By Charles Uche ESQ
Incorporating and fronting companies is a convenient and effective way of concealing identity, engaging in illicit transactions and evading liabilities. In many countries, a company can be formed without disclosing the identity of the individual who ultimately controls or profits from the business, i.e., the beneficial owner. Criminals and politically exposed persons (PEPs) can assign “nominee” shareholders to be listed on official documents or can list other legal entities (other companies can be shareholders in a company) as the “owners,” thereby creating a chain of companies–often across borders–that can be difficult for investigators and law enforcement to trace and recover.

Connected Development (CODE), has over the year, through its Conflict & Fragility project, in partnership with Oxfam-in-Nigeria advocated for a robust beneficial Ownership transparency through the instrumentality of a robust legislation as an essential means for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. While many initiatives exist to maintain and disclose beneficial owners of companies in Nigeria, like the Beneficial Ownership Register launched by Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in December 2019, none of them until the enactment of the 2020 Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) had the statutory backing for enforcement.
Documents from Panama papers on Dan Etete and Kolawole Aluko can be used as classical case studies in demonstrating how these two individuals, like many others, capitalised on the non-existent or fragile regulatory framework in Nigeria’s extractive “oil & gas” sector to launder money and evade liabilities which has cost the Nigerian government and people revenue in the billions of dollars. Till date, none of the aforementioned persons has been successfully prosecuted and convicted partly due to concealment of identities and fronting of shell companies in their transactions. Shell companies are legal entities “companies” that are non-operational and lack assets or staff. They are conveniently used by money launderers to keep their identities hidden while they engage in illicit transactions across borders and evade tax.
Dan Etete: Dan Etete, a former Petroleum Minister under Nigerias Dictator Head-of-State, Gen. Sani Abacha had in 1998, incorporated a Shell company named “Malabu Oil & Gas Limited” using a fictitious name “Kweku Amafegha”, with few other persons, while he was the ultimate and beneficial owner of the company – though his real name did not appear in any official documents. Five days after he incorporated this company, he, as Petroleum Minister, awarded this company an oil block “OPL 245”. He used this shell company to launder money across the Nigerian border and acquire luxurious assets, while escaping liabilities.

Kolawole Aluko: Kola Aluko is a businessman and oil executive. Media reports have described Aluko as a key ally to Alison-Madueke, a relationship both have previously denied. He rose to prominence around 2011 when Nigeria’s government awarded two companies he founded or owned valuable oil blocks on a no-bid basis. One of his companies, Atlantic Energy, was created the day before it inked the deals to acquire multimillion-dollar oil licenses.
In Nigeria, only a member of a Public Company (PLC) was under obligation, under the old 1990 CAMA, to disclose in writing when required, the capacity in which he holds any shares in the company; either as a beneficial owner or as a nominee of an interested person. See Sections 94-98, old CAMA.
The 2020 CAMA in section 119 has extended such obligation (to disclose the particulars of shareholding by notifying the company) to persons with significant control in all companies. Similarly, as provided in section 120 of the new CAMA, a person who is a substantial shareholder in a public company and holding (either by himself or by his nominee/proxy) shares in the company which entitle him to exercise at least five per cent (5%) of the unrestricted voting rights at any general meeting of the company, is required to disclose such holding by notifying the company within a stipulated time.
This new disclosure provisions are poised to enhance transparency and prevent asset shielding as well as combat money laundering, terrorism financing and all forms of illicit financial flows by legal entities having limited liability.
While there is no gainsaying that the above disclosure provisions would enhance transparency and accountability in the Extractive sector in Nigeria, especially in the Petroleum Industry, as many of the oil and gas companies are private limited liability companies (LTD); many of which have ‘rightly’ escaped disclosure obligations with no legal sanction – there is also an urgent need for the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) which has as one of its core objectives – “to promote transparency and accountability in the administration of petroleum resources of Nigeria”.
Comments (16871)
Leave a Reply to adultfriendifnder Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
This site was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I
have found something that helped me. Many thanks!
Amazing! This blog looks just like my old one!
It’s on a totally different topic but it has pretty much
the same layout and design. Excellent choice of colors!
I ɗօ not even knoᴡ how І stopped uρ right һere,
but Ι assumed tһіs put up was oncе gooԁ. I ⅾo not
recognize who уou might be however ceгtainly you are ցoing to ɑ weⅼl-known blogger іf
you happеn to aгe not already. Cheers!
Here is my blog: cost of cheap zoloft without insurance
I’m not sure where you are getting your info, but great topic.
I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more.
Thanks for fantastic info I was looking for this information for my
mission.office movers mississauga
Hi there colleagues, nice paragraph and nice arguments
commented here, I am in fact enjoying by these.
My relatives always say that I am killing my time here at net, except I know I am getting knowledge all the
time by reading thes nice articles.
Hi, all is going sound here and ofcourse every one is sharing information, that’s in fact good, keep up writing.
Feel free to visit my web page: เครื่องทำปุ๋ย
thank you considerably this site is usually conventional as well as informal
I every time used to study piece of writing in news papers but now as I am a user of web thus from now I am using net for articles,
thanks to web.
Have a look at my blog post http://www.beberoojeju.com
Admiring the time and effort you put into your website and in depth information you present.
It’s nice to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same out of date rehashed
information. Great read! I’ve bookmarked your site and
I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
I’m gone to inform my little brother, that he should also visit this webpage on regular basis to get
updated from hottest news update.
Hi there, this weekend is good in favor of me, because
this point in time i am reading this fantastic informative post here
at my residence.
My web site เกร็ดความรู้
That is really attention-grabbing, You’re an excessively professional blogger.
I’ve joined your rss feed and stay up for in search of more of your
wonderful post. Also, I’ve shared your site in my
social networks
I would like to take the opportunity of saying thanks to you for that professional
guidance I have always enjoyed browsing your site.
I am looking forward to the particular commencement of my college research
and the complete groundwork would never have been complete without surfing your blog.
If I could be of any help to others, I would be happy to help as a result of what I
have learned from here.
my page; BuzzBGone Zap Reviews
Learn How tto Pass A CBD For Weight Loss: Can CBD Help You Lose Weight? Oil
Drug Test
Hey There. I found your blog the use of msn. This is
an extremely well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to learn more
of your helpful info. Thanks for the post. I will definitely
comeback.
We are a very well respected Loyalty Escorts Company which provide escort companies
in London and the encompassing areas. We pride our selves of having in our community probably the most sexy and beautiful escorts in London. There are all sorts of escorts to select from so
you can remainder assure you can find what you are seeking.
All the Loyalty London Escorts are usually reliable and sophisticated, we have a signing up for proses and we be sure that they
all are beautiful, smart and enjoyment to be with. Almost
every day Just about all photos are genuine and we’ve new Loyalty Young
ladies joining. All Loyalty Escorts are for sale to in call or out calls.
Each of them have their own apartments in central London where they
can entertain you or they’ll be happy to fulfill you at
your hotel or a dinner date or for just about any event
you could go to! Like everybody, all girls happen to be
always attempting to improve themselves and so therefor they
might be very delighted to hear your comments and expertise.
In every girls page, there exists a review facility therefore feel free to give your fed again and share it
with everybody else.
Hey! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick
shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading through your
articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same topics?
Thanks!
taxibus utrecht taxibus utrecht
De taxibus utrecht Dagboeken
taxi
taxibus utrecht Grondslagen uitgelegd
Een eenvoudige sleutel voor taxibus utrecht onthuld
5 eenvoudige technieken voor taxibus utrecht
taxibus utrecht
Hi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your website in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!
After checking out a number of the blog articles on your web page, I honestly appreciate your way of writing a blog.
I added it to my bookmark site list and will be checking back in the near
future. Please visit my website too and let me know your opinion.
Very descriptive post, I enjoyed that a lot.
Will there be a part 2?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on slot pragmatic.
Regards
It’s impressive that you are getting thoughts from this article as well as from our argument
made here.
Hi! I know this is sort of off-topic however I needed to ask.
Does managing a well-established blog like yours take
a massive amount work? I’m completely new to writing a blog
however I do write in my journal on a daily basis. I’d like to start a
blog so I can share my own experience and feelings online.
Please let me know if you have any kind of suggestions or tips for new aspiring
bloggers. Appreciate it!
Giá buôn bán trứng rung tình yêu tại cửa hàng Condom Việt luôn luôn rẻ nhất thị trường.
Hi! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured
I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest authoring a blog article or
vice-versa? My site addresses a lot of the same topics as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from
each other. If you are interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
I look forward to hearing from you! Wonderful blog by
the way!
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say
that I have truly enjoyed browsing your weblog posts.
In any case I’ll be subscribing for your rss feed
and I hope you write once more soon!
It’s the best time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be
happy. I have learn this submit and if I may just I want to recommend you some attention-grabbing issues or suggestions.
Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article.
I wish to learn even more issues about it!
CBD Oil And Migraine – How Long Should It Take To Feel The Effects Of CBD? Ꭼffect Is Yoᥙr
CBD Oil In Healing Your Migraine Ⲣroblems?
I’m not sure why but this site is loading incredibly slow for me.
Is anyone else having this problem or is it a problem on my end?
I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
Awesome blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog stand
out. Please let me know where you got your design. With
thanks
We also help our purchasers with financial institution deposit to file citizenship purposes.
Hi would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m having a difficult
time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique.
P.S Apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
whoah this weblog is great i like reading your posts.
Stay up the great work! You recognize, lots of persons are searching round for this info, you could
help them greatly.
We are a very well respected Loyalty Escorts Company which provide escort companies in London and the surrounding areas.
We pride our selves of experiencing in our community one of the most beautiful and captivating escorts in London. There are
all sorts of escorts from which to choose so you can remainder assure
you will see what you are looking for. All the Loyalty London Escorts will be sophisticated and
reliable, we have a becoming a member of proses and we make sure that all are beautiful, intelligent and enjoyment to be
with. All photos are genuine and we have new Loyalty Girls
joining nearly every day. All Loyalty Escorts are available for in phone or out
calls. They all have their very own apartments in central London where they are able to entertain you or they will be happy
to satisfy you at your hotel or a dinner date or for just about any event
you could show up at! Like everybody, all girls will be always
attempting to improve themselves therefore therefor they
would be very cheerful to listen to your comments and
working experience. In every girls page, there is a
review facility hence feel free to offer your fed back and share it with everyone
else.
First off I want to say excellent blog! I had a quick question that I’d like to ask if you
do not mind. I was curious to find out how you center yourself and
clear your head prior to writing. I have had difficulty
clearing my thoughts in getting my ideas out there.
I do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like the first
10 to 15 minutes are usually wasted just trying to figure out how
to begin. Any recommendations or hints? Kudos!
The Cajochen research was carried out in a very darkened
lab, which means that the human physiological response to a full moon may be innate somewhat
than environmental. Only when the moon, Earth and the solar are perfectly aligned is the moon 100% full, and that alignment produces a lunar eclipse.
Photo voltaic eclipses happen as soon as every
year-and-a-half or so; the trick is you’re not all the time in a position to see them based mostly in your vantage level on Earth.
Perilla is a See more footage of annual flowers. To get free estimates and study extra about insurance please visit
the following really useful web pages. A lot of right now’s high
school college students work laborious for scholarships as a result of school tuition is becoming extra expensive every year.
The measure is often annualized to cover the average annual full-time
equal college students and is designated by the acronym AAFTE.
Biscaynes and Bel Airs got here only in four-door sedan kind, accompanied
by equal Brookwood and Townsman station wagons. In addition to stretching the wheelbase to 121.5 inches (125 inches for
wagons), this year’s redesign modified the shape
of large Chevrolets. A brand new eggcrate-patterned grille led the way, and prominent
entrance-fender leading edges helped give Chevrolets a hint of Cadillac’s look.
Then give the inside a good wipe down.
Amazing blog! Do you have any tips and hints for
aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you recommend starting with a free platform like WordPress
or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m completely confused ..
Any suggestions? Appreciate it!
I love what you guys are up too. This type of clever
work and exposure! Keep up the amazing works guys I’ve you guys
to blogroll.
I love it when individuals come together and share thoughts.
Great site, keep it up!
What’s up i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anywhere, when i read this article i thought
i could also make comment due to this brilliant piece of
writing.
Magnificent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your
website, how could i subscribe for a blog website?
The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted
of this your broadcast provided bright clear idea
Travel Jember
Fantastic goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you are just extremely fantastic.
I really like what you’ve acquired here, really
like what you are stating and the way in which
you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care
of to keep it sensible. I can’t wait to read far more from you.
This is really a wonderful site.
My website :: นานาสาระน่ารู้
Wow! After all I got a webpage from where I can genuinely obtain useful data regarding my study and knowledge.
I do not even know how I ennded up right here, however
I thought this post was great. I don’t understand who you might be however certainly you
are going to a well-known blogger iin case you are not already.
Cheers!
Here is my webppage … eye ball [Lucio]
مطمئنا اکثریت ما وظیفه ای به عنوان همراه بیمار را در قالب پرستاری از یکی از اعضای خانواده، دوست یا آشنایان را تجربه نموده ایم.
چرا که بیمار توانایی رسیدگی
به امور شخصی خود و کادر درمانی بیمارستان زمان لازم برای همراهی تک تک بیماران را ندارند.
البته گذشته از پرداختن به امور لازم، همراهی یک بیمار در بیمارستان در شرایط ناخوشایند جسمی و روانی می تواند برای او تسکین دهنده باشد.
اما گاهی حضور یکی از افراد نزدیک بیمار در
کنار او به عنوان همراه بیمار وجود ندارد و وابسته به همین
مسئله، خانواده او شخصی را به عنوان
پرستار برای مراقبت از بیمار استخدام می کنند.
البته این روند در دوران کرونا به اوج خود
رسید چرا که؛ افراد خانواده شرایط حضور در کنار بیمار کرونایی خود را نداشتند و یک فرد آشنا با وظایف پرستاری را به عنوان همراه بیمار
در بیمارستان استخدام می کردند.
همراه بیمار در بیمارستان در واقع به فردی اطلاق می گردد که موظف است در بیمارستان
و در طول درمان بیمار در بیمارستان از هر لحاظی از او مراقبت و
نگهداری نماید. این فرد باید تمامی امور مربوط به مراقبت و
نگهداری بیمار را تا آخرین لحظه ترخیص از بیمارستان انجام دهد؛ البته امور ترخیص نیز شامل این روند می شوند.
کافیست تا همراه بیمار در بیمارستان به میزان معدودی در مسائل درمانی یا پزشکی
سر رشته داشته باشد؛ در این صورت در روند پرستاری و همراهی بیمار موفق تر خواهد بود.
It’s going to be end of mine day, but before finish I am reading this impressive
paragraph to improve my knowledge.
[url=http://zestoretic.store/]zestoretic 10 12.5[/url]
Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your website?
My website is in the very same area of interest as yours and my users would genuinely benefit from a lot of the information you provide here.
Please let me know if this alright with you.
Many thanks!
For hottest information you have to pay a quick visit world wide web and on web I found this web site as a most excellent website for most
recent updates.
Travel Jember