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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has deployed a uniquely developed software analytical tool called SCUML 360° to improve the services of the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML.

This is in an effort to improve the efficiency of SCUML’s processes as recommended by the International Cooperation and Review Group, ICRG, of the Financial Action Task Force, FATF.

Dr. Maher Abu Ghali, Chief Executive of Intellisys Consulting and Solutions, on Friday, during an in-house training of the EFCC officers at the SCUML office in Wuse 2, Abuja, explained how the software works.

He said: “SCUML 360° has the ability to process 20 million transactions per day on a single server which will greatly enhance the efficiency of SCUML.”

He noted that the software also comes with an Artificial Intelligence, AI, feature which will help to analyse the data received by SCUML.

“One of the many benefits of the new tool is that it has a messaging module where SCUML can communicate directly with Designated Non-financial Businesses and Professions, DNFBPs via the messaging board.


“With this, DNFBPs will have their questions answered without having to call or come to SCUML’s offices,” he said.

He also pointed out that with DNFBP, people will be able to print their certificates by themselves from the comfort of their offices once they receive it in their email.

The new certificates will come with a QR code as a security feature and will have a digital signature on it, he added.

Director SCUML, CE Daniel Isei, appreciated the work which Intellisys Consulting and Solutions had done.

He expressed confidence that, with this new software, SCUML is better positioned to fulfil its mandate while meeting the demand of its customers in a timely and efficient manner.

SENATOR Ned Munir Nwoko, PDP, Delta North has described the death of his close friend and business partner, Hermish Harding as sad, unfortunate, shocking and devastating.

Senator Nwoko who took to his official Instagram account to mourn the passing of Harding expressed his grief over the loss.

Harding tragically died during a submarine expedition to visit the ruins of the Titanic ship. In 2020, Senator Nwoko and Harding embarked on an expedition to Antarctica together.

Nwoko shared, “I have lost a very dear friend and business partner. Captain Hermish Harding. We both went on a very dangerous expedition to the Southpole Antarctica few years back. He was a gulf stream pilot who flew across the world in a record-breaking expedition by Guinness World Record for circumnavigation of the earth some years ago.

“He descended into the Mariana. He also invited me on his space shuttle last year and this very Titan ill-fated adventure but I was tied down with national duties. Above all, he was a partner on the various research into eradication of malaria in Africa project. He was very enthusiastic about it and always gave his support at every given opportunity.

“His last message to me was this last Sunday when he told me they were ready to dive to the Titanic if the weather permits. He loved adventure and challenges. My heart bleeds for his dear wife and kids who have become family friends over the years. We will surely miss his wealth of experience.”

It has been reported that Senator Nwoko’s recent inauguration as one of the Senators of the 10th National Assembly prevented him from joining Harding on the ill-fated Titanic expedition, which ended tragically, shocking the world.

Harding, along with four others, lost their lives in the submarine. The casualties included OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son Suleman.

The United States Coast Guard declared them dead after days of searching, as the small vessel transporting them to the 111-year-old Titanic wreckage site suffered a catastrophic implosion.

The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA SPIDEL) held its National Conference from 20-23 June 2023. The Three-Day Conference which took place at the Citadel Event Center Oregon-Ikeja, Lagos had in attendance private legal practitioners as well as participants from the civil society and the various arms of the government - the Executive, the Legislature and Judiciary. The conference was well attended. The content of the conference was very rich and it provided opportunity to explore critical issues relating to the theme of the conference. The speakers at the conference and participants had robust discussions and made the following observations and recommendations on issues of elections and administration of justice in Nigeria.

OBSERVATIONS/ RECOMMENDATIONS

Participants at the conference: Agreed that in the aftermath of the 2023 elections, there is a huge task of sustaining the trust and confidence of the general public in the judiciary and this can be achieved by ensuring that justice is served in the process of resolving electoral grievances currently before election tribunals.

Affirmed the huge grave responsibility bestowed upon the judiciary is to interpret the law and the expectations of the good people of Nigeria that the judiciary will deliver on this

responsibility with diligence, maintaining the integrity of the judiciary whilst ensuring that the will of the majority is not substituted with the will of the minority.

Agreed that the Bench and the Bar are both made up of lawyers, an indictment of the Bench affects the Bar as such all lawyers both in the Bench and the Bar should collectively

work assiduously to ensure the protection of the integrity of the legal profession.

Stated that the Bench and the Bar do not work for themselves. As ministers in the temple of Justice All Lawyers should work in the interest of justice and their role must serve the

interest of justice.

Emphasized the importance of the Bar to the sustenance of rule of law and democracy. Bemoaned the activities of some Politicians while calling on them to desist from over burdening of the judiciary with post-electoral disputes and increasingly making the judiciary the determinant of election results.

Called for better effective utilization by the judiciary of the opportunities of training received from National Judicial Institute over the years to address whatever capacity needs required to deliver on the very important National assignment of resolving electoral disputes.

Acknowledged that justice at all times should be dispensed in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Encouraged the Judiciary to showcase itself as thoroughly independent and courageous in dispensing electoral justice without fear or favor especially now that Nigerians are looking

up to the courts for the correction of whatever May have gone wrong in the 2023 elections.

Emphasized the urgent need for all stakeholders in the Justice system to provide support to NBA and SPIDEL in their efforts to provide public interest services.

Reiterated the importance of the autonomy and independence of The Judiciary in its true sense and this must include especially financial independence and appointment based on

merit and not at whims and caprices of the executive.

Acknowledged some of the limitations already identified in the legal framework guiding elections in Nigeria, however, recommended that beyond addressing the legislative issues,

more work should be done around the attitude of the implementers of the laws, politicians and the general public. We should respect and not treat our laws with disdain and impunity.

Agreed that to move our democracy and its processes forward, Nigeria must revisit the UWAIS report and ensure implementation of the recommendations made for elections.

Lamented the incessant allegations of infractions in our Justice system and stated that when Justice is sold or available to be sold injustice prevails.

Called for the un-bundling of INEC given the many allegations that challenge its independence and non-partisanship.

Revisit the status of INEC and the process of its participation in electoral tribunals in Nigeria.

Condemned the attitude of Lawyers who are contributing more to the subversion of the electoral process and recommended accountability and sanctions of lawyers who

sabotage the electoral process.

Condemned the attitude of prioritizing election matters over every other matter in Nigerian courts to the detriment of ordinary Nigerians whose freedom may be at stake in

a criminal matter or those that may suffer irreparable loss in civil matters.

Communicated that the National Assembly lacks the vires to fix the salary of members of the senate and house of Representatives. Only the fiscal revenue Allocation Mobilization

Committee is empowered to carry out such duties.

Lamented the negative role poorly organized Political parties’ primaries play in igniting Nigerian electoral woes and recommended

better managed and monitored Party Primaries.

Lamented the corruption that exists within the administration of criminal Justice, bemoaned the negative effect on inmates and the perennial problem of congestion of

custodial center and called on lawyers to act as ministers in the temple of Justice and support the effective implementation of the innovative provisions of Nigerian criminal laws

such as Section 12 (4-12) of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and Administration of Criminal Justice Laws applicable in many

States are effectively implemented.

Made arguments for televising proceedings at the electoral tribunal in the interest of the public and as a human Rights Issues.

Integrity and Character of practitioners are critical to the survival of the legal profession as such ethics and values should for part of the training of lawyers.

It is important to address the issue of difficulty in enforcing Judgment against public institutions, especially for public interest litigation as this is contributing to public loss of

interest in judicial processes.

Searchlight should be beamed on the activities of support staff of judicial officers as some of them paint the judiciary in very bad light.

Emphasized the role technology can play in giving Nigeria a better electoral process and get need for capacity of stakeholders to be built around this.

The need to review and improve the method of appointment and the remuneration of judges in Nigeria.

Called for proper funding of Justice institutions in Nigeria.

Called on all stakeholders to join hands with NBA-SPIDEL in its continued efforts on promotion of public interest and development law in Nigeria.

Encouraged all support the effective implementation of all the recommendations stated above.

 

Dr Monday Onyekachi Ubani                                                                         

Chairman 

NBA-SPIDEL

 

Okey Leo Ohagba

Chairman, Conference Planning Committee (CPC)

NBA-SPIDEL 2023 Annual Conference

 

Plan by the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the All Progressives Congress, APC, has divided opinion in the state.

Those opposed to him have continued to talk tough explaining why he’s unfit to join let alone lead the APC in Rivers State.

While close associates who served in Wike’s administration have called for his defection to the APC, traditional members of the party are up against it.

Since the emergence of Bola Tinubu as president, Wike has been busy, and has met Tinubu four times already.

He has been rumoured as one of those to be chosen as a minister in the new government.

Tinubu was inaugurated on May 29. Before he was inaugurated, Wike hosted him when he was president-elect before visiting him on three different occasions.

He has also held several media parleys where he said he would be ready to join the Tinubu administration and pick up any appointment the president may offer him, noting “I’m not too big to serve my country.”

While APC members including those at the national level have said that’s a smart way to announce his readiness to join the APC and have voiced their opposition to it, Wike’s associates would have none of that.

Leading the call for Wike to dump the PDP is a chieftain of the APC and former Chief of Staff, Rivers State Government House, Tony Okocha who said Rivers APC was ready to receive Wike if he considers dumping the PDP.

Okocha was the Coordinator of the BAT-Vanguard, the disbanded Bola Ahmed Tinubu Vanguard in the South-South.

Okocha had said on Thursday that, “In the leadership of the Tinubu family in Rivers State, we are at peace 100 per cent with His Excellency, Barr Nyesom Wike, the immediate past Governor of Rivers State as our leader.

“He who pays the Piper dictates the tune. When it was difficult, even when the national body could not oblige us with funds for the national rally here, the magic was done by somebody.”

He demanded that, “Our demand is that nobody should rob Peter to pay Paul. Our own share of the booty given to us should be handed over to His Excellency Nyesom Wike.

“We are confident that as soon as it gets to him, he knows those who worked for Tinubu, and it will get to us.

“It is only natural, that is how it should go, ” he added.

Carpeting the PDP, Wike’s party, he argued that, “It does appear to us that the PDP does not know what they have in Wike. So we are asking and calling on Wike to come over to Macedonia and lead us.”

But another chieftain of the APC, Augustine Wokocha, on Friday faulted calls for Wike to take a prime position in Rivers APC.

Wokocha, who was a Commissioner for Power and served as the Coordinator of the disbanded Tinubu/Shettima Grassroot Independent Campaign Council in Rivers State rejected the call saying, “The victory of Bola Tinubu in the last election in Rivers State cannot be given to one individual.

“It is a combination of the over 200, 000 votes from Rivers who pended their thumb for the man who is our President today.

“I ran the campaign for the Tinubu election. I can’t remember anywhere, anytime when the immediate past governor of Rivers State canvass any support for the President

“I can’t remember any forum when he referred to the candidate of our party. He did not direct his people to vote for him, to my knowledge. So I don’t know what Okocha means by Wike immensely contributing to Tinubu’s Victory.

“So it is important we continue to appreciate Rivers people. And of course, people worked, those who did the canvassing to convince people that Tinubu was a better candidate also deserve our appreciation and gratitude.”

While stressing that Wike can join the APC if he wants as he’s not opposed to his defection, he added that, “Candidly speaking politics is the more the merrier. So Wike coming to the APC is a welcome development.

“What is an aberration is to say Wike should come and take over the party. This is the same party that its members were hounded like grass cutters by those supporting the man who is being invited to join the party today.

“It was the same Wike who said APC is cancer stage four and the PDP is malaria. But he is welcome if he has suddenly realised that our cancer is better than malaria he is suffering from.

”But it will be a major disservice to the people of Rivers State to say Wike should come and lead the APC in Rivers State. APC is not lacking leadership.

He pointed out that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and him remain the leader of the party, he added that, “Nobody should take credit that is not his own and take claims that are not theirs. We won’t allow such misleading not our people,” Wokocha stated.

A witness of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu identified himself as female while seeking admission in the Chicago State University, USA.

Mike Enahoro-Ebah, who was subpoenaed by the PDP to the Presidential Election Petitions Court, said Tinubu, in forwarding a transcript of the South West College in USA in 1977, used the name ‘Bola Adekunle Tinubu’ and identified himself as female.

The PDP also tendered certified copies of a notarised judgement of US court on the forfeiture of the sum of $460,000 and a copy of Guinean passport against Tinubu.

A five-member panel of justices presided by Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted them after taking the objections by counsel to the INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN); Tinubu, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) and the APC, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).


Under cross examination by counsel to INEC, the witness denied spending a lot of money to pursue the case against Tinubu, submitting that the lawyer partner in the US obtained the documents free of charge.

The witness also admitted that he was pained when his candidate lost the February 25 presidential election.

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has charged the Assets Recovery Committees to ensure recovery of all government property stolen under his predecessor.

Alia tasked the committee to recover all assets belonging to the state government but had been illegally taken away by the immediate past administration of Governor Samuel Ortom.


He gave the charge at Government House in Makurdi during official inauguration of the Chairman and members of the State and Local Government Assets Recovery Committees.


“It’s not to victimise or witch hunt anybody but it’s the right thing to do to account for all government assets,” he added.

The governor noted that the constitution of the committees became necessary considering the large number of cars that were hitherto seen with former government officials but are nowhere to be found.

Alia added that he received allegations of conversion, abuse, and outright stealing of government property and assets and, therefore, find it appropriate to set in motion the machinery to recover all that had been illegally taken away.

He listed the items to be recovered to include all government’s land, vehicles, houses, furniture and other machinery as well as to determine all unctions of government property and assets done between March 1 and May 29, 2023 by various government MDAs without due process.


Responding on behalf of the committees, the Chairman, Hinga Biem, promised pledged their service and support to the governor and the state.

Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has said Nigeria is not progressing because of the greed and selfishness of the majority of the country’s leaders.

Senator Ewhrudjakpo stated this on Friday during the Literary Swansong and Day of Tributes organized in honour of the late Paramount Ruler of Tombia Community, HRH Christian Atani Otobotekere, at the Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa.

He said despite the nation’s huge pool of material and human resources, the nation is still backward among the community of nations.

He lamented that selfishness had been the bane of progress in the country, stressing that every progressive nation has leaders who are not only patriotic but selfless.

Describing the departed foremost traditional ruler and educationist, popularly known as The Poet King, as a man of impregnable integrity, he urged the political class to emulate people like Chief Otobotekere to make positive impact in society.


He said the lifestyle of the late nonagenarian was devoid of greed and selfishness, which enabled him to lead the Tombia community for about 50 years and his native Ekpetiama Kingdom as the head of the clan for 14 years without recording any major intra or inter-communal crisis.

He said: “Selfish countries are less progressive. Nigeria is not progressing because of the greed and selfishness of most of her leaders over the years.

“The less selfish a country’s leaders are, the more progressive it becomes, and vice versa. Our father whom we have all come to honour today, clearly lived an impactful life.

“He was not greedy. He was not also selfish. And so, we really have to imbibe and follow the footsteps and positive legacies of people like him for us to be able to make good progress in this country.”

Senator Ewhrudjakpo also applauded the deceased for contributing immensely towards the intellectual development of Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta region in general through his outstanding literary works.

He equally commended Chief Otobotekere’s children for the elaborate celebration they put together for their father at his 97th birthday, adding that it is more worthy to celebrate a great man while he is alive than to do so when he had passed on.

Responding to some of the recommendations made by the reviewer of the 14 books written by the late Otobotekere, the Deputy Governor noted that the poet king deserved to be immortalized not just for a decade as recommended, but for as long as Bayelsa remains.


Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Dr Seiyifa Koroye, underscored Otobotekere’s contributions to literary development of society, with several anthologies comprising no fewer than 400 poems.

Dr Koroye, who described Otobotekere as a compassionate and true leader of men in all spheres of life, appealed to the Bayelsa State Government to institutionalize a biennial writers’ festival named after the literary icon to immortalize him.


In his 30-minute book review, Professor Kontein Trinya of the Ignatius Azuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, stressed that although Otobotekere’s creative writings had not been streamed in the global literary screen, his works were quite outstanding, especially in the genre of poetry.

The new Chief of Defence Staff, Maj.-Gen. Christopher Musa, on Friday threatened that troops of the Nigerian Military would go all out against the marauding bandits, terrorists and other adversaries disturbing the peace of the country.

Maj.-Gen. Musa, who disclosed this at Defence Headquarters, Abuja, when he officially took over from Gen. Lucky Irabor (rtd) said the determination of the military to secure the country should not be in doubt.

“As the CDS, my promise to Nigeria is that we’ll continue to improve on our mandate of sustaining peace and tranquility in our country. We assure every Nigerian to feel safe that the Armed Forces of Nigeria are up and doing, we are highly professional and we are going to be there for them.

“Nobody should doubt our determination to bring peace to Nigeria. Anybody, especially the criminals, bandits, terrorists, anyone who thinks otherwise should be ready to face the music.

“The Nigerian armed forces will come out in full force while safeguarding the safety and security of the citizenry. That I’ll assure you,” he said.

The Defence Chief pledged that he would not take the issues of welfare of the frontline troops and entire personnel for granted, saying such would enable the military get the best from them.

He said, “Issues of welfare have been addressed. But you know we cannot be 100 per cent (perfect). So, we’ll continue from where they stopped. We’ll ensure our troops, our men wherever they are, they will never be left alone.

“We will ensure we give them what they need, what they require and we’ll take care of the issue of administration which is paramount because a soldier that is well fed, well-taken care of will give you the best, so they should not doubt we are here and we are ready and we are willing to do that.”

Speaking earlier, the former CDS, Gen. Lucky Irabor, urged Musa to ensure the value and professional standards of the military is retained.

He said, “I am handing over to an officer who is tested and by all standard a model for the armed forces. I appreciate the president for finding Major General Musa very suitable to take over the reins of the armed forces.

“I ask that you redouble your efforts so that the cherished values and professional standard be maintained. Quite a lot has been achieved, looking at the mood of the armed forces that will help you and your team of service chiefs to ensure that the professional standard of the armed forces is retained.”

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has urged the Federal Government to prioritise slashing the cost of governance, noting that it will help save more money for the government to tackle other needs.

The TUC President, Festus Osifo, gave the advice while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday.

Osifo added that the money saved from the removal of fuel subsidy should be harnessed to take care of the most vulnerable Nigerians.

“The government has told us that they are going to save a massive amount of money when the subsidy is removed. So, part of this money should also go to taking care of Nigerians, especially the vulnerable,” he said.

Osifo urged the government to be proactive in exploring opportunities to generate more revenue for the nation.

“Crude oil is being sold in dollars (USD); when they were repatriating the money before now, the exchange rate was around N460 to a dollar. But today, it is going to be about N700, which means that there would be much more naira available to the government,” he said.

“More importantly is that, as a government, they must be creative. As a government, they must be innovative; they must put on their thinking cap and be able to grow the revenue of the country.”

He recalled that the present administration had in their campaign promised an increase in revenue generation and the growth of the country, adding that it was also their responsibility to think through and make it work.

The TUC leader expressed optimism that the labour union would not lose grip of their demands to the Federal Government, saying, “We know we cannot get 100 percent of the demands (in the) negotiation; we know our minimum set point.

“If the cost of governance is reduced, they would be able to save some money from that and if they do all these other things we have said, we believe that funds will be available.”

He added that the labour union and FG would continue the negotiations on June 26.

Nine associates of an embattled former Chairman of the Park Management System, Oyo state, Mukaila Lamidi a.k.a Auxillary have been remanded in prison for alleged conspiracy, armed robbery, attempted murder and unlawful possession of firearms.

The suspects are, Olaniyi Abiodun, Kamoru Yusuf, Odunayo Ismaika, Kolawole Joshua and Oladosun Kunle.

Others are, Fatai Abidemi, Oluwoke Akanbi, Sarafadeen Adewale and Tirimisiyu Odunayo.

They were arraigned on a 16 count charge at Ibadan Magistrate Court, Iyaganku on friday but pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The charges are, conspiracy, armed robbery, an attempted murder and unlawful possession of fire arms.

They were alleged alleged of attacking, maiming and dispossessing people of their valuables running into millions of naira in Ibadan

The charge sheets read in part, “That you, ( suspects) and others now at large on 29th May 2023 at about 14:00 pm at Governor Seyi Makinde”s residence, Ikolaba area, Ibadan in the Magistrate Court District did conspire together to commit felony to wit armed robbery and, thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 6 (B) of the robbery and firearms (Special Provision) Act Cap R 11 Vol 14 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004.”

The defence counsel, Barr J. D. Olaniyan argued that the Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case noting the charges levelled against his clients.

He, thereby, prayed the Court to remand the suspects at Agodi Correctional Centre, pending the time that the case would be assigned to a competent court of law for hearing.

His argument is that their counsels families and relations would have access to them at Agodi Correctional Centre, Ibadan.

He argued further that the “Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the case with the nature of the charges which ranges from attempted murder to armed robbery.

“I, therefore, pray the Court to remand them at Agodi Correctional Centre for accessibility and convenience.

“This will make it easier to their counsels to prepare their defence as well bail application.”

In his ruling, Magistrate, S.H. Adebisi said the Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case noting the charges ranges from conspiracy, armed robbery to attempted murder which is a capital offence.

He, therefore, ordered them to be remanded in prison and subsequently adjourned the case till 26th July 2023.

Families and relations who thronged the Court broke down in tears as they watched helplessly as suspects were been led to the NCS waiting van.