The Lagos State Police Command, on Tuesday, arrested controversial musician, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, for refusing to pay the debt he incurred when he purchased G-Wagon from a car dealer in the state.
It was gathered that Portable, during the purchase of the vehicle worth N27m, paid only N13m and had refused to pay the N14m balance on the pretext that the car was faulty.
According to a report by Punch Online, it was learnt that whenever the car dealer contacted him to pay the balance, he usually claimed that the vehicle was bad.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed that Portable had been arrested.
“Yes, Portable has been arrested. He bought G-Wagon for N27m, paid N13m and refused to pay the rest, claiming the vehicle was bad. We arrested him today,” SP Hundeyin stated.
Below are the photos of when the singer signed the undertaken of the car in January:
A little boy of one has been named the newest Guinness world record holder for the Youngest Male artist by an individual.
The one-year-old Ghanaian has been identified as Ace Liam.
The boy attempted the Guinness World Record in Accra, Ghana from January 18 to January 20, 2024. This was unveiled at a news conference on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
The online confirmation letter said: “We are thrilled to inform you that your application for Youngest Artist (male) has been successful, and you are now the Guinness World Records Title Holder!”
“You are now eligible for one complimentary Guinness World Records certificate. You can order your complimentary certificate and purchase further certificates for your new record by visiting the Guinness World Records store.”
See the email from Guinness World Record to the new record holder;
Nigerian musician, Portable has been detained in a police cell over his inability to meet the bail conditions set for his release.
This followed his arrest for refusing to pay the N14m debt he incurred when he purchased a G-Wagon from a car dealer in Lagos State.
According to Punch, a source who spoke on Wednesday, confirmed the development.
The source confirmed that the singer spent the night in police cell.
The source said when Portable was arrested Tuesday, bail conditions were set for his release and he failed to meet the bail conditions.
“He is still in police custody as we speak. When he paid N13m for the G-Wagon that cost N27m and refused to pay the balance, the car dealer asked him to return the vehicle when his excuse was that it was bad but he also refused,” the source said.
Confirming that Portable passed the night in a police cell after he was arrested, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, when contacted on Wednesday, said the musician was still in the custody of the police.
Hundeyin said, “He has presented no reliable surety yet so he (Portable) is still with us.”
Meanwhile, in two viral videos showing the moments policemen attempted to arrest Portable, our correspondent observed in one of the videos that Portable attempted to evade arrest when he fled the scene.
The policemen, who gave him a hot chase, caught up with him and pinned him down.
Despite pinning him down, our correspondent, while observing the second video, saw that Portable was resisting arrest by four policemen who carried and dumped him inside a vehicle.
The video clips had been generating diverse reactions.
While some people condemned Portable for resisting arrest, some others blamed him for ridiculing his status in society by not paying the N14m balance incurred during the purchase of the vehicle.
PUNCH Online had reported that Portable, during the purchase of the vehicle worth N27m, paid only N13m and had refused to pay the N14m balance.
Despite several failed attempts to get him to pay the balance, the car dealer, who claimed that Portable’s excuse for not paying was that the vehicle was bad, reported to the police.
A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri said the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Rabiu Kankwaso and the former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State will not agree to contest the presidency with Peter Obi in 2027.
Omokri stated this in a statement via his X handle on Wednesday.
Recall that Obi met with Atiku, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa from 2007 to 2015, in Abuja on Tuesday.
The meeting was the first between the two politicians since the end of the general elections last year.
The details of the meeting were not immediately known.
But, Omokri said no northerner of standing and in his right senses would agree to run for the 2027 presidency with the former Anambra State governor.
Omokri wondered about the significance of Obi’s rapprochement with Northern powerbrokers in the PDP, stressing that “right now he is tainted.”
He said, “Have you forgotten about Deborah Samuel? Of course not. The memory is still fresh in your mind, primarily because you are a Christian and you empathise with her, seeing as she was killed by a core Northern Muslim mob on charges of blasphemy.
“Now, perform this emotional intelligence exercise. If you cannot and will not forget Deborah Samuel, how do you think any Muslim, Northern or Southern, is going to forget a man who was caught on tape plotting religious war against you? How?
“The North Remembers is not just an episode from the television series, Game of Thrones. It is an actual way of life of Northern Nigeria. They have the memory of an elephant.
“They read al-Quran, which warns them about such people, who are referred to as Munafiq. You know how sensitive religion is in Nigeria. And then you think the Muslim Ummah will forgive and forget Peter Obi’s words? Peter Obi will be 63 in six weeks. People don’t change when they are that old.
“Especially when Peter Obi has never owned up to the tape and apologised. Instead, when asked three times by Charles Aniagolu if that was him on the tape, Obi dodged the question.
“And then you combine his Yes Daddy tape with his jumping from one church to the other, shouting, ‘Church, take back your country,’ and you think Muslims are that naive as to forgive such a man?
“As for South-South votes, Obi will not get them in 2027 or be able to influence their direction. As long as Tinubu delivers the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, or at least comes very close to completion.
“Yes, people will agree to meet with him out of courtesy. Some will do so to explore if they can get him to give them his bloc vote. But no Northerner standing in his right mind will run with Obi. Not Waziri Atiku, Rabiu Kwankwaso, or Nasir-El-Rufai.
“For Arewa, you can touch the North and be forgiven. But you cannot touch Islam and be forgiven.”
A 38-year-old man identified as Shafi’u Abubakar on Wednesday set ablaze a mosque while worshippers were praying in Gezawa area of Kano State.
Information gathered revealed that Abubakar locked up the mosque, splashed petrol, and set the mosque ablaze when the worshippers were performing the early morning prayers, Subhi prayers, in the mosque.
Confirming the development, the spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, SP Abdullahi Haruna, said it has arrested the principal suspect behind the incident, adding that no death has been recorded so far.
SP Haruna explained that the suspect said he carried out the action to take vengeance on persons who cheated him during the sharing of inheritance.
He, however, said the scene of the incident has been cordoned off, and twenty-four (24) victims, including 20 male adults and 4 male children, were removed and rushed to Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital Kano, where they are currently receiving treatment.
According to him, “Today, 15/05/2024 at about 0520hrs, reports were received that, there was an explosion at a mosque in Gadan Village, Gezawa LGA, Kano State, during “Subhi Prayer,” and that some people got injured.
“On receipt of the report, the Commissioner of Police, Kano State Command, CP Mohammed Usaini Gumel, immediately deployed the command’s combined teams consisting of experts in Explosive Ordnance Disposal Chemical Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (EOD-CBRN) led by CSP Haruna Isma’il and other Crime-Scene Policemen led by Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Gezawa Division, CSP Haruna Iliya.
“The scene was cordoned off, and twenty-four (24) victims, including 20 Male Adults and 4 Male Children were removed and rushed to Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital Kano, where they are currently receiving treatment.
“Forensic analysis at this preliminary stage revealed a suspected petrol explosion, of which full investigation ongoing.
“The principal suspect have been identified and arrested; he is Shafi’u Abubakar, aged 38, who said his action was purely in hostility following prolong family disagreement over sharing of inheritance, of which those that he alleged to have cheated on him were in the mosque at that moment, and he did that for his voice to be heard.
“While the suspect is currently in police custody, detail investigation is ongoing and will be made public in due course,” SP Haruna stated.
A Nigerian popular online tutor, Mr Alex Onyia, has revealed that a foreign hospital removed 16 bullets from his friend, Kene Nnadi, who was shot in Nigeria, adding that he narrowly escaped death.
Onyia, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Educare, an online learning platform, said Nnadi was rejected by Nigerian hospitals before he was flown abroad.
He added that there are three more bullets still in his body to be removed.
Onyia, known for sponsoring the tutorials of some candidates of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), posted the news via his X handle on Tuesday.
He tweeted using the handle #winexviv, stating that some assailants wanted to kill his friend but he survived.
“16 extra bullets removed from his body and three remaining. They wanted to kill my friend Kene but God said no. All hospitals rejected him and asked for a police report before treating him,” Onyia wrote.
“We managed to get one that attended to him until we flew him to London. Today, we thank God,” he added.
The news has got Nigerians talking on social media as some concluded that Nnadi would not have survived if he was treated in the country.
Some blamed the undisclosed hospitals that refused to treat him despite the directive of the Inspector-General of Police that no person should be rejected by any hospital to be treated for gunshot.
The IGP said this was in line with the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act 2017.
ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, has reacted to a video of a woman giving her baby alcohol to drink.
He stated that the police would fish out the nursing mum committing the evil act.
The disturbing video showed the woman who spoke in Yoruba, hailing her baby girl as she gulped the alcohol.
Reacting to the video, Adejobi wrote;
‘’Another assignment for us. This is too bad. We will fish her out. Thanks. @PoliceNG''
See Video Below;
Media
The Labour Veterans and Trade Unionists Assembly has expressed outrage over the wages paid to workers in Borno State, revealing that many are receiving as little as N6,000 to N8,000 as minimum wage.
Comrade Isa Tijani, National Interim Chairman of the Labour Veterans, condemned the situation in a statement on Tuesday.
The Labour Veterans also condemned arbitrary deductions from workers’ salaries, warning that if the issue is not addressed, workers in other states might face similar exploitation.
Tijani said, “It pains us to admit that, we now have it on clear record, that, in Borno state, workers in most of the local governments throughout the state, are presently being paid N6000 to N8000 only, as minimum wage. This is not only despicable, but an open case of inhuman slavery in the 21st century.
“We wish to call on the Governor to do the following: Ensure that all entitled workers are paid the prevailing agreed amount even before the new Minimum Wage comes into effect; Stop all forms of arbitrary deductions in the name of palliatives or purchase of cars to local Government Chairmen.
“Taking into cognizance the shameful act that is taking place in Borno state, we are afraid that workers in some states might be experiencing the same fate. Accordingly, it is of vital importance for the Labour Leaders and their members to successfully tackle the sticky and knotty issue of full wage agreements implementation across board, before the new National Minimum Wage regime comes into Law.”
• Govt earns N78.9 billion from resource in 15 months
• Stakeholders accuse govt, private jet owners of aiding crime
• Expert says PAGMI culpable in mining crisis
• FG urged to be proactive to avoid possible collapse of the sector
Nigeria’s 21.37 tonnes or 754,000 ounce of estimated gold reserves, currently worth $1.8 billion at $2,352.84 per ounce spot price at the international market may continue to end up in private pockets four years after the launch of the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI), The Guardian understands.
Coming amidst Nigeria’s struggle to fix the foreign exchange (FX) market crisis and prevent the crisis caused by low oil revenue, stakeholders said millions of dollars worth of gold is still being stolen from the country even as states where resources are domiciled continued to wallow in abject poverty, including the inability to pay salaries.
With the revelation that high-profile Nigerians and foreign bodies are illegally carting the country’s gold away in private jets despite a ban on the export of raw solid minerals, industry players said unless the illegal mining in Zamfara, Borno, Osun and other parts of the country is treated like the criminality of oil theft in the Niger Delta, the country would continue to experience an exodus of solid minerals while the country borrows to finance developmental plans.
Some stakeholders are also accusing the government of paying lip services, stressing that while the country has one of the best mining laws, enforcing the legal framework remained a major concern in the face of looming environmental disasters from mining activities.
Recall that in 2019, Buhari created PAGMI. Nine months later, the federal government disclosed a gold bar said to have been mined from Zamfara through the initiative. That was the biggest news from the initiative, which earlier this year boasted of about 11,547 illegal miners.
Despite the potential in the solid mineral sector, revenue from the industry settled at N193.59 billion in 2021. In 2020, an audit report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) showed that the total revenue from all solid minerals in the country was just N116.82 billion in 2020. Between 2007 and 2021, all the government made from the sector amounted to N814.59 billion.
While some countries are relying basically on solid minerals like gold, the contribution of the entire solid mineral to gross domestic product (GDP) remained 0.63 per cent or N1.10 trillion. In terms of contribution to government revenue, the solid minerals sector contributed just 2.62 per cent of the government revenue.
Where Nigeria has gold, lithium and other money-spinning solid minerals, which are considered the new oil, industry reports showed that Granite, Limestone, Laterite, Clay and Sand are the primary contributors to solid minerals revenue in Nigeria.
While the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed Nigeria exported gold worth N78.9 billion between 2022 and the first five months of 2023, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, who quoted a former Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development under Buhari, Uche Ogah, said yearly losses to illegal gold mining are way higher than that.
Like oil theft, which the Federal Government said is carried out by elites in Nigeria, Ogah had specifically said illegal export of gold is being aided by wealthy Nigerians with private jets, an indication that the federal government is not in control of its airway or its security agencies are looking away.
About one year ago when he assumed office, Tinubu said: “Our administration shall wake up the sleeping giant that the solid minerals sector is today, to play its strategic role in the economy, by providing jobs for our people, improving the revenue accruable to the government, and establishing an industrial sector that is the envy of the world.”
While companies like the Dukia Gold & Precious Metals Refining Co. Ltd Nigeria, which had a partnership with Philoro Global Trading AG Switzerland and the Segilola Gold Project among a few others are making progress in refining, the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) and the country’s porous borders, according to most stakeholders are aiding export of illegally extracted gold in flagrant violation of extant laws that forbid the export of raw gold to pave way for local refining.
Renowned solid mineral expert, Adeyemo Temitope, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Geocardinal Engineering Services Limited, said PAGMI is another scheme, which is aiding illegal mining and export of gold from the country.
Temitope said most people who are mining illegally have sophisticated technology and equipment and can move to the site and operate.
He said in a country with a functional government, such activities would not happen without the backing of the government or arrest by the government, adding that the government appeared not ready to tackle the illegal mining of gold from the country.
“Referring to PAGMI, he said most of the people listed by the government under the plan are just “people that are aggregating gold from one place to another.”
“These are the people giving money to people who have no license. Illegal mining is a function of people, who aggregate gold from one place to another. We need to understand that people that we said are mining illegally are using machinery. Do you want to tell me that the government is not aware of these people?”
Temitope noted that the mining in Nigeria was modeled like what is obtainable in Canada and can stand global standards but that poor enforcement by the government remained the primary issue.
According to him, the government is not being realistic in stemming illegal mining, adding that miners, referred to as illegal, go to sites with excavators, bulldozers and other machinery while pumping water to wash gold without being apprehended.
Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, boasted last week that Nigeria would become a destination for solid minerals investors, as his ministry and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in March, unveiled men of NSCDC as mining marshals to smoke out illegal minerals where the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the military have failed.
Energy and solid mineral expert, Prof Wunmi Iledare, described as disheartening the thriving illegal mining in the country, especially when the federal government has been charged to hold the ownership of mineral and natural resources in trust for Nigerians.
“That some people or any constituent state gives licences or permits the exploitation and exportation of gold in any state in Nigeria is illegal. It is a blatant violation of the 1999 constitution and it is not in any way different from crude oil theft in the Niger Delta.
“Any criminal activity must be met with prosecution. Unfortunately, the love of money for power, pleasure and possessions delimits law enforcement,” Iledare said.
He added: “Without the latter, the marginal propensity for illegality will perpetually persist including illegal mining of gold and crude oil theft.”
Before now, the Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States Parliament, Mohamed Tunis, said Nigeria loses 91 per cent of its revenue from the mining sector to illegal miners.
Spotlighting the northern region, he said a staggering 80 per cent of mining occurs illegally, Tunis said Nigeria only receives nine per cent from the sector with 80 per cent of the mining in the country’s North West region carried out illegally.
Former President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Segun Ajibola, said illegal mining is expected to be frontally attacked by the relevant arms of the governments at local, state and federal levels, including their ministries and departments.
“Their efforts ought to be complemented by those of the security apparatuses. I believe we can for now assume that there is no internal connivance with the illegal miners. If any, I also believe that there are enough laws in Nigeria to checkmate such practices of illegally mining solid mineral resources across Nigeria, including gold.
“If gold is mined legally, the revenue accruable therefrom is capable of reducing over-dependence on oil and push the economy towards the much-touted structural diversification status,” he said.
Noting that illegal mining has been a recurring decimal for quite some time, Ajibola said: “The time is ripe to put an end to the malaise.”
An extractive industry expert, Faith Nwadishi said the persistence of illegal mining in Nigeria’s gold sector despite initiatives like PAGMI is concerning. She sees this as an indication of the challenges in effectively regulating and formalizing the artisanal mining sector.
Nwadishi stressed that illegal mining not only deprives the government of revenue but also poses environmental, security and social risks “as is evidenced by the Zamfara case.”
Nwadishi, who is the Director of the Centre for Transparency said a multifaceted approach, including improved enforcement, community engagement across the value chain, development of Community Development Agreements that address the needs of communities, improvement in security and investment in alternative livelihoods for artisanal miners must be adopted.
“Moreover, with the increasing price of gold and Nigeria’s reliance on oil revenue, there’s an urgent need to optimize the management of the country’s mineral resources to diversify the economy by quickly moving from policy to action and mitigate the impact of dwindling oil production,” Nwadishi said.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday, alleged that foreign missions based in Nigeria use third parties to transact in foreign currencies.
EFCC’s acting Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this in an interview on Arise Television.
On May 11, a report showed that EFCC sent an advisory letter, titled ”EFCC Advisory to Foreign Missions against Invoicing in US Dollar,” to Yusuf Tuggar, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
According to the report, EFCC banned foreign missions in Nigeria from transacting in foreign currencies and mandated the use of naira in their financial businesses.
Reacting to the report yesterday, Uwujaren said it was not the place of the EFCC to ban or direct foreign missions in the manner or way they handled their finances as against alarming headlines in the news.
He said it was against the law for foreign missions based in Nigeria to transact in foreign currencies, hence, the commission’s mandate on using the naira in financial businesses.
“We recognise as a commission that foreign missions are representatives of their home countries, enjoy certain diplomatic privileges by international law. The commission is not a place to want to interfere with some of the privileges that they enjoy under international law,” he said.
“It is not within the remit of the EFCC to either ban or direct foreign missions in the manner or the way they handle their finances.
“What happened is that the commission over time, observed that a number of the foreign missions by the manner in which they handled consular services, a number of them have engaged third parties to carry out consular services on their behalf and those third parties have been invoicing in dollars.
“Some even went to the ridiculous extent of determining the exchange rate or the naira in the course of the transaction with Nigerians and some foreign nationals based in Nigeria.
“We thought that that practice conflicted with extant laws and regulations in Nigeria, and we felt compelled to bring this practice to the knowledge of the missions through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Uwujaren further clarified that the EFCC never wrote any letter to any foreign mission in Nigeria.
“The advisory that we issued was to the ministry of foreign affairs, and what we did was essentially to bring this practice which we believe conflicts with Section 20, subsection 1 of the Central Bank of Nigeria act, that section of recipient Act makes the naira the only legal tender in Nigeria, which presupposes that is the only acceptable currency for doing business within the borders of our country,” he added.
Speaking on whether the ministry had responded to the letter, Uwujaren said the foreign affairs ministry has the protocol of engaging with foreign missions in Nigeria and within their competence to determine how to transmit the information to the various missions in Nigeria.
“Essentially, our focus is to discourage the dollarisation of transactions within the local Nigerian economy,” he said.
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Contrary to claims by the former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, that he made Siminalayi Fubara governor of the state, the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has declared that power only comes from the supreme being, God.
Otti made the declaration on Tuesday while inaugurating a project executed by Governor Fubara in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Abia governor expressed confidence that despite the political crisis rocking Rivers State, the people of the state are assured of getting the dividend of democracy, stressing that Fubara came prepared.
He said, “Power belongs to God, no human can arrogate to himself the capacity to give power, except you have the capacity to give life. Of course, you can take life, but you cannot give it.
“For me, it’s all about good governance. Governor Fubara came prepared, and I don’t believe that any distraction is enough to take his focus away from improving the welfare and interest of the people.
“So, I can assure you, Rivers people, that the dividends of democracy that you are seeing now is still a dress rehearsal. It is early in the morning, and I am sure that in the near future, you will be seeing more.”
DAILY POST reports that Governor Fubara, who vowed to probe the immediate past administration, expressed worries over the debt burden he inherited from his predecessor, Wike.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, Fubara lamented that the contractors who handled projects commissioned by Wike, “are still coming for their balance payments running into millions and billions.”
Australian doctor, Prof Richard Scolyer, treats his own brain cancer with experimental therapy
AFOLABI
An Australian medical doctor, Professor Richard Scolyer, said he has remained brain cancer-free for a year after undergoing a world-first treatment based on his own research.
The 57-year-old used his own pioneering studies on melanoma to treat his incurable stage 4 glioblastoma following his diagnosis in June 2023.
Scolyer disclosed this on Monday, via his X page, with an update about the experimental treatment alongside two images from a recent MRI scan.
“I had brain #MRI scan last Thursday looking for recurrent #glioblastoma (&/or treatment complications). I found out yesterday that there is still no sign of recurrence. I couldn’t be happier!!!!!,” wrote Scolyer.
“Thank you to the fabulous team looking after me so well especially my wife Katie & wonderful family!” he added.
Scolyer’s diagnosis was revealed in June 2023 after he was taken ill while traveling for work in Poland. He then became the first brain cancer patient to undergo pre-surgery combination immunotherapy.
Speaking about the feat in an interview with BBC, Scolyer said, “To be honest, I was more nervous than I have been for any previous scan. I’m just thrilled and delighted… couldn’t be happier.”
Professor Scolyer is one of the country’s most respected medical minds, and was this year named Australian of the Year alongside his colleague and friend, Professor Georgina Long, in recognition of their life-changing work on melanoma.
As co-directors of the Melanoma Institute Australia, over the past decade the pair’s research on immunotherapy, which uses the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells, has dramatically improved outcomes for advanced melanoma patients globally.
He is also the first to be administered a vaccine personalised to his tumour’s characteristics, which boosts the cancer-detecting powers of the drugs.
After a tough couple of months of treatment at the start of the year – spent dealing with epileptic seizures, liver issues and pneumonia – Prof Scolyer said he is feeling healthier.
“I’m the best I have felt for yonks,” he said, adding that he’s back to exercising every day – which for him often means a casual 15km (9.3 mile) jog.
“It certainly doesn’t mean that my brain cancer is cured… but it’s just nice to know that it hasn’t come back yet, so I’ve still got some more time to enjoy my life with my wife Katie and my three wonderful kids.”
The results so far have generated huge excitement that the duo may be on the cusp of a discovery which could one day help the roughly 300,000 people diagnosed with brain cancer globally each year.
Prof Scolyer and Prof Long have previously said the odds of a cure are “minuscule”, but they hope the experimental treatment will prolong Prof Scolyer’s life and will soon translate into clinical trials for glioblastoma patients.
They currently have a scientific paper under review, which details results from the first weeks of Prof Scolyer’s treatment, but Prof Long stresses that they are still a long way off developing an approved and regulated course of treatment.
“We’ve generated a whole heap of data, to then make a foundation for that next step, so that we can help more people,” she said.
“We’re not there yet. What we have to really focus on is showing that this pre-surgery, combination immunotherapy type of approach works in a large number of people.”
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has released additional 36,540 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME results, which were earlier withheld for further investigation.
This was in addition to the 531 results released the previous week now bringing the total results released to 1,879,437.
The board disclosed this in a statement it released on Tuesday night through its spokesman, Fabian Benjamin.
JAMB, in the statement, denied reports circulation on the social media purporting to emanate from it that the outstanding 2024 UTME results, currently being subjected to intense scrutiny by its team of experts, had been compromised on account of a cyber security breach and that it is considering rescheduling the examination.
It asked the public to disregard the report, saying it was created by fraudsters who are out to dupe the unsuspecting members of the public.
“In another development, the attention of the Board was drawn to a fictitious letter concocted by a fraudster and circulated on social media purporting to emanate from the Board stating that the outstanding 2024 UTME results, currently being subjected to intense scrutiny by its team of experts, had been compromised on account of a cyber security breach and that it is considering rescheduling the examination.
“This is far from the truth as the said letter did not emanate from the Board. In fact, a closer look at the letter, which was not signed by any person, lacked every ingredient of a letter from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board. The letter is, therefore, from those, who wish to destroy the integrity of the Board, by compromising its unassailable operational processes to mislead hapless candidates with the sole aim of extorting them.
“The Board reiterated, for the umpteenth time, that the results of its 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and other previous years are intact, not in any cloud storage and can, therefore, not be hacked by anybody.
“It is to be recalled that at the release of the 2024 UTME, the Board had announced that some results had been withheld as they were being subjected to further investigation. Out of these, 531 results were released recently. Others found to be involved in any examination misconduct are still undergoing investigation as the Board would want to review all the footage of all CCTV cameras placed in all its accredited centres to ascertain the candidate’s culpability or otherwise.
“At the conclusion of this exercise, the Board would publish its findings. Therefore, the public is urged to be wary of misleading information emanating from sources not linked to the Board be it religious or other sources.
“Equally disturbing is the misleading comments of some functionaries of some private institutions, who are linking the Board with “the prevailing low ‘cut-off marks’ when in practice, it was their institutions that had submitted lower minimum minimum admissible scores marks, even lower than what other institutions had presented.
“For the purpose of clarity, minimum admissible scores are first presented by individual institutions before such are debated to arrive at a benchmark agreed upon by all Heads of Institutions across the country at its annual Policy Meeting on Admissions and which no institution would be allowed to compromise.
“Also, the Board would also like to urge religious organisations to stick to their primary roles and not dabble into areas outside their calling as there are reports of some religious organisations making false representation to government at various levels for selfish ends, “it read.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has preferred a fresh charge against the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, over an allegation that he illegally printed Naira notes while he held sway at the apex bank.
The anti-graft agency, in the four-count charge it entered before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, equally accused the former CBN boss of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of about N124.8billion from the consolidated revenue fund.
According to the EFCC, the defendant, acting in violation of law and “with intent to cause injury to the public,” okayed the printing of naira notes without the approval of both the former President, Muhammadu Buhari and the board of the CBN.
Emefiele, who is already facing multiple charges both in Abuja and Lagos, is expected to take his plea before trial Justice Maryann Anenih.
Specifically, the charge against him, read: “That you Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1, 000, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.
“That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, between the 19th of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 172,000,000 pieces of colour swapped N500 (Five Hundred Naira) Notes, at the total cost of N4, 471,066,040 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.
“That you Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 137,070,000 pieces of colour swapped N200 (Two Hundred Naira) Note, at the total cost of N3, 441, 005, 280 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.
“That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, on or about the 7th day of October 2020, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 80 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), by approving the withdrawal of the total sum of N124, 860, 227, 865.16 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation in a manner not prescribed by the National Assembly, which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”
It will be recalled that President Bola Tinubu had on June 9, 2023, suspended Emefiele from office as the head of the apex bank.
He was later arrested at his Lagos residence by DSS operatives.
The former CBN boss was subsequently transferred to the custody of the EFCC, which on November 28, 2023, docked him on a six-count charge that bordered on his alleged involvement in procurement fraud.
Though Emefiele, who initially spent 151 days in custody of security agencies, was later granted bail to the tune of N300million and ordered to produce two sureties that the trial court stressed must be Abuja residents that have landed property within the Maitama District, the defendant could not perfect the conditions till December 23, 2023, when he was released from Kuje prison where he spent about 34 days.