Latest News
FEATURES
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Deputy Senate Leader Oyelola Ashiru yesterday clashed over arrests and the discovery of illicit drugs from two ‘’joints’’ in Kwara State.
The clash followed allegations by NDLEA Chairman Brig Gen Buba Marwa that Ashiru’s description of his agency as corrupt was borne out of vendetta.
The Deputy Senate Leader had during his contribution to a debate on a Bill for an Act to establish the National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation seven days ago, also alleged that NDLEA had become a compromised body.
He spoke during plenary in the Senate.
But at a news conference in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Gen. Marwa alleged that the lawmaker’s outburst was because NDLEA was determined to root out ‘’illicit drug networks, including the one operating from his residence in Ilorin”.
Last week, Senator Samaila Kawu (Kano South) alleged on the floor of the Senate that some senators were involved in illicit drug. He was ruled out of order by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin who was presiding, for making a comment outside the issue being debated.
Gen. Marwa, a former Lagos State military administrator, represented at the news conference by NDLEA’s Director (Media and Advocacy) Femi Babafemi, said operatives of the anti-narcotic agency found in February that Ashiru’s home in the Government Reservation Area(GRA) in Ilorin, was a drug ‘’joint’’ for both dealers and users.
He added that operatives arrested two aides of the Senator – Ibrahim Mohammed and Muhammed Yahaya – during the February raid.
The NDLEA boss also recalled that on June 11, 2023, another man and member of ‘’Senator’s boys,’’ Oluwatosin Odepidan, was arrested with illicit drugs in a “joint” in Offa also in Kwara State.
Odepidan, according to Marwa, jumped bail, but was rearrested, prosecuted, and convicted this year.
In a swift reaction, the Kwara South Senator.said it behooved the NDLEA to prosecute all those arrested from the “joints” in connection with drugs.
In a statement, his Special Assistant, Olaitan Adeyanju, said: “The NDLEA claims to have discovered drugs in Senator Ashiru’s Ilorin house, but there’s no information on which court of law the culprits were charged to.
“In fact, Senator Ashiru has been vocal about the NDLEA’s corruption and compromise, which might be the reason behind these allegations.
“However, the senator has challenged the agency to prosecute anyone that is found with illicit drugs.”
The senator also denied that he sent an aide to influence the dropping of a drug charge against Odepidian, adding that others mentioned by the agency were unfamiliar to him.
Marwa had while acknowledging the support of the National Assembly explained that he needed to ‘’set the record straight for the benefit’’ of other lawmakers.
He said: “The NDLEA is compelled to call this press briefing because of an unfortunate development earlier last week during plenary in the Nigerian Senate when some uncomplimentary, unfounded, defamatory remarks were made against the agency.
“While acknowledging the great work of the Senate towards the upliftment of Nigeria and Nigerians, especially their support for the ongoing concerted efforts towards the amendment of the NDLEA Act, the agency, however, is duty-bound to respond to the unprovoked attack against it by Senator Ashiru.
“There is no doubt that setting up another agency is within the power of the Senate and if we are invited to contribute to the debate, we will be willing to offer our opinion.
“While we cannot fault the power of the Senate on that, yet for a member of the Upper Chamber to have made such an unfounded and unwarranted categorical statement against the agency led us to look inward to see what could have been responsible for such a carpeting general statement.
“What we found was shocking, and we concluded that his statement came from a place of vendetta and certainly not out of public interest or any altruistic motive.
“The personal house of the senator in GRA Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, had been raided in the recent past, where drugs and illicit substances were recovered while two of his aides – Ibrahim Mohammed and Muhammed Yahaya – were arrested.
‘’Based on credible intelligence and surveillance which confirmed that the senator’s house was being used as a drug joint for drug dealers and users, the house was raided by our operatives at 1:30 pm on February 4, 2024, during which the two aides were arrested, while a third suspect escaped arrest.
“In another encounter with the senator, the agency also received intelligence that some of his boys, popularly known as ‘Omo Senator ’ operating from his hometown, Offa, were equally dealing in illicit drugs.
‘’A raid was subsequently carried out on their joint in Offa where one of them, Oluwatosin Odepidan, was arrested and illicit drugs such as methamphetamine and cannabis recovered from him on June 11, 2023.
“The bid to get the agency to drop the case against Odepidan, including a visit to the Kwara State Command headquarters of the agency in Ilorin by the Personal Assistant to the senator, one Omoluabi, was rebuffed as Odepidan was promptly charged to court and prosecuted.
“Though the culprit jumped court bail in 2023, he was re-arrested in 2024 after the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He was eventually convicted and sentenced in June 2024.
“So, going by this backstory, it is deductible that these encounters that the agency has had with the senator, must have been responsible for his outburst, and unfortunately, false allegation, the type that nobody within and outside of government has ever leveled against NDLEA before.”
[TheNation]
Renowned economist, Prof Pat Utomi, has claimed that the nation is presently a failure, made worse by the lack of alternative thinking to turn things around.
According to Utomi, the lack of alternative thinking was worsened by a total capture of the legislature and the judiciary, as he described the present National Assembly as the worst thing that happened to the country.
He argued that the National Assembly, which should be the platform for robust debates to turn around the nation’s fortunes, had been captured.
Speaking with The PUNCH, the economist said Nigeria was a tragic failure because the political class and the elites, particularly the legal elite, are self-centred rather than thinking of the common good of the nation.
Utomi said it was baffling that the Nigerian political class failed to recognise that the nation was presently at war, requiring a war cabinet where almost everybody pulls together to fix the nation’s problems.
He stressed that there was a need for the leadership to sincerely lead by example, particularly cutting down on its lavish lifestyle, rather than calling on Nigerians to sacrifice.
“Nigeria is a failure right now; democracy is not working. We all know that; anybody who does not know that is fooling himself. We have total judicial capture; we have legislative capture, so there is no alternative thinking in the country.
“For me, the worst thing that has happened to the country is the National Assembly because that is where you should have the kind of debates that will lead you to options, but you can’t because the whole place is captured.
“These guys are just hustlers trying to get what they can out of the system without asking what will make the country work.
“When you have that kind of problem, you come to the point that James Robinson was making when he says a classic example is Nigeria which knows what to do but cannot seem to do it. You need, in a time like this, a certain kind of mindset.
“A local example is Olusegun Obasanjo in 1976/1977 when the oil crisis began to slide. He decided that we would go to low-profile mode. As head of state, his car was a Peugeot 504; he cut his travels.
“Anybody who watches the way people in power spend public resources cannot take seriously any statement that this is a time of sacrifice. So, the problem begins with them. Intense political commitment is not there,” he said.
The economist added, “You cannot save an economy when the political actors are on a binge and you will not have the kind of consequences that you have today for the economy.
“It is an intensely political process to turn around the economy. The Nigerian political class needs to recognise that we are in a moral equivalence of a war. And when a country is at war, it pulls together. Nigerian politicians still think they are on a binge.
“So, they are all running in different directions, and nobody is sitting down to forge a national consensus on how to solve this problem. When you have the moral equivalence of war, what you need is to set up a war room, and war cabinet and bring everybody together to say, how do we fix these problems.”
He stressed the need for intense political will to forge a national consensus to solve the nation’s problems, as against politicians stockpiling money to prosecute their next electioneering quest.
Asked if the adherence of Nigeria to policies of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank was a bane of Nigeria’s economic challenges, Utomi said the world bodies would usually provide templates, but it was up to nations to analyse such templates in line with their local peculiarities.
He said the challenge was whether Nigeria deployed the requisite local, intellectual knowledge to evaluate IMF templates in the interest of the common good.
“IMF can have a template, but what is responsible for the outcome is not their template; it is how local actors politically live their way through doing the right things for growth and development for their country. IMF and World Bank have got it wrong many times; it does not mean that their intention is not right.
“It means that they just have formulas and it is not an exact science. So what is desperately needed is for there to be a local, intellectual capacity to evaluate those templates and act in the interest and good of the local environment.
“This is where Nigeria has been a tragic failure because the political class and its elites, particularly the legal elite, have not acted as patriots either because they are ignorant or because they are too pathologically self-centred to think of the common good.”
[Punch]
…Asks court order to void import licenses
…Demands N100bn damages for alleged sabotage
Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals said yesterday it was settling out of court with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and six others over import licences granted them by the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, to import petrol into the country.
Recall that the company had approached a Federal High Court in Abuja, praying it to nullify the licenses and also award it N100billion damages against the 1st defendant which is the NNPCL
However, in a statement last night, Dangote said it was ready to settle the case amicably with NNPCL and other defendants in what it described as an old case filed in June.
The statement, signed by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejine, read: ‘’This is an old issue that started in June and culminated in a matter filed on Sept 6, 2024.
‘’Currently, the parties are in discussion since President Bola Tinubu’s directive on crude oil and refined product sales in naira initiative, which the Federal Executive Council, FEC, approved.
‘’We have made tremendous progress in that regard and events have overtaken this development. No party has been served with court processes and there is no intention of doing so. We have agreed to put a halt to the proceedings.
‘’It is important to stress that no orders have been made and there are no adverse effects on any party. We understand that once the matter comes up in January 2025, we will be in a position to formally withdraw the matter in court.’’
Dangote had in the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, queried the propriety of the licence issued to the defendants to bring refined petroleum products into the country when there is no shortfall in its production.
Other defendants in the suit are the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, AYM Shafa Limited, A.A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited as well as Matrix Petroleum Services Limited.
The plaintiff is equally praying the court to award N100 billion in damages against the NMDPRA for allegedly continuing to issue import licenses to NNPCL and the other defendants for the import of petroleum products such as Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and Jet Fuel (aviation turbine fuel) into Nigeria.
It told the court that the licences were issued to the defendants, “despite the production of AGO and Jet-A1 that exceeds the current daily consumption of petroleum products in Nigeria by the Dangote Refinery.”
Specifically, Dangote Refinery, among other things, applied for an order of injunction, restraining the 1st defendant (NMDPRA) from further issuing and/or renewing import licenses to the 2nd to 7th defendants or other companies to import petroleum products.
It further sought general damages in the sum of N100 billion against the 1st defendant, as well as an order of the court directing the 1st defendant to seal off all tank farms, storage facilities, warehouses, and stations used by the defendants for the storage of all refined petroleum products imported into Nigeria.
Other reliefs the plaintiff prayed for, included, “a declaration that by the provisions of Section 8(1) of the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Act (NEPZA), Sections 23(h) and 55(1) of the Companies Income Tax Act (CIT Act), Paragraph 6 of the Second Schedule to the CIT Act, Regulation 54(2)(a)(i) of the Dangote Industries Free Zone Regulation 2020, and the Finance Act, the plaintiff, being an entity duly registered as a Free-Zone Enterprise, is exempted from all federal, state, and local government taxes, levies, and other rates.
“A declaration that it is against the NEPZA Act, CIT Act, Finance Act, and Dangote Industries Free Zone Regulation 2020, as well as legislative intent, for the 1st Defendant to impose or threaten to impose on the plaintiff an additional financial obligation of a 0.5% levy meant for off-takers of petroleum products directly and an additional 0.5% wholesale levy in favour of the Midstream Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, MDGIF.
“An order of mandatory injunction directing the 1st Defendant to withdraw immediately all import licenses issued to the 2nd-7th defendants and other companies other than the plaintiff and other local refineries for the purpose of importing refined petroleum products into Nigeria.”
“An order of injunction restraining the 1st Defendant from imposing and demanding a 0.5% levy meant for off-takers of petroleum products directly and an additional 0.5% wholesale levy in favour of MDGIF or any other levy or sum against the plaintiff.”
According to the plaintiff, NMDPRA acted in breach of Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act by issuing licenses for the importation of petroleum products to the defendants.
In the processes filed through a team of lawyers led by Mr Ogwu Onoja, SAN, the plaintiff, such licenses ought to be issued only when there is a shortfall of petroleum products in the country.
It urged the court to declare that NMDPRA violates its statutory responsibilities under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) for not encouraging local refineries such as the one owned by the plaintiff.
In an affidavit deposed to by the Group General Manager of Government and Strategic Relations at Dangote Refinery, Ahmed Hashem, he told the court that import licenses granted to other companies by NMDPRA for the importation of AGO and Jet-A1 are crippling the plaintiff’s business which it committed substantial financial resources in billions of US dollars.
He averred that the plaintiff’s products are largely left unpatronized due to the actions of NMDPRA.
More so, the deponent told the court that NMDPRA has threatened to impose and demand a 0.5% levy on the plaintiff on wholesales and off-takers, as well as another 0.5% levy on wholesales to the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) via a letter dated June 10, 2024, contrary to statutory provisions that limit the implementation of levies on transactions within Free Zones.
He alleged a grand conspiracy and concerted effort by International Oil Companies and interests, in conjunction with the defendants, who are unhappy that Nigeria has an indigenous refinery ready to solve the lingering energy crisis and save the economy.
“The intervention of the honourable court has become necessary to stem the incessant violation of statutory provisions by the 1st Defendant in favour of other entities such as the 2nd to 7th defendants,” the plaintiff added.
Meanwhile, there were indications that the matter may not be heard by the court as a member of the plaintiff’s legal team, Mr George Ibrahim, SAN, notified the court yesterday that efforts to amicably resolve the issue were afoot.
He said the defendants had indicated their intention to explore an out-of-court settlement.
Consequently, Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned the matter till January 20, 2025, for a report of settlement.
[Vanguard]
Nyesom Wike, the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), says he revoked the title of an abandoned land allocated to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc to construct quarters for judges in Abuja.
Wike spoke in Abuja on Monday at the official flag-off ceremony of the design and construction of judges’ quarters.
In September, the federal executive council (FEC) approved the construction of 40 houses in Abuja for judges in the country.
Wike had told journalists that the judges’ quarters would be sited in the Kantampe district of Abuja, noting that 20 units would be allocated to judges of the FCT high court, 10 to those of the federal high court, and 10 to the judges of court of appeal.
The FCT minister said the project is expected to be completed in 15 months.
Wike said he was driving around the FCT to find suitable land space for the judges’ housing project and sighted the plot allocated to the construction company about 20 years ago, which was yet to be developed.
“When we were looking for land to build, I was driving around looking for empty land. And I got here; I saw this big land, and I saw the big post, ‘Julius Berger’,” he said.
“I didn’t talk. I called the director of lands and asked, ‘who owns that land?’ he said, Julius Berger. When was it allocated? He said about 15 to 20 years ago. 15, 20 years ago? Nothing has been done? I didn’t bother.
“So, I invited the MD Julius Berger to come. He came, and we had dinner. I didn’t talk about the land. The next day, he was in the office, and he saw the revocation letter as a matter of public interest.
“He called me and said, ‘but I had dinner with you.’ I said, ‘Yes; we had dinner, but we didn’t discuss the land’.
“The point is that—how will the government allocate land for more than 20 years for organisations to develop and they did not develop it? Thank God, they did not develop it, and now we can have it.”
[TheCable]
Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), an organisation founded by Bezos Earth Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation and Ikea Foundation, are piloting a solar mini-grid programme in Nigeria to address unreliable electricity and boost productivity.
Bezos Earth Fund was founded by Jeff Bezos, a United States billionaire, and the Rockefeller Foundation was established by the late American industrialist, John D. Rockefeller, while the Ikea Foundation was formed by the late Swedish businessman, Ingvar Kamprad.
In a report on Monday, Bloomberg said GEAPP, formed in 2021, has a programme, demand aggregation for renewable technology (DART), which lowers solar equipment costs by pooling developers’ needs and also offers a $25 million financing facility for equipment imports, repayable in naira.
Speaking during an interview at one of the project sites in Ogun State, Muhammad Wakil, GEAPP’s country delivery lead, said the pooling arrangement provides savings of up to 30 percent for developers.
“GEAPP provides grants, loans, and technical assistance to mini-grid developers, taking advantage of a government rule introduced last year that allows mini-grids to operate alongside national grids. This programme’s success has led the World Bank to pledge $130 million for similar facilities,” Wakil said.
“The site in Ogun State is a one-megawatt solar mini-grid built by Darway Coast, a Nigerian mini-grid company. By the end of the year, it will provide the local community with 24-hour electricity, replacing the eight hours currently supplied by Ikeja Electric Plc.”
The publication also reported that GEAPP helped build the first interconnected mini-grid in December in Nigeria, adding that two more are under construction, with funding available for a fourth.
The facilities, according to the report, are operated by private developers and supplement the limited hours of supply from the national grid to power businesses and homes continuously.
‘NIGERIA NEEDS THOUSANDS OF SIMILAR PROJECTS TO ELIMINATE ENERGY POVERTY’
Wakil said thousands of similar projects are needed across Nigeria to eliminate energy poverty.
He explained that, initially, GEAPP aims to build a pilot project in each of the regions served by Nigeria’s 11 power distribution companies (DisCos), with a long-term plan to facilitate 10 gigawatts of mini-grids, however, the programme complements efforts to establish mini-grids in areas without access to the national power grid.
Advertisement
“We need hundreds or thousands of these kinds of projects across Nigeria to end energy poverty,” Wakil said.
“We have shown it’s a viable business model.”
According to the report, Fatima Haliru, power purchase manager at Ikeja Electric, said everybody is open to creating energy and selling to customers based on the provision of the Electricity Act.
Haliru said instead of engaging Darway as competitors, “it’s better to engage them as partners”.
An investigative panel says it has found no evidence that Idris Okuneye, a popular crossdresser known as Bobrisky, slept outside the prison walls after she was sentenced.
Bobrisky was released from prison on August 5 after she was sentenced to six months on April 12 for abusing the naira.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, had ordered a probe after VeryDarkMan, an activist, shared a video in which Bobrisky purportedly claimed that she bribed some Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials to drop the money laundering charge against her.
In the footage, a voice allegedly belonging to Bobrisky also claimed that a “godfather”, alongside Haliru Nababa, the controller general of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), ensured she served the six-month sentence in a private apartment and not in prison.
On September 30, Tunji-Ojo constituted an investigative panel chaired by Magdalena Ajani, permanent secretary of the ministry of interior, on ‘Alleged Corruption & Other Violations Against the Nigerian Correctional Service’.
Reading the phase one report of the panel at the ministry of interior on Monday, Uju Agomoh, executive director and founder of Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), said the panel “did not find any evidence thus far that suggested that Mr Okuneye slept outside the custodial centre during the period of his imprisonment, which was from 12th April 2024 to the 5th August 2024, which is a six-month correctional sentence with the usual remission applicable”.
Agomoh said during this period, Bobrisky was transferred from the Kuje Custodial Centre to Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kirikiri-Apapa, Lagos; and then to the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, from where she was discharged after completion of her sentence.
The panel, however, said the cross-dresser’s transfer to a maximum security facility as a first offender violated Section 164A and Section 164B of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act of 2019.
“The panel also found that Mr. Okuneye Idris enjoyed several privileges while in custody, both at the Medium Security and the Maximum Security Custodial Centres, which include, especially the following: furnished single cells, humidifier, lots of visits by his family members and friends as he desired, self-feeding, designated inmates to run errands for him, access to fridge and television, and possibly access to his phone,” the statement reads.
“It is necessary to further investigate if the above privileges provided for Okuneye Idris were financially motivated and based on corrupt practices by correctional officers.
“The panel believes that the peculiar case of the inmates and the inmates’ physical look and behaviour pose a threat, and the lack of laid-down rules for the treatment of such a case may have necessitated such privileges to be granted to Okunenye Idris.
“The panel recommends that clear guidelines need to be set up to guide operations regarding such incidents in future.
“Steps should be taken to avoid the obvious discriminatory practices in relation to the socio-economic levels and other status of inmates.”
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says Oyelola Yisa Ashiru, deputy majority leader of the senate, is “bad-mouthing” it because drugs were allegedly found in his home.
Last week, Ashiru, senator representing Kwara south, said the agency is the “most corrupt and compromised government agency” in the country and there is a need to establish a new organisation to curb drug addiction and trafficking.
The senator was contributing to a debate on a bill seeking to establish an institute for drug awareness and rehabilitation.
During that debate, Kawu Sumaila, senator representing Kano south, alleged that the homes of some politicians are being used to stockpile narcotics.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s director of media, said Ashiru’s outburst was because of his grouse with the agency.
“The personal house of the senator in GRA Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, had been raided in recent past, where drugs and illicit substances were recovered while two of his aides: Ibrahim Mohammed and Muhammed Yahaya were arrested,” Babafemi said.
“Based on credible intelligence and surveillance which confirmed that the senators house was being used as a drug joint for drug dealers and users, the house was raided by our operatives at 1:30pm on February 4, 2024 during which the two aides were arrested, while a third suspect escaped arrest.
“So, going by this backstory, it is deductible that these encounters that the Agency has had with the senator, must have been responsible for his outburst, and unfortunately, false allegation, the type that nobody within and outside of government has ever levelled against NDLEA before.
“Suffice it to say that in the past three years, NDLEA has emerged as a regional leader among national drug law enforcement agencies. So, come to think about it, an agency so badmouthed by Senator Ashiru couldn’t have been attracting such international goodwill and commendation for being the “most corrupt government agency” in Nigeria.
“Against the background of our encounter with people linked to him, we are wont to believe that Senator Ashiru’s invectives against NDLEA were borne out of vendetta and not any opinion made in the public interest.”
The director said in the past three years, the NDLEA has made over 52,000 arrests and secured more than 9,000 convictions.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) says its operatives have found a lifeless body of a man on the Ikeja railway track, in Agege area of the state.
Nosa Okunbor, head of LASEMA’s public affairs unit, said investigations showed that the man was hit by a moving train in the early hours of Monday.
He said the body has been deposited at the morgue.
“On arrival of the Eagle response team at the incident scene by 0902hrs, LRT discovered the body of an adult male laying dead on the railway track,” he said.
“Further investigations by the Eagle Response Team revealed that the adult male was reportedly hit by a moving train in the early hours of the day.
“Unfortunately, an unidentified adult male lost his life to the incident. The Agency’s response team recovered the body from the railway tracks.
“The response team bagged the commodity and handed it over to the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, SEHMU. SEHMU has transferred the commodity to the morgue for further processing.”
The agencies that responded to the incident include LASEMA Response Team, Nigeria Railway Corporation, (NRC), and Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps (LNSC).
The Yobe police command says it has arrested a woman identified as Hamsatu Modu for allegedly trafficking 350 rounds of ammunition in the state.
In a statement on Monday, Dungus Abdulkarim, Yobe police spokesperson, said a suspect was caught transporting the arms from Buni Yadi to Damaturu, the state capital.
Abdulkarim said Modu was arrested following credible intelligence about the suspect’s movement.
“On October 20, 2024, at about 1830 hours, ‘A’ Divisional Police Headquarters, Damaturu, received credible intelligence regarding a suspected gunrunner en route to Damaturu,” the statement reads.
“Swift action led to the interception of a Golf 3 saloon car, and a thorough search revealed 350 rounds of live 7.62×39 MM ammunition concealed in the suspect’s luggage.”
The spokesperson said that the suspect is being interrogated to “uncover the motives and dismantle the underlying criminal organization.”
Garba Ahmed, Yobe police commissioner, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to combating crime.
He called for the cooperation and vigilance of residents against suspicious activities in their neighbourhoods.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says those challenging its legality are “feeling the heat” of anti-graft war.
In an interview with Channels Television on Monday, Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC’s director of public affairs, said the agency is “worried and shocked” about the suit in view of the “corruption problem” in the country.
BACKGROUND
Recently, attorneys-general of 16 states of the federation filed a suit challenging the constitutionality of the law establishing the EFCC.
The states argued that in enacting the law in 2004, the national assembly failed to adhere to section 12 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which governs the incorporation of international treaties into domestic law.
They noted that the EFCC Act cannot be applied to states that did not give their consent to its creation.
The supreme court had fixed October 22 to hear the suit filed by the 16 states.
In two letters addressed to the constitution review committees of the senate and house of representatives, Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said EFCC was not constitutionally established.
Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, and some civil society organisations have faulted the suit.
‘NIGERIA CAN’T SURVIVE WITHOUT US’
Uwujaren said the establishment of the EFCC followed due process in the national assembly while calling on Nigerians to reject the move to “derail” the operations of the agency.
“I am worried that with the kind of problem we have with corruption in this country, some people will go to court to challenge the legality of EFCC,” he said.
“What you see playing out today is simply people who are feeling the heat of the work of the EFCC, and they simply want to derail what is going on within the EFCC. They see EFCC as a threat.
“Nigerians should see through the gimmick of those who are behind the suit on the legality of the commission.
“We are really shocked by what is happening. Nigerians should see through this shenanigan and oppose it because I don’t see how this country can survive without the EFCC with the kind of corruption problem that we have in this country. Nigeria cannot do without the EFCC.”
EFCC was established December 12, 2002 following an act of national assembly under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
More...
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has stated that the current economic hardship being witnessed in the nation cannot be attributed to the Tinubu-led administration.
Akpabio expressed this thought at the 2024 reunion of the UNICAL '87 Law Class over the weekend.
According to him, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in power, there is light at the end of the tunnel because his administration will leave behind lasting legacies that will guarantee the future of Nigerians.
“The difficulties we are witnessing in our nation today were not caused by the present administration. These are as a result of years of maladministration. Any country that does not have backbone infrastructure, you don’t have something to develop, you don’t save for the raining day, when there is economic malaise such as we are witnessing in the world today, such country is bound to be affected.
The good news is that under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we have hope today, that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
The things that we are trying to do now, we are doing for posterity. Not for ourselves. Be assured that this administration will leave behind lasting legacies that will guarantee a better future.”
The federal government has pleaded with Nigerians in diaspora to return home and build a better country.
The call was made by the Chairman, Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
Dabiri-Erewa on behalf of the Federal Government said it is important that every Nigerian return to the country to contribute their quota to the development of the nation.
Speaking while delivering the 12th Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti ABUAD Convocation lecture on Saturday, the NIDCOM chairman said the experiences gathered by Nigerians abroad are needed back home.
According to her, such experiences would help proffer solutions to the socioeconomic challenges hampering Nigeria’s growth and development.
Dabiri-Erewa also noted that the commission is working effortlessly to support the framework for the facilitation of diaspora engagement in national growth and development.
A panel setup by the Federal Government has dismissed claims by controversial activist, Verydarkman that the popular crossdresser, Idris Okuneye aka Bobrisky slept outside the prison during his six-month jail term.
According to the panel report on Monday, there is no evidence showing that Bobrisky served his sentence outside the prison.
The Executive Director and founder of Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action, Uju Agomoh, disclosed this while reading the phase one report of the panel at the Ministry of Interior.
Bobrisky was released from prison on August 5 after she was sentenced to six months on April 12 for naira mutilation.
Popular activist, VeryDarkMan had accused Bobrisky of spending his jail term in a lodge and not the Kirikiri prison due to the influence of a godfather.
VeryDarkMan also released an audio of Bobrisky alleging to have bribed officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, with N15 million to drop his money laundering charges.
Following this revelation, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, ordered a probe.
On September 30, Tunji-Ojo constituted an investigative panel chaired by Magdalena Ajani, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, on ‘Alleged Corruption & Other Violations Against the Nigerian Correctional Service’.
However, Agomoh said the panel “did not find any evidence thus far that suggested that Mr Okuneye slept outside the custodial centre during the period of his imprisonment, which was from 12th April 2024 to the 5th August 2024, which is a six-month correctional sentence with the usual remission applicable”.
Nollywood actress Ronke Oshodi Oke has been left shedding tears of joy after being surprised by streaming platform, Netflix.
The actress received a box of chocolate, a fashionable cup, and more from the streaming platform.
They also sent her a letter, expressing how proud they were to have her on the set of their movie, Anikulapo.
Sharing the video, she wrote: “A few weeks ago, I received a beautiful surprise from @netflixfilm, and it truly touched my heart.
Thank you, @netflixfilm, for this incredible recognition.
I’m beyond grateful to God, and my dear brother @kunleafo is even more motivated to keep pushing forward.
To my family and supporters, I promise to always give my best you all inspire me every day”.
See comments below:
Kunle Afod wrote, “You are good at what you do so you must get the reward while you are still alive my sister
Fausat Balogun wrote, “Congratulations Ashakeade
Toyosi Adesanya wrote, “More grace in all your endeavors
Monica Friday wrote, “You deserve everything good ma. A priceless easy going, super talented, and great legend
Ifeoluwa Elizbeth wrote, “You’re a legend ma, you made our childhood and you’re still making our adulthood. You deserve every recognition because you’re good at what you do
Kamo State wrote, “Congratulations Mama, up way
Raph Dubai wrote, “Congratulations sis u really deserve it our veteran
The Olaiya Temitope wrote, “You work so hard. You deserve more”.