The Department of State Services (DSS) has summoned the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, merely hours after President Bola Tinubu suspended him from office.

Announcing his suspension earlier, Willie Bassey, Director of Information at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), said: “Mr Bawa has been directed to immediately handover the affairs of his office to the Director, Operations in the Commission, who will oversee the affairs of the Office of the Chairman of the Commission pending the conclusion of the investigation.”

Meanwhile, according to a statement made available to THE WHISTLER by the DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, the state service invited Bawa to its head office to respond to questions bordering on those allegations.

“Bawa arrived a few hours ago. The invitation relates to some investigative activities concerning him,” Afunanya said in the terse statement.

Bawa’s exact offences are yet to be disclosed, but it is believed to be related to ongoing investigations or concerns surrounding Bawa’s tenure as EFCC chairman and allegations of bribe-seeking recently levelled against him by former Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle.

President Bola Tinubu’s decision to suspend Bawa as the EFCC chairman came less than two weeks after the president suspended Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over similar allegations.

Bawa, a young and promising anti-corruption crusader, was appointed to the position in February 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, with high hopes for combating corruption and economic crimes in the country.

The biting scarcity of dollars may force some airlines to shut down operation any time from now, Daily Trust can report.

Though the scarcity has always crippled airline operations, it got worse recently with many airlines finding it extremely difficult to continue operations as they are unable to source for dollars to pay for aircraft maintenance.

No fewer than 10 aircraft belonging to local operators are in different maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities abroad as they are unable to source for dollars to pay for the cost of maintenance.

Daily Trust reports that an average C-check costs $1m (about N750m at N750/$) and it could be more depending on the extent of the check to be carried out on an aircraft.

One of the operators who spoke with our correspondent yesterday said at least one or two airlines may suspend operations soon if the forex crisis did not subside.

Checks by our correspondent yesterday revealed that Azman Air had suspended most of its domestic routes as its aircraft were undergoing maintenance and they are yet to arrive owing to the scarcity of dollars.

The source said, “I can tell you many airlines are facing acute dollar shortage. We can’t access dollars to buy spare and fulfil other obligations. Airlines are currently grounding operations because we feel it is better to ground operations than to compromise safety. Safety of passengers is very paramount and this is also the advice of the regulatory authority, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).”

Our correspondent learnt that the current development may lead to further increase in air fares.

“Airlines are already paying more to get forex at the black market for spare parts and maintenance. Now that the naira has been devalued and coupled with this unified exchange rate, we only hope we would have more access to dollars but imagine paying over N700 for one dollar, it means the operation cost of airlines would go up again.”

Another operator who spoke with our correspondent stated that several requests to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for dollars could not be met.

Speaking with Daily Trust yesterday, Chief Executive Officer of Aero Contractors, Capt. Ado Sanusi stated that while airlines had been managing the scarcity, the industry has become extremely hit by the forex crisis in recent times.

“You know dollars cut across a lot of variables in aviation- the Jet A1, the spare parts, the leasing, and MRO and sometimes even payment of salaries to expat staff. So there is a lot of things that have affected the profitability of airlines in Nigeria because of this dollar.

“But we are happy with this unified dollar exchange as the banks are free to trade as we are reading. We hope that by the time this is fully implemented, it would actually assist us in getting some relief. You know we are dealing with availability and the pricing.

Abolishes Naira4Dollar, RT200 Rebate Schemes

Merges FX Segments Into I&E Window

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the unification of all segments of the forex market collapsing all windows into one.

This was part of a series of immediate changes to operations in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) Market, in a bid to improve liquidity and stability.

The apex bank announced the development in a circular issued on Wednesday and signed by Angela Sere-Ejembi, director, financial markets department.

The changes include:

1. Abolishing the segmentation of the FX market into different windows. All transactions will now be done through the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, where the exchange rate will be determined by market forces. Applications for medicals, school fees, BTA/PTA, and SMEs would continue to be processed through deposit money banks.
Previously, the FX market was divided into different windows, but now all transactions will be conducted through the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window. This means even those applying for BTA and PTA will also pay the official exchange rate at the I&E window. The exchange rate in this window will be determined by market forces.

2. Reintroducing the “Willing Buyer, Willing Seller” model at the I&E window, where all eligible transactions can access foreign exchange at their preferred rates.

Willing Buyer, Willing Seller model: The CBN is reintroducing this model at the I&E window. It means that eligible transactions can access foreign exchange at the rates they prefer.
3. Setting the operational rate for all government-related transactions at the weighted average rate of the previous day’s executed transactions at the I&E window, rounded to two decimal places.

Operational rate for government-related transactions: The CBN will set the operational rate for transactions related to the government. This rate will be the weighted average rate of the previous day’s executed transactions at the I&E window, rounded to two decimal places.
4. Prohibiting trading limits on oversold FX positions and allowing hedging of short positions with OTC futures. Limits on overbought positions will be zero.

This means trading limits on oversold FX positions will no longer be imposed, and short positions can be hedged with Over-The-Counter (OTC) futures. However, there will be zero limits on overbought positions.
5. Reintroducing order-based two-way quotes, with a bid-ask spread of N1. All transactions will be cleared by a Central Counter Party (CCP).

Two-way quotes with a bid-ask spread of N1 will be reintroduced. This means there will be a fixed difference between the buying and selling prices. All transactions will be cleared by a Central Counter Party (CCP).
6. Reintroducing an Order Book to ensure transparency of orders and seamless execution of trades.

An Order Book will be reintroduced to ensure transparency of orders and smooth execution of trades.
7. The CBN also announced the cessation of two schemes that were introduced to boost remittances and forex supply: the RT200 Rebate Scheme and the Naira4Dollar Remittance Scheme, effective from 30 June 2023.

This means the scheme is now abolished!

President Bola Tinubu has approved the indefinite suspension of the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr AbdulRasheed Bawa, to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office.

A statement signed by the Director of Information in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Willie Bassey, said Bawa’s indefinite suspension followed weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him.

Bassey stated that Bawa has been directed to immediately handover the affairs of his office to the Director, Operations, in the commission, who will oversee the affairs of the office of the chairman of the commission, pending the conclusion of the investigation.

The statement reads, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,GCFR, has approved the indefinite suspension from office of Mr. AbdulRasheed Bawa, CON, as the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office.

“This follows weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him.

“Mr Bawa has been directed to immediately handover the affairs of his office to the Director, Operations in the Commission, who will oversee the affairs of the Office of the Chairman of the Commission pending the conclusion of the investigation.”

Born in April 30, 1980, Bawa, a native of Jega in Kebbi State, was nominated as substantive Chairman of EFCC on February 16, 2021, and confirmed by the National Assembly on February 24, 2023, as the youngest Executive Chairman of the commission, officially taking over from Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the former acting chairman of the commission.

Until his appointment, he was the Deputy Chief Superintendent of the anti-graft agency.

Frontline Anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations, numbering over 130, recently staged a protest in Lagos, calling for the sack of Bawa, over alleged politicisation of the commission, disobedience of court orders and infringement on human rights of Nigerians, among others.

The activists, who were joined by over 20 Constitutional lawyers, led by Mogbojuri Kayode of the Citizens Rights Advocacy Group, noted that the desperation of Bawa to save his face, after dishonourable acts in office, had taken a laughable turn, insisting that no amount of ‘purchased CSOs’ vote of confidence’ would cover the truth about the abnormalities being condoned in EFCC under its current leadership.

According to them, the EFCC has become so desperate to launder what they called a rapidly diminishing image of Bawa, to the extent that the commission’s spokesman laughably signed a Press Release, recently, informing Nigerians that a Civil Society Organisation had passed a ‘vote of confidence’ in its chairman.

The leaders of the struggle said it was a thing of honour that, despite the immense pressure mounted on leaders of the “Bawa Must Go” protests to abandon their objective cause, over 120 of the main actors had remained resolute while more had joined in the interest of the rule of law.

In September 2020, Peoples Gazette in an exclusive report detailed how Bawa stole and sold dozens of petrol-bearing trucks confiscated from suspected looters, auctioning them off to his proxies at ridiculous prices while he was in charge of the Port Harcourt office of the Commission. The report stated that Bawa was arrested and detained for several days by Magu.

Bawa was subsequently relieved of his position in Port Harcourt and transferred to the agency’s training school in Abuja. When he was nominated for the position of the Chairman of EFCC after the removal of Magu, civil society organisations condemned the nomination, calling on the Senate to reject his nomination. At the Senate confirmation screening, Bawa denied the allegation of selling seized properties in Port Harcourt.

On February 17, 2021, the EFCC issued a statement denying reports that, Bawa, was arrested and detained by the agency under Magu , over illegal sale of 244 forfeited trucks to proxies in Port Harcourt. The Commission further stated that Bawa was never at any time neither arrested nor detained by Magu.

The EFCC maintained that it was illogical for him to have been indicted over an auction that was not superintended by him.

On November 8, 2022, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered him to be remanded for contempt for the EFCC’s noncompliance with a court order issued on November 21, 2018.

Although the matter leading to his contempt conviction was filed before his tenure as EFCC chairman, Bawa’s failure to submit himself for arrest vexed many including lawyers and civil society organizations who called for his removal from office by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) on Wednesday in Abuja admitted in evidence three sets of reports prepared by a group of statisticians on the electoral forms used during the last presidential election.

The reports were brought before the court by a renowned statistician, Samuel Oduntan in aid of the petition by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar challenging Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential poll.

In spite of objections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), the presiding justice of the court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani admitted the three reports as exhibits.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, former NBA president, Abubakar Mahmud, Wole Olanipekun and Lateef Fagbemi conducted the case of INEC, Tinubu and APC respectfully.

Besides opposing the admission of the documents, the three counsels also kicked against the bid to have the reports read in open court.

Meanwhile, Justice Tsammani has fixed June 15 for further hearing of the petition especially the cross-examination of the witness.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said the Student Loan Bill, which President Bola Tinubu signed into law is capable of sending many students out of school.

On Monday, the president signed the bill saying it is a fulfillment of one of his campaign promises.

Many, including critics of his government, had hailed him for matching his words with action.

But in a chat with Daily Trust, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU President, said the law might have an adverse effect on millions of prospective students who rely on tuition-free higher institutions of learning to acquire knowledge.

He said: “A country where more than 133 million are living below the poverty line and you want to introduce tuition fees? It will be counterproductive.

“Every Nigerian should know what is going to happen next and there may likely be another bill waiting for signature that will introduce tuition fees. If the bill indicated that the loan is to pay tuition fees and there are no tuition fees in Nigerian universities, then what is your next approach?”

Osodeke said the bill is not new, revealing how the union rejected it when former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration brought it up.

He, however, noted that the union is yet to have access to the accurate copy of the law signed by Tinubu, adding that there was need to get and study it.

“We have said long ago, in 2017, to President Buhari when they came up with the issue of tuition fees, that every student will pay N1 million and we said you cannot put that in our agreement and you cannot use that to negotiate with us and with the nature of the country we have today, there is no way that will work.”

“What will happen is that the majority of students whose parents cannot afford it will pull out of school in anger and you know what that means, they will fight the society back. But let us get the correct information first before knowing the next steps,” he added.

A professor at the University of Abuja, Ben Ugwoke, said going by the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, no public institution pays tuition fees. That is, all public institutions in Nigeria are tuition-free.

“However, due to underfunding, the governing councils or boards of these public institutions are permitted by the laws establishing the institutions to determine appropriate charges and levies that students should pay to cover specific costs.

“The bill signed into law does not abrogate the various acts of the National Assembly establishing the public institutions which enable them to levy students appropriately. The new students’ loan act did not in any way abolish the current or future regime of charges students of public institutions in Nigeria currently pay.

“Let me hazard a guess that the new act has laid a formal basis for the various governing organs of the public institutions in Nigeria to levy higher charges on students,” he said.

According to him, “To the naive, it means relief but to my mind, I think it means higher charges are on the horizon for students.”

For Professor Nasiru Medugu Idris of Nasarawa State University Keffi, “Tuition fees will remain the same or even higher. This is because the students’ loan will strictly be for the purpose of tuition fees. So no abolition of tuition fees in Nigerian universities.”

He said parents might think that it is a kind of relief for them but actually this is not because students’ living expenses per semester are very huge.

“School’s tuition fee maybe 10 to 20 per cent of students’ expenditure per semester. Therefore parents and students should not celebrate the signing of the act for now until they have accessed the loan first,” he said.

Meanwhile, when Daily Trust contacted the Federal Ministry of Education to clarify clause 3 of the act, via a text message to the Permanent Secretary, David Adejo, through the Director of Press, Bem Ben Goong, the director said the ministry will address a press conference on Wednesday to clarify all issues and as such had no comment.

A friendly football match in Madalla town Niger State, turned into mourning following the sudden death of a referee who was reportedly hit by a thunder strike.

The deceased simply known as Mustafa Coach 02 among football fans and said to be a member of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFA), met his tragic death Tuesday evening during the match played in the community’s primary and secondary schools’ field.

An eyewitness, Muhammed Musa, said the match in which Suleja and Madalla youths participated, was on half time break around 5:20 pm when the incident happened.

“It was raining and all the footballers along with their fans were taken refuge inside the school’s classrooms. The referee along with his assistant (line man) rushed back to the field, demanding the players to join them.

“They were only at the centre of the pitch when the thunder struck. Two of them were rushed to a hospital, where Sulaiman was confirmed dead on arrival while his assistant was revived.”

A family member of the deceased, who simply gave his name as Ibrahim, said Ibrahim was buried Wednesday morning in Suleja town where he lived.

Following the resignation of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, his seat has been declared vacant by the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Tajudeen Abbas.

The declaration followed Gbajabiamila’s letter of resignation in Abuja on Wednesday at the plenary under personal explanation.

Abbas, after receiving the letter and read to members said, “We have today declared the seat of Surulere Lagos Constituency vacant following the resignation of Gbajabiamila. “

Gbajabiamila said in his letter of resignation addressed to the Speaker that he would be taking up a new role as the Chief of Staff (CoS) to President Bola Tinubu.

The immediate past Speaker further said he would cease to be a member of the 10th House of Reps.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gbajabiamila had earlier been appointed by the President to serve as his Chief of Staff.

Gbajabiamila commended the House and people of his federal constituency following his appointment by the President, adding that serving the House and the people of his constituency has been a great honour.

NAN reports that the former Speaker before leaving the chamber had moved a motion of urgent public importance ” Need for the Federal and State Governments to take action to mitigate the effect flood devastation.”

After submitting his letter, Gbajabiamila took a bow and left the chamber with cheers and accolades from members.

The federal government is set to introduce tuition fees in federal universities, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions following the signing of the Student Loan Bill by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Daily Trust reports.

The bill, which is now an act of parliament was signed on Monday, a development widely celebrated in many quarters without understanding the implication of the new law for the millions of prospective students who rely on tuition-free higher institutions of learning to acquire knowledge.

Educationists and other stakeholders said this would have wider implications.

In Nigeria, tuition, which runs into hundreds of thousands of naira or even millions of naira in private universities, is free in government schools at both national and state levels.

The situation has been the same since independence, even though some charges for other issues such as accommodation, departmental, and course registration, among others vary from one institution to another.

The waiver of tuition has given millions of students the opportunity to go to school, but observers say the introduction of a student loan scheme by the federal government means an end to tuition-free education.

There was no immediate response from the Federal Ministry of Education

What the law says

Clause 3 of the Students Loan Act says: “The loans referred to in this Act shall be granted to students only for the payment of tuition fees.”

This clause contravenes the existing provision that says tuition is free in public institutions.

Meanwhile, the question of tuition in Nigerian institutions is a constitutional matter vide Chapter 2 of the amended 1999 Constitution. By the provisions of that chapter, no publicly owned institution is permitted and it is illegal for any one of them to charge tuition fees on any citizen of the country.

According to the Act establishing the law, the Student Loan Bill would provide easy access to higher education for indigent Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.

As enacted by the National, the Act shall apply to all matters pertaining to the application and grant of loans to Nigerians seeking higher education into institutions of higher learning in Nigeria through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.

“All students seeking higher education in any public institution of higher learning in Nigeria shall have equal right to access the loans under this Act without any discrimination arising from gender, religion, tribe, position or disability of any kind,” the act reads.

It, however, noted that the grant of the loan to any student under the Act shall be subject to the applicant satisfying the requirements and conditions set out under this Act.

The Federal High Court in Kano has been asked to restrain the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from probing the immediate past governor of Kano state, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, over video clips allegedly showing him receiving dollars from a contractor as kickbacks.

In court documents sighted by Daily Trust on Wednesday, the former Attorney General of Kano State in the originating summons filed against the EFCC as the sole defendant asked the court to declare that based on the supremacy of the Constitution, the anti-corruption agency does not have the right to investigate a case already pending before the state House of Assembly.

Daily Trust observed that the suit was filed before the court on March 23, few days after the gubernatorial elections in which the opposition party came out on top.

It was further observed that the court papers was only delivered to the EFCC on June 5.

Members of the legal team that filed the suit on behalf of the Attorney General confirmed to Daily Trust that the suit was pending before the court but promised to cross check and revert on the next hearing date.

In the court documents, the then attorney general asked the court to also make a mandatory injunction “directing the Defendant to withdraw all Invitations issued to the Executive Chairman and Director Finance, SUBEB as well as the Accountant General of Kano State in connection with the video clips of bribery allegation against Abdullabi Umar Ganduje, and await the conclusion of the Case No: CV/1598/2021, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje v. Jaafar Jafaar & Anor. before High Court fothe Federal Capital Territory, Abuja”.

The court was also asked to make an order of perpetual injunction “restraining the Defendant, either by themselves, officers, operatives, servants, agents, privies, cronies and or representatives by whatsoever name known or called from further inviting, investigating, interrogating or taking any action whatsoever and howsoever in connection with the video clips of bribery allegation” against Ganduje until after the conclusion of the civil case.

Recall that the video clips published in 2018 by Daily Nigerian, an online newspaper, allegedly revealed the former governor stuffing wands of US dollars in the pockets of his flowing dress.

While the publisher of the video clips said the money were kickbacks from contractors the then governor had awarded contracts, he (Ganduje) denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

The state House of Assembly had then subsequently set up an investigation committee but until the end of the tenure of the assembly, the findings of the investigation were not made public.

While the new Kano state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, was yet to make any declaration as regards the video clips since assuming office, a civil society organization, War Against Injustice, has asked the EFCC to investigate and prosecute Ganduje since he no longer enjoys immunity.