Isn’t It Time?
The Washington Post has an article that focuses on the Vice-President of Nigeria and his potential involvement in the William Jefferson corruption case. Nigeria has a very big reputation for corruption among it's elected officials but I frankly don't know what to make of the details in this story.
But one of the most puzzling and intriguing facets of the case is Jefferson's ties to Atiku Abubakar, the vice president of Nigeria. Abubakar, a wealthy businessman and one of the leading candidates in next year's race for president of Nigeria, divides his time between his homeland and Potomac, Md., where he and one of his four wives maintain a $2.2 million mansion.
Jefferson, who was a member of a House Ways and Means trade subcommittee, got to know Abubakar after the Nigerian was elected vice president in 1999. Later, Jefferson turned to Abubakar for help in winning a lucrative Nigerian telecommunications contract for a high-tech firm in Kentucky that was paying Jefferson bribes, according to an FBI affidavit. Jefferson told a business associate in a secretly taped conversation that Abubakar was "corrupt" and needed a hefty bribe and a cut of the profits in return for his help — allegations Abubakar has strongly denied.
Abubakar's involvement in the case has created a buzz in Washington's diplomatic circles and generated intense political controversy and media attention in Nigeria — a country that is trying to shed its long-standing reputation for corrupt government.
"I don't think it will be simply excused or trivialized," said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa program for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I think his opponents will use it, certainly. Nigerian politics is hardball."
After operating a six-month sting, FBI agents raided Abubakar's Potomac home on Aug. 3 and searched for evidence relating to Jefferson, who was alleged to have bribed a foreign official. Federal authorities alleged in court filings that Jefferson took more than $400,000 in illegal payments in exchange for using his congressional position to promote high-tech business ventures in Africa. Neither Jefferson nor Abubakar has been charged in the case, although two others have pleaded guilty to providing bribes to Jefferson.
On Wednesday, Abubakar, 59, issued a statement through his Washington lawyer denying any wrongdoing and insisting that Jefferson had never "suggested — in any way — providing any personal economic benefits" to him.
Most of the cash the FBI sting provided, ostensibly as a bribe to Abubakar, turned up in Jefferson's freezer. So the evidence of a bribe to Abubakar seems shaky. On the other hand, there seems to be quite a lot on Jefferson. Please let's get on with formal charges already. It's time to move along.
By Neo, Friday, 21 July , 2006 @ 11:05 pm
Perhaps Rep. Jefferson is interested in some artwork.
The fool should have looked in a better place.