Sahara Reporters - President Olusegun Obasanjo, who led Nigeria from 1999-2000, during which time he swore to fight corruption in the country, obtained considerable helpings of the infamous Haliburton bribe money, the Special Investigation Panel headed by Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, has declared in an interim report.

According to the document, which was submitted to *President Umaru Yar’Adua in May last year by Mr. Okiro, Obasanjo shared the sum of $74 million USD between 2000 and 2001 with his Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, as well as Funsho Kupolokun and Gaius Obaseki, who were successive heads of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation during the government’s early years.

During that same time span, said the interim report, Obasanjo and the ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party, also pocketed $5m from the Halliburton slush funds.

Other major beneficiaries included General Sani Abacha, who got $40 million in 1994-95; Ibrahim Aliyu, $11.7million in 2001-2002; former Minister, Dan Etete, $2.5 million in 1996-1998; Abdulkadir Abacha, $1.8 in 1998; and M. G. Bakari, $3.1 million

Among the more startling of the revelations in the interim report, the panel wrote as follows about some of the key Nigerians involved:

On Chief Olusegun Obasanjo: “He was President of Nigeria from May 1999 – May 2007. Reports suggest that Stanley met with Chief Obasanjo and then Group Managing Director of NNPC, Gaius Obaseki, in Abuja on 11th November 2001 to negotiate pay-offs in respect of Trains 4&5. On 20th December 2001 Obaseki reportedly met with Chodan and Stanley in London over lunch in furtherance of discussions. In March 2002, TSKJ won the Train 4 and 5 contacts for $3.6 billion USD allegations are the Gen. Obasanjo may have received a minimum of $4 million USD as pay-off

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Source: Sahara Reporters