• 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.

• Billions of naira lost to complimentary e-tickets

President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, members of the National Assembly and state Assemblies, as well as military personnel, will, henceforth, pay the required fees for e-tags (tickets) at toll gates and airports in the country.

The decision was one of many taken at the reconvened Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by the President at the State House, Abuja, yesterday.

The approval followed a memorandum by Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, who argued that the government was losing over 82 per cent of the revenue it should have earned from the e-tags that provide access at tollgates.

Fielding questions from reporters at the end of the meeting, Keyamo revealed that the country loses over N10 billion through complimentary e-tickets to VIPs, including members of the National Assembly and their convoys, military officials and other high-profile Nigerians.

He explained that the presentation had prescribed an exemption for only the President and the Vice President before Tinubu overruled the submission and directed that he and his deputy should be included.

Keyamo regretted that VIPs, including federal lawmakers, members of state Assemblies and military personnel, who should pay, have defaulted over the years. He said only poor people are charged, adding: “This must stop.”

He said: “What we sought and obtained is the mandatory payment of access fees by all visitors at our federal airport tollgates nationwide, no more exemptions. When we came to the office, we met a tradition on the ground, where at the end of the year, all manners of VIPs approach us for what they call complimentary e-tags or complimentary stickers. You see them coming into our airports nationwide. They don’t pay access fees. They don’t pay for parking and they don’t pay for essential services at airports. I told myself and my team that under my watch, it would not happen. If this tradition has existed for years, I will not allow it to happen.

“It is inconceivable that in our country, it is the VIPs that don’t pay for services. It is the poor that pay. The VIPs, who are supposed to have money, don’t pay for services, but they compel poor men to pay for services, and I said no.

“Let me give you the shocking statistics. The figure that we get at the end of the day from the complimentary e-tags is 82 per cent in the negative. In other words, when we are supposed to have a 100 per cent income from these e-tags that we print, it is only 18 per cent that we end up selling. That is how bad it is. And 82 per cent of these e-tags are given out free of charge to VIPs.”

Keyamo added: “Imagine the loss in my sector. I ask myself, which other sector will I go to where they will give me anything free? So, why would everybody come to my sector and want to get free passage? Not possible.”

After several weeks of hiatus, the tripartite committee set up by the Federal Government will finally meet today (Wednesday), May 15, 2024, sources familiar with the matter confirmed the development to our correspondent in Abuja on Monday.

The Labour unions also stood their ground on their proposal of N615,000 minimum wage while insisting on May 31, 2024 deadline.

The development comes after the failure of the Federal Government to present a nationally acceptable minimum wage to Nigerians following the expiration of the old minimum wage on April 18, 2024.

President Bola Tinubu, through the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, on January 30, 2024 inaugurated the 37-member  tripartite committee to come up with a new minimum wage.

With its membership cutting across federal, and state governments, the private sector, and organised labour, the panel is to recommend a new national minimum wage for the country.

Shettima, during the committee’s inauguration, urged the members to “speedily” arrive at a resolution and submit their reports early.

“This timely submission is crucial to ensure the emergence of a new minimum wage,” Shettima said. 

He also urged collective bargaining in good faith, emphasising contract adherence and encouraging consultations outside the committee.

The 37-man committee is chaired by the former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Goni Aji.

In furtherance of the assignment, a zonal public hearing was held simultaneously on March 7, 2024 in Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, and Abuja.

The NLC and the TUC, in different states, proposed various figures as a living wage, referencing the current economic crunch and the high costs of living.

In their different proposals on the minimum wage, the NLC asked the South-West states to pay N794,000 as the TUC mentioned N447,000.

At the North-Central zone hearing in Abuja, the workers demanded N709,000 as the new national minimum wage, while in the South-South, N850,000 minimum wage was demanded.

In the North-West, N485,000 was proposed, while the South-East stakeholders demanded N540,000 minimum wage.

The organised labour would later propose  N615,000 as a living wage.

Since the March 7 zonal hearing, nothing much has been heard about the committee’s activities.

However, confirming the resumption of negotiations to The PUNCH on Tuesday, three competent sources, who spoke off the record as they were not authorised to speak to the press, said the committee will sit on Wednesday.

One of the sources said, “Yes the minimum wage committee will be meeting on Wednesday.”

According to him, all the zones across the country have submitted their reports.

He said, “Our expectations are clear. We have given the Federal Government till the last day of May for all the processes around national minimum wage to be concluded, if not, we will be forced to take the necessary action to compel them to do the needful.

“So, we expect that as they meet, they will also have an eye to that particular deadline that has been given to them to ensure a speedy conclusion of the process because organised labour has made a demand to the Federal Government, and we have not received any concrete offer from the government.”

The source added that the Federal Government should make its offer public.

“That is this actual negotiation exercise, they must make a realistic offer.

“The Federal Government should make an offer that has the interest of workers and also the interest of Nigeria because when workers are paid well, they are motivated, which means that productivity will increase, and it will directly make the economy thrive,” he said.

The source said a reasonable new minimum wage would increase workers’ purchasing power, which would have a positive effect on the economy.

“The moment workers’ salaries are increased, there will be more money in their hands, and they will buy more, and the local manufacturers will produce more, employ more people and the economy will thrive.

“We are not asking for charity; we are asking for what is good for all of us and for the nation. Nigerian workers are the lowest paid workers in Africa, our minimum wage is the lowest in Africa, that is the reality,” he said.

Also speaking to The PUNCH, another source said, “We are not meant to speak openly to the press but I can confirm to you off the record that we will finally be sitting on Wednesday. All the work done by the sub-committees will be reviewed. We hope to have a headway.”

Another, source who also confirmed the authenticity of the meeting, said, “Yes, we will be meeting on Wednesday.”

Speaking with our correspondent In Abuja, the National Vice-President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, noted that the unions still stand their ground on the proposal of N615,000 minimum wage while adding that the May 31, 2024 deadline remains sacrosanct.

“We are still standing on the N615,000 and the deadline of May 31 still stands,” he said.

Earlier, The PUNCH reported how top officials of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the issue, said while the organised labour was insisting on N615,000 minimum wage,  the government and the private sector were proposing between N60,000 and N70,000, resulting in a stalemate in negotiations.

But the NLC President, Joe Ajaero said the proposed N615,000 minimum wage by Labour was arrived at after an analysis of the current economic situation and the needs of an average Nigerian family of six.

He said the last minimum wage of N30,000 expired on April 18.

He had also described as mischievous the pay rise of between 25 and 35 per cent for civil servants across various consolidated salary structures announced by the Federal Government recently.

He added, “We should be in the regime of a new minimum wage as of today. Discussions were supposed to have been concluded.

“The Federal Government, through the National Assembly, legislated on it. But we saw that the discussion ‘entered voice mail’ because the Federal Government refused to reconvene the meeting that was adjourned.

“I think the (25 per cent) announcement now appears mischievous because there is no wage increase that the government is announcing. For them to announce it now, it is an issue that we are worried about at the NLC and even at the TUC.”

Meanwhile, the National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, proposed a middle-of-the-road approach between the government and organised labour, noting, however, that the government seemed uninterested in negotiating with labour.

“Labour and the government have been discussing, but it looks like a monologue. It seems only one side is saying something, and the other side is not saying anything, at least to the knowledge of the public. And it doesn’t look like the government is very committed to labour issues, because first and foremost, the person who was appointed as the Minister of Labour left his job and was made a senator by a court, the Appeal Court, in a very controversial circumstance. He left his job and went to the Senate, and the President, since then, has not appointed a substantive Minister of Labour, meaning the government does not even consider issues that have to do with labour.”

However, Onwubiko argued that the N615,000 new minimum wage being demanded by labour was unrealistic.

He said, “That amount is unrealistic as far as the resources of Nigeria are concerned; it is quite unrealistic; it is unachievable. I think it is the beginning point for negotiation, but it doesn’t look like the government is even serious about negotiating. I think we need to reach a middle-of-the-road approach,” he 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.

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.”

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.”

Says Dangote petrol price won’t be fixed

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, has directed  petrol marketers to open Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, points at their filling stations to increase accessibility for consumers.

The Chief Executive, NMDPRA, Engr Farouk Ahmed who disclosed this during a meeting with key oil marketing companies in Abuja yesterday, said new applications for retail licences would no longer be approved without CNG points.

Ahmed who described the push by the Federal Government to encourage the use of CNG as an alternative to petrol as a revolution, said the government was determined to reduce the burden of petrol on the economy.

“We hope to see very soon CNG add-ons in most of our upcoming and larger petrol stations just like we have PMS, AGO and DPK so that we can have easy access for the consumers. But first, we have to address the supply side and we are working with the producing companies, our sister agency, NUPRC and NNPC Limited as well as GACN (Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria) to ensure that the product is also available at competitive cost to the consumers.

“This will align us with the President’s objective of transforming the country into more CNG for mobility rather than depending heavily on PMS. So, we are appealing to the companies to also invest and ensure that the point of sale for CNG is available to consumers.

“Once we are done with consultations, we will require that CNG add-ons be put in petrol stations and for new applications, one of the requirements will be that you must have CNG add-on in the petrol station”, he said.

On the recent shortage of petrol across the country, Engr. Farouk blamed it on the logistics problem faced by NNPC Limited in moving product from offshore to onshore depots.

He stressed that though the government was encouraging local refining of petroleum products to reduce imports, it would not compel oil marketers to buy from Dangote Refinery as the decision was commercial. 

“We allayed the fears of the marketers and we told them that Dangote refinery is a major achievement in our country because in the past we were importing every litre of petroleum products we required except those supplied by modular refineries. And as an oil producing country, we believe at NMDPRA that we should support our local industry. And that is why we encourage our marketers to patronize our local refineries.

“But, at the same time, it is a commercial decision that they will have to make between the suppliers and the clients. NMDPRA will not determine how much it is sold or how much you are buying. It is their own decision to go to Dangote refinery and purchase, and for Dangote refinery to determine the price it will sell. As a regulator, we are only interested that the nation is well supplied”, he added.

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.

Six men have been arrested for raping a 12 year old girl at Argungu Local Government Area of Kebbi State. 

The girl, whose name was withheld,  went for an errand for her parents when she was accosted by the men and taken to their hideout. 

The suspects include: isah Isma’il, 60yrs, Ibrahim Umar, 45, Mustapha Sani, 44, Dauda Garba, 40, Tukur Bawa, 38 and Muktar Muhammed, 28. 

It was gathered that they were apprehended by men of the Hisbah Command at various locations in Argungu after committing the crime.

A director at the Hisbah Command in Birnin Kebbi said the suspects confessed to committing the offence while being interrogated by the officials of the command.

He added that the suspects and the victim had been handed over to the criminal investigation department of the police command in Birnin Kebbi for further investigation.

The Public Relations Officer of the Police Command, SP Nafi’u Abubakar who confirmed the arrest of the suspects said they are being investigated at the CID in Birnin Kebbi police Command.