Full Information About Nigerian Senator
OpenLife Nigeria reports that a Nigerian Senator who served in the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly Princess Stella Oduah is enmeshed in alleged fraudulent activities, reprtedly said to be about N7.9 billion. The fair complexed Oduah began her representation of Anambra North Senatorial District in 2015.
In 2015, she was elected to the Nigerian Senate to represent Anambra North Senatorial District. She was one of the only seven women elected to the 8th. Oduah was re-elected to a second term in the Senate in 2019 and she served out her 2nd term in June 2023
Before then, the 61 years old politician had functioned in public office as Aviation Minister.
In that capacity, she allegedly over deep her hands in the government treasury in a manner that aroused the security of security agents and anti graft agency.
It was against that backdrop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Friday, arraigned the former Senator before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on a 25-count charge.
Oduah, who served as Aviation Minister from 2011 to 2014, is facing trial over an allegation that she laundered public funds to the tune of about 7.9billion, in connivance with eight others.
Other defendants in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/316/20, are; Gloria Odita, Nwosu Emmanuel Nnamdi, Chukwuma Irene Chinyere, Global Offshore and Marine Ltd, Tip Top Global Resources Ltd, Crystal Television Ltd and Sobora International Ltd.
However, the defendants, who were docked before trial Justice Inyang Ekwo, pleaded not guilty to the charge, when it was read to them in the open court.
The anti-graft agency, among other things, alleged that Oduah, who also represented Anambra North in the Senate and Odita, who was identified as her aid and the Company Secretary to Sea Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd (SPGC), had in February 2014, used their positions to transfer the sum of N1,629,250,000.00 from I-Sec Security Nig. Ltd account No. 2021756955 with First Bank Plc, to Global Offshore and Marine Ltd account No. 2022977296 also domiciled with First Bank Plc, which money they reasonably ought to have known that it formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act.
The defendants were accused of opening a naira “anonymous Private Banking Nominee Account No. 2024414450 with First Bank Plc and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (As Amended) and punishable under Section 11(4) (a) of the same Act.
”They were equally accused of opening a United State dollar “anonymous Private Banking Nominee account No. 2024414498 with First Bank Plc and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (As Amended) and punishable under Section 1 1(4) (a) of the same Act.
”Following the defendants’ plea of innocence to all the allegations, trial Justice Ekwo allowed them to go home on the administrative bail the EFCC earlier granted to them.
More so, the court directed the EFCC transfer the case file to the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to ensure diligent prosecution of the defendants. Justice Ekwo adjourned the case till October 17 for trial.
It will be recalled that though the charge was filed since 2020, the EFCC was unable to arraign the defendants owing to a petition they wrote to the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN.
Malami had urged the court to put the trial on hold to enable him to review the case file. However, he subsequently gave the EFCC the nod to go ahead with trial of the defendants.
Born to Igwe D.O. Oduah of Akili-Ozizor, Ogbaru Local Government Area in Anambra State on January 5, 1962, Stella Oduah, who was formerly married to former Minister for Works, Engineer Chris Ogiemwonyi, received her bachelor’s and master’s degree (in Accounting and Business Administration respectively) from the United States. She returned to Nigeria in 1983 and joined the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
In 1992, she left the NNPC to establish the Sea Petroleum & Gas Company Limited (SPG), an independent marketer of petroleum products in Nigeria.
Her marriage to Engineer Chris Ogiemwonyi, who was equally a top management staff of at NNPC, was blessed with children.
Foolowing the rebirth of democratic governance in 1999, pretty Stella navigated her way round the corridors of power and grabbed a lucrative job as a cabinet minister in the administration of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Stella Oduah was confirmed to the ministerial post and sworn in on July 2, 2011 and was deployed to the Ministry of Aviation on July 4, 2011. She was however relieved of her duties as Minister of Aviation on 12 February 2014.
She was also active in the political campaign of former President Goodluck Jonathan, where she served as his campaign’s Director of Administration and Finance.
In 2013, she was one of the delegates chosen by the President to attend the Papal inauguration of Pope Francis together with David Mark, President of the Senate and Viola Onwuliri, Foreign Minister.
On 23 February 2017, media reported her four companies accounts frozen over alleged indebtedness of $16,412,819.06 and N100,493,225.59 by the Federal high court in Lagos. The four companies are Sea Petroleum and Gas Company Limited, Sea Shipping Agency Limited, Rotary Engineering Services Limited, and Tour Afrique Company Limited with 21 bank accounts.
She has been involved in numerous controversies ranging from highly inflated purchase of BMW bullet-proof cars without following due process as well as allegations that Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi purportedly lied about how she obtained an MBA degree from St Paul’s College.
However, media reports had on Jan 6th 2014 quoted authorities at St. Paul’s College, where Mrs. Oduah claimed she studied for bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as saying they did not award her an MBA at any time as the university does not even have a graduate school or graduate programme.
On 26 August 2021, Stella Oduah left People’s Democratic Party to join the All Progressives Congress.[23][24] When asked, She said she joined the ruling party because she wants to change the “political narrative” in the South-East region of the country.
While the Senator waggled her way round these web of allegations, she was also, at a time, accused by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) who indicted her and the Nigerian Subsidiary of Chinese Construction Giant, CCECC, for alleged fraudulent cash transaction of about N5billion over five months in 2014.
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