Nigerian clergyman, Bishop Daniel Oluwafeyiropo, has been remanded in prison by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for allegedly raping two of his church members.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Bishop Feyi committed the crime in June 2020 in Ikota Villa Estate in the Lekki area of Lagos state, but pleaded not guilty to the charge.
In the court hearing on Monday, April 17, Justice Ramon Oshodi remanded the clergy and founder of I Reign Christian Ministry in the Kirikiri Correctional Facility pending when his bail conditions are met.
Mr Oshodi granted the defendant N20 million bail with two sureties in the same amount. He stated that one of the sureties must own a build-up property in Lagos State, with a value sufficient to cover the bail amount.
“The original document of the landed property must be submitted to the chief registrar of Lagos State.
“The sureties must reside within the court’s jurisdiction and must have three years’ tax payment to the Lagos State,” he said.
The judge also ordered the defendant to surrender his international passport with the court’s chief registrar and ordered an accelerated hearing of the case. He then set the trial date for May 9th.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has responded to the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating allegations of illegal crude oil export to global destinations from 2014 to date.
Malami’s position was made known in a letter to the committee on Thursday indicating that the Ministry of Justice was trying to put together a comprehensive response to the alleged sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil valued at over $2.4 billion.
However, the Chairman of the committee, Mark Gbillah, who read the letter, said it came “a lot later than expected”.
He added that the committee would expect the attorney general to provide the required response and to also appear before the committee next Thursday.
Sultan of Sokoto and President General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has urged Peter Obi and other politicians seeking redress in court to accept the outcomes of the 2023 elections in good faith.
Recall Obi had challenged INEC’s declaration of Bola Tinubu of All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
Sultan, however, in his Eid-el-Fitr message to Nigerians on Friday in Sokoto, said “people should go ahead with their routine activities peacefully”.
“Politicians seeking redress in courts should take the outcomes in good faith and support whoever emerges for the sustenance of peace, unity and development,” he added.
He also felicitated with all the Muslims across the country and prayed for the elected leaders to succeed in delivering their campaign promises to the citizens.
Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has said that a potential fight with Deontay Wilder is ‘95 per cent done’ on his side and could take place in December if the deal goes through.
Talks are ongoing over a proposed ‘tournament’ in Saudi Arabia which could also involve Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk fight on the same card.
Joshua claimed his first win in over two years after defeating Jermaine Franklin in his last fight on April 1, having previously fallen to two consecutive losses to Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
He then announced he would not return to the ring until December, ruling out a summer showdown with either Fury or Dillian Whyte.
Joshua now looks set to face off against the former WBC World Champion Wilder at the end of the year in a fight that could have happened when they were both champions.
“From my experiences with Saudi, if they say they are going to do something, they are more than likely going to do it. So, that’s one end of it,” Joshua told Metro.
“And then you let the other guys do what they do. But as the man behind the scenes, it is important to start getting ready. In terms of it getting delivered, I honestly believe it is 95 percent there.
“He is good, I respect him, I don’t undermine him. That will make me raise my game. I respect what he has done and what he has done in this division. It is hard to become a champion, and he did it, so I have to respect that,” the British-Nigerian said.
UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab announced his resignation on Friday after bullying claims against him were upheld in a report, a fresh political shock for Britain’s Conservatives.
Raab’s resignation gives Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a headache some two weeks before local elections at which the Conservatives are expected to lose seats.
He is also battling to claw back a chasm of lost ground to the main opposition Labour Party before a general election next year.
Raab, who stood in for former prime minister Boris Johnson as he battled Covid in 2020, had promised to quit if any claims against him were upheld.
But even though he was cleared of most of the allegations, he blasted the conclusions of a lawyer-led inquiry.
“Whilst I feel duty-bound to accept the outcome of the inquiry, it dismissed all but two of the claims levelled against me,” he wrote in a resignation letter.
“I also believe that its two adverse findings are flawed and set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government.”
The bar for bullying was set so low, he said, that “it will encourage spurious complaints against ministers and have a chilling effect on those driving change”.
Raab also resigned from his post as justice secretary, where he has had to battle a backlog in criminal cases caused by years of under-funding and disruptions caused by the pandemic.
He previously served as Brexit minister and foreign secretary but was moved from that post after being criticised for failing to return from holiday as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.
Sunak, who succeeded the short-lived Liz Truss in October last year, vowed to restore “integrity, professionalism and accountability” in government after Johnson’s rollercoaster tenure.
He previously sacked Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative party chairman over his tax affairs.
Gavin Williamson, a former defence secretary who kept a tarantula on his desk while in charge of party discipline in parliament, quit over expletive-laden messages.
Low bar
Former lawyer Raab, a karate black belt, has denied bullying civil servants working for him and in his letter rejected allegations of an overbearing manner with colleagues.
He insisted in his letter that ministers “must be able to exercise direct oversight with respect to senior officials over critical negotiations conducted on behalf of the British people”.
Not to do so, he said, would mean the loss of “the democratic and constitutional principle of ministerial responsibility”.
He also maintained ministers “must be able to give direct critical feedback on briefings and submissions to senior officials in order to set the standards and drive the reform the public expect of us”.
“Of course, this must be done within reasonable bounds,” he went on.
Sunak appointed senior employment lawyer Adam Tolley to look into the claims in November and he submitted his report to Sunak on eight allegations on Thursday.
The report has yet to be published.
But Raab said Tolley “concluded that I had not once, in four and a half years, sworn or shouted at anyone let alone thrown anything or otherwise physically intimated anyone, nor intentionally sought to belittle anyone”.
“I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice,” he added.
“That is, however, what the public expects of ministers working on their behalf.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has observed his last Sallah festivities in the Presidential Villa.
He told dignitaries who thronged the seat of power on Friday, that he can’t wait to go home after eight years of being in the saddle of governing the country.
The event was the 9th and final Sallah homage held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Buhari, who was all smiles, described himself as being lucky, to have led Nigeria in various capacities – governor, minister, head of state and President.
He commended residents of the FCT for being tolerant hosts in the last seven and half years.
“I can’t wait to go home…I deliberately arranged to be as far away as possible from you people. I have got what I asked for and will quietly retire to my home town in Daura,” Buhari stated at the brief event.
The police has arraigned a 36-year-old lawyer, Abasiesebanga Ikoiwak, and five others for allegedly killing her 41-year-old husband, Barrister Godwin Ikoiwak.
According to information gathered, Ikoiwak, who was a native of Eket Local Government Area, had reportedly died a few days after the deceased told his friend and former classmate, Barrister Sunny Anyanwu in a phone conversation that he was having issues with his wife over infidelity.
Narrating how the deceased died before an Uyo High Court, Anyanwu said that the deceased hinted him that he reported the matter to his wife’s family who invited him to a meeting in their family compound in Nung Udoe Itak, Ikono Local Government Area, but did not return home alive.
Anyanwu who is the 7th prosecution witness in the matter, also said that the late Barrister told him that his wife was having sexual relationship with her former boss, a legal practitioner, Barrister, C.I. Odoh.
He said the deceased husband told him that his wife had stayed with a Catholic priest, Rev. Father Maurice Mbeke as a house help and the catholic priest impregnated her and they had a child who is now 19 years old named after her maternal grandfather.
According to the prosecution witness, the late Barrister did not know that the boy who has been living with him in his house for years, was his wife’s son, because the wife had told him that the child was her younger brother.
He said, the deceased told him that each time his wife said she was pregnant, he does not set his eyes on her, until after the delivery of the baby, when she will present it to him and say this is your child.
The prosecution team led by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Akwa Ibom State, Barr. Joseph Umoren tendered the audio recordings which was played in the open court.
Until his death, Barrister Ikoiwak was a state counsel with the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Justice.
Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode has celebrated the dismissal of a corruption charge against him.
WITHIN NIGERIA reports that Fani-Kayode was allegedly acquitted by the Appeal Court of charges of misappropriation of N4.6 billion and money laundering brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
The former Minister stated that God’s grace and mercy fought for him, as did his innocence.
On Friday, Fani-Kayode expressed his gratitude via his verified Twitter handle.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain revealed that the case had been ongoing for seven years.
He wrote;
Yesterday the Court of Appeal quashed the charges filed against me, the former Minister of Finance Nenadi Usman and others at the Federal High Court in Lagos by the EFCC for the misappropriation of 4.6 billion naira and money laundering.
Peter Obi Supporters Cannot Be Trusted
Meanwhile, Fani-Kayode has accused supporters of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi of spreading lies, propaganda, and disinformation.
On Sunday, Fani-Kayode claimed in a lengthy article posted on his verified Twitter handle that Obi’s supporters spread a false story on social media claiming that he had been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The APC chieftain referred to the ‘Obidients’ as clowns and fascist miscreants, urging them to face the ordeal of their presidential candidate in London.
He stated that fabrications, lies, propaganda, hate speech, and disinformation directed at him will not benefit Obi supporters, nor will they provide them with peace of mind, solace, or comfort.
Fani-Kayode, however, added that Bola Tinubu will be sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29th no matter the actions of the LP supporters.
He wrote:
When the Obidients, Obidiots, and members of the cult of Obidati put out a fake story on social media that I have been arrested by the EFCC it amuses me. Don’t these clowns and fascist miscreants have anything better to do? I urge them to keep dreaming.
Just because your “yes daddy” demon,@PeterObi, is being hunted and investigated in the UK for what many have claimed are money laundering and drug-related offences and simply because he was arrested and detained at Heathrow Airport does not mean you should take it out on me.
Meanwhile, write all the fake stories you like. That is your nature and it changes nothing. It merely reinforces and validates the disgust and contempt that Nigerians have for you. As each day passes your torment will grow.
All your fabrications, lies, propaganda, hate speech, malice, and disinformation will not help you, and neither will they give you peace of mind, solace, or comfort. The fact remains that your Peter lost the election, he is finished and he is going down!
Grow up and smell the coffee: a new order will soon be in power in our country and, whether you like it or not, our President-elect,
@officialABAT will be sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29th.
With barely 38 days to the end of his eight-year tenure, President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday asked for forgiveness from those his actions may have hurt.
Speaking inside the Banquet Hall of the presidential villa, Abuja, during a Sallah homage paid on him by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) residents led by the Minister, Mohammed Bello, he also thanked Nigerians for tolerating him.
The President praised democracy as the best form of government, saying that without it, he could not have become president after already serving as military head of state given the side of the country he hails from.
He reminded the audience that he is from the extreme corner of Nigeria, Daura in Katsina State, which he said is just eight kilometers from Niger Republic.
More details to come…
Former governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha has lost his mother, Dame Dorothy Nsonma Ihedioha.
According to a statement by the former governor, she was 90 years old and she is survived by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The statement reads: “After a fruitful and eventful life of God’s abundant mercies and grace, our mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Dame Dorothy Nsonma Ihedioha (Nee Okereke) gloriously transited to eternity on Thursday 20th April 2023 in Abuja, with her family by her side.
“Mama celebrated her 90th birthday on 28th August 2022.
“While we thank friends and well wishers who identified with us, particularly during our mother’s last days, we enjoin you to remember the family in your prayers.
“Funeral arrangements will be announced in due course.”
[Vanguard]
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied any sabotage of the uploading of results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) during the February 25 presidential election.
Naija News reports that the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, made the denial during an interview on Channels TV on Friday.
Okoye stated that the failure of the Commission to upload presidential election results on IReV in real time was unintentional and not an attempt to manipulate the election.
He asserted that the electoral body wouldn’t deliberately sabotage a process that it was committed to, adding that the Commission has not reviewed its performance in the 2023 elections.
The INEC spokesman, however, said the electoral body uploaded results during the National Assembly, Governorship, State House of Assembly, and Supplementary elections.
Okoye added that the effort of the Commission during the 2023 elections should not be reduced to its failure to upload the presidential election results on IReV.
Celebrity Nigerian UK-based pastor, Tobi Adegboyega, has expressed optimism that Nigeria will experience positive economic changes after the swearing-in of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
Naija News reports that the clergyman made this known in a post shared on Instagram while recalling the poor state of China about 40 years ago.
According to him, there will be an ‘economic miracle’ with the incoming administration of Tinubu and it has nothing to do with religion.
He wrote: “Economic miracle. China was poor just 40 years ago. If we go by China’s economy (19+trn) it means all African leaders are not up to one Chinese leader. (Africa’s economy is about 4 trn) I think Nigeria being the biggest economy in Africa could have done better but with a new government coming in.
“I think there will be another economic miracle. 40-year journey. Where will you fit in this coming miracle? By the way, religion has no place in this miracle.
“The building system is more important than immediate prosperity, it is systems. China opened up and maintained its own system of governance not allowing a foreign nation to tell them how to govern.”
Ogun State Ministry of Forestry said it generated N80.7 million as revenue within the first quarter of the year 2023.
The Ministry also said on Thursday that it spent N125.2 million on recurrent expenditures within the first three months of the year.
Commissioner for Forestry, Oludotun Taiwo made this disclosure when he led the management team from the Ministry to address the Ogun State House of Assembly on the performance of the Ministry between January and March 2023.
At the budget performance appraisal held by the House Committee on Agriculture and Forestry and chaired by Hon. Sylvester Abiodun, the Commissioner stated that the Ministry is working hard to improve on its revenue and boost its afforestation programmes.
Taiwo assured that the ministry under his watch would embark on massive plantation of trees in 2023, in line with the budget objectives of the Ministry for the fiscal year.
Reacting, the committee Chairman, Hon. Abiodun charged the Ministry to improve on its revenue drive without inflicting unnecessary hardship on the people.
Sevilla head coach, Jose Luis Mendilibar has suggested that his team defeated Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League quarter-final second-leg tie on Thursday night in Spain because his players believe in what he asked them to do against the Red Devils.
Mendilibar also expressed his happiness to be in charge of the current Sevilla squad.
A brace from Youssef En-Nesyri and a goal from Loic Bade ensured Sevilla defeated Man United 3-0 at home.
The La Liga side eliminated Erik ten Hag’s side from the Europa League on a 5-2 aggregate win, having drawn 2-2 in the first leg at Old Trafford last week.
Speaking to Movistar+ after the game, Mendilibar admitted that he felt so grateful to lead Sevilla to their historic victory over Manchester United.
He said, “I am grateful for having the opportunity to be in charge of this game.
“I’m thankful to the players, they have believed in what I have asked of them.”
Sevilla will now face Juventus in the Europa League semi-final clash in May.