There is no shortage of booklets again for the production of passports in Nigeria, the Federal Government has said
Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister of Interior made the claim at the official commissioning of the Enhanced Passport Production Centre in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital on Tuesday.
The newly commissioned passport centre will now be responsible for the production of passport demands from Rivers, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa States.
“We have left no stone unturned in our quest to make passports available to Nigerians.
“Last year alone, we provided 1.3 million passports to Nigerians. As of today, there is no booklet shortage in Nigeria.
“As of the second quarter of this year (in June), the NIS has provided 645,000 passports out of the 750,000 applications received.
“To address the challenge of the backlog, we have sent 11,000 booklets to Ikoyi, 11,000 to Alausa and 8,000 to FESTAC centres in Lagos.
“We have also sent sufficient booklets to all the centres nationwide to address this challenge.
“There is, therefore, no excuse again for delay and non-issuance within a reasonable period,” the minister was quoted in a statement by Sola Fasure, his media aide.
The minister also urged Nigerians to always apply themselves online to avoid being shortchanged by unscrupulous elements.
“I will urge applicants for the Nigerian passport to apply early enough before their travel date to avoid cutting corners and falling into the hands of scammers and other opportunists.
“It is important also that they apply by themselves at the Nigeria Immigration Service portal and not through touts and unscrupulous officials, which often bring heartaches.
“We have provided a window of six weeks and three weeks for fresh application and renewal respectively, after biometric data capture, by which time, other things being equal, the passport will be ready for collection.
“This timeline is to enable NIS to investigate and validate the claims of applicants and confer integrity on the passport issued.
“It is a reasonable provision in passport administration by global standard. There is no wait-and-get passport service anywhere in the world. The only wait-and-get passport is a passport-sized photograph from a Polaroid camera,” the Minister stated.
While speaking, Governor Nyesom Wike, who was represented by his Deputy, Dr Ipalibo Gogo Banigo, promised to continue to support the Nigeria Immigration Service in the state, as it was the policy of his administration.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied reports that it succumbed to pressure from the All Progressives Congress (APC) by backdating documents to recognise Senate President Ahmad Lawan, and former Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio as senatorial candidates.
Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC said this on Tuesday in Abuja.
Recall that there have been controversies after Bashir Machina won the APC ticket for Yobe North Senatorial District, while Udom Ekpoudom won the party’s primary election in Akwa Ibom North-West.
The two primaries were monitored by INEC officials.
Okoye said the attention of the commission was drawn to an online report that it doctored, backdated and certified documents to accommodate Lawan and Akpabio.
“Nothing can be further from the truth. As evidence of the alleged role played by the commission. A certified true copy of Form 9C uploaded by their political party and received by the Commission on 17th June 2022 when the nomination portal closed was presented,” he said.
The INEC official said that for clarity, the Form EC9 (submission of names of candidates by political parties) is the form uploaded by parties on the INEC nomination portal, and is clearly indicated on the title of the Form which was received on 17th June 2022 when the portal closed.
He also said publication of the personal particulars of nominated candidates was done a week later and that the forms of the two personalities (Lawan and Akpabio) in question were not published by the commission.
Okoye said, “The decision of the commission triggered legal action which are still ongoing. It therefore defies logic and common sense to go around and submit doctored documents purportedly recognising the duo as candidates when the matter is clearly sub-judice.
“As part of the ongoing case in Court, a law firm requested the commission for a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Form EC9 submitted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District which we are duty bound to oblige them under the law.
“The form was certified on 15th July 2022. If minimum care has been exercised by the promoters of the story, they would have seen the two stamps of the commission bearing different dates on the form. It is this form that is now misconstrued as INEC’s endorsement.
“For the record, the commission has not recognised any of the two personalities as a senatorial candidate. We call for responsible reportage as against the unwarranted attack on the commission and its officials over a matter than can be easily fact checked.”
The National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, had warned that Machina risked severe sanctions if he refused to relinquish his ticket to Lawan.
Lawan had contested and lost the APC presidential primaries to a former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
He, however, tried unsuccessfully, to reclaim the Yobe North Senatorial District ticket won by Machina.
Adamu claimed that the party is supreme and that it reserves the right to decide who gets its ticket in any election.
In Akwa Ibom, Akpabio, who also contested and lost the APC presidential primaries, was declared the winner of another primary.
However, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Akwa Ibom, Mr. Mike Igini, said the exercise which produced Akpabio was not monitored by the commission and thus invalid.
With the expiration of the 90-day transfer of power granted the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by the National Executive Committee (NEC), the party may hold an emergency NEC meeting before the commencement of the presidential campaign, The Nation reports
The 11th NEC meeting of the party, which held on April 20, 2022 in Abuja, resolved to transfer its powers to the party’s NWC for three months.
The 90 days, which started on April 20, expired on July 22, 2022
An impeccable source in the NWC told our correspondent yesterday that the proposal for the summoning of an emergency NEC meeting tops the agenda of the NWC weekly meeting of the party billed to hold today at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
“With the expiration of the three-month power transfer since July 22, 2022, the NWC can no longer take vital decisions on behalf of the party without approval of the NEC. In view of this constitutional reality, some NWC members are pushing for an emergency NEC meeting.
“Barring last minute change, tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) weekly NWC will have to discuss the development with a view to fixing a date for an emergency NEC meeting before the commencement of the presidential campaign, which is billed to start on September 28, 2022,” the source said.
The Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led NWC obtained powers to take crucial decisions on the party’s candidates for the 2023 general election without requiring the approval of the NEC, the party’s highest decision-making organ.
The NEC’s power was transferred to the NWC, following a motion moved by Senate President Ahmad Lawan, which was seconded by House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
Initially, Lawan’s motion said the NEC’s powers should be taken up by the NWC for the “time being”, which could mean an indefinite period.
But Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai made an amendment to the motion, suggesting that the NWC should exercise the NEC’s powers for 90 days, and the motion was ratified.
According to the amended motion moved by Governor El-Rufai, the powers of the NEC under Article 13(3)(ii)(iii) (iv)(v) and (vi) were vested in the NWC for 90 days.
Following the development, the NWC was empowered to discharge all functions of the NEC, as enshrined in Articles 13.3 (ii) of the APC constitution.
Some of the activities carried out by the NWC within the period include the consideration of reports from National, State and Local Government Area/Area Councils chapters of the party.
It also took decisions, when necessary, to protect, advance, and consolidate the gains and interest of the party, in line with powers vested in the NEC, as enshrined in Article 13.3(iv) of the APC constitution.
The NEC also resolved that “the NWC, in the interim period, will also exercise the NEC’s powers, as enshrined in Article 13,3(v) of the APC constitution, by exercising control and taking disciplinary actions on all organs, officers, and members of the party, and determine appeals brought before it by any member or organ of the party”.
Also, the NWC was vested with the powers to create, elect and appoint any committee it may deem necessary, desirable or expedient and assign to them such powers and functions as it may deem fit and proper, in line with powers given to the NEC in Article 13.3(v) of the APC constitution.
The Young Progressives Party (YPP) has filed a petition before the Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the State High Court, Oke-Fia, Osogbo seeking cancellation of the 2022 Osun State Governorship Election for non-compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act.
A copy of the petition dated August 5, filed by the counsel for the party, Enitan Olukayode, joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke in the suit.
A certified true copy, which was received by the secretary of the tribunal, stated that INEC failed and neglected to give 360 days’ notice before the date appointed for the election, which is contrary to the Electoral Act, 2022.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has debunked reports that it has replaced Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as its supreme commander and leader.
IPOB condemn the report as “useless and fabricated media propaganda and blackmail from some media houses”, saying that Nnamdi Kanu is indefatigable and irreplaceable.
In a press release issued by the Media and Publicity Secretary for IPOB, Comrade Emma Powerful said that those peddling this kind lies are criminals with the sole aim to confuse the weak minded people.
Emma Powerful said: “We want everybody to bear in mind that Mazi Chika Edoziem is the head of IPOB Directorate of State, DOS and not IPOB Acting Leader.
“There was never a time that Emma Powerful the Publicity Secretary of IPOB issued any statement purporting that our Leader had been replaced by Mazi Chika Edoziem as IPOB Acting Leader.
“The said statement was the handiwork of mischievous elements bent on causing confusion in IPOB.
“It is unfortunate that some mischievous elements twisted an unambiguous statement by IPOB where we clarified that, in the meantime, our leader is in detention, the Head of DOS, Mazi Edoziem will be providing direction on the day to day activities of IPOB.
“We never said that Edoziem has become the Acting Leader of IPOB.
“For the avoidance of doubts, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains the Leader of IPOB. The entire IPOB family all over the world is loyal to him.
“IPOB has no Acting Leader. Chika Edoziem is only the Head of DOS of IPOB not the Leader
“We therefore, urge our family members, supporters, friends and members of the public to ignore the misleading and mischievous media report,” he noted.
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President Muhammadu Buhari versus National Coordinator of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko
Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, on Monday, asked the Federal Government led by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to engage mercenaries to complement the military’s fight against terrorists’ onslaught.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, described as worrisome and unprecedented the rate at which terrorists of the Boko Haram and Islamic State – West Africa Province kill soldiers in the last two years.
The group said the killing of over 750 soldiers in the last two years by insurgents is alarming and signals that fatigue has invaded the military which has been responsible for the high rate of casualty suffered by the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Navy in recent times.
Recall that SUNDAY PUNCH in an August 7, 2022 report said terrorists on the rampage across the country have attacked about 16 military bases in the last 18 months, and killed about 750 soldiers in different parts of the country.
In 2022, there were six major attacks on military bases, witnessed in Borno, Katsina, Kaduna, Taraba and Niger states. These were independent of other attacks on the military, including ambushes, attacks on their convoys and the most recent attack on soldiers was at the Zuma Rock checkpoint on July 28. A soldier was killed in the attack.
Terrorists attacked a military base in Sarkin Pawa Town in the Munya Local Government Area of Niger State on July 18, 2022. On May 10, suspected ISWAP members attacked the perimeter of the 6th Brigade military base in Jalingo, Taraba State. Also, on April 4, suspected Ansaru terrorists attacked a military base at Polewire on the Kaduna-Birnin Road in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, during which about 11 soldiers were feared killed, while 19 soldiers were reportedly injured by the terrorists.
ISWAP fighters attacked the multinational military base in Doron Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State on March 19.
Also, reports on January 21 noted that terrorists stormed the military base located within Government Day Secondary School, Shinfada, in the Jibia Local Government of Katsina State.
In 2021, reports said there were attacks on at least 11 military bases in the North. Some of the attacks were foiled by soldiers.
The President on Friday, in Abuja at the graduation of Course 30 of the National Defence College, where he was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said, “Government is deeply concerned about the activities of bandits and criminals who have reared their ugly heads in some parts of the country. This is because the number of violent unprovoked attacks on citizens appears to be on the increase. This is unacceptable.”
HURIWA’s Onwubiko said beyond condemning terrorists’ onslaught against the military, the President must be decisive and take quick solutions.
Onwubiko said, “The President as the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces must strategise the anti-terrorism war because apparently the troops are losing with hundreds having had to pay the supreme price in the last two years.
“A compilation by Sunday Punch of August 7, 2022 is alarming. The report put the figure of soldiers fell by terrorists at 750 soldiers between the third quarter of 2020 and July 2022. This is unacceptable.
“The President must with immediate effect reshuffle the security architecture and sack the service chiefs whose lack of effective leadership have cost over 750 families their beloved brothers, sisters, and breadwinners.
“The President must ensure that the morale of the soldiers still alive are boosted through the timely payment of salaries, acquisition of modern-day superior weapons as soldiers in leaked videos have decried the absence of superior firepower to their adversaries, payment of entitlement to families of fallen heroes, amongst others.
“Also, the engagement of foreign mercenaries cannot be overstressed. As buttressed by the Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, the Armed Forces are overstretched as they are now engaged in internal security operations which should have been led by the Nigeria Police Force. The deployment of foreign mercenaries is exigent to avoid the further loss of military personnel. Any resistance to this is suicidal.
“Similarly, the Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi, had on December 15, 2021 said that the Federal Government approved a 20 per cent increase in salaries for personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, effective January 2022 but police officers have been crying out that the raise had yet to take effect even eight months after. The President must ensure policemen get the necessary morale booster to fight internal security for soldiers to face Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters.
“Also, the Federal Government must with immediate effect give licence to regional security outfits in the South-East, the South-West and Benue State for these vigilante men to bear arms to consolidate the operations of the military and the police as the Army and the police are overstretched with many attached to Very Important Personalities and politicians instead of security the country against internal and external threats.”
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Rodriguez set to become free agent after contract termination
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied reports that it backdated Certified True Copies of reports of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries to enable it accommodate the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, Godswill Akpabio and others as candidates in the 2023 general elections.
INEC earlier held that Bashir Machina won the party’s ticket for Yobe North Senatorial District, while Udom Ekpoudom won the primary election for Akwa Ibom North-West.
According to SaharaReporters, the electoral body succumbed to pressure from the ruling party and backdated its official documents to recognise Senator Lawan and Akpabio as senatorial candidates.
In Yobe, a certified true copy of the commission’s report from the election of May 28, 2022, revealed Machina polled 289 votes out of 300 delegates.
The document was certified by the electoral office on June 23, 2022.
The National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu had warned of severe sanctions if Machina refused to relinquish his ticket to Lawan.
Adamu claimed that the party is supreme and that it reserves the right to decide who gets its ticket in any election.
In Akwa Ibom, Akpabio was declared the winner of another primary, but Mike Igini, INEC resident electoral commissioner (REC) for the state, had said the exercise which produced the former minister as a candidate was not monitored by the commission.
Section 31 of the Electoral Act only allows for substitution when a candidate dies or when he or she withdraws from the race and informs INEC in writing.
The section reads: “A candidate may withdraw his or her candidature by notice in writing signed by him and delivered personally by the candidate to the political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the commission not later than 90 days to the election.”
SaharaReporters alleged moves by the INEC leadership to shred the reports of the Resident Electoral Commissioners in the affected states by backdating them to favour Lawan, Akpabio and others.
“INEC has caved in to political pressures and other forces deployed by the outgoing Senate President, Mr Ahmad Lawan and his backers to shred the report of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner that supervised the APC primary Elections in Yobe state by doctoring and backdating it to accommodate the Senate president and others in states where they have an interest,” it said.
“Shockingly, the Chairman of INEC Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu is fully part of this plot, making direct telephone calls to state offices.
“Despite the glaring fact that Ahmad Lawan was a principal actor in the APC presidential primary, which saw him lose to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he has since mounted relentless pressures on INEC leadership to obtain a senatorial ticket in Yobe State by all means possible.”
A source said that the certified true copy of reports had been doctored and backdated to accommodate the Senate President and former Akwa Ibom Governor.
“Nigerians will be shocked that despite serial denials by Professor Yakubu-led commission that Lawan and Akpabio names would not be on the ballot as senatorial candidates respectively, INEC is merely deceiving them, signifying a roll back to Professor Maurice lwu-led commission that gave so much hope for the 2007 election which later became the worst election in Nigeria’s electoral history.
“The EPM (Election Monitoring Department) under a very compromised Director, Musa who is about to retire from service and one Barr. Tanimu of the legal department have back-dated documents to include Lawan and Akpabio on the ballot. INEC is now returning gradually to Prof Maurice lwu’s era.
“Just as it was then that there was a notorious National Commissioner named Chukwuani who was the politicians’ hatchet man of that inglorious period, so is Festus Okoye now who is the hand-gun of politicians being used in the emerging efforts to mess up the outcome of party primaries by accepting from political parties names of individuals who didn’t participate in primaries monitored by its states’ offices.
“Nigerians will recall that Festus Okoye had been in virtually all television stations granting interviews on Channels TV to prepare the minds of Nigerians to what they are about to make public on the final list when he said ‘RECs are not recognised members of INEC and the commission is not bound by the reports of party primaries monitored by state offices because they also send monitors from Abuja that write reports to INEC Headquarters’.
“Both the EPM and legal department have advised lawyers of Akpabio to file a writ of summons so that witnesses could be called and Abuja INEC Headquarters will prepare and bring forward a staff member that will testify that he or she monitored the re-run primary in line with what Okoye had told Nigerians.
“This is how they planned to do away with state offices’ reports of the party primaries submitted to the headquarters.
“APC has taken control of INEC headquarters, that is why there’s an outcry over the outcome of the primaries in virtually all the states across the country, from Oyo, Ogun, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Kano, Sokoto, it’s the same story. Festus Okoye’s interview has done so much damage to the confidence Nigerians were beginning to have over the outcome of recent elections.
“Commissioner Okoye is now the spokesperson for both INEC and corrupt politicians, as he has been assuring them of having not committed any offence under section 115 of the 2020 Electoral Act despite a Federal High Court judgment in Ebonyi State.
“Politicians have infiltrated and are in control of INEC.
“The chairman of INEC at a recent event deceptively told his listeners that they will implement the provision of the 2022 Act and that politicians should study it yet he accepted from political parties names of persons who didn’t go through primaries and refused to apply the provisions of section 84 of the same Act and section 285 of the Constitution to reject those names that his commission published as candidates.
“The discordant tunes from headquarters and states where party primaries were conducted have created serious doubts about the trustworthiness of Prof Mahmood Yakubu’s headship of INEC to conduct a free fair and credible election in 2023. The brazenness of INEC in forging a document showing that the name of Akpabio was submitted to it is a further confirmation of compromise at the highest level.”
INEC has, however, denied the report and warned of serious action against media outfits bandying fake reports against it.
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Senate Public Account Committee (SPAC) on Tuesday gave 48 hours ultimatum to Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to show document involving payment of $5 million legal fees for Service not render .
The Panel had invited the management of NIMASA to explain why the $5 million was paid for Service not rendered .
At the resumption of the Committee meeting on the issue on Tuesday, the representative of NIMASA, Olamide Olusanya told Panel that the matter is in court
But, the Committee rejected the submission and asked the agency to make presentation on the information at their disposal on the payment of legal fees to the law firm.
The Official of the NIMASA told the lawmakers that the Agency was directed by then Attorney General of the Federation to pay $5 million for the legal fees.
The Chairman of the Committee however asked the representative of NIMASA to present any letter Mandating the agency to pay $5 million for legal fees.
Responding to whether the Presidency directed the agency to pay the legal fees, the representative of the NIMASA Managing Director said there is no such letter adding that they only have any letter from the Senior Special Assistant to President on Administration authorising the payment.
The Chairman therefore ordered the agency to present documents relating to the payment by Thursday this week before the Committee will take final decision on the matter.
He said, ” We need the details of the payment, you go back to your archives and bring it out ”
Another member of the Committee, Senator Abdullahi Danbaba said there is no basis for.making that payment adding that the money should be recovered from the law from the law firm.
The Chairman also added , ” let us know the transaction between you AGF before you paid the money.”
The Committee had invited NIMASA up to three times for the explanation on the payment of $5 million as professional fee and details of $9.3 billion loss by the Federal government, but the agency declined the invitation.
In the report of the Auditor General’s sighted by our correspondent revealed that all efforts by the Auditor Of the Federation to see the details of $9.3 billion loss by the Federal government for through scrutiny was not granted by NIMASA.
According to AuGF report, the money was paid from Zenith Bank (UK) , dollar account.
The query reads, “Audit observed that the agency engaged the service of a legal firm through a letter with reference number NIMASA/DG/KP/2014/001, dated 24th January 2014 for the intelligence based tracking of global movement of Nigerian Hydro-Carbon and recovery of loss by the Federal Government of Nigeria in the sum of USD9.3billion between 2013 and 2014, with a start-off cost of USD5million and 5% of all sums recovered.
“Payment instruction with reference number NIMASA/2007/DFS/WJ/5.500/VOL.11/341 dated April 2014 showed that the firm was paid the sum of $4,523,809.52 (Four million five hundred and twenty three thousand eight hundred and nine dollar fifty two cents only) net as professional fees from Zenith Bank (UK) Dollar account.
“The naira equivalent of this amount was N741,904,761.28 at an exchange rate of N164 to a dollar as of that date.
” No evidence of recovery of either part or the entire sum of the 9.3 Billion US Dollars was presented as at the time of the Periodic Check in February 2018, despite the huge amount of money already paid to this effect.
“It is instructive to note that details of the transaction leading to the loss of USD9.3billion to the Federal Government which only came to audit attention through the review of the letter from the agency to the legal firm so as to ascertain what could have transpired, resulting in such a huge loss were not presented for audit.
“Ordinarily, the firm should have deducted its fees from the amounts recovered for the FGN, and not receive fees in advance in lieu of the recoveries.
” Audit is concerned that payments was made for service not rendered and this may be a deliberate attempt to divert government funds for personal use.
“The Director-General is required to justify the payment for service not rendered, failing which the sum of N741,904,761.28 should be recovered from the legal firm and paid into the CRF, forwarding evidence of payment to the Public Account Committees of the National Assembly and to the Office of Auditor-General for the Federation for verification. Sanctions stated in FR 3104 should apply. He is also required to provide details of the transaction(s) leading to the loss of 9.3 Billion US Dollars for thorough scrutiny.”
No fewer than N1.9 million passports have been issued to Nigerians between January 2021 and June 2022, federal government disclosed.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said a total of 1.3 million were issued in 2021 with no fewer 650,000 booklets have been collected by Nigerians as of June 2022.
Aregbesola who spoke at the commissioning of the Enhanced Passport Production Centre in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday stated that there is no longer shortage of booklets in the country.
In a statement by his Media Adviser Sola Fasure, Aregbesola said enough booklets had been distributed across the various centres nationwide.
The statement partly read, “We have left no stone unturned in our quest to make passports available to Nigerians. Last year alone, we provided 1.3 million passports to Nigerians. As of today, there is no booklet shortage in Nigeria.
“As of the second quarter of this year (in June), the NIS has provided 645,000 passports out of the 750,000 applications received. To address the challenge of the backlog, we have sent 11,000 booklets to Ikoyi, 11,000 to Alausa and 8,000 to FESTAC centres in Lagos.
“We have also sent sufficient booklets to all the centres nationwide to address this challenge. There is, therefore, no excuse again for delay and non-issuance within a reasonable period,” Minister told the cheering public.
A 65-year-old kidnap ring leader, Ibrahim Mohammed has been arrested along with 37 other suspected criminals in Adamawa State.
Mohammed and members of his group have reportedly carried out several abductions for ransom, including the kidnap of a nine-year-old girl from Wuro-Dole in the Girei Local Government Area of the state.
Firearms, including AK-47 rifles and locally fabricated pistols, were recovered from the hoodlums, according to a police report.
Mohammed told journalists on Tuesday that he was the leader of the kidnap gang.
The state police command on Tuesday paraded the terrorists alongside a 55-year-old jealous housewife, Hajara Sini, who allegedly murdered a woman for dating her husband.
While parading the suspects, the state police commissioner, CP Sikiru Akande, said, “They were apprehended in connection with kidnapping activities, arm robbery, rape, culpable homicide among others.
“The suspects were apprehended in Fufore, Yola North and Girei Local Government Areas in the state.”
Former President of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Jonathan Asake, has been declared as winner of the Just concluded Labour Party gubernatorial primary election in Kaduna State.
Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu has claimed that the Ebira Indigenes in the state are now involved in Kidnaping .
Akeredolu therefore called on leaders of the Ebira community in the state to warn their young ones not to copy the bad venture of kidnapping.
According to him, recent reports from victims of kidnap in the state have established that some Ebira indigenes are now involved in the unwholesome act.
He noted that the Ebiras have lived together with the people of the state peacefully for several decades, adding that they have always been supportive and hardworking.
He said, “I want to use this medium to urge our brothers to concentrate on their farming trade. It will be unfortunate to know that the Ebiras in our midst are now involved in kidnapping.
“We are appealing to them not to copy bad things. The traders selling by the roadside should not become informants. We are not fighting them.
“We have seen their numbers, they supported and voted for us during elections. I will call their leaders and talk to them. Our brothers who were kidnapped on their way to Ikare, talk to them. They were taken to Ebira farmsteads.
“For me, we have lived together for too long for this to happen. I am ready to make any effort to ensure that the conviviality that we have enjoyed continues. But we are begging their leaders to urge them not to copy bad things. They are in our midst, we are surrounded by them. The issue of security is key and it’s dynamic.”
Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, former Governor of Ondo State
Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has confirmed the arrest of five suspected attackers of St Francis Catholic Church in the Owo area of the state.
The governor’s confirmation comes after the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor made the announcement in Abuja.
On June 5, unknown gunmen stormed the church during mass, opened fire on the parishioners, killing forty of them. Two months after the massacre, Governor Akeredolu disclosed that the owner of the house where the attackers stayed before the June 5 attack in Owo has also been arrested.
A statement from Richard Olatunde, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, says the governor made the disclosure during a courtesy visit to his office by the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by the Chairman of the Council, Prince Leke Adegbite.
“Now that the military has announced it, I can tell you that five of them have been arrested now. They are still on the trail of the rest. The home where they lodged in Owo and the person that accommodated them before the attack, has also been arrested,” he was quoted as saying.
” We did not spare a moment. I am happy that the Chief of Defence Staff has announced it. We have known for a while but we needed not to come out with it because more works are still ongoing. I can confirm that this arrest has been made. And they are still on the trail of some of them.” the statement in part read
Borno State Police Command has arrested a suspected child trafficker who abducted two Almajiri children and a two-year-old girl with the intention to sell them.
The suspect identified as Nsa Heneswa, was arrested at the Borno Express Motor Park on August 4, 2022 while escaping with the 3 children, all of them below 7 years.
Speaking to NAN, the state Commisioner of Police(CP), Abdu Umar, said the suspect arrived Maiduguri on Wednesday August 3, and went straight to Monday market where she saw some vulnerable children popularly known as “Almajiri” begging on the road.
The suspects called one of the children and offered him N200. She then asked him to come with her to buy him some cloths. After that, she asked him to follow her to the motor park where she asked him to wait for her.
She then went back to the town in search for another victim. When she arrived at Yan’ Nono at the Bulumkutu, she pretended to be a customer and stole another child belonging to one Amina Ayuba, a local fresh milk seller and sneaked away.
When she arrived the motor park, she requested for a vehicle that was going to Lagos but members of the union told her it was already late.
She then begged for a place to stay till the next day. Again, she went out and picked the third child, making three of them.
However, she ran out of luck after a commercial driver operating on the Abuja line at the motor park, became suspicious of the way the suspect was behaving and alerted the security and surveillance team at the motor park.
The security team arrested the woman and handed her over to the police for Investigation.
According to the CP, the woman confessed to have handpicked the children and was planing to take them to Lagos.
Umar said that the suspect alongside her accomplices have been in the business of buying and selling of children for sometime before the long hand of the law caught up with her.
The Commisioner added that the investigation is still ongoing.
Speaking to NAN in police custody, the suspect said that she was paid N500,000 for the mission.
When asked what she was going to with the children, Heneswa said that she was taking them to “Lady B” in Victoria Island Lagos, who promised to balanced her the remaining payment on delivery of the children.
“Honestly, this is the first time I am doing this. I have never done this before. A woman in Lagos introduced me to this. I also have a nurse who was assisting me in the Maiduguri Specialist Hospital, ”she said.
Former Chairman of the Governing Council of Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, Dr. Saadu Alanamu, has expressed his gratitude to the President Muhammadu Buhari granting him presidential pardon.
Alanamu, who was jailed for corruption breathed the air of freedom on Monday when he was released from the Federal Correctional Centre, where he was serving his term.
Alanamu, who was granted presidential pardon along with 159 others in April, 2022, by the National Council of State, thanked Buhari and the committee in charge of the programme for finding him worthy of mercy.
Speaking with newsmen in Ilorin, he said, “I need to thank Buhari for exercising his prerogative of mercy and also by extension, the presidential committee for finding me worthy of mercy.”
Alanamu also thanked his family members for their support and solidarity during his trying times as well as the Islamic clerics for supporting him with prayers over the years, which had culminated in his eventual release.
He also expressed his gratitude to the people of Ilorin Emirate, especially the Emir, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari.
Alanamu, who was pardoned on the ground of ill health and being beneficial to the society, said that he held no grudge against anyone as he had learnt a great lesson from his ordeal.
“I have learnt greatly from this phase of my life. I’m just grateful to God and I want to say that I hold no grudge against anyone and I’m at peace with myself,” he said.
House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the petroleum products subsidy regime from 2013 to 2022, on Tuesday resolved to summon the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to appear before it on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, for questioning.
Ahmed is to appear before the committee with all the documents demanded by the lawmakers relating to subsidy claims and payments in the period under review.
The Chairman of the committee, Ibrahim Aliyu, issued the summons at the continued investigative hearing of the panel in Abuja.
Members of the committee had faulted the appearance of the ministry’s Director of Home Finance, Stephen Okon, without a letter from Ahmed authorising him to represent her.
Aliyu decried the non-appearance of several invited agencies, calling out the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shell Petroleum Development Company, among others.
After Okon was eventually allowed to speak, the director said he only appeared before the lawmakers to seek more time for the ministry to collate and present the required documents.
The committee consequently gave the committee one week to do so.
The chairman said, “This committee requested from you to: know the total amount released from the Consolidated Revenue Account as subsidy payments from January 2013 to date; the total amount released from other accounts other than the Consolidated Revenue Account to subsidy payments from January 2013 to date; breakdown of beneficiaries; companies that enjoyed releases from the Consolidated Revenue Account and other revenue accounts as subsidy payments;
“Identify each beneficiary with the amount sent to them, month by month, covering the period from January 2013 to date; all correspondences between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria regarding subsidy payments from January 2013 to date; evidence of lodgment of forex into Consolidated Revenue Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation now (Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited) as revenue from January 2013 to date.
“Outstanding deposits expected from the NNPC to the consolidated revenue account indicating periods, years and dates; statement of account of all bank documents; evidence of NNPC and its affiliates; subsidiaries transfer of funds to the Treasury Single Account in line with the directives of the President and Commander-in-Chief; statement of accounts operated by the NNPC and subsidiaries under the TSA regime; list of commercial bank accounts operated by the NNPC and subsidiaries before the advent of the TSA; balance of forex yet to be transfer to the TSA by NNPC and its subsidiaries.”
Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai has declared Nigerians cannot afford a repeat of the 1967 civil war, which tore the fabrics of the nation.
He charged youths to distance themselves from fanning embers of violence and war.
The Governor spoke in Kaduna on Tuesday while addressing the closing ceremony of the orientation course organized for members of 2022 Batch B (Stream 2) NYSC corps members posted to Kaduna State.
El-Rufai, who was represented at the occasion by the Acting Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, said the civil war was a needless savagery that Nigeria cannot afford to repeat.
According to him: “The youths must remember that the NYSC came into being after the civil war that tore every fabric of the Nigerian state. The war was a needless savagery that we cannot afford to repeat.
“Nigerian youths must therefore distance themselves from fanning the embers of violence and war in Nigeria. As a country, we must avoid a repeat of that dark part of our history. And Nigerian youths must refuse to be ready tools for warmongers.
“My dear valuable corps members, I believe you have the capacity to defend what is good for our dear country and what shall build a united Nigeria and you shall not fail to do what is right for your dear country. After all, the major objective of establishing the NYSC is to promote Nigeria’s unity and enhance development.
“The national youth service is a reflection of the hope that we have placed on our young graduates as touch bearers of a greater Nigeria. You must proof to is that this is not a misplaced hope. We expect you to be innovative, industrious and consistently demonstrate acts of tolerance, open mindedness and perseverance in all that you do.”
Speaking on the role of the corps members in elections, Governor El-Rufai said, as representatives of the youths who are the majority in Nigeria, the corps members must shun corruption during the polls and be responsible citizens who would be said to have risen to the occasion when they were most needed.
According to him, “I am highly impressed that the youths constitute 71% of the 12 million fresh applicants for Permanent Voter’s Card in the just concluded Continuous Voter Registration exercise. We therefore expect more youths participation i the 2023 general elections and I hope this participation will be positive and constructive, as opposed to previous activities of disruption, violence and ballot box snatching and other illegal activities.
“The February 2023 general elections will be requiring services of the Corps members many of you will be engaged as Presiding Officers at the election. You must remember that, you shall be representing the youths during that assignment. Let it not be said of you that, the youths that manned the Poling Units for I NEC during the elections were not current or were corrupt and they assisted to mar the popular will of the electorate. You must therefore be responsible citizens who rose to the occasion when they were most needed,” he said.
While commending the NYSC management for giving the corps members entrepreneurship skills, El-Rufai reminded them that, there is no longer job in public and private sector.
The executive governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has said effective leadership is not about political party.
Wike said this at the inauguration of the dualised Ogbunuabali-Eastern Bypass Road that was performed by an All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain, Senator Aliyu Wamakko, on Tuesday.
The governor said it is wrong for people to think that leadership is a function of political party, when it is actually about the mindset of the individual.
“Leadership is not about party, leadership is about individual. Party is only a vehicle to actualise your ambition, to be able to tell your people I have this capacity, I have this quality to render services to you. If you take me away today from PDP to another party, I will still perform. So, it is not because I’m in PDP that I’m performing.
“It is because I have that passion for my people. It is because I have the commitment to serve my people. Take me to YPP, allow to become whatever I will become there, I will perform. Take me to any party, I will perform. So, it is not party that makes you to perform.”
Wike stated that his undying love, passion and commitment to render effective service to Rivers people have sufficiently differentiated him from other politicians.
That is why, he asserted, there is a sustained commitment to add value to life, impact change with the infrastructural revolution and make the state better.
Wike said while others had used the economic hardship as excuse not to render leadership and service to their people, he found a more rewarding way to sustain the delivery of projects in Rivers.
Inaugurating the Ogbunuabali -Eastern Bypass Road, former governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko said Wike has demonstrated that he has the capacity to serve Rivers people.
Senator Wamakko said any well meaning government should serve to satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of the governed. He noted that as a talk and do governor, Wike has done adequately well for his people.
Wike’s comment comes amid the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and moves to reconcile him with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the opposition party.
Wike had contested the presidential ticket of the party but lost to Atiku. He had reportedly shown interest in the Vice-Presidential slot but Ifeanyi Okowa, his Delta counterpart, was chosen.
The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu is set to embark on a ward to ward tour to engage his Abia North constituents in the five local government areas of his Senatorial zone.
The Abia-North Senator, disclosed this on Tuesday in a brief statement on his official social platforms.
Kalu revealed that the objective of the ward by ward tour is to relay an account of his legislative representation of the people of Abia North at the National Assembly since his election in 2019.
The former Abia State governor buttressed that the exercise will avail him the opportunity to have a direct feedback of his constituents on the impact of various infrastructures, skill empowerment, federal grants, educational and medical resources facilitated for his constituents.
Kalu who added that he would be accompanied with his team said that the exercise will also provide him the opportunity to know other challenges facing his constituents.
The Senator wrote, “Shall be embarking on a Mid-Term Constituency Report to give account of my stewardship for the third legislative year as the Senator representing Abia North senatorial zone (2019-date). My team and I will meet all the constituents in their respective wards to discuss issues of representation and what we have done for each ward in Abia North.”
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, the General Overseer of Christ Embassy has suspended his nephew, Daysman Oyakhilome Whoghiren, from all church activities over gross misconducts including his affiliation with the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Bola Tinubu.
Pastor Chris announced this decision during a communion service on Sunday, August 7, and stated that his nephew has been removed from his official role as the President of Loveworld Next and Loveworld Innovations.
In a viral video pastor Chris said, “The president of Loveworld Next and Loveworld Innovations, Daysman Oyakhilome Woghiren is hereby removed from being president of Loveworld Next and Loveworld Innovations and also suspended from all official roles for acts of gross misconduct. So, he no longer handles any of that.”
He added that Pastor Daysman will be put under ‘spiritual rehabilitation’ with immediate effect.
This comes after Daysman was appointed as the global youth ambassador for the Bola Tinubu support organization.
He is also being probed by men of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged fraudulent financial activities.
Meanwhile, some Christian youth communities have also called him out for accepting the political role despite being a role model to young Christians across the continent.
Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State attacked by heavily armed gunmen
The Defence Headquarters has informed of the arrest of the perpetrators of the attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which incidence took place on June 5, 2022.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, made the disclosure during a parley with media executives at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, on Tuesday.
General Irabor said the terrorists were arrested in collaboration with other security agencies.
It could be recalled that the terrorists attacked the Catholic Church during a Sunday Mass and opened fire on the worshippers, resulting in the death of scores of persons.
Additionally, the CDS said It was his intention to present the terrorists to the public, but because of the investigation still going on, he had to change my mind.
He said that in due course, the world will see them and others who are behind other daring attacks in the country.
A source said that Nigerians will be shocked when the Defence Headquarters unveils the terrorists behind the attack and sought public execution of the “monsters”.
On his part, the Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu this afternoon confirmed that five of the terrorists of Owo Church Attack have been arrested by the military.
He further disclosed that the owner of the home where the terrorists lodged in Owo before the attack has also been arrested.
Confirming the incident in a series of tweets on his Twitter handle, he said:
“I am happy to announce that we have confirmed the arrest of the attackers of St Francis Catholic Church, Owo.
“The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor has also announced it. We have known for a while but we needed not to come out with it because more works are still ongoing.
“Five of the attackers have been arrested, including the owner of the house in Owo where the attackers stayed before the June 5 attack, while the security operatives are still on the trail of some of them.
“We did not spare a moment in trailing the terrorists since the horrendous attacks on innocent worshippers.
“We will continue to give the necessary supports to our security agencies towards protecting the lives and property in the State.”
See the lead thread below:
I am happy to announce that we have confirmed the arrest of the attackers of St Francis Catholic Church, Owo. The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor has also announced it. We have known for a while but we needed not to come out with it because more works are still ongoing. pic.twitter.com/LWzQvG6DE2
— Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu (@RotimiAkeredolu) August 9, 2022
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The Akwa-Ibom State government has described the reported acquisition of Exxon Mobil assets by Mobil Seplat, as pure executive interference with the judicial process.
News Band yesterday reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has consented to the acquisition of Exxon Mobil shares in the United States of America by Seplat Energy Offshore Limited.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement said his principal consented in his capacity as Minister of Petroleum Resources, and in consonance with the country’s drive for Foreign Direct Investment in the energy sector.
Meanwhile, Uko Essien, the attorney general and commissioner for Justice of Akwa-Ibom State in a statement, has accused the federal government of interfering with the judicial process.
According to Uko, the proposed transaction is subject to restraining orders of injunction of the High Court of Akwa Ibom State, sitting in Uyo the state capital.
He also stressed that, both Exxonmobil, Seplat Energy, NNPC Ltd and the Federal Government have factual knowledge of the court orders, having been duly served with the orders.
Uko however, noted that any investor who acquires the assets of Exxon Mobil without factoring the said orders does so at their own risk.
The statement reads, “Our attention has been drawn to a publication by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), to the effect that President Muhammadu Buhari, in his capacity as Minister of Petroleum Resources has consented to the acquisition of shallow water assets of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited by Seplat Energy.
“This is to inform the general public that this proposed transaction is subject to restraining orders of injunction of the High Court of Akwa Ibom State, sitting in Uyo in Suits No. HEK/56/2018, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF AKWA IBOM STATE V. MOBIL PRODUCING NIGERIA UNLIMITED and HU/209/2020, MOBIL PRODUCING NIGERIA UNLIMITED V. GOVERNOR OF AKWA IBOM STATE & 3 OTHERS. Exxonmobil, Seplat Energy, NNPC Ltd and the Federal Government of Nigeria, all have actual knowledge of the court orders, having been duly served with the orders and/or various newspaper publications of same.
“This executive interference with the judicial process of a court of competent jurisdiction is sad and ill-advised, and is contemptuous of the High Court of Akwa Ibom State. The State urges the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to take the above facts into consideration as it considers its position in this matter.
“TAKE NOTICE THEREFORE that anyone who deals with the shares or assets of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited during the subsistence of the said orders and in the pendency of the above suits does so at their own risk. Let the buyer beware.”
National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Adamu, has described the recent move by the National Assembly to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari, as a very sorry development.
He stated this during an interview with Trust TV on Tuesday.
Minority lawmakers had during a press briefing held at the National Assembly before proceeding on a two-month annual recess, threatened to commence the process of impeachment at the expiration of six weeks’ ultimatum, if President Buhari failed to address the country’s security challenges.
Responding to the issue, the APC chairman said the move was a sorry development that is “no longer on track.”
He said, “Impeachment was a very sorry development that’s no longer on. With the National Assembly, we expect this hit. It happens everywhere, in every democracy. When you get on it, you keep hitting at it, hitting at it. Even those who initiated it are no longer on that track.”
Also responding on the lingering ASUU strike and what the ruling party is doing to ensure students resume to the classrooms, Adamu said while the party appreciated the concerns of parents and students, he hoped ASUU would “come to reality” and come forward for reconciliation.
“I do know and I appreciate the effort government is making, and it’s my hope that ASUU will come to reality with government. So that we can have a meeting point and bring solace to our children and the parents,” he said.
In May 2022, shortly after my story about Chinese loan sharks in West Africa went up, a number of new tips and leads started trickling in. It looked at first, as though a follow-up story would emerge, focusing on how some Nigerian banks still offer banking services to illegal loan sharks despite CBN regulations expressly forbidding this. Wema Bank – unsurprisingly – was the most regular offender in this category, lending its support to multiple illegal loan sharks up until as recently as the time stamps in the images below.
As I trawled through the leads and my own mounting pile of untold story ideas sitting on my Google Drive however, I started to realise something – there was a much greater issue at play here than a few banks bending KYC rules to bank some customers that ought not to be banked. These were borderline unbelievable stories – stories about aggressively fraudulent behaviour by Nigerian banks presented with evidence that was as devastating as it was undeniable.
What is more, these were not stories about a few “bad eggs” in the Nigerian banking sector. Pretty much all of Nigeria’s major banks were implicated, albeit to differing extents. In the interest of brevity, an editorial decision was made to tell the 4 most disturbing stories in no particular order.
There is a story about collusion with regulators to cheat customers and brazenly steal their property. There is a story about illegal, unauthorised account openings which potentially expose customers to an entire world of pain and liability. There is even a story about brazen collaboration with ponzi schemes and illegal investment programs.
Most alarmingly, there is a common denominator of regulatory weakness and complicity, if not outright collusion across all the stories, which culminates in a story about inflows from Qatar potentially financing terrorism in Nigeria for well over a decade. While working on this story, I reached out to no fewer than 6 financial institutions and regulators who were implicated in the maze of documents and testimony I went through.
As always, they had nothing to say.
WEMA, UBA And The Unwanted Accounts: Nigeria’s Wells Fargo Moment?
In 2016, a scandal broke out at Wells Fargo Bank, which at the time was the world’s largest bank. It emerged that over 3.5 million accounts had been secretly opened for customers without their knowledge and authorisation, in response to unrealistic in-house sales and marketing targets. Staff were incentivised to open as many accounts for their customers as possible, and the bank knowingly looked the other way when basic KYC protocols such as customer permission were breached.
Source: NPR
In response to the scandal, Wells Fargo fired over 5,000 employees and paid over $3 billion in penalties under a settlement announced by the US Justice Department in 2020. Given the amount of damaging publicity the scandal received, it became an opportunity for banks and banking regulators around the world to review and tighten their operating practices to avoid getting caught up in a similar mess. In Nigeria however, it was treated not as a cautionary tale, but as inspiration for a potentially even bigger brewing scandal.
From May, 2022, for example, hundreds of tweets like this began appearing:
Apparently, to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Wema Bank’s digital banking division ALAT, the bank had set a target for its sales team that could either be described as quite ambitious or entirely insane, depending on which side of the fence you stand on. The target, the bank said, was to open 1 million new accounts in one day. For reference, Nigeria had about 134 million bank accounts in 2021, which meant that Wema wished to increase this number by almost 1 percent in just 24 hours.
Even more incredibly, when the bank would later go on to announce that it actually somehow achieved this target, it somehow did not raise an eyebrow.
Apart from some excellent work by Olalekan Fakoyejo of Ripples Nigeria, the potential severity of the financial crime that had just been perpetrated on thousands – possibly hundreds of thousands – of Nigerians went completely unreported. In some instances, the bank openly admitted to some of these new “customers” who raised a challenge, that they had been illegally onboarded without their knowledge and consent “because someone with their information thought they will be a good fit.”
When this particular gentleman reached out to the bank via email to pursue the issue further, he got the following response.
Putting aide the disingenuousness of claiming that a customer has nothing to be worried out because an account fraudulently opened using his identity is allegedly not linked to his Bank Verification Number (BVN), this email also failed to deal with an equally pressing issue which he reiterated below.
In other words, there is a clandestine market for private information of Nigerians that Wema Bank apparently has access to. What is more, it is not just Wema Bank. Other banks have also been accused of unauthorised account openings, but perhaps it is the example of UBA that illustrates the sheer depth of criminality and fraudulent behaviour that increasingly characterises the relationship between Nigerian banks and their customers.
This particular story is taken from a case file at the Federal High Court in Lagos, where on May 6, 2022, Justice Akintayo Aluko became the first Nigerian judge to issue a ruling against a Nigerian bank for opening an account using a customer’s identity without their knowledge and authorisation. The full case file is available here.
According to the case file, the complainant, Mr. Chiebuka Nworah received a $450 payment in March 2021. Instead of his UBA domiciliary account which he had opened with the bank in 2020 however, this payment went to a new domiciliary account that the bank had opened for him without his knowledge or permission. Upon receiving an SMS alert from the bank informing him about his new account and the $450 credited into it, he visited UBA’s head office at Marina, Lagos, demanding an explanation.
The bank’s risible explanation was that it had opened the new account for him so as to comply with the CBN’s ‘Naira 4 Dollar’ scheme which authorised banks to set up domiciliary accounts for customers that did not have them. Seeing as he already had a domiciliary account, this was clearly a nonsensical reason, but the bank refused to refund the money into his existing account or close the fraudulent account, even after he wrote to them with these demands twice.
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Nworah decided to go to court, and then – coincidentally – UBA immediately sent his lawyer a letter claiming that the new account had been opened due to a “system glitch” and that the $450 had been refunded to his existing account. No bank statement or proof was provided to corroborate the alleged refund.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Aluko said:
“The content of the letter of the Respondent’s counsel dated 16/11/2021 is a further confirmation establishing the bank’s violation of the applicant’s right to privacy provided in Section 37 of the constitution. I agree with the Applicant that he is entitled to compensation in terms of damages for the Respondent’s wrongful, unjustified, unlawful and unwarranted breach and infraction of his constitutional right to privacy.”
Nworah was awarded N2,500,000 in damages against UBA, which was ordered to pay a further N100,000 in costs.
For Nworah, the story at least had a happy ending. The customer in the next story had no such luck.
Polaris Bank And The Customer Who Can’t Get An Account Statement
In 2008, Yorkshire Limited, a private company in Lagos took out a loan from Polaris Bank, which was then known as Skye Bank. The initial loan amount remains shrouded in secrecy as I was not able to get hold of the initial loan agreement. All that is known for sure is that it was a 10-figure amount, and all was going well until December 2013 when Skye Bank sent the company a confirmation of its loan balance stating that it was N4,159,319,763.53.
A few hours later on the same day, another confirmation of loan balance came in from Skye Bank with a completely different figure on it. This time, the stated loan balance left to be repaid was N5,262,074,147.09. No explanation was offered for why there was a N1.1 billion disparity.
Alarmed by the unprecedented phenomenon of a bank getting its customer’s account balance wrong by over N1.1 billion, the company requested a statement of account from Skye Bank, and this is where the “fun” started. Skye Bank did not provide the statement or give any reason why. Between 2013 and 2017, the company made several attempts to obtain a statement of account from Skye Bank – something that should normally be provided instantly after a single request.
Still, no statement was forthcoming from the bank. In October 2017, the company wrote officially to Skye Bank asking for its statement of account. Once again, Skye Bank ignored the request and offered no explanation.
Finally in December 2017, the company went through the legal route, writing the bank through its legal consultants, Wiseview Legal Consultancy to demand for its statement of accounts. Once again, there was radio silence from Skye Bank. Finally Yorkshire Limited went to court, obtaining a ruling from the Federal High Court in Lagos on April 17, 2018 ordering Skye Bank to provide the requested statement of account immediately.
Still Skye Bank refused to produce the requested statement, despite this clearly being a violation of a court order. On April 19, 2 days after the court judgment, the company’s lawyers once again wrote to Skye Bank demanding that the bank comply with the court order and provide a statement of account for Yorkshire Limited. Yet again, Skye Bank responded with – nothing. No statement. No explanation. No conversation. Nothing.
On April 26, 2018, company lawyers once again wrote to Skye Bank demanding for the account statement as ordered by the court. Once again, no prizes for guessing Skye Bank’s response.
Yorkshire Limited also wrote to the CBN without getting any significant response. Out of options, the company decided to go to court a second time to get the prior ruling enforced. Instituted at the Federal High Court in Lagos on April 15, 2019, the suit sought to compel the bank (now Polaris Bank following a CBN takeover) to comply with the prior court order and produce the statement of accounts which it had been hiding since 2013.
At this time, following Skye Bank’s transformation into Polaris Bank, the Asset Management Corporation Of Nigeria (AMCON) had taken over the bank’s liabilities and assets, including its loan portfolio. Somewhere on this loan portfolio was Yorkshire Limited’s mystery loan without an account statement. In January 2019, AMCON wrote to Yorkshire informing the company that it now owned the loan. No loan balance was stated in the letter.
With Yorkshire’s case in the Federal High Court pending and heading toward another loss for Polaris Bank, a bit of “magic” suddenly took place. First in March 2020, AMCON and Polaris Bank instituted a joint motion to dispute the jurisdiction of the Court to hear the case. This infamous “technical justice” tactic is one that typically characterises Nigerian court cases and keeps cases going indefinitely.
This objection was apparently based on an amendment to the AMCON Act. The ruling by Justice T.G. Ringim which can be found here, makes for interesting reading. In the ruling, Justice Ringim ultimately agreed with the objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction, but he also confirmed that neither Polaris Bank nor AMCON had in fact, been able to substantiate their claim of Yorkshire’s indebtedness by providing any documentation to confirm the debt and its amount.
Justice Ringim did appear to contradict himself in the same ruling. According to him, AMCON’s purchase of Yorkshire’s mystery loan with Skye/Polaris Bank in 2018, as stated by AMCON was also enough fact to suggest that Yorkshire is indeed indebted to Polaris Bank – even though nobody knows how much, including apparently AMCON and Polaris Bank itself.
Yorkshire subsequently filed an appeal against the ruling, and the case remains in court. Why exactly was it so important to AMCON and Polaris Bank that Yorkshire Limited must not have access to its statement of account to find out exactly how much – if anything – it owed? What happened next provides a clue.
With the case still in court, AMCON suddenly began making rapid moves to sell 5 properties in Ikoyi, Lagos, which were used as collateral for the initial loan. Bear in mind that the very loan balance in question had remained shrouded in secrecy since 2013. Somehow, despite not knowing how much the loan balance was, AMCON knew how much was needed from the sale of 5 high-value properties to liquidate it.
This forced the company to immediately take out a “Caveat Emptor” advertorial in The Guardian newspaper of Monday, June 13, 2022, warning any prospective buyers that the properties are subject to an ongoing legal process.
So here we have a poorly run bank that offered multiple balance figures on the same account with a variance of N1.1 billion in 2013, and then spent the subsequent 9 years refusing to issue a statement of account so that the customer might confirm how much they actually owed. Having been dragged to court twice to issue the statement of account, the bank and AMCON – a government body – then teamed up to sabotage a legal process aimed at getting the bank to issue the customer a statement of account. AMCON then went into ‘omonile’ mode, trying to sell expensive properties used as collateral by the borrower with the case still in court.
The final icing on the cake? On August 2, 2022, Peoples Gazette reported that the CBN had received presidential permission to sell Polaris Bank to Auwal Gombe, a relative of former military dictator Ibrahim Babangida for a knockdown price of N40 billion, following AMCON’s N1.2 trillion rescue of the lender in 2018.
Has Yorkshire Limited been the victim of a long-standing play to help politically linked businessmen to gobble up valuable assets (such as Banana Island property) on the cheap by using a bank to basically steal them from their owners?
Only the courts will decide that now.
Hopefully.
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Access Bank And The MBA Forex Inside Story
These days, Maxwell Chizi Odum is known as the criminal mastermind behind one of the biggest ponzi schemes ever conceived in Africa. He has been declared wanted by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and his whereabouts have been unknown since 2021. Once a respected pastor and mentor, henow lives as a fugitive, albeit a rich one, possibly with a second passport and a new identity.
Things used to be very different for ‘Brother Maxwell.’ Following a fairly nondescript corporate career in the oil servicing industry, he came to prominence as a widely liked and admired pastor at the popular Believers’ Loveworld (Christ Embassy) church in Port Harcourt. It was here that he would lay the groundwork for what would become a N213bn heist.
As in so often the case in Nigeria, not many people bothered to ask how a Pentecostal pastor with no significant background in finance or investment supposedly figured out an investment secret guaranteed to make them fabulously wealthy. All they saw was that other people paid money into this thing known on the street as MBA Forex, and they came out with amazing double digit returns via an investment system that was far too complicated for anyone to really understand, even if they wanted to.
Something, something…trading strategy, something…binary forex options, something, something…cryptocurrency volatility. And then something about a matrix-based trading system, which you know, absolutely, definitely, positively was not a ponzi scheme like MMM.
Naturally, it was of course, a ponzi scheme, pretty much exactly like MMM.
Under Nigerian law, the act of soliciting for and receiving monetary deposits from the public constitutes an act of carrying on banking business which requires a banking licence from the CBN. Further, the commercial offer of any investments that promise fixed interest amounts when funds are invested for fixed periods of time is a strictly regulated activity that falls squarely under the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
MBA Forex was doing both of these regulated activities despite having no kind of regulatory approval or permission whatsoever. In fact, beyond registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) – which pretty much anything with a pulse and a valid ID can do without any kind of regulatory spotlight – MBA Forex was an entirely illegal operation.
The difference between MBA Forex and MMM was that while MMM tried to obfuscate its centralised nature by using individual bank accounts, MBA Forex openly accepted funds into the corporate accounts it was somehow able to open at Access Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, First Bank, GT Bank, Sterling Bank, Sun Trust Bank, UBA, Unity Bank, Union Bank and Zenith Bank – despite having exactly zero CBN and SEC authorisation. This is where the story gets interesting.
Enter a company called World Citizen Equity Partners Limited. This company, purportedly a British company that organises citizenship-by-investment for wealthy people, registered in Nigeria on March 21, 2018, a few days after MBA Forex registered on March 14, 2018. WCEP would later claim that it had nothing to do with MBA Forex prior to December 2020, but the screenshot below contradicts this. Keep this in mind because it becomes important later.
In August 2020, Maxwell Odum transferred 100 million of his shares in MBA Forex to WCEP, in a transaction that saw some familiar names take up investment positions in the ponzi scheme.
The two gentlemen mentioned in the documents above are a former House of Representatives member and a former Nigerian Ambassador to the European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) respectively. Exactly why Hon. Ahmed Aliyu Wadada and Ambassador Usman Baraya decided to buy shares in a ponzi scheme remains unclear.
In December 2020, MBA Forex met the inevitable fate of all ponzi schemes, and thousands of Nigerians were thrown into mourning as their dreams of making it rich went up in smoke. Over the next few weeks and months, court orders and regulatory actions began rolling in to freeze accounts and potentially reimburse investors. Access Bank, which had hosted the majority of funds harvested by MBA Forex and Maxwell Odum, was front and centre of the investigation.
The bank however, decided to conceal the true role it played in aiding and abetting the ponzi scheme. In a sworn statement provided through its lawyer, the bank claimed that it had closed all the offending accounts as soon as it was told to, and that in any case, the main MBA Forex account had just a little over N200,000 left inside it. In an effort to hide the central role it played in enabling Maxwell Odum to get away with the scam, Access Bank also lied under oath, stating that World Citizen Equity Partners (Respondent 10) never had an account with the bank.
An affidavit sworn by Dickson Ukaha, a former Access Bank customer relationship manager in Port Harcourt directly contradicted this account of events. In his sworn statement, Ukaha stated that not only did WCEP maintain an account with Access Bank, but several transfers worth hundreds of million of naira – the sort that normally raise every AML red flag in the bank – were made from the MBA Forex account to the WCEP account months before the purported sale by Maxwell Odum.
So here we have a bank that knowingly enabled an illegal investment scheme without CBN or SEC licenses to fleece customers of billions of naira, and then lied under oath afterward to cover up the extent of its involvement in the MBA Forex fiasco. My source informed me that not only did Access Bank lie about not maintaining a WCEP account, but the account is very much active. Just to be sure, I asked for the account details and did a little test transaction to see if it would check out. And sure enough…
Terror Financing And A Shadowy Charity From Qatar
“Abd Al-Rahman al-Nu’aym or Abderrahman Al Nuaimi is a Qatari human rights advocate and co-founder of the Alkarama human rights NGO. He previously taught Islamic Studies at Qatar University, and once served as President of the Qatar Football Association, as well as having been a board member of Qatar Islamic Bank.”
Or that’s what it says on the first 2 lines of his Wikipedia page anyway.
The next line continues, “He has been accused of being “one of the world’s most prolific terrorist financiers.”
Abd al-Rahman bin ‘Umayr al-Nu’aymi | Source: The Reference
“Accused” is one way to put it.
A 2016 sanctions summary issued by the UN Security Council provides more context about exactly what this guy is about.
“In 2013, ‘Abd al-Rahman bin ‘Umayr al-Nu’aymi ordered the transfer of nearly $600,000 to Al-Qaida (QDe.004) via an Al-Qaida representative in Syria, Abu-Khalid al Suri (deceased), and intended to transfer nearly $50,000 more. Al-Nu’aymi has facilitated significant financial support to Al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) (QDe.115), and served as an interlocutor between AQI leaders and Qatar-based donors. Al-Nu’aymi reportedly oversaw the transfer of over $2 million per month to AQI for a period of time. In mid-2012, Al-Nu’aymi provided approximately $250.000 for distribution to Harakaat al-Shabaab al-Mujahidiin leaders Hassan Dahir Aweys and Mukhtar Robow, and intended to provide additional funding.”
Al Nuaimi has been designated a Global Terrorist by the US Treasury Department for extensively funding Al-Qaida activities in Syria, Iraq, and he is also linked to terror financing as far afield as Egypt and Somalia.
He is on a global sanctions list reserved for the most dangerous global terrorists, subjecting him to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
He has even been banned from doing business in the UK or having dealings with any bank with a UK office. You know someone is bad news when even the City of London, which has financial dealings with Russian oligarchs and African kleptocrats, is prohibited from touching that person.
As much as he sounds like bad news, he also seems far away from a West African audience reading this story. That is, until one realises that West Africa is squarely in his sights as well. Al Nuaimi apparently does not content himself with financing terror in the Arab world or the extremities of Africa. His fingerprints, it turns out, are all over Nigeria as well. Here’s how we know.
In early 2022, the Middle East Forum, a US think tank based in Philadelphia got hold of several gigabytes of secret data taken from a prominent Qatari charity. This data showed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of financial outflows to shadowy organisations linked to Wahabbi Islam around the world over a period of up to 2 decades. More on that later, but first a brief explainer about the charity in question.
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The charity is called the ‘Sheikh Eid Bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association,’ or alternatively, just ‘Eid Charity.’ Its founder is none other than Abderrahman Al Nuaimi, and the organisation itself is member of the ‘Union of Good,’ an Islamic charity coalition which was designated a terror financier by the US Treasury Department in 2008.
Its links to terrorism do not end there. In a 2017 paper by Kyle Shideler, Sarah Froehlke and Susan Fischer for the Center For Security Policy, Eid Charity’s managing director Ali bin Abdullah al-Suwaidi, is named as one of 59 individuals designated as terror financiers by the Arab coalition. The same paper names Hashim al-Awadhy, an Eid Charity official, as an individual currently designated a terrorist by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain.
The paper continues:
Beginning in 2010, Eid Charity worked with and funded Abd al-Wahhab al-Humayqani and his charity organization in Yemen. In 2013, the United States Department of Treasury labeled Humayqani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) citing that his charity organization was being used as a channel for al-Qaeda.
Now that we have established that Eid Charity and its founder are heavily linked to terrorism, let’s come back to Nigeria. In February 2022, the Middle East Forum reached out to me with the leaked data, in case I was interested in taking a look at Eid Charity’s activities in Africa. The translated Excel spreadsheet file alone contained over 2GB worth of data, showing over 45,800 transfers from Eid Charity to obscure organisations everywhere from Mauritania to Indonesia, Pakistan, Kenya, Ghana and Niger.
And of course, Nigeria.
Over $12m to be exact, spread out across 2,620 transfers between 2007 and 2019. Below is an overview of the global donation data arranged in descending order of total donation size.
The main data file showing the entire global donation footprint of Eid Charity is available here, but if you’re reading this on a phone, I really wouldn’t recommend opening it. It will probably crash your device, such is its sheer size. I extracted the dataset for Nigeria and uploaded it as a more readable PDF here. Feel free to zoom in for enhanced readability.
The data bears unmistakable fingerprints of tactics used by terror financiers, money launderers and other entities with an interest in concealing or obfuscating the true purpose of a money transfer. For example, thousands of transfers to different organisations in different countries on different continents have near-identical descriptions such as “Buying a milking goat for a needy family,” “Building a mosque,” “Buying a sewing machine,” “Drilling a well,” and “Prize money for Qur’anic recital.”
The phrase “Buying a milking goat” appears with minor variations 664 times across multiple donations to different groups in different geographical areas and cultures – including places where goat milk is hardly a dietary staple.
The connection to Nigerian banking raises its head when the identity of the 2 Nigerian beneficiary organisations is examined – Al-Furqan Charitable Foundation and a certain “Grass Albar Foundation.” The former appears to be twinned to a Pakistani organisation with the same name, which also appears multiple times across the 45,000+ transaction records. The Pakistani organisation by the way, has been designated a terrorist entity for supporting Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
No such evidence seems to exist against its Nigerian twin however. Its only electronic footprint – an abandoned Facebook page – appears benign, unless you count this little rendezvous with our old friends from Cornflakes For Jihad, Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah also known as the Izala Society
The second beneficiary however, is where all the KYC, AML and CFT alarm bells go off. First of all, “Grass Albar Foundation” appears to be completely nonexistent. For months I have searched through every database that exists in Nigeria and even enlisted help from friends in DC and London, in case some mention of this mysterious charity pops up. There has been not a single hit. This organisation, which the data shows, received just under $12m from a known Qatari terrorism financier between 2007 and 2019, apparently has no record of existence in Nigeria.
This raises a plethora of questions. Since these were all electronic transactions with a paper trail, where did the money go? How was an organisation without CAC (or any other) registration apparently able to open a corporate domiciliary account and receive money from Qatar for at least 12 years? Which banks enabled this? How much of this money possibly ended up in the hands of terrorists across Nigeria? How many more such clandestine funding arrangements still exist within Nigeria’s fraud-ridden banking system?
I reached out to the CBN, EFCC and NFIU for clarification on these questions.
As always, they had nothing to say.
They never have anything to say.
PS: This report, originally titled “Fraud, ponzi schemes and terror financing: A story about banking in Nigeria“, was first published by Substack.
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