An explosion resulting from a fuel tanker crash rocked Gwagwa, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, on Friday night, Saturday PUNCH has gathered.

This is contrary to rumours making the rounds of an aeroplane crash in the Kubwa suburb of the FCT on Friday night.

Meanwhile, our correspondent gathered that first responders had been deployed to the scene of the incident.

The spokesperson for the FCT Fire Service, Mr Amiola Adebayo, also confirmed the incident in a telephone conversation with our correspondent.

Adebayo said, “There was no plane crash in Kubwa. There was only an explosion caused by a fuel tanker crash in Gwagwa tonight and our men have been deployed to the scene of the incident.”

A police source also noted that the explosion resulted from a fuel tanker crash.

“It wasn’t a plane crash but a fuel tanker crash that led to the explosion,” the source said.

When contacted, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, said the police were on the matter.

“We’re on it,” SP Adeh said.

[Punch]

Reactions have continued to trail the proposed legislation by Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, intended to make laws regarding property and the economy to protect indigenes of the state.

Obasa had in his acceptance speech after his re-election for the third time, declared that Lagos is a Yoruba land and that laws passed by the assembly will now be translated to Yoruba language, adding that laws will be made to protect the interests of indigenous people of Lagos while also noting that lawmakers will reverse all that is reversible to protect the interest of the indigenes.

Reacting during an Arise TV programme, Dr Reuben Abati, who condemned Mr Obasa for such divisive statement, noted that the function of the legislature at the level of the house of assembly, according to the constitution, is “to make laws for peace, order, and good governance of Nigeria.”

His words: “That statement made by speaker Obasa, I don’t see how that promotes peace, order, and good governance. His statement is provocative as you’d recall that during the just concluded elections, ethnicity was such a big problem in Lagos state, resulting in conflict in parts of Lagos between indigenes and other persons of other ethnic extraction to the extent that indigenes were carrying rituals and threatening non indigenes to leave Lagos.

“You can’t have that in a society. Why did Obasa consider it necessary to reopen that matter? He should talk like somebody who is interested in the national interest; public interest and not a provincial person, dredging up antediluvian sentiments, ‘Lagos belongs to the Yorubas, Lagos is a no man’s land’. I thought that argument was part of the politics. He should not use the platform of the house of assembly to play politics. That’s not leadership,” he added.

Dr Abati further advised public office holders to only speak when necessary, saying that, “This is what we say to public officials all the time, if you don’t have something to say that will appeal to reasonable thinking members of the society, can you just shut up. The issues that he raised can cause problem in Lagos state. I hope nobody goes ahead with that because the constitution of Nigeria grants every Nigerian the right to own property; Section 43, movable and immovable, in any part of Nigeria. “Section 42 says you cannot be discriminated against in this country on the basis of your ethnicity, religion or anything. The threat to reverse whatever that is reversible because you are not a Yoruba person or from Lagos state, that is discriminatory. I am surprised because Mr. Obasa is a lawyer, maybe he is just playing to the gallery, but this kind of thing can cause conflict, disorder.”

Also condemning Obasa, Ayo Mairo-Ese said, “We are on the path to healing and restoration. What we saw during the march 11 election in Lagos is what we shouldn’t see again; is what politicians should never play to again”, stressing that “what we should be looking at is how to bring people together.’

She also emphasised that what makes “Lagos a Centre of Excellence is the fact that people from around the world can come here and thrive and excel and contribute to the prosperity of Lagos state.”

It’s a drum of disunity - Olakunle Edun

Former National Publicity Secretary and current National Welfare Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr Olakunle Edun said: “Nigeria is a country governed by laws. We have a Constitution which is our grundnorm. It is the fundamental right of every Nigerian to move to anywhere he wants to in Nigeria and acquire property anywhere he likes. That is a right that no law of any State can take away. A State House of Assembly cannot lawfully pass any law that will be discriminatory against other tribes or groups within a State or pass any law that will violate the fundamental rights of other Nigerians. That will be unconstitutional.

“Lagos State has always been a pacesetter in terms of good governance in Nigeria. It is the only State (Ogun State being the second) that delights in welcoming all Nigerians. I want to believe that the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly was quoted out of context because if not, then he is on a path of disaster. All Nigerians have come to take Lagos as their home and they have also contributed to the development of Lagos State. They pay tax. The State Government should ensure mutual respect, harmony and peaceful co-existence amongst indigenes and non-indigenes. This is what will make Lagos State greater and more attractive for investment. Non-indigenes should also respect the official and traditional institutions of the State where they are resident. We must stop beating the drums of disunity.’

It’s shameful, disgraceful, Ojo

Constitutional lawyer and University don, Gbenga Ojo said: We are thinking of moving the country forward in terms of unity in the Country, a house of Assembly is preaching ethnicity even amongst the Yorubas. The Ijeshas, Ijebus, Egbas, Ekitis, where will they stand in the scheme of things? It is shameful and retrogressive. This modern age? Targeted at who? The Igbos? Our forefathers fought to keep Nigeria as one. Hopefully Ekiti State House of Assembly, Oyo State House of Assembly or even Kaduna State House of Assembly or Enugu State House of Assembly will pass similar laws.. The law will be unconstitutional even if they pass such a ridiculous law.”

No legislation can reverse legal titles - Ufeli

Constitutional Lawyer and Executive Director, Cadrell Advocacy Center, Evans Ufeli said:

“The legislation the Lagos State House of Assembly ought to enact are laws that will protect all owners of properties not just indigenes, people who have acquired properties genuinely in the state should be protected by subsidiary legislations from the Lagos State government since the constitution in chapter 4 already made copious provisions that a citizen can own properties in any part of Nigeria thereof.
“Any law therefore made by the State House of Assembly should complement the federal law – constitution.

The indigenes of Lagos State who sold their properties to non-indigenes in good faith will not be able to reverse such a transaction by any legislation made by the Lagos State House of Assembly.

I must say that Lagos is a Yoruba land, it belongs to its indigenes, it is never a no man’s land and should never be addressed as such, as same is inflammatory and will amount to spitting on the heritage of a people with a collective dynasty.”

[Vanguard]

A major issue during the week, was the advice by a member of Nigeria Interreligious Council (NIREC) and former National Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Evangelist Samuel Kwankur, to the Northern leaders to caution the former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, to refrain from inflammatory statements capable of setting Nigeria on fire.

Kwankur was reacting to statements credited to the former governor in which he allegedly told his audience before handing over to his successor that the Islamic dominance in Kaduna had come to stay and had been successfully replicated at the federal level.

El-Rufai spoke in Hausa. I only have a passing understanding of the language. But those that are versed in it, allege that he had sniggered that the emergence of Bola Tinubu had silenced CAN, the umbrella body of Christians in the country and that he would ensure an uninterrupted Islam-dominated government in Kaduna and at the national level for the next 20 years and beyond.

Now, in a highly volatile and religion-sensitive setting as Nigeria and especially, a complex entity as Kaduna, the remarks by the former governor, are uncalled for. They are not edifying. At his age and the positions he had held, either as governor, Director-General, Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, El-Rufai, should be seen and addressed as an elder. Elders are cautious and measured in outings and utterances.

Age and position mellow the activism in one and make him sober and reflective. But this does not seem the case for the former governor. In fact, it can only take those not familiar with his antecedents to be surprised that he could be associated with the careless comments attributed to him. He is free with words and deploys them at will, not minding the consequences.

On the alleged Islamisation comments, he was on familiar track. Recall that as a governor, he had, in flagrant disregard to the complex cultural and religious sensitivities of Kaduna, appointed a fellow Muslim, Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, as deputy and carried on as if it did not matter. He even encouraged his successor and protégé, Senator Uba Sani, to follow the odious step.

For El-Rufai, a man of brief size and height, controversy seems a second name. He courts it and revels in it, even at the cost of public good. He is never tired of playing games with important issues. To him, everything is politics and politics is everything.

Recall when he threatened international election observers that they would be evacuated in body bags if they ventured into the country to monitor the 2019 presidential elections. Recall, also, when he claimed being asked to offer bribes by Senators during his screening for ministerial appointment, during the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency but when pressed to provide evidence on his claims, he chickened out, saying God was his witness.

Once on this space, I had noted that the former governor acts the good boy, when it suits his agenda and hits hard when he has an interest to pursue. He has not deviated from that path. For him, scruples are matters of convenience to be observed when necessary but can be discarded, if need be. He is shrewd. And cold! The trend, now, is the scramble by leading members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for appointments at the centre. El-Rufai is equally on heat, sort of, in that regard and needed to court the attention of President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, his fellow Muslims.

Of course, there is nothing wrong in his aspiration for any job or position that animates him. He is also free to support any candidate of any religious persuasion that excites him. They are all within his constitutional rights. The beauty of democracy is plurality of views and opinions. It is a game of numbers but certainly not without principles and guidelines. El-Rufai should not be allowed to re-write those rules while pursuing his personal interest. He cannot be allowed to create the bubble and move on, as he has always done. He should be stopped from his antics before they do enormous harm on Kaduna state and the country at large.

Kaduna was the capital of the defunct Northern Region and the seat of government from where the late Premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello, provided people-oriented governance to the region. Till date, it remains the pride of the North and every Northerner of note. Nigeria has always passed for a secular state where no particular faith has dominance over others. There is no state religion. The situation should remain so.

The danger in the careless remarks by El-Rufai, is that they are capable of setting the country on the edge. The immediate past Muhammadu Buhari administration did not manage the diversities in the country very well. It rather widened the major fault lines among the citizens on ethnic and religious grounds. El-Rufai was close to the government and a visible ally to Buhari. A system with people like him on drivers’ seats can hardly make progress.

Tinubu and Shettima need to be on the watch. The controversies and contentions surrounding their emergence are yet to settle. The suspicion on their same-faith ticket is still thick. They also have the huge tasks of national healing and reconciling the various tendencies in the land. Nigeria has witnessed so much waste of its citizens over avoidable circumstances to allow petty issues as religion and choice of leadership burden it more.

Recent reports by the people of Southern Kaduna, under the aegis of Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA), that 518 people have been killed, 20 villages ransacked, 18 burnt down, and thousands of victims rendered refugees across many communities from 2017 till date, over the persistent attacks and killings in Atyapland in the Zangon Kataff Local Government Area of Kaduna State, should matter to the new authorities in the state and Abuja. El-Rufai was the governor at the time of these gruesome occurrences. The figure speaks volume of what lies ahead if he is allowed to forge ahead with his Islamisation agenda.

Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former senator, says President Bola Tinubu was shocked at how Abdullahi Ganduje, the immediate past governor of Kano, managed the affairs of the state.

Ganduje had reportedly said he would have slapped Kwankwaso over the demolition of some properties being carried out by Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano.

Yusuf had accused Ganduje’s administration of allocating public lands for the construction of some properties.

Speaking with reporters after meeting Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Friday, Kwankwaso accused Ganduje of constructing shops illegally.

“The president was shocked. Are you not shocked that somebody will sell a university? Are you not shocked that he demolished the only university? Daula Hotel, for those of you who are in Kano, you know the old Daula, demolished to zero and that is a faculty under the University of Science and Technology,” he said.

“He demolished that one. Are you not shocked?

“The president was shocked. He didn’t know. He even mentioned that he talked to somebody to go and find out for him. But when I told him, I said you are a Muslim, very soon you are going for Sallah.

“How can you go under that circumstance and pray in that place? And even the Triumph place he is talking about, you are journalists. You should be angry because that’s your constituency, he demolished it completely and put shops everywhere.”

Kwankwaso said Yusuf would not allow the property of the government to be sold to the public.

“I wanted to be president, I campaigned also. And I went to Kano and told them that these places, schools, in fact, most of our schools in Kano were being encroached on,” he said.

“And it is our policy to make sure that all that were encroached into are returned to them. We will not allow anybody either local government chairman or governor to go sell.”

Speaking of late Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo and Ladoke Akintola politics, I have a pertinent personal testimony to tender. I had a pretty early and unique exposure to Nigerian politics which can be literally cited as baptism of fire. I was born into one of the contradictions of Yoruba politics which fostered in me a lifelong skeptical attitude towards the totality of Nigerian politics and its received wisdoms. 

My first memory of life on this planet was as a witness to an arson attack on our residence, as me and my grandmother fled the scene. She had earlier refused entreaties to leave the compound because in her consideration, her son had not committed any crime, let alone, the generic accusation of public office theft, with which, the Western regional political leadership under the premiership of Ladoke Akintola were collectively tarred. Her son and my father, was Chief Oduola Osuntokun, who served as cabinet minister from 1955 to 1966 straddling the premiership of Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo and Ladoke Akintola. 

Why would, perhaps, one of the most ethically upright and conscientious public servant of his generation be subjected to the censure and demonisation that was visited on those who took sides with Akintola in the violent Awolowo/Akintola schism that rocked the Western region from 1962 to 1966? It is on record that, as Minister, he midwifed the establishment of the ikeja, ilupeju and bodija housing estates without allocating a single plot of land, directly or by proxy to himself. 

More significant was the character witness of being the only Minister exonerated by the Justice Kayode Esho panel that was charged by the first military governor of the Western region, Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi to probe the preceding Akintola government. Neither did he partake of the widespread election rigging that characterised the 1965 regional elections in the Western region were the testimonies of his opponents in the four general elections he contested to be believed. 

This was the riddle I had to grapple with as a child growing up in the Yoruba society of the late sixties and early seventies. Yet, in acknowledgement of one of those rare moments of ‘good things happening to good people’ 

I would, at this juncture, want to express my immense appreciation and gratitude to the Odua group of companies, for deeming my dad worthy of adoption as a political role model in its memorialisation of Yoruba exemplars. The debt of gratitude I owe, commensurately escalates, with the choice of my uncle, Professor Olukayode Osuntokun for the same recognition in the academic/ professional category. 

In earnest, the phenomenon of Awolowo’s embodiment of Yoruba politics, began with the formation of the egbe omo Oduduwa in 1948. ‘In 1951 he founded the Action Group, with some of the Egbe’s members as its nucleus, and in the process became the party’s first president. In the same year, the party won the first elections held in the Western Region, and Awolowo subsequently served as leader of government business and minister for local government. 

From 1954 to 1959, as premier of the Western Region, he worked, assiduously, to establish the imperishable legacy of the socioeconomic transformation of the Western region with such enormously successful progressive policies as free universal primary education and free health care for children. The constitutional provision of 

regional autonomy that undergirded the practice of Nigerian federalism gave him the latitude to make a peerless impact on the socioeconomic development of the Western region and thereby eternally capture the imagination of the Yoruba people.

From the authentic and the original to the mutant and superficial, the Awolowo political brand has run the gamut of the Action Group, AG, Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, Social Democratic Party, SDP, and the Alliance for Democracy, AD until all pretences and affectation of any such brand were thrown overboard at the formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC in 2015. 

The stillborn outreach of Awolowo to the similarly rigorous modernisation platform of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and the NCNC was resurrected in the formation of the United Progressives Grand Alliance between the AG and the NCNC (shorn of its Western region component) in 1964. ‘Up until the eve of the civil war, argues Ralph Uwechue, Nigerian politics was dominated by the big three tribes….In this triangular fight the key to victory was the combination of any two sides. It did not matter which two’

This was the political challenge and context that subsequently tasked Awolowo in his bid to become the Prime Minister of Nigeria in 1960. Thus advised, he reached out for a coalition with Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and the National Council of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC (dominated by the Igbo writ large Eastern region). For reasons that were not quite clear, his hands of fellowship were spurned by Azikiwe in preference for Ahmadu Bello and the Northern Peoples Congress, NPC. 

Beyond the speculation of a tit for tat display of ethnic chauvinism, semblance of an explanation may be found in the calculations of patronage politics and benefits accruable to any of the southern regional rivals that secures an alliance with the Northern region partnership. In the event, the most insidious by-product of this alliance was the lapse into ideological normlessness and a resultant prioritisation of the politics of consumption over the sacrificial and tasking politics of development.  

The coup and counter coup of 1966 and its ultimate degeneration into the civil war in 1967 required Awolowo and the Yoruba to make a choice of which side to support between the North and the East. It was a no easy choice and it would take the strategic cultivation of Awolowo by the northern dominated federal government and the non strategic implacability of Ojukwu and the Eastern regional political elite to break the tie. Integral to the choice was the notion that whichever party that released Awolowo from prison was always guaranteed to reap a debt of gratitude from the Yoruba political leader. 

Nonetheless, the natural allies of the North among the Yoruba was the Akintola faction and this dialectical contradiction reasserted itself in the political isolation of Awolowo to its regional stronghold in the 1979 presidential election. The fact that he felt compelled to seek recourse to the incredulous (and non-starter) presidential ticket comprising himself and Philip Umeadi from the South East was an indication of his

insurmountable political distance from the north. The futile defiant gesture of this presidential ticket ironically bolstered his credentials as the avenging angel of the progressive political movement of Nigeria. 

The bitter political reality of Nigeria was that Awolowo would only have a fighting chance of realising his presidential ambition once he was ready to capitulate and played the protégé to the mentorship of the feudal conservative North. This option of self-abnegation (otherwise coined political compromise) was, of course, one step too far for Awolowo to contemplate and the reality must have dawned on him even if he gave the impression of being oblivious of it. 

Out of the ashes of Awolowo’s frustrations as leader of opposition at the national Parliament, rose his belligerent backward glance at the position he voluntarily relinquished and bestowed on Akintola. As the tension between the two intensified, so did pressure grow on Akintola to seek a powerful external ally in the regionally controlled federal government. In the circumstance, Akintola entertained no compunction in accepting the terms of the relationship including, especially, the implication to serve as proxy for Sir Ahmadu Bello and Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa. 

A critical aspect of the ensuing patron/client relationship was the entitlement to increased patronage (appointments, scholarships etc) from the federal government. This sense of entitlement played out in a chauvinistic inter ethnic jostling between the East and the West for the dispensation of pork from the senior partner. 

The struggle was theatrically captured in a witty rendition by Akintola in his peerless mastery of Yoruba illocution and lores. It was accomplished through a dexterous manipulation of the surname of Dr Ikechukwu Ikejiani who was the chairman of the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, ECN. Intended to illustrate the lopsided patronage of the Igbo to the disadvantage of the Yoruba at the federal government level, Akintola parodies “Ikinni a ni, ikeji a ni, iketa a ni”. Pronounced in Yoruba tonation, Ikejiani means, the ‘second one is given’. 

Deriving from this deliberate malappropriation, the late Premier draws a sketch of a tendentious marginalisation of the Yoruba corresponding to the gluttonous satiety of the Igbo. He then contrived a three line stanza to prove the point, with a preceding ‘Ikinni a ni’ (the first is given) to Ikeji a ni (the second one is given) followed by Iketa a ni (the third one equally takes!). 

Ultimately, the objective of Akintola was (for the Yoruba) to supplant the Igbo as the new favoured beneficiary of federal government largesse

The incendiary tribal jingoism was perniciously echoed in the ivory towers and the point of incidence was the university of Lagos. In the words of Tim Livsey, “The University of Lagos, like the universities at Ibadan and Ife, was affected by the rise of the NNDP (Akintola’s party), which had formed a coalition with the NPC in the federal government. The NNDP took the federal education portfolio, and installed nominees on the University of Lagos council”. 

“A crisis broke out in February 1965 when the university council announced that Prof Eni Njoku, the founding vice-chancellor, would be replaced by Dr Saburi Biobaku. Njoku was considered a capable administrator, and his dismissal was widely understood in ethno-political terms because he was Igbo and supported the NCNC. ‘It will be difficult for the Council’, noted the ‘West African Pilot’, ‘to escape the charge that it has practised naked tribalism’’.

Like Akintola before him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s politics is predicated on the victimisation of the Igbo on one hand and voluntary (albeit gainful) submission to the protective custody of the Muslim North on another. The former was unfurled in raw and open display of latent genocidal threat to the Igbo during the 2023 general elections in Lagos while the latter was heralded by a subordinate partnership in the formation of the APC and a crowning Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket. 

Substantially and within the context of Yoruba politics, the emergence of Tinubu as the President of Nigeria is an epiphenomenon of the transition from Awolowo politics to Akintola politics. Indeed, it is the ultimate triumph of Akintola’s vision of Nigerian politics encapsulated in a menu comprising pragmatic hostility against the Igbo; pragmatic deference to the north and pragmatic monetisation of politics. 

Controversial Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, was on Friday, suspended by President Bola Tinubu.

Following his suspension, Emefiele has been directed to hand over the affairs of the CBN to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Mr Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, who will act as the apex bank Governor.

Here are nine things you should know about Shonubi:

1. Shonubi holds double Master’s Degrees in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lagos.
2. He is a resourceful Information Technology-driven banker with over 22 years professional experience.
3. He was Executive Director, Information Technology, and Operations at Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, a member of the Board of Union Homes.
4. He was the Managing Director/CEO in the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) from 2012 – 2018.
5. Between 1999 and 2007, he worked in MBC International as Deputy General Manager and supervised their IT operational platforms.
6. He was a one-time Director, Information Technology and Corporate Services in Renaissance Securities Nigeria limited.
7. He also had a stint with Citibank Nigeria Limited as its Head, Treasury Operations (1990-1993).
8. He served in First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) as Vice President and in Ecobank Nigeria Limited as Executive Director.
9. He has served on a number of sub-committees of the Bankers’ Committee, including the Ethics and Professionalism Sub-Committee.

- Bank Seeks Court Order To Freeze Affected Accounts And Reverse Monies Fraudulently Transferred

Globus bank Limited has filed an application before a Lagos high court seeking an order for recovery of a total sum of N962,019,843.35 fraudulently transferred electronically from its vault into accounts domiciled in eight commercial banks.

The N962m is part of the total N1,755,376,156.34 transferred from the bank between Monday 6th and Saturday 11th of June 2022. The bank has already recovered the sum of N817,998,969.85 from the accounts of the fraudsters.

In an affidavit sworn to by the legal officer, Kosisochukwu Ngene, Globus bank said fraudsters took advantage of system glitch in its USSD application between Monday 6th and Saturday 11th of June 2022 to process several fraudulent and unauthorized electronic transfer totalling N1,755,376,156.34 (One Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Five Million, Three Hundred and Seventy-Six Thousand, One Hundred Fifty-Six Naira thirty four kobo.

The bank said 709 people who were its customers were involved in the fraudulent transfer of the funds to accounts domiciled in eight commercial banks.

It added that immediately it discovered the glitch, it instantaneously notified all the banks involved and requested that the beneficiary accounts be restricted.

This, Globus Bank said was in line with Central bank of Nigeria regulation to avoid dissipation of the funds fraudulently transferred into the accounts domiciled with the banks.

“Subsequently, Globus bank immediately approached the Magistrate Court, in the Yaba Magisterial District and obtained an order directing the banks to freeze and reverse the amount fraudulently transferred into various accounts domiciled in the banks.

“That in response to the order served on the respondents some of the respondents were able to salvage certain sum wherein the total sum of N817,998,969.85 were returned to the bank while the total sum of N962,019,843.35 is still outstanding and yet to be returned to the bank by the respondents banks.

The Excel sheet which contains the names of the respondents the total amount fraudulently transferred from Globus bank, the total amount salvaged and returned to the Globus and the total amount outstanding is analyze was also filed before the court.

Globus Bank said it still requires the order of the high court to enable the other banks to reverse and remit the salvaged funds to it.

It added that the other banks have requested an order of the high court, to enable them reverse and remit the salvaged funds.

“Consequently, Globus bank Limited is seeking the following reliefs from the court.

“An Order of the Court directing all the eight banks to immediately reverse and remit to, Globus bank Limited the total sum of N962,019,843.35 (Nine hundred and sixty two million, nineteen thousand , eight hundred and forty three naira, thirty five kobo), being the outstanding sum yet to be salvaged from the fraudulent transfer into several accounts domiciled with the eight Respondents from the Globus bank 709 customers’ accounts, less depleted sum.

“An order directing the eight commercial banks to release all account information in respect of the destination accounts and the beneficiaries of the transfer funds

“And for such further order(s) as the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this case.”

Zamfara State Government on Friday said that police operatives who raided the residence of the former Governor, Bello Matawalle, acted based on official directives.

The clarification was made in a statement, signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Zamfara Governor, Suleiman Idris.

The state government noted that the operatives had obtained a court order and search warrant contrary to reports circulating on the internet.

The statement read partly: “The Zamfara State Government has cleared the air on the operation of the Nigeria Police Force that led to the recovery of vehicles looted by the former State Governor, Bello Mohammaed Matawalle.

“In the early hours of Friday, The Nigeria Police Force stormed the residence of the former Governor, where over 40 vehicles were impounded.

“The Police acted on a court order and a search warrant was obtained for the operation. Recall that the Zamfara State Government communicated officially to former Governor Bello Matawalle and his Deputy to return all the missing vehicles within five (5) working days.

“We also lodged an official complaint with the Police on overriding public interest on wasteful looting of valuables including official vehicles.

“Consequently, the Police sought a search warrant which was duly given by the court and hence raided Matawalle’s residence in Gusau, Maradun Local Government, and another unidentified hideout.

“Over 40 vehicles were recovered including Three bulletproof vehicles and eight SUVs.

“We want to reaffirm our commitment to recover all that belongs to the people. Our common resolve is to rescue and rebuild Zamfara”.

The state government called for calm assuring residents that the recovery was a part of its critical mission to recuperate all proceeds of crime and public assets.

“We want to call on the people of Zamfara to remain calm as we continue to record massive improvements in the areas of security and the lingering water scarcity in the state,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, the All Progressive Congress (APC) had accused the Governor, Dauda Lawal of witch-hunt.

The party noted that the former governor ought to be charged in court if there is any issue against him.

THE WHISTLER had earlier reported the circumstances that led to the invasion of the residence of the former governor.

The current administration had accused Matawalle of looting public assets.

The new government had giver the ex-governor five days to return all stolen government items.

In a shocking move late Friday, the Department of State Services (DSS) apprehended Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), shortly after his suspension by President Bola Tinubu.

President Tinubu’s decision to suspend Emefiele did not come as a surprise to many, as the embattled CBN governor had been widely criticized for the way he has allegedly mismanaged the nation’s monetary policies.

A statement announcing his suspension said the move came amid “ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”

Willie Bassey, the Director of Information at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said Emefiele’s suspension is with immediate effect.

Following the suspension, the DSS swiftly moved to arrest Emefiele, taking him into custody supposedly for questioning.

THE WHISTLER recalls that Emefiele had been accused of allegedly aiding and abetting acts of terrorism and the DSS made unsuccessful attempts to arrest him before President Tinubu took office.