Ibru, George, others to lose national honours. Tafa Balogun, Erastus Akingbola also on compiled list.

There were indications on Monday [Aug 20] that President Goodluck Jonathan had ordered the compilation of the names of holders of national honours awards who had been convicted or were facing trial for criminal offences.

Findings by the punch newspaper showed that the directive was preparatory to having the honours withdrawn from such awardees.

The punch learnt in Abuja that Jonathan’s directive was contained in a letter to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.

A source in the Presidency confirmed to one of Punch’s correspondents on Sunday that, “There is a letter to that effect, with a directive to find out the names of those who were indicted and who have (national) honours awards. I think the job is ongoing and almost being concluded”.

“It is not all the people indicted that have national honours awards. For instance, you cannot strip somebody of a national honours award when he has none in the first place, even if he has been indicted. So the Office of the SGF is on it”.

“For instance, the former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank Plc, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, falls within the category. So also is the ex-MD of Intercontinental Bank, Mr. Erastus Akingbola”.

Apart from Ibru and Akingbola, those on the list of awardees to lose their national honours include a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George; and a former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun; as well as other ex-managing directors of banks who had been convicted after they were conferred with national honours.

George, a one-time Vice-National Chairman of the PDP, was sentenced in 2009 to a 30-month jail term by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court. Oyewole found George guilty of contract splitting and inflation when he was the chairman of the Board of Nigerian Ports Authority.

Balogun, however pleaded guilty to eight counts of money laundering charges in 2005 and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by Justice Binta Nyako.

Ibru, once feted in the nation’s banking sector, was in 2010 convicted by Justice Dan Abutu of the Federal High Court in Lagos of bank and securities fraud. She was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and made to forfeit over N150b in assets and cash.

The development came as three major opposition political parties, the Action Congress of Nigeria, the Congress for Progressive Change and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, challenged Jonathan to withdraw honours bestowed on some convicted Nigerians.

The CPC and the ANPP in particular said it would be difficult for Jonathan to withdraw the honours because some of the affected convicts used proceeds of their crime to fund elections of top members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

Only on July 19, the House of Representatives also passed a resolution, specifically asking Jonathan to withdraw the national honours bestowed on former bank MDs who had been tried or convicted for their roles in the collapse of their banks in 2009.

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