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2025 Budget: Universities Forced To Pay ₦8 Million Each To Lawmakers In Alleged Bribery Scheme
AFOLABI
A report has claimed that some lawmakers in the National Assembly have set up a bribery scheme targeting federal universities and other tertiary institutions in the country.
According to the report by Premium Times, lawmakers are using intimidation and threats to force the heads of universities to pay ₦8 million each to approve their allocations in the 2025 budgets.
The extortion scheme allegedly involves senators and members of the House of Representatives.
The lawmakers, operating through the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund and the House Committee on University Education, are demanding money from universities to approve their budgets.
Using an elaborate and complex system created by the lawmakers, 60 federal university vice chancellors are required to pay ₦8 million each (₦4 million each to Senate and House Committees).
The lawmakers are expecting ₦480 million from the extortion, and they have assigned two vice chancellors from the North Central and North West geopolitical zones to coordinate the payments to avoid detection.
It was gathered that the House Committee, chaired by Hassan Fulata (APC, Jigawa), set the extortion scheme in motion on 16 January during a meeting with some vice chancellors. At the meeting, the VCs were given clear and firm instructions about what was expected of them.
Initially scheduled for 10 a.m. that day, the meeting was delayed until 3 p.m. due to behind-the-scenes discussions between lawmakers and some vice chancellors.
Speaking anonymously to the aforementioned publication, one of the vice chancellors said the lawmakers were explicit in their demands.
The source revealed that the lawmakers criticised the vice chancellors for not cooperating, unlike other institutions that comply without resistance.
At one point, the tone of the meeting became more threatening. Sources at the meeting said the committee members “cajoled, threatened, and even humiliated” some vice chancellors.
“They threatened us with probes if we failed to play ball with them.
“Most other agencies are not grumbling like the VCs”, one attendee told the publication.
The majority of the vice chancellors reportedly grumbled and complained about the lawmakers’ demands, expressing frustration over the repeated extortion.
However, the more they complained, the more aggressive the lawmakers became, escalating their threats of probes
32-year-old murder suspect, Timileyin Ajayi, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Salome Adaidu.
Naija News reports that the suspect was arraigned on Monday at the High Court of Justice in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State.
He was charged with one count of culpable homicide punishable by death, contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria.
However, upon his arraignment before Justice Simon Aboki, the suspect pleaded not guilty to the allegation.
Meanwhile, Timileyin Ajayi has stated that he feels no regret in killing his alleged girlfriend, Salome.
Recall the suspect was apprehended for the alleged murder of a 24-year-old member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), serving at Nicon Insurance in the Nation’s capital, Abuja.
Adaidu was murdered when she visited the suspect at his house in the Papalana axis at New Karshi in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The suspect was nabbed Sunday, January 12, while trying to dispose of the head of the deceased after killing her and dismembering her body parts when she visited him at his house.
Speaking to Channels Television, Ajayi stated that he did not plan to kill Adaidu, but that he carried out the act because they do not have time for each other
Media personality, Toke Makinwa has reacted to the alleged spilt between Afrobeats veteran, Innocent idibia, popularly known as 2baba, and his wife of 12 years, Anne Idibia.
Recall that the singer had announced the separation in an Instagram post on Sunday.
He wrote, “Hello my beautiful people of all federation. Well this thing I have to say short but also long… I and Annie Macauley have been separated for a while now, and currently filed for divorce.
“I would grant a press release soon to say my story. Not because it is anyone’s right to know about my personal life, but because I love my people and I want them to know my innocence or offense. Stay bless my people.”
Reacting to 2baba’s post, Makinwa slammed the singer for taking to social media to announce his separation and imminent divorce from his wife.
While reacting to a video 2face posted confirming his separation, Toke wrote, “This is wrong on all levels and you should be ashamed of yourself for bringing this here. Bring it on, if you think she’s alone let me tell you here that you’ll have to f!ght all of us.”
She called on other women to stand up in defence for Annie.
A nationwide protest is currently brewing in Nigeria following the recent approval by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, for telecommunication operators to increase tariff by 50%.
DAILY POST reports that following the mounting financial struggles birthed by the devaluation of the naira and increasing operational costs in Africa’s most populous nation, telecom operators like MTN and Airtel had demanded a 100% tariff increase.
However, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, on Monday, January 20 announced the approval of a 50% tariff increase.
By the time the Mobil Network Operators implement the approved tariff, Nigerians are expected to pay N16.5 per minute for calls from N11, the cost of SMS to N6 from N4, and the cost of 1 gigabit of data – N431.25.
There are, however, stiff oppositions from some stakeholders, who argued that the increment is coming at the wrong time, citing the economic hardship bedeviling the nation at the moment.
Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC had, while reacting to the proposed tariff increase, rallied Nigerians to reject “another harsh burden”, threatening to mobilize workers to boycott telecom services.
Similarly, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC described the tariff scheduled to begin in February as outrageous, lamenting that it will worsen the harsh living conditions of workers and Nigerians.
Halt the tariff hike now – Yunusa Tanko tells FG
In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Saturday, the National Coordinator, OBIDIENT Movement Worldwide, Dr. Yunusa Tanko urged the Federal Government to halt the tariff increase, saying it is a “wrong timing, wrong action and wrong choice”.
According to him, a “50% tariff increase by the NCC at this time is only a final burial to the already struggling economy.
“All sectors of the economy need adequate communication to keep up with their game; the outturn will be spontaneous”.
Yunusa lamented that there “was an influx of 14 million Nigerians into poverty in one year, caused by uninformed government policies and poor economic decisions”, stressing that the country has “never experienced this height of surge since her independence”.
He appealed to the NCC and the Communications and Digital Economy Ministry to “thread cautiously and wisely, get the data right, opt for accurate information, do their analysis objectively, consider the post and aftermath of such actions, and always put the interest of the Nigerian people first.
“Have we thought about what would happen to the SMEs, SMSE, etc? Communication is the life wire of any nation.
“We are yet to recover from the inflation surge affecting basically all foodstuffs and household items, high cost of transportation and other internal disruptions caused by the fuel subsidy removal and other government policies.
“In a nutshell, a 50% tariff hike is a no no no for me; wrong timing; wrong action; wrong choice: and probably wrong outcome.
“The NCC should adopt an immediate reversal of the hike, substantially plan for it, and if there is any need for implementation after a period of time, not 50%. 15% will do”.
Nigerians plan nationwide protest
Irked by the development, DAILY POST gathered on Saturday that a cross section of Nigerians are currently planning to stage protests across the nation to compel the government agency to reverse its decision.
Popular Nigerian activist and politician, Omoyele Sowore told DAILY POST on Saturday that discussions on the nationwide protest are underway.
In a chat with our correspondent, Sowore, who described the tariff increase as unjust, said he recently met with the leadership of the NLC to harmonize plans for nationwide actions to reverse the decision.
“I met with the NLC leadership yesterday to discuss possible nationwide action against this unjust and backbreaking tarring increase.
“Yes, I will support any form of credible protest”, he said.
Another activist, Comrade Timothy Onyilo said the tariff increase would discourage students from research in higher institutions.
According to him, “the only language the government understands is protest and they are going to have it.
“Did they really consider students before coming up with this decision or they just feel like everybody is the same?
“We are already pained that students are suffering due to the high cost of living and you still want to add to their problems.
“Every student needs the internet for academic research. I am doing my MSc in the Abuja university here.
“We spend a lot of data doing research. Things are already hard and some people are still making it harder.
“Instead of them finding a way to improve the services, they are only interested in taking money from us.
“Sometimes, MTN, Glo and even Airtel will frustrate your life as if they are giving you service for free, yet nobody is talking about that”.
DAILY POST recalls that the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, had issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to reverse the decision or face nationwide protests.
The association in a statement on Wednesday noted that affordable internet access was crucial for bridging the educational gap in Nigeria and warned that the tariff hike would further exclude millions of students from accessing quality education, deepening the digital divide.
Meanwhile, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, had mandated the telecommunication industry to prioritize service improvement including network reliability, speed and accessibility, in the planned tariff adjustments.
In a recent statement by its Director, Corporate Affairs, Ondanje Ijagwu, FCCPC said although it acknowledged the economic pressures faced by telecom operators in the country, including increasing operational costs, “consumer interests remain paramount”
A resident of Delta State, Mrs. Gladys Ubogu Okeoghene, has petitioned the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 5 Police Headquarters, Benin, seeking justice over alleged exploitation by policemen.
According to Mrs. Okeoghene, her family’s two cars, a GLK 350 and a C400, were stolen in 2022 after being handed over to a mechanic, Mr. Solomon David Orshieda, for repairs.
Orshieda allegedly sold the cars and fled to Kenya.
When Mrs. Okeoghene contacted the Nigeria Police Force (Area Command) in October 2024, she was allegedly directed to pay a total of N2,186,000 for the recovery of the vehicles.
The payment included costs for “office movement” and “tracking.”
However, she alleged that despite paying the requested amount, the police refused to release one of the recovered vehicles, the C400, and instead demanded additional payment.
Furthermore, Mrs. Okeoghene said she was not informed nor consulted when the police granted bail to the suspects, including Orshieda.
She lamented that the IPO handling the case had been intimidating and threatening her, and that her recovered vehicle remained seized by the police.
Mrs. Okeoghene is now seeking justice and calling for an investigation into the allegations.
She called the attention of the International Human Rights Commission, IHRC, and the US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights, Nigeria Office.
In a swift reaction, Delta State Police Command, led by CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, while speaking through the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright denied the allegations.
SP Edafe explained that, “We arrested everybody involved and recovered one of the vehicles, only for the main suspect to appear with proof that he bought both vehicles from the woman’s son and the son even sent him the original customs papers.
“When she found out that her son sold the vehicles, she ran away with her son from the police station and started making wrong petitions up and down.”
Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, has said that President Bola Tinubu needs to travel more.
The Minister said the President does not travel as much as he should, as he needs to interact with Presidents of other nations.
Some Nigerians are agitated that the President is traveling from country to country, wasting taxpayer money all in the name of luring investors to Nigeria.
As at May 2024, the president had spent about 96 days abroad from the day he was sworn in, visiting some countries more than once.
DAILY POST reports that Tinubu has visited France, United Kingdom, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Benin Republic, India, United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Ethiopia, Senegal, Qatar, The Netherlands.
Speaking to Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the Minister said that the President does not even travel enough.
“This administration is still new. He was sworn-in in 2023. In global terms he is still a new President. He needs to interact with his colleagues, fellow heads of state to be able to establish relationships and you can see the fruits of these trips. Look at the benefits.
“You travel once and you get $2bn of investment like he did in Brazil…in fact, we are not travelling enough. I should suggest that we should do more.
“Nigeria has the money. How much does travelling cost compared to the benefits. And how much does it cost when you’re comparing it to the things that the President has already addressed.
“How much were we wasting on fuel subsidy, electricity subsidy and all those subsidies?” The Minister queried
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has claimed that Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State is using criticism of President Bola Tinubu over tax reforms to launch his 2027 presidential ambition.
The Minister made this allegation when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme on Sunday.
According to him, the Bauchi State governor showed that he does not have sincerity of purpose in his criticism of President Tinubu.
“Governor Bala Mohammed showed clearly that he does not have any sincerity of purpose,” Tugar said on the programme.
“It is not that other governors did not try to interrogate the tax bill when it was presented which is a good thing as a matter of fact so that Nigerians get the best out of the bill, but what Bala Mohammed proceeded to do was to use it as a platform to launch his presidential campaign very early in the day.
“He was the most severe in his invectives towards the president, towards the administration with his vituperations towards the president and the administration.”
The Minister said Governor Mohammed has been trying to secure an audience with Tinubu following his criticism of the president on the tax reform bills.
READ ALSO: Tax Reforms: Tinubu Calling For Anarchy, Says Gov Bala Mohammed
The Bauchi State governor had while addressing a Christian community on Boxing Day in Bauchi, urged President Tinubu to backtrack on the tax policy reforms as it could lead to anarchy.
According to him, the policy does not in any way favour the North, adding that the governors would not be able to pay salaries.
He warned that if these policies continued, the northern region would “show its true colours” in response.
However, the Presidency responded to the governor and condemned what it described as threat to the president. It said Mohammed’s view does not reflect the view of the entire north.
Meanwhile, Nigerian governors, on January 16, declared support for the Federal Government’s tax reform bills. However, they proposed a new sharing formula for value-added tax (VAT).
The decision followed a meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Presidential Tax Reform Committee.
In a communique at the end of the meeting, the governors’ forum “reiterated its strong support for the comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s archaic tax laws.
A lawmaker in the 7th National Assembly, Senator Ita Enang, has said that with the “low” amounts allocated to critical sectors of the economy, President Bola Tinubu might not have any substantial projects to justify his reelection in the 2027 electioneering process.
“I have read the budget and have gone through almost all the sectors. It is not reflective and it is incapable of giving Mr President projects to commission which he can be proud of in 2026,” Enang said on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.
On December 18, 2024, Tinubu presented the 2025 ₦49.7tn budget proposal before a joint session of the National Assembly for approval. The lawmakers are to resume on February 4, 2025, after the ongoing defense of the proposed budget by ministries, departments, and agencies.
Enang, who served as Senior Special Assistant to then-President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, faulted what he described as low revenue allocation, low revenue generation, and low revenue mobilisation in the 2025 proposed budget.
The chieftain of the president’s party, the ruling All Progressives Congress, said the 2025 Appropriation Bill if passed by the legislature and signed into law by the president without major adjustments, can’t deliver sectoral fulfillment. He said if passed the way it is, it will become a problem for Tinubu’s reelection.
“The way it is, what we are having and defending at the National Assembly, if it is passed like that, it will give them a question to answer in the field of campaigns in 2026, 2027.
“I am saying that because of the minute allocations given to certain projects in certain ministries, they may not have much to show. Given the way some of the projects which they may need to exit or abandon due to low allocation, they may not be able to commission those projects,” he said.
He cited the Calabar-Ikot Ekpene, Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Lokoja-Benin, Abuja-Kaduna, and other highway projects, saying the monies allocated for the projects are not substantial enough to get them completed within the budget cycle or calendar.
“By the end of 2025, Mr president is supposed to go commission those projects but what will he commission (if they are uncompleted)?
“In most areas that we should show during the campaigns, we may not have what to show if we have this level of budgeting. That is why I am saying that Mr president’s team should go sectorally before they pass the budget and identify the presidential priorities,” he said.
Enang said the president and his economic team should be strategic and give priorities to milestone projects in their budgetary allocations, as well as give deadlines and tentative commissioning dates for such projects.
The lawyer urged the president and his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to take up the budget which is still being worked on in the National Assembly, and “look at each of the ministries and say, ‘Look, this is what we want to deliver in solid minerals, this is what we want to deliver in works, these are two or three things we want to commission in each state, in each region. This is what we want to attain in railway. This is what we want to attain in water resources. This is what we want to report in agriculture. This is the milestone we want to record in education and then work towards that’.”
“If we don’t do this, the president and the APC will be relying on the projects of states and governors to justify what they have done for APC to go for the next election,” the lawyer said.
Last December, the National Assembly extended the implementation of the 2024 N28.7tn Budget by six months, saying it has achieved a 50% performance rate in capital expenditure and 48% in recurrent expenditure.
Nigeria is said to be running multiple appropriation and supplementary budgets concurrently, according to a civic and accountability group BudgIT.
Details of how six top Yoruba monarchs prevailed upon nonagenarian legal luminary Afe Babalola to drop his criminal defamation suit against human rights activist and lawyer Dele Farotimi have emerged.
It was gathered that the Ooni of Ife, Enitan Ogunwusi, mobilised five other high-class traditional rulers to the Ado-Ekiti residence of Babalola on Sunday night.
The high-powered delegation includes the Ewi of Ado, Oba Rufus Adejugbe Aladesanmi III; Ajero of Ijero, Oba Adewole Joseph Adebayo; the Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Samuel Adejinmi Adu; Alaaye of Efon Alaaye, Oba Dr. Emmanuel Aladejare Agunsoye II; and the Olojudo of Ido Ekiti who doubles as Chairman, Ekiti Council Of Traditional Rulers, Oba Ilori Faboro.
The Ooni of Ife, along with prominent traditional rulers, arrived in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, minutes past 10 p.m. on Sunday.
Earlier in December, the police in Ekiti State arrested Farotimi at his Lagos office and bundled him to Ekiti State for prosecution.
The police arraigned the author for publishing a book, ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’ where he alleged that nonagenarian legal icon Afe Babalola corrupted the judiciary and procured a revised judgment in the Supreme Court.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to all the charges which bordered on criminal defamation levelled against him and was remanded in prison for three weeks before he was granted bail.
Upon their arrival at Babalola’s residence on Sunday night, the Ooni of Ife and the five top monarchs asked the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), to forgive Farotimi and withdraw the criminal defamation suit instituted against him.
Members of the legal team of Babalola handling Farotimi’s criminal case were also present at the meeting, according to a spokesman for the Ooni of Ife, Moses Olafare.
During the closed-door meeting which ended at past midnight, Babalola said he had gotten entreaties from former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Bishop Matthew Kukah and a host of other prominent Nigerians asking that he withdraw the case, but he did not.
However, the Ooni of Ife and the other monarchs persuaded the nonagenarian to withdraw the charges as an elder statesman with vast experience.
“Aare Afe Babalola, you are an elder statesman, you have seen it all, you are one of the iconic voices in this country, a great man per excellence, you are a rare breed who has excelled in everything you have touched in this life, a very God-fearing elder stateman, above all, you are one of the proponents of the Yoruba ethos of Omoluwabi which has been your strongest value that you hold in our country,” the Ooni told Babalola, according to Olafare.
“We’ve all come together as traditional Rulers to discuss with you on this issue and this gentleman Dele Farotimi is your son and you must forgive him and withdraw the criminal charges against him. As a father, you have soft sons and you have tough sons, Dele Farotimi is a tough son of yours. You have indeed made a point that your name can not be messed with.”
When asked to speak, Babalola accepted the request saying he grew up as a child to understand such interventions by the traditional rulers. He declared he had not only forgiven Farotimi but he would also instruct his lawyers to withdraw the criminal charges against him immediately.
“Today is an important day for me, I’m a Yoruba man and I’m very proud to be one. Ewi of Ado has come here to meet me on this matter, former president Obasanjo has intervened, same with Bishop Matthew Kukah and a host of other prominent Nigerians to ask for the exact thing you have come to ask for this evening., my answer to them has been ‘no’ but today my answer is ‘yes’.
“Your coming is unquantifiable in terms of money, who Am I? When the colonialists came here in the 17th century or thereabouts, they found as a fact that Yoruba land was a highly organised society with an advanced system of government with each town headed by an Oba who was regarded as a replica of God on earth. His words were commands.”
‘I Didn’t Win Cases Through Corruption’
Babalola said he has refused government appointments and rejected some so-called rewards because he doesn’t want anything to stain his integrity.
He said, “I was a lawyer who defended the EFCC law, yes I’m corrupt, I was given an oil block. When I looked at the money and saw that it was too much, I rejected it, yes I’m corrupt. I was offered ministerial appointments twice, I rejected it. Yes, I’m corrupt because whatever I am, I don’t want anybody to say I made it through corruption.
“Look at my books, I’m Chairman, Transparency International based in Germany, I have given lectures against corruption with my papers in many universities globally.
“For someone to allege that I have won my cases through corruption, it’s an attempt to defame me. That was why I rejected all appeals earlier made to me. But when I heard that Ooni was coming, I knew I was in a fix today.
“There is nothing I’m going to gain from his (Dele) imprisonment and there’s nothing I want from the so-called damages. I am not in quest of more wealth, I’m rather concerned about managing the one I have already. Dele Farotimi is hereby forgiven. On this occasion, I say ‘yes’.”
On Sunday, The United States suspended visa issuance at its embassy in Colombia, part of a series of harsh measures after Bogota refused military deportation flights, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
“Measures will continue until Colombia meets its obligations to accept the return of its own citizens,” Rubio said in a statement.
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Buhari’s Admission That Only God Can Solve Nigeria’s Problem A Sign That APC Has Failed – Opposition Parties
AFOLABI
Major opposition parties have criticized former President Muhammadu Buhari for urging Nigerians to seek divine intervention to revive the country, instead of admitting the failures of successive All Progressives Congress (APC)-led governments.
Buhari’s remarks, made in Hausa during an APC stakeholders meeting in Katsina on Saturday, have sparked widespread reactions, particularly on social media.
The former President had stated, “Only God who created Nigeria can solve the problems of Nigeria,” encouraging his supporters not to give up on the country.
The National Publicity Secretary of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Ladipo Johnson, in an interview with Punch described Buhari’s comments as a clear reflection of the APC’s inability to address the nation’s pressing issues.
He said, “Well, it’s an admission that the APC government has totally failed Nigerians, and they have led us down to an economic downturn. This statement by the former president shows that even the current administration is confused.
“It also means they have no clue about what they have been doing all this while. It’s like a trial-and-error process. What we need is the right set of leaders. The APC has failed and cannot provide the leadership required to turn the fortunes of this country around.”
The Peoples Democratic Party shared the same sentiment.
In a phone chat with Punch, the Deputy National Youth Leader of the PDP, Timothy Osadolor, said Buhari’s remark was also an indictment on President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He said, “First and foremost, I think Nigerians should commend Buhari for being honest about the state of the nation and the reality of today’s government. Buhari, however, failed to mention that he laid the groundwork for this government and its ineptitude. It is a continuation of his past leadership failure.
“Again, it’s a vote of no confidence in President Tinubu, which further reaffirms what we have been saying that the man is just there giving people colourful speeches and doing nothing. It is not a time to criticise Buhari for what he said or why he said it. It is a wake-up call to this government and all Nigerians to salvage this country from going the way of South Sudan.
“This is what happens in countries where leadership fails. So we must not give in to partisanship or nepotism. President Tinubu only consolidated on the ineptitude of Buhari who was just fortunate enough to lead this country.
“Therefore, all men of goodwill must stand up and salvage what remains of this country before things fall apart. Nigeria can only get it right if the leaders are there.”
Similarly, the National Youth Leader of the Labour Party, Prince Kennedy Ahanotu, said he wasn’t surprised by Buhari’s speech because he was one of a few well-meaning Nigerians who knew he had nothing to offer the country.
Ahanotu added that it was high time Nigerians gave the younger generation a chance to correct the ills of the past.
He said, “The truth is that I am not a fan of Buhari and never expected him to do well. So, I am not surprised that he did nothing for eight years. But my point is that we are in a country where, before a new president takes over, there is always a perception that he will do better. Unfortunately, after each successive regime, there will be lamentation that he didn’t do well.
“However, we have options in Nigeria, I keep saying it. Until we include a younger generation of leaders, we cannot enjoy the dividends of democracy that are happening all around the world. So, there is no point lamenting because there is another Sheriff in town.
“But just like all the letters former President Obasanjo wrote to him, Buhari neither heeded nor implemented any of the advice. So, if the ex-president decides again to write Tinubu today, he is also at leisure to listen or not to any of the counsels. This is because successful APC governments don’t listen to people they consider outsiders.
“This is why I said Buhari’s lamentation does not make any sense to me. It’s not something I even want to talk about because it is their system. Don’t forget this current President was among those who protested and fought in NADECO for the government to do the right thing. But today, it’s not safe or healthy to protest in Nigeria.”
The Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday fixed February 27, 2025, for the arraignment of Gbolahan Obanikoro, the son of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, and four others for alleged N1,356,057,330.43 fraud.
To be arraigned alongside Obanikoro are Adejare Adegbenro, 51; Balmoral International Limited; M.O.B. Integrated Limited; and DDSS International Company Limited.
The police charged them with five counts, bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretenses, false representation, and fraud.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa set the date on Friday after the defendants failed to appear for their scheduled arraignment.
When the case was called, the prosecution counsel, Momoh Bello, informed the court that the matter was scheduled for the arraignment of the defendants.
Following the absence of the defendants, Bello then asked the court for a bench warrant against them, saying that they had all been served.
But counsel for the fourth defendant ( M.O.B. Integrated Limited), Joshua Abel, opposed the bench warrant prayer.
He told the court that the fourth defendant is a company and that the fourth defendant received service late on Wednesday and he was informed of the case late on Thursday.
Abel also told the court that most of the defendants, who are directors of the firm, were not in the country.
“I have not had the opportunity to go through the case before the directors can be arraigned,” he said.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa then asked the prosecutor for the proof of service and date of service.
He said, “I want proof of service and the date of service. The record of this court shows that service was effected on the third and fourth defendants. It’s less than 48 hours that they have been served; one of them was served yesterday. The first and second defendants are natural persons and there is no proof of service on them.
“The law says personal service. You can go and regularise service on the defendants. There is no proof that the first and second defendants have been served. However, there is proof that the third and fourth defendants have been served. The prosecution is directed to serve the first and second defendants,” the judge ruled and then adjourned till February 27, 2025, for the arraignment of all the defendants.
The Inspector General of Police, through the Special Fraud Unit in Ikoyi, Lagos, accused the defendants and others at large of conspiring amongst themselves between May and September 2013 to fraudulently obtain the sum of N1,356,057,330.43 from Access Bank Plc (formerly Diamond Bank).
They were accused of allegedly misrepresenting themselves to the bank’s staff and officers, claiming they were involved in the business of importing cars from Dubai for sale in Nigeria, and that the money was needed to finance the importation of a set of brand-new cars for resale.
The defendants are also being accused of converting, transferring, retaining, or taking possession of the funds, knowing or having reason to know that such funds were proceeds of unlawful activity.
The police further alleged that they unlawfully converted the sum of N1bn belonging to the bank for personal use.
According to the police, the offences committed contravened Section 8(i)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3), 1(i)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offenses Act, No. 14 of 2006, and Section 18(2)(b) and (d) and 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
A former lawmaker of the Nigerian Senate, Shehu Sani has reacted to te ongoing crisis at the Lagos House of Assembly.
Sani while addressing the impeached Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, has called for calm.
Obasa was impeached by lawmakers of the Lagos House of Assembly while he was away in the United States of America.
He was immediately replaced by the deputy Speaker, Mojisola Meranda.
Upon his return, Obasa said his removal was unconstitutional and as such he remains the speaker of the Lagos Assembly.
However, advising Obasa, the former Kaduna lawmaker said this is a time for the embattled Speaker to move on.
Sani in a post on X said, “Hon Obasa should just thank his God, accept his fate and calm down. Its a rare privilege to occupy that seat and serve for that long.
“Not everyone can be that lucky in life.Allow the Honorable lady speaker to do her job; if he is actually good, posterity will vindicate him,” Sani posted.
A nurse, identified as Chiemela Nonye, has accused Chief Superintendent of Police Nkiruka Ugwu, attached to Area ‘M’ Command, Idimu, Lagos, of paying her to bear false witness in a rape case, alleging that the senior police officer is threatening to kill her, if she mentioned her name in an on-going investigation of rape, at the Area ‘D’ Command, Mushin.
However, when CSP Ugwu was contacted, she said “I told her (Nonye ) never to involve my name. She can’t try it. Why would she involve my name? Am I fighting her with Amuche? She should go ahead and do whatever she wants to do. If it is my case she wants, I am ready for her. She cannot try to mention my name.”
On the allegation of locking the mother of the minors shop , with an instruction to touts to kill her if she dared to open the shop, she said, ” I have nothing to say. They can all go ahead with whatever they want to do. I am not a sister to Amuche. God forbid, I am not.”
Nonye was arrested by the Police at the Area D Command, in Mushin, on January 22, 2025 following a petition by one Mr Ekwenyu Uchenna.
The petitioner stated that Nonye bore false witness against him, by claiming she witnessed his defiling of three teenage siblings in April 2024.
Consequently, the petitioner was reportedly arrested and detained for seven days at the Alausa Police Division, from where he was transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation Department, FCID in Abuja, where he spent additional three weeks in detention.
Uchena, told Vanguard that he was moved from the FCID Abuja, to the State Criminal Investigation, SCID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos where a discreet investigation was carried by detectives who said there were no facts to prove he penetrated the minors and was subsequently released. According to him, he was arrested alongside the mother of the three minors, because operatives led by Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP Philomena Ehiokhilen alleged that she connived with him to rape her children.
However, upon his release, he petitioned the Area D Command, Mushin, where nurse Nonye, during interrogation, admitted in a written statement that she was paid an undisclosed amount by the CSP to fabricate the lies against Uchenna and mother of the minors.
In a recorded telephone conversation between nurse Nonye and mother of minors, she was heard begging for forgiveness, claiming that CSP Ugwu has been threatening to kill her if she mention her name.
The recorded telephone conversation went thus: Nurse Nonye : “I don’t know why I agreed to this. As I speak with you, I’m in tears. Please forgive me. I didn’t know why I agreed to frame Uchenna. Please help me apologize to Uche.”
Mother of minor: “We are all human. I know how both of us were. I went to my lawyer’s office and explained everything, telling him it was not you. You were pushed into this. If he wants to speak to you, he can confirm you were pushed out of ignorance. After hearing from you, if they find out you were misled; they will know how to exclude you from the matter. So, leave Uchenna out of this because I have told him you are not the main problem. CSP Ugwu is the real problem. She pushed you into this.”
In a chat with Vanguard, the mother of the three minors, alleged that the CSP Ugwu had threatened her life numerous times and also destroyed her businesses.
She said “CSP Ugwu came to my shop located at Cele-Egbe, last year and seized my goods. She told the touts in the area to kill me if I tried to go near the shop. She said she was the Divisional Police Officer, DPO. Since then, all my goods have been