley Ekeh said he would like to have a settlement meeting with me.”
EKEH AND SOLOMON ARASE’S PART
When Ekeh requested a settlement meeting with Benjamin, the latter turned down the offer.
“The police, out of nowhere, suddenly said they were not going to prosecute the accused persons except I settled,” said Benjamin.
“I then wrote a petition to FCID, Abuja, when the police said they were not going to investigate the matter any further.
“The FCID, Abuja, then sent a petition to the AGF‘s office. Mohammed Adoke was still the AGF then.
“The AGF’s office carried out its own investigation and then issued legal advice, saying it had found convincing evidence to prosecute Igbokwe and others.
“That was when one Mrs Anokam, who was then the director of comparative and international law in the justice ministry, appeared on the accused person’s behalf, saying she would not allow them to be prosecuted. She stood for them and it became another issue then.
“This was when Solomon Arase, who was then the DIG at FCID, called me to say I should accept N15 million from them and go and rest. He said I should ‘settle the matter’ and that the accused party had visited him on the issue, adding that he knew them.
“I now told him that the SFU had already indicted them. I also let him know that even the officers at his place had also carried out their investigation and indicted them. AGF Adoke’s office had also written legal advice, indicting them.
“Why have you refused to send the case file? This was when Arase told me that I should not teach him his job. He also insisted that I settle with Leo Stan Ekeh and his company.
“This was when I requested that his insistence and demand that I settle with Leo Stan Ekeh and his people be in writing. So that I can have it on record that if anything comes up tomorrow I will have something to show that I was not a part of the fraudulent acquisition of funds.
“But they said they could not give me what I demanded and that was how I left Arase’s office that day.”
Benjamin refused the offer, choosing to allow the law to take its course on the matter.
VICE PRESIDENT OSINBAJO’S INTERVENTION
When the Muhammadu Buhari government assumed office in 2015, Benjamin wrote a petition to Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the then Vice President, for intervention on the matter.
“The Vice President then forwarded the petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation,” said Benjamin.
“This period also coincided with the time Arase became the Inspector General of Police (IGP). Ibrahim Magu, the then EFCC interim chairman, also told me they would commence an investigation on the matter as instructed by the VP.
“This was already in 2016. I then asked Magu: what are you still investigating? The AGF had already indicted these people; the SFU had also indicted them. Why will the EFCC start investigating all over again? All these things were happening in Abuja, and I live in Ibadan. Why should I be coming to Abuja all the time, all the way from Ibadan, when indictments have already been made?
“The EFCC, however, began its investigation and invited Leo Stan Ekeh and his people for questioning. This was when Stella Anokam started making moves to ensure that the commission dropped the charges against them.”
The commission subsequently carried out a forensic analysis on the signatures on the documents that were used to open the Access Bank account and the result showed that were forged.
“The EFCC then sent the matter to its legal department so that the prosecution of all the people involved in the matter could commence,” Benjamin told FIJ.
“When I got to the commission’s legal department, I found out that the unit’s head was Chime Okoroma, who happens to come from the same hometown in Imo State as Leo Stan Ekeh.
“Okoroma then said he could not prosecute Ekeh, and that he could only prosecute Igbokwe and Kama.
“When I protested, he said if I wanted them prosecuted I should go and file a fresh civil suit against them. The people he didn’t want to prosecute were directly responsible for the opening and operation of the fake account.
“They were the signatories to the fake account. They gave Igbokwe and Kama N38 million from the money they realised from the contract. Why will they open an account in my name in conjunction with other people who are not directors and staff members of my company?”
At the end of it all, the EFCC began the prosecution of only Igbokwe and Kama.
IRREGULARITY IN THE CHARGE PREFERRED AGAINST IGBOKWE AND KAMA
“In the charge that the EFCC brought against them, the document that they forged, I mean the fake board resolution, was supposed to carry December 18, 2012, as its date,” said Benjamin.
“EFCC, however, tendered a board resolution of CITADEL ORACLE dated December 14, 2012. I was then forced to go back to EFCC’s legal department showing them that the document they had tendered reflecting December 14, 2012, was inaccurate.
“The shocking response they gave me was that ‘they know what they are doing’. Despite my protestation, the anomaly was not corrected by the EFCC.
“I then went to Femi Falana to narrate what the EFCC had just done on the document date, and he, in turn, wrote them, telling them to do the right thing. Onigbinde, my lawyer, also gave them the same advice.
“When court proceedings started, the errors made by the EFCC in the charges that were brought against Igbokwe and Kama were pointed out by the court.
“It was also stressed that the EFCC ‘had come to play before the court’. The court also pointed out that the EFCC had presented a document that never existed because of the December 14, 2012, date that it carried.
“Keep in mind, that the prosecuting counsel of the EFCC had already told me I could not use the right document that I had with me to talk in court.
“As a result, the court threw the case out. They even cited my refusal to come and give evidence as part of the reason the case was thrown out. Why would I give evidence when the EFCC was insisting I use the wrong document?
“The court even ruled that the nominal complainant should pay a N20 million fine.”
ACCUSER BECOMES THE ACCUSED
When a new chairman succeeded Magu, Benjamin petitioned him, listing all the things the EFCC did that led to the case being thrown out.
“I told the chairman his officials carried out a fraudulent execution of a charge,” said Benjamin.
“I also pointed out that they tendered documents reflecting board resolutions that carried December 14, 2012, instead of the accurate date of December 18, 2012.
“I added that the commission at the time only charged them for forgery and not for the money they stole as well. I then implored the commission to do the right thing.”
Benjamin told FIJ that Arase took a step on the matter, three days before he left office as IGP.
“Three days to Arase’s retirement, and to cover his tracks, he instructed one DCP Simon Lough to charge me to court for giving false information in the suit I filed against the people who opened the fake account,” said Benjamin.
“The police claimed the allegation I made in the petition of July 3, 2014, about the Board Resolution Citadel Oracle company used in opening the fake account in Access Bank that was used in receiving the FIRS contract sum payment was not true.”
On July 2, 2016, Benjamin was arraigned before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja, on a one-count charge of ‘false petitioning’ IGP Arase to mislead him over a case of identity theft, impersonation and criminal conversion of contracts against the accused.
Benjamin was said to have falsely accused Igbokwe, Kama, Oyebode, Ozims, Ad’mas Digital Technologies Limited, Pirovics Engineering Services Limited, Technology Distributions Limited and Zinox Telecommunications Limited of conspiring to forge his signature on a fake board resolution carrying his company letterhead to fraudulently open an account at Access Bank.
He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of N200,000.
“This was just to distract me and shield the people who defrauded my company. I then visited Malami on eight separate occasions on the matter, and he would on each occasion, say the way I was being treated was unfair. Despite that, however, he did nothing about it,” said Benjamin.
“This went on till Malami now decided to give fiat to Femi Falana on the matter in 2022.
“He gave the fiat that everyone involved in the fraud should be prosecuted.
“Two days to their arraignment in court, Malami withdrew the fiat he gave Falana as a result of the pressure that was mounted on him by the people that were supposed to stand trial.
“That was how the entire case rebuilding collapsed.”
UNDER THE TINUBU ADMINISTRATION
When the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration assumed office in 2023, Benjamin again petitioned Lateef Fagbemi, the AGF, on the matter.
“I informed him about my malicious prosecution and also provided him with all necessary documents,” said Benjamin.
“AGF reviewed the case file, and in his own legal advice, said what transpired wasn’t just a case of malicious prosecution, but also oppression against a citizen.
“He then gave a directive that DCP Lough should go and withdraw the charge against me in court but the police officer refused.
“The AGF stepped in himself, withdrew the charge and then filed a Nolle prosequi.”
After this, Fagbemi also revalidated the fiat Malami once withdrew from Falana.
“This then meant all the accused persons named in the matter should be prosecuted,” said Benjamin.
“When we appeared in court in January 2025, the accused persons’ lawyers contested the power of the AGF to give fiat in their preliminary objection.
“The court then agreed that the contestation would be heard on March 3. Leo Stan Ekeh recently boasted that he owns the media in Nigeria. He also said no newspaper can write anything against him. Presently, he has shut the media against me, and has been blackmailing Falana, the AGF and myself.”
On March 27, the court dismissed the fraud case against Ekeh and 12 others, describing it as a gross abuse of court process.
LEO STAN EKEH SPEAKS TO FIJ ON THE MATTER
On Friday, FIJ placed a phone call to Ekeh for a reaction to the matter that has spanned 13 years.
“Simply put, this case has finished a long time ago. I am sure you must have read about it on the pages of newspapers in the past,” said Ekeh.
“Zinox has nothing to do with the business. I don’t know the young man (Benjamin) you are talking about. TD, one of my companies, gave him credit but he could not fund the contract. TD did not bid, Zinox did not bid. None of us bided. TD is a distributor.
“TD supplied equipment on his behalf to the FIRS and the FIRS paid. TD does not bid to MDAs, it only distributes. It is the biggest HP distributor in Nigeria.
“There was a pre-agreement that was signed before the supply was made, and that was it. When FIRS paid all of them, the other companies paid what belonged to TD for doing the supplying. In his own case, Benjamin wanted to touch the money and his partner refused because Benjamin’s company failed credit rating.
“And then a partner of his brought her uncle to sign as additional guarantor. So, when he wanted to divert the money, the girl (Kama) refused. And then TD withdrew its own money. Two of them fought over profit sharing for one year and later went to Afe Babalola.
“So, Joseph (Benjamin) is just a crook. He went and told Afe Babalola that his company was used without his knowledge to defraud the federal government.
“That was how their case started. The FIRS also wrote that Joseph (Benjamin) knew about the contract, which he claimed he never knew of. FIRS also stated that the account the money was paid into was submitted by CITADEL.
“Two, how can [one] forge your document to open an account? Is Access Bank a fraudulent bank? The guy who collected Joseph (Benjamin) from the airport to go and open the account testified (in court). So, Joseph (Benjamin) is just a small crook.
“He thought I am a banker [sic]; he would harass my name and I would give him money. I will not. Three times he went to court; the IG sued him, when they investigated; FIRS also took him to court and he could not defend the case.
“There was a judgment against him for N20 million which he hasn’t paid. Between him and his partner, Zinox was not in any way brought in; TD was not in any way brought in. He is just a blackmailer and a scam [sic].
“The case has been decided four times in court; First judgment was against him; second judgment, a fiat, Falana withdrew it; the AGF wrote to Falana withdrawing it.
“The third is a lost case they did [sic]. They are just shouting my name and shouting the name of TD. Zinox has nothing in the case. Ask Benjamin Joseph if he has ever called Zinox on the phone. Ask him if he has ever shared any correspondence with Zinox.
“Tell him to show you his correspondence with Zinox.”
Ekeh went on to tell FIJ how he has been in business for 38 years, and that he was too far gone in his career “for someone to now be accusing him of a N178 million fraud”.
Ekeh went on to say the case was dead.
“The case lasted 12 years and he (Benjamin) could not defend the case,” said Ekeh.
“I have never met him before; ask him if he has ever met me before. We are used to all these kinds of scams. What is N170 million?
“In Nigeria alone, I transitioned the country from analogue to digital democracy. INEC paid me N270 million in 2010. So, the questions you asked me concerning the involvement of Zinox in the matter didn’t even see the light of day at all.”
ASSERTIONS THAT DID NOT ADD UP
Ekeh claimed that it was a profit-sharing dispute that led to Benjamin dragging Igbokwe and other accused persons to Afe Babalola’s law firm. Evidence obtained by FIJ, however, showed that the accused persons were forced to go to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) for a settlement meeting because Babalola had advised them to make full disclosure of the part they played in the N170 million FIRS fraud that was committed.
On the claim that FIRS had sued Benjamin on the matter, it was discovered that the reverse had been the case.
In 2022, CITADEL ORACLE CONCEPT sued the FIRS, demanding among other things, that the government agency admit to allowing the contract initially awarded to it to be hijacked by third parties. The company also requested that FIRS pay a little over N4.5 billion in the suit.
The FIRS would later file a preliminary objection in October 2023.
