Life in the fast lane: The Luxury Cars of Gabon's President Bongo

Documents have been obtained including pictures, and interviews conducted, which showed that the Gabonese President owns a veritable armada of luxury cars ranging from Maybach, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, BMW…

The fleet contains several hundred fancy cars, some of which are almost never used, in a country where more than one third of the population lives under the poverty line.


FRANCE 24 notably came into possession of a sales contract dating from January 2010, four months after Ali Bongo became president. The order, which the president’s office made through a Swiss company called SDP Service, comes up to 14,882,000 euros (more than $18 million).

The contract lists 29 luxury vehicles, including two Maybach 62S (worth 496,000 euros each), two Rolls Royce Phantoms (431,800 euros each) and two Rolls Royce Ghosts (265,000 euros each).

One of the pages of the contract for the sale of vehicles to the Gabonese president's office. Document obtained by France 24.

The contract does not indicate who will be using these cars and in what context. However, a former employee of SDP Service und Logistik in Gabon, who wishes to remain anonymous, told FRANCE 24 that the president regularly takes some of these cars out on the road for high-speed rides, with his bodyguards driving behind him. This was confirmed by other local sources.


In 2012, part of the fleet of cars belonging to the president’s office and some cars belonging to other ministries were stored in a parking lot in the Cité de la Démocratie, a vast complex that includes the president’s office. At the time, more than 400 luxury vehicles were stored in the 1,000 square metre parking lot.

These cars were bought under Ali Bongo’s presidency, as well as under his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled Gabon for 41 years until his death in 2009. “Ali Bongo didn’t even know what cars he had”, the former SPD employee says. FRANCE 24 was able to obtain photos of several of these cars.

The Gabonese president’s office also had a VIP space set up in the Cité de la Démocratie in 2012. The VIP space was entirely decorated with Ferrari brand items bought in Italy, including the body of a Formula 1 car and a “Fernando Alonso” helmet that cost 6,000 euros. According to the former SPD employee, other luxury cars belonging to the president’s office were also stored in other places, including the president’s home.


The cars belonging to the president’s office were bought through the Swiss company SDP Service und Logistik, who in turn sometimes ordered them through another Swiss company, S-Tech. SDP, which closed shop in 2013, had headquarters in Bottighofen, Switzerland; its leadership was Austrian.

Its owners, however, were unknown, and its website contained very little information. When SPD closed, another company, located in London, took over, according to the former SDP employee.

As part of an inquiry into potentially illegally-acquired assets, French authorities are also investigating the alleged use of luxury cars by the president’s entourage in France. These cars were allegedly bought in France, with Gabonese taxpayers’ money.


This lavish spending didn’t start with Ali Bongo. His father, Omar Bongo, was known for his expensive tastes. Things could change, however, if the Gabonese authorities’ latest declarations are to be believed.

According to the government, a vast operation was launched in January 2014 in order to rein in public spending and break with the bad habits of the past, when, in the words of Jean-Fidèle Otandault, the head of Gabon's public spending watchdog, “half of the [state’s] budget simply vanished”.

FRANCE 24 contacted the Gabonese authorities for comment. We will publish their answer as soon as we receive it.
Article by Julien Pain, Editor-in-Chief of the FRANCE 24 

Observers. Twitter: @JulienPain

Fashola insists PDP should be blame for Nigeria’s woes

Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), Lagos State governor

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has blamed the Peoples Democratic Party for the challenges confronting the country, especially as regards the insecurity of lives and property of Nigerians.
According to him, the country is too important – both globally and continentally – “to be left in the hands of those who play politics with the lives of her citizens.”
He also said that an alternative to the All Progressives Congress government in Lagos State in next year’s election was tantamount to experimenting with the life and future of its residents.
In a statement obtained by Saturday PUNCH through the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Hakeem Bello, Fashola stated that a change of leadership at the national level was expedient, while blaming the PDP for failing to provide the security of lives and property of citizens.
While throwing a jab at the PDP-led central government, he said, “Please ask them why smaller economies could get petrol easily for their people and why we have to queue for hours and days to get petrol in a biggest economy in Africa.
“When people come and say that there is no power, they only speak of their inefficiency and incapacity to deliver power. Electricity, as an invention, is over 100 years old; so there is no excuse for Nigerians to continue to live in darkness.”
Fashola also advised that Nigerians cast their votes wisely in the upcoming general elections at the national and Lagos State levels.
He said, “Lagosians have the responsibility to keep the change that has been achieved so far.You will do so with your votes; that is your power. Please ensure that you go and collect your voter’s card in order to protect what you have built in Lagos.
“Lagos is too important to Nigeria, it is too important to Africa, it is too important across the world, to be entrusted to those who want to experiment with it.”

Source http://www.osundefender.org/?p=202186

Boko Haram Insurgency: Chad Has Solution says Senator Ali Modu Sheriff

Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, former governor of Borno State, has opened up on what he knows about the Boko Haram insurgents currently ravaging states in the northeast and some other parts of the country, while disclosing that only the neighbouring Republic of Chad could help solve the menace.

Sheriff, while speaking in a BBC Hausa Service magazine programme (Gane Mini Hanya), yesterday, revealed that the radical religious sect actually started in Yobe State in 1992, and that he has been trying to find a lasting solution to it, including talking to the Chadian government.

He denied reports saying that Boko Haram started during his tenure as governor of Borno State between 2003 and 2011.

But it would be recalled that when the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners visited the Chadian embassy in Abuja recently to find out the connection between Chad and the Boko Haram insurgents, the ambassador had said that his government had no connection to the sect.

The ambassador also alleged that if there was any person that should be held responsible for this problem, it should be the Nigerian government which had repeatedly claimed to know where the Chibok girls are being kept.

When the ambassador was queried on the alleged report of the botched ceasefire deal, which was celebrated across the country and handled by the Chadian President, Idriss Déby, and the report that Mr Mahamat Bichara Gnoti, a close associate of the Chadian president, was reported to have been apprehended on the Chadian-Sudan border with 19 SAM2 missiles he allegedly purchased from the Sudanese army for Boko Haram terrorists, the ambassador noted that he only read about the news on the pages of newspapers just like other persons.

But the former governor, who is also at the centre of a controversy surrounding the sponsorship of the Boko Haram insurgency, following claims by an Australian negotiator, Steven Davis, that he and a former chief of army staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika, were allegedly backing the insurgents, said Chad could help in solving the issue.

He alleged that the Borno State government was responsible for the orchestrated plot to frame him up with the Boko Haram sponsorship allegation in order to defame his character.

Keeping mute on how Chad could possibly help in solving the problem, Sheriff added that since he is one of the few politicians that has benefitted greatly from the kindness of Borno State, as such he is doing whatever it is to help solve the insurgency.

“Nothing preoccupies my mind in Nigeria presently like the return of peace in Borno. When Borno State was peaceful, there was no place I cherished to stay in the world like Maiduguri. I, my friends, my confidants, my parents and all the schools I attended are in Maiduguri.

“Therefore, I am more concerned than anybody in this country, because what Borno State did for me has not been done to any other indigene. You know, in Borno State, a governor has never been re-elected apart from me; in Borno State, no senator has ever been elected thrice apart from me. So, Borno people have done everything for me, and there is no one in this world that I know other than Chad, which I think could help Borno,” he said.

On his belief that he was being framed, Sheriff said: “They defamed my character, and when they started it, I once told journalists that it was plotted in Maiduguri. We know the plotters, their motives, and that by the grace of God, the truth will prevail; and now, the arrested impostors have said it all to the world.”

The former governor alleged that the current Borno State government’s connection with plot to defame him became glaring when the government quickly came out to disown one of the impostors, Junaid Idrissa Khadi, who was until four months ago a special adviser to Governor Kashim Shettima, but rather said Khadi remained his (Sherrif) known associate because he had earlier served his government before Shettima engaged him allegedly under pressure from him.

“This is nonsense. If I had forced him (Khadi) on them, then why will he connive with a Whiteman to implicate me, that I am a Boko Haram member? If at all I helped him to be engaged, then he won’t implicate me…and I have instructed my lawyers to file charges,” he said.

It could also be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan had on two occasions visited the Chadian President Idriss Derby, in September and November this year, towards finding a lasting solution to the insurgency problem.

Jonathan however came under attacks from individuals and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) after it was discovered that Sheriff was part of the high-level meeting between him and his Chadian counterpart in September. Their anger was predicated on the fact that the former governor was at that time accused by Davis of allegedly sponsoring Boko Haram.

Sheriff, who lauded the federal government’s counter-insurgency effort in the interview, however, denied the insinuations that the Boko Haram started during his tenure as governor.

“This is not true. The Boko Haram issue did not start during my tenure. If you don’t know, let me educate you today. Boko Haram started in 1992 at Kalama in Yobe State, and at that time, I was not a governor. So, if anybody tells you it started during my tenure, he may be part of my traducers. But the truth is that it didn’t start during my tenure,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Borno State government, through Governor Shettima’s spokesman, Isa Gusau, has denied any government-sponsored plot to tarnish the image of the former governor, saying the government in Maiduguri was only concerned with the weighty allegations against Sheriff as an indigene of the state.

He also added that the incumbent state governor has nothing to gain from Sheriff’s predicament.

Gusau, in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service yesterday, said: “Governor Kashim Shettima has nothing to gain from the allegation against Ali Sheriff. In fact, to him, it is even shameful that a Borno State indigene, whom the governor has interacted or is connected with, is linked to what is happening. So, Governor Shettima’s connection with this saga is unnecessary.source:Nigerian Communication

Nigeria Oil Workers Strike Over Inefficiencies, Corruption

People protest following the removal of fuel subsidy by the government in Lagos, 

Nigeria.

The president of Nigeria’s National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers Union said their strike, which began Monday, will continue until the government meets their demands.

The workers are demanding passage of the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill, aimed at overhauling the inefficient and corrupt oil sector. They also want unfair labor practices involving oil companies and the government dealt with, along with improvement in the country’s neglected road network.

Oil and Gas Workers Union President Igwe Achese said the strike is also the result of the government’s inability to carry out turnaround maintenance of refineries and the failure to reduce petroleum prices.

“For the past 12 years, we’ve been battling on the issue of the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill. Today, as it stands, it has been like a dream not coming into reality. The National Assembly is yet to pass the bill. Today, the oil price globally is down, and that brings us to the point [to ask] why the nation’s refineries are not functioning properly and why turnaround maintenance is not taking place on these refineries,” he said.

Achese said the workers are tired of the government’s empty promises.

“This issue of the turnaround maintenance started when [Olusegun] Obasanjo took over as president of this country. And, we’re talking about a new election coming up in 2015, and I keep asking myself, ‘Is government really committed in terms of making sure lives improve in the common man’s environment?’” Achese said.

He said the workers also want improvement in the country’s roads network because they are essential for transportation, including oil tankers.

“The only way tankers can haul petroleum products from the west, from the south, to the north is through roads. And, our roads are all bad. You might have heard of tankers falling off the road, followed by explosion[s] and loss of lives. And, this keeps going on every month, every day,” Achese said.

Achese said the workers are concerned about the suffering their strike might bring upon ordinary Nigerians, but added that ordinary Nigerians are most fed up with the situation in the country.

“I want to tell you quite rightly that Nigerians are even fed up with the situation of things in this country, in terms of the nature of roads, in terms of the non-availability of petroleum products, in terms of the continuous payment of fraudulent subsidies to a few Nigerians. Nigerians are also tired of the payment of illicit electricity bills. And, [the] government in power and the various agencies responsible are still not committed to these issues,” Achese said. 

source:voanews

Nigeria oil unions start strike, output seen unaffected

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's oil unions began an indefinite strike today (Monday), although crude output in Africa's top producer is not likely to be affected, oil industry sources said.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers are protesting over the government's failure to effectively maintain the country's refineries or reduce its subsidised prices at the pump as oil prices fall to five-year lows. The unions frequently strike or threaten to.

"We've commenced the strike. It will affect oil production, since all operations are on strike," PENGASSAN chief Babatunde Oke told Reuters by telephone.

A strike in September caused little disruption to the oil producer, apart from a brief interruption to natural gas supplies to Ghana, which did not suffer shortages as a result.

An oil executive said this strike was not expected to affect output for the same reason that others have not: shutting down oil production is a drastic move that requires large numbers of workers at production sites who are unwilling to go that far.

"It's very difficult to shut them down, and once they do it would take them a week to get them back up. They never do it," he said. "That's the last thing anyone wants."

However, in many major cities, including the main commercial city of Lagos, the capital Abuja, and the oil producing region of Bayelsa, long queues formed for fuel because of fears the strikes will cause shortages.

A number of stations run by the state oil company were shut. Black market fuel hawkers with jerrycans of smuggled fuel along the roadside filled the shortfall.

"There's no fuel to sell and we can't sell the old stock either because we are not sure when this strike will end," a filling station owner told Reuters in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa state.

In central Abuja most fuel stations were shut.

BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY: NIGERIA IN A NIGHTMARE

>Calls for vigilance

The current spate of northern insurgency and Islamic terrorists  have turned Nigeria into a nightmare, the Founder and President of the Oodua People's Congress (OPC), Dr Frederick Fasehun remarked.

He therefore charged Nigerians to be very vigilant to disallow the terrorists from spreading their tentacles to other parts of the country.

(l-r)Deputy President, Oodua People’s Congress {OPC}, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, 

Founder/ President, Dr Frederick Fasehun, 1st Vice President, Mr. Lateef Lawal 

 and the National Co-ordinator, Comrade Odunayo Ogunmoye during the inauguration 

of the new OPC Executive at Okota, Lagos last Tuesday. 

He gave the charge  in Lagos during the inauguration of  29 members  strong newly appointed National Executive Council of OPC at the Century Hotel, Okota.

Dr Fasehun said in view of the level of insurgency ravaging the Norh Eastern part of the country, " this time calls for men and women whom our people can look up to as a refuge of security in case the unexpected happens".

In this regard, he said :" OPC must be vigilant. By the grace and mercy of God, terrorism will not rule Yoruba land and Nigeria".

Founder/ President, Oodua People’s Congress, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, {right} 

presenting an award of service to the 1st Vice President, Mr. Lateef Lawal 

during the inauguration of the new OPC Executive at Okota, Lagos, last Tuesday. 

The OPC President therefore told the newly inaugurated national officers that:" As you take your oath of office today, the voice you will hear ringing in your soul will tell you to be steadfast, to be decent, to be forthright, E ranti Omo  eniti eyin nse (Remember the sons/daughters of whom you are)".

He also warned them not to see their elevation to the new positions as licence for criminality and greed as exhibited by the previously dissolved executive members.

On the political front, Fasehun said the new leadership of OPC would soon sit down together and give directions to the organisation on the candidates members of the Congress would be supporting at the States and National levels in the coming elections.

Buhari Clinches APC Presidential Ticket

General Muhammadu Buhari has clinched the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress,APC at a keenly contested primary elections in Lagos.

Buhari polled 3430 votes of the total votes cast.Fomer Vice President Atiku Abubakar polled 954 votes at the APC National Convention.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has already issued a statement congratulating Buhari.

The former military Head of State will lead the opposition charge against President Goodluck Jonathan who is the Peoples Democratic Party ,PDP candidate in the 2015 presidential election.

After the vote count,ex Governor Kayode Fayemi, the chief returning officer announced Buhari as the winner with the tally below:

Atiku=954

Buhari=3430

Kwankwaso=974

Nda-Isaiah=10

Okorocha=624

BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY: NIGERIA IN A NIGHTMARE, says Dr Frederick Fasehun,OPC President

>Calls for vigilance

The current spate of northern insurgency and Islamic terrorists  have turned Nigeria into a nightmare, the Founder and President of the Oodua People's Congress (OPC), Dr Frederick Fasehun remarked.
He therefore charged Nigerians to be very vigilant to disallow the terrorists from spreading their tentacles to other parts of the country.
He gave the charge  in Lagos during the inauguration of  29 members  strong newly appointed National Executive Council of OPC at the Century Hotel, Okota.
Dr Fasehun said in view of the level of insurgency ravaging the Norh Eastern part of the country, " this time calls for men and women whom our people can look up to as a refuge of security in case the unexpected happens".
In this regard, he said :" OPC must be vigilant. By the grace and mercy of God, terrorism will not rule Yoruba land and Nigeria".
The OPC President therefore told the newly inaugurated national officers that:" As you take your oath of office today, the voice you will hear ringing in your soul will tell you to be steadfast, to be decent, to be forthright, E ranti Omo  eniti eyin nse (Remember the sons/daughters of whom you are)".
He also warned them not to see their elevation to the new positions as licence for criminality and greed as exhibited by the previously dissolved executive members.
On the political front, Fasehun said the new leadership of OPC would soon sit down together and give directions to the organisation on the candidates members of the Congress would be supporting at the States and National levels in the coming elections.