Nigeria’s former foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyema has strongly denied damning allegations of corruption and embezzlement of funds at the Namibian and Jamaican High Commissions during his tenure as that country’s foreign affairs minister.
Onyema, who served as Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister between 2015 and 2023 under former president Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency, distanced himself from all allegations levelled against him in a recent in-depth report by Nigeria’s leading online publication, Premium Times.
Last Friday, Onyema testified in a libel suit at the Federal Capital Territory High Court at Zuba in Abuja, where he faces Nigeria’s former ambassador to Namibia and Jamaica Lilian Onoh, who is suing him for condoning grand corruption at Nigerian foreign missions in the two countries.
Onoh, according to the Premium Times, accused Onyema of conducting fraudulent financial transactions in Namibia during his tenure after more than US$600 000 [about N$11.3 million] was embezzled by officials at the Nigerian high commission in Windhoek, including shortchanging the Namibian government in VAT remittances.
She claimed that the corrupt practices took place prior to her arrival as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Namibia.
Haiti earthquake fraud
In Haiti, the Premium Times reported that Onoh raised the alarm that the sum of US$2.8 million [about N$52.7 million] was frittered out by Nigerian diplomats from the US$5 million donation by the Red Cross in Nigeria towards the survivors of the deadly 2010 Haiti earthquake, who were living in Jamaica.
The Nigerian mission in
Jamaica, according to the Premium Times report, was tasked with the responsibility of applying the US$5 million donation to the humanitarian disaster caused by the earthquake in the Caribbean country.
During last Friday’s court appearance, Onyema distanced himself from all allegations, saying he has not and will never condone corruption.
“With regards to two major complaints in respect of Jamaica and Namibia, I was informed that the cases had been passed on to the EFCC (Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency). The two matters she [Onoh] brought to my attention were about her predecessor, and some people in Namibia defrauding the Namibian government. In Jamaica, it was about the misappropriation of funds meant to assist Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake.”
Onyema told the court that he takes serious interest in those two incidents because of their impacts on Nigeria’s bilateral relationships with Jamaica and Namibia.
“Every single complaint that I received, I took action by referring such issues to the Permanent Secretary [of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs], and directing that investigations be conducted,” Onyeama shared with the court while being cross-examined by Onoh’s lawyer, Monday Ejeh.
Libellous articles
Before closing his case on Friday, Onyeama informed the judge that the former Nigerian envoy to Namibia [Onoh], who was his sister-in-law, sponsored newspaper articles which were critical of him on issues of sleaze during his time as the federal minister of foreign affairs, and also forwarded several media articles to his phone number.
“She wrote to me, indicating that I was trying to prevent certain media houses from publishing her defamatory articles,” Onyeama said in his reply to Ejeh’s enquiry as to how Onoh sponsored media
houses to defame him.
After the cross-examination exercise, Onyeama informed the court that he had concluded his counter-suit against Onoh. Subsequently, the judge adjourned the case until 12 February for Onoh to commence her defence in this suit.
– ohembapu@nepc.com.na