President Bola Tinubu has banned ministers, heads of agencies, and other government officials from embarking on public funded foreign trips.

The ban will last for three months in the first instance and will take effect on April 1, 2024.

This was contained in a letter dated March 12, 2024, and signed by the Chief of Staff to the president, Femi Gbajabiamila; and addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.

In January, Tinubu issued an order to reduce the number of people accompanying him on both local and foreign trips, noting that his delegation members should not exceed 25 for local travels and 20 for international trip

He also mandated that security agents at his destination should provide his protection instead of being accompanied by many security personnel from Abuja.

This came following the backlash he faced during and after the last twenty-eighth Conference of Parties (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates, which about 590 Nigerian officials attended.

Responding to the public outburst, the government said it provided funding for only 422 out of the 590 individuals in the delegation.

The letter indicating the ban read in part, “Mr President has concerns about the rising cost of travel expenses borne by Ministries, Department and Agencies of Government as well as the growing need for cabinet members and heads of MDAs to focus on their respective mandates for effective service delivery.

“Considering the current economic challenges and the need for responsible fiscal management, I am writing to communicate Mr Presideni’s directive to place a temporary ban on all public funded international trips for all Federal Government officials at all levels, for an initial period of three months from Ist April 2024.”

The ban, according to the letter, was aimed at reducing costs in governance.

It added, “This temporary measure is aimed at cost reduction in governance and intended as a cost-saving measure without compromising government functions.”

Tinubu added that government officials who intend to go on any public funded foreign trip must seek and get presidential approval at least two weeks before embarking on any such trip, which must be ‘deemed absolutely necessary’.

It added, “All government officials who intend to go on any public funded international trips must seek and obtain Presidential approval at least two weeks prior to embarking on any such trip, which must be deemed absolutely necessary.”

A detective with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mahmud Tukur, denied promising the former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, leniency in exchange for indicting the former Minister of Finance and others.

The former Accountant General of the Federation had told the Federal Capital Territory High Court on February 1, 2024, that the EFCC deceived him to admit to the allegations against him.

The ex-AGF specifically claimed that the EFCC told him they wanted to use him to get the Minister of Finance and some governors to receive derivation funds.

Idris and his co-defendants are standing trial on 14 charges of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109.5bn.

Idris was arraigned alongside Godfrey Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited by the EFCC in July 2022.

However, at the proceedings, Tukur, who was the second prosecution witness in the trial-within-trial, denied that the commission made such a promise to Idris.

The trial-within-trial was ordered by the court following the objection raised by counsel for Idris, Chris Uche (SAN), alleging that his client did not make his statements to the EFCC voluntarily.

Led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, Tukur insisted that all the 13 statements involving Idris and his lawyers were voluntarily made.

He added that the ex-AGF was interviewed in the presence of his lawyers before filing 11 statements at different times.

Tukur added that two out of the 13 confessional statements were volunteered willingly with Idris waiving his right to have a lawyer present.

He said, “Idris signed on the back of the page of the statement sheet and it was witnessed by Barrister Haruna Isa.

The statement of May 21, 2022, was written by Idris.

“The statement of July 5, 2022, was made by the first defendant in the presence of Mr Gbenga Adeyemi. He was cautioned, interviewed, before those volunteered statements.”

While being cross-examined by the ex-AGF’s lawyer, Chris Uche (SAN), Tukur said the EFCC had a standard procedure for getting a statement from a suspect.

He said, “My lord, he(Idris) requested that he wanted to come and volunteer his first statement, and at the management level, it was approved. At that time, he was the serving AGF. It was based on his request my lord.”

The witness, however, admitted that the EFCC did not send a letter of invitation to Idris following the second statement he made.

The witness said he would not know if Idris’ statement in Kano on May 10, 2022, was done in the presence of his lawyer as he was not there.

When quizzed about promising the ex-AGF soft-landing, Tukur described the allegation as “absolute falsehood”.

“I never promised him that he would not be prosecuted.

“ I never did as a unit head and the first defendant is a very senior civil servant, in my capacity I can not do that. “

The trial judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu, adjourned till May 15 for the continuation of trial-within-trial.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has apprehended seven individuals suspected of producing illegal rifles and pistols within the Abuja metropolis.

According to a statement released on Wednesday (today) by the NSCDC National Public Relations Officer, Babawale Afolabi, the criminal activity was thwarted thanks to a tip-off.

Afolabi noted that the NSCDC Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation promptly responded to the information and successfully arrested the suspects.

“Acting on a tip-off that a group of individuals were manufacturing semi-automatic rifles and pistols at Moshood Abiola National Stadium area in Abuja, the DII-SM acted based on credible intelligence, and the 7 suspects were caught in the act,” Daily Trust quoted the NSCDC spokesperson saying.

The suspects were identified as Amos Iyawo (M) aged 29 years, Jonah Mannaseh (M) aged 27 years, Ezekiel Nannim (M) 20 years, Naifa Pando (F) 26 years, Euphemia Peter (M) 26 years, Faith Gadang (F) and Philemon Karam (F) 26 years.

“From the confessional statements volunteered by the suspects, we gathered that Amos Iyawo is the leader of the team and that he recruited others to participate as manufacturers of the rifles,” the statement added.

Findings by the security agency revealed that rifles and pistols has just been made and none of them have been sold yet.

Naija News understands that the suspects were found in possession of five completed rifles, one pistol, one unfinished rifle, seven empty cartridges, two boots, rods, a welding machine, a filling machine, two searchlights, three pliers, a shovel, cutlass, axes, a hunter’s ID card, and a belt.

According to the statement, all the seized items will be handed over to the Nigerian Police for further investigation and potential prosecution.

The NSCDC Commandant General, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, has since instructed all Zonal Commanders, State Commandants, and formation heads to prioritize the gathering of timely intelligence.

The Federal Government has released the full list of individuals and organizations financing terrorism in Nigeria.

The list released by the Federal Government include Tukur Mamu, a close ally of Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.

The list also include six Bureau De Change, BDC, operators.

Recall that information earlier released by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, said those financing terrorism include nine individuals and six Bureau De Change operators.

In its report titled, ‘Identification of Persons and Organizations as of March 18, 2024’, the NFIU said the Nigeria Sanctions Committee convened on March 18, 2024, during which certain individuals and entities were identified for sanction due to their ties to terrorism financing.

Subsequently, a post released on X on Monday by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s Media Aide, Bashir Ahmad, reads: “The Federal Government has released names and BDCs funding terrorists in Nigeria. We hope that those individuals will face the necessary legal consequences for their actions.

1. Tukur Mamu
2. Yusuf Ghazali
3. Muhammad Sani
4. Abubakar Muhammad
5. Sallamudeen Hassan
6. Adamu Ishak
7. Hassana-Oyiza Isah
8. Abdulkareem Musa
9. Umar Abdullahi

The six BDCs and firms are:

10. West and East Africa General Trading Company Limited
11. Settings Bureau De Change Ltd
12. G. Side General Enterprises
13. Desert Exchange Ventures Limited
14. Eagle Square General Trading Company Limited
15. Alfa Exchange BDC

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman has met with striking unions in a bid to end the ongoing warning strike.

The meeting took place on Wednesday in Abuja.

The unions include Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities, NASU, and National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT.

Mamman told newsmen after the meeting that the Federal Government would continue to dialogue with the unions to forestall an escalation.

Recall that the unions commenced a seven-day nationwide strike on Monday to protest the refusal of the Federal Government to release their four-month salaries withheld in 2021 because they embarked on a strike.

“It is our expectation that it will not go beyond what it is. We have a good understanding with the unions to ensure stability in our tertiary institutions.

“We will do everything possible to maintain confidence in the unions so that the issue of the strike can be resolved,” he said.

The General Secretary of NASU, Prince Peters Adeyemi, while commending the openness of the government in ending the strike, insisted that the strike will continue until a favourable response from the government is received.

“We have been duly briefed by the government team led by the Minister of Education on the efforts that the government is making in respect of our demands.

“We have said that since this is a warning strike, these efforts should continue and hopefully, before the end of the warning strike, something reasonable and tangible will come from the government.

“We appreciate their openness but this struggle will continue [until] as soon as we receive a positive response from the higher authorities.

“We assure the Nigerian public that the strike will be reviewed appropriately, but, for now, the strike continues while the government continues with efforts to get the desired results so that the universities will come back on stage,” he said.

Corroborating this, the President of NAAT, Comrade Ibeji Nwokoma, reiterated the decision of other unions, saying that the parties would further consult with their principals and thereafter would come back and brief the minister.

The Senate has passed the Student Loan, Access to Higher Education, Act 2024.

The senate’s resolution followed its consideration of the report of the senate committee on tertiary institutions and TETFUND.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Muntari Dandutse presented the report during plenary.

Last week, President Bola Tinubu transmitted the Bill to the National Assembly for its consideration and passage.

The Upper Legislative chamber had given the Bill an accelerated hearing by suspending relevant sections of its standing rules and referred the Bill to the Committee of the Whole for consideration.

After debate on the Bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the Bill to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND for further legislative work and to report back in one week.

The Bill seeks to provide easy access to higher education for indigent Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund established in the Act to provide education for all Nigerians.

The senate’s resolution followed its consideration of the report of the senate committee on tertiary institutions and TETFUND.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Muntari Dandutse presented the report during plenary.

Last week, President Bola Tinubu had transmitted the Bill to the National Assembly for its consideration and passage.

The Upper Legislative chamber had given the Bill an accelerated hearing by suspending relevant sections of its standing rules and referred the Bill to the Committee of the Whole for consideration.

After debate on the Bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the Bill to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND for further legislative work and to report back in one week.

The Bill seeks to provide easy access to higher education for indigent Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund established in the Act to provide education for all Nigerians.

Salawu, Akingbolu & Co., the legal representatives of Mrs. Wunmi Aloba, wife of the late singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, known as Mohbad, have refuted a publication by UK-based Nigerian blogger Bukky Jesse. The claim made by Jesse alleged that the law firm had conducted a DNA test on Mohbad's son, Liam.

According to a disclaimer issued on Wednesday and signed by Kabir Akingbolu, the blogger had made a publication alleging that the law firm was involved in carrying out a DNA test on Mohbad’s son in connivance with one Latona Hospital and later, Lagoon Hospital, all in Lagos State.

SaharaReporters had reported how Bukky Jesse, a blogger and social media influencer who is based in Manchester, had intensified her cyberbullying of Mohbad’s wife.

Bukky Jesse had in a Facebook and Instagram live of over three hours accused Wunmi of killing her husband and taking possession of Mohbad’s properties, and using the media to gather the records she will use at the embassy of a foreign country to seek asylum and flee Nigeria with her son, Liam.

SaharaReporters had also reported how Bukky Jesse embarked on cyberbullying of renowned human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), for requesting the intervention of the Nigeria Police Force over death threats coming to Mohbad’s wife.

She had in a Facebook post used derogatory words for Falana and his co-workers for taking the brief of MohBad’s wife.

Akingbolu said that the allegation has no iota of truth but one made by a “self-serving, jobless attention seeker and overseas fugitive” who believes in making money by maligning people with integrity so as to attract followers on the Internet

The disclaimer read, “The attention of the law firm of Salawu, Akingbolu & Co. has been drawn to an online publication by a Blogger named Bukky Jesse, who, in her desperate quest to garner more online followers threw caution to the wind by making an unfounded allegation that our Law Firm was involved in carrying out a Deoxyribonucleic (DNA) test on one Liam, the son of late Hip-hop Singer Aloba Ilerioluwa Promise popularly known as Mohbad in connivance with one Latona Hospital and later Lagoon Hospital.

“For the record, we state and maintain that we are Professional Litigation Lawyers of repute and our integrity in that light has never been in doubt since the inception of our Law Firm, for we are Lawyers who believe strongly in ethics and professionalism.

“As a matter of fact, our track records in defending the masses and fighting poor government policies and corruption are testimonials to what we do.

“Although Mrs. Wunmi Aloba, the wife to the late Singer, Aloba llerioluwa Promise (Mohbad), recently briefed our Law Firm and our service was retained to represent her in her cases and we have been doing our job strictly as Lawyers, we are, therefore, surprised by the unfounded allegation made by the so-called Blogger that we are into Deoxyribonucleic (DNA) test when we are not medical practitioners.

“NOTICE is hereby given to the general public to disregard the unsubstantiated publication made by the said Blogger. We have never, at any point in time, carried out any Deoxyribonucleic (DNA) test for Mrs. Wunmi Aloba nor any person whosoever because we are not running a hospital but a Law Firm.

“This is an allegation that has no iota of truth but one made by a self-serving, jobless attention seeker and overseas fugitive who believes in making money by maligning people with integrity so as to attract followers on the Internet.”

“We hereby urge the general public to discountenance and jettison the spurious, unfounded, baseless and puerile allegation by Bukky Jesse who has been dishing out falsehood and contradictory information to the general public under the pretence of seeking justice for the death of late Aloba Ilerioluwa Promise (Mohbad).

“For us, we know that under the law, it is only the father of a child, in this case, MOHBAD, that can question the paternity of the child, LIAM, but he never doubted the paternity of the child when he was alive. 

“As a matter of fact, he had two lands, one was bought in the name of LIAM. This is more so because even if MOHBAD had adopted another child out of wedlock when he was alive, so far as there was/is such acknowledgement, the whole world cannot gang up to deny such a child of his inheritance even though he was born out of wedlock.

“So why would I bother myself with DNA (to prove what?) instead of facing the legal issues involved?

“Having said that, we assure the public that the long hands of the law will catch up with this impostor and accidental blogger of infinitesimal value with no traceable address in Nigeria, as soon as we are able to unveil her identity which has been shrouded in secrecy and we dare her to come out if she can defend any of her gutter vituperations.”

Nollywood actress Bimpe Oyebanji Adedimeji aka Mo Bimpe has revealed the problems she faced just for marrying popular actor Lateef Adedimeji.

According to her, she was insulted and cursed online for marrying her husband.

In a recent podcast, Mo Bimpe said she has been getting trolled daily since she married her husband. Her words: “Since I got married to my husband, the trolls have increased, from one troll to another. In fact, I get trolled on my social media accounts every day since I got married to Lateef Adedimeji.”

Mo Bimpe gave an instance of a lady, who trolled her and went to her husband’s page the next day to ask him to marry her as a second wife.

“An instance was when a lady came to my page and asked when I was going to get pregnant or something and I was like what kind of comment was that and fans took her up and she was responding to the fans, insulting and cursing some others. One thing I am sure of is that trolls don’t have a happy life.

They are not happy, they are sad, they don’t have a life and don’t have anything doing or going good for them. I feel like trolls are miserable and they just want to talk.

They just want other people to be sad like them. So, this instance I gave earlier on, after all this lady did on my page, she went on my husband’s page a day after and asked him to marry her as his second wife. At the end of the day, I am living well, I am happy and it is the trolls’ loss.”

Continuing, the actress said, “As a public figure, people will have different opinions about you. There is no way you can avoid it as long as you are great unless you are not out there. I am a public figure and got married to a star myself, how would I not be trolled? I am a private person and before I got married, I was not as outgoing as I am now but with marriage, you can only find me on the red carpet probably supporting my husband doing my wifely duties. It is impossible for me not to be out there and I am not going to shrink myself because of some certain individuals, this is my life, I chose it and can’t avoid all that comes with it.”

A 42-year-old driver, Ifeanyi Okafor, has been arrested by the Edo State Police Command, with 11 wraps of Indian hemp and other illicit drugs in the state.

Parading the suspect on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, the state Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, said he was arrested by Operation Safer Highway while on stop and search along the Benin-Lagos Road on his way to deliver the drugs to someone in Onitsha, Anambra State.

“The police intercepted Okafor’s vehicle and when a search was conducted on the vehicle, three well-conceived substances later found to be Indian hemp and other drugs were recovered from him,” the CP stated.

"But upon thorough search of the vehicle, another eight wraps were found concealed inside the vehicle spare tyre bringing the total recovered drugs to 11 wraps.”

"The driver of the vehicle one Ifeanyi Okafor was arrested and he has confessed that he was asked to deliver the items to someone in the Easter part of the country

In an interview with journalists, the suspect who hails from Anambra State, said he was not aware of the content of the waybill.

“The items were given to me as a waybill to be delivered to someone at Onitsha. The owner told me it was clothes and shoes inside the waybill," he said.

“But on getting to Edo State, I discovered it was drugs when the police arrested my vehicle.”