Extra Reporters

Abba Moro, former minister of interior, is being interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the recruitment tragedy that rocked the Nigeria Immigration Service in 2014. TheCable understands that he arrived the Abuja office of the anti-graft agency on Monday morning following an invitation to respond to allegations of fraud in the recruitment process which ended tragically with 16 deaths. The recruitment test, written on March 15, 2014, attracted 6.5 million applicants, 700,772 of whom paid N1000 each as online registration fee. Only 4,000 vacancies were available. Questions were raised over the N700 million generated by the consultant through online registration fee and why adequate measures were not taken to prevent overcrowding and stampede at the test centres. Moro initially blamed the applicants for being "disorderly", but later took responsibility, expressing regrets that his desire to eliminate favouritism through a competi...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested a former Governor of Kebbi State, Usman Dakingari, over allegation of money laundering of about N3.8billion from the state while serving in office. Throwback: His wife was earlier arrested by the EFCC in connection with money laundering of over 2billion Naira when her husband was in office.  The former governor is being detained since around 10:30AM today at the EFCC Headquarters.

The World Bank has said it needed time to give detail on how it dispense the recovered assets stolen by Late General Sani Abacha and how it was spent by the Nigerian government. The bank made the disclosure in a response to a request by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) asking for information on the spending of recovered assets stolen by the late Head of State. In her letter dated October 15, 2015 and signed by Ann May of the Access to Information Team, AIT, the Bank said: “In response to your request under AI3982, we would like to inform you that we are still considering your request and need additional time to provide you with a more comprehensive response.” It stated further that, “In most cases, we will be able to respond within twenty (20) working days from receipt of a request for information. However, we may need additional time in special circumstances, for example, if the request is complex or voluminous or if it requires further...

PREMIUM TIMES investigation shows that Mr. Akpabio was taken in by EFCC operatives at about 5.20 pm. He was said to have been accompanied a few aides and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Ricky Tarfa. An aide to the former governor, who cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak on the matter told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Akpabio is currently being interrogated by top officials of the EFCC. An EFCC source confirmed the development. “He was brought in at about 5.20 pm accompanied by a few aides and Mr. Rickey Tarfa,” the source said. “It is not yet known whether he will be allowed to go this night. It depends on how the interrogation goes.” The spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, did not answer or return calls seeking comment for this story. The EFCC had begun investigation into alleged theft of N108.1billion of Akwa Ibom funds by the former governor in June. The action followed a petition forwarded to the commission by an Abuja...

Photo Credit: www.premiumtimesng.com Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (E.F.C.C) today, arrested a former governor of Benue state, Gabriel Suswan, which may not be unconnected to alleged corruption during his tenure as governor. On Friday, a former commissioner for Finance, Oklobia Omadaci was invited by the EFCC over alleged diversion of public funds, missmanagement and fraud during his tenuer. Suswan was being interogated at the EFCC office in Abuja. More detail coming soon...

The 13-man investigative committee set up to probe the procurement of hardware and ammunition in the Armed Forces has started its sitting, albeit in camera. The committee has been meeting in the office of the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), a source in the Presidency confided in The PUNCH on Wednesday. The source said, “I can confirm to you that the committee members have started meeting. They even started meeting before their appointments were announced. This is because they do not need any confirmation or any formal inauguration. “Available information showed that members are getting the needed assistance and support from interested parties. “It is the government’s belief that a lot of ground would be covered by the committee in its desire to ascertain what went wrong in the past as far as the procurement of arms is concerned.” Presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, had on Monday announced the composition of the committee, which is...

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Wednesday said former Minister of the Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe is afraid of President Muhammadu Buhari’s planned probe of several billions of naira squandered on the East-West road and on the Amnesty programme under his watch as Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs. The governor said that fear of an impending probe was what triggered Mr. Orubebe’s latest outburst in the media. Mr. Orubebe had on Tuesday described the Edo Governor as a “villa sycophant”. The former minister, who had a chat with some journalists in Abuja, described Mr. Oshiomhole as someone who is willing to switch allegiance to whoever is in power at any point in time. He chastised the Edo governor for speaking against former President Goodluck Jonathan who he called a great leader. “Oshiomhole is an ingrate and a popular villa sycophant who is quick to switch allegiance to whomever is in power,” Mr. Orubebe said. Mr. Oshiomhole, in a statement by his spokesperson...

President Muhammed Buhari Monday in Abuja called for an explanation from the Ministry of Finance on the foreign loans obtained for rail projects but diverted to other purposes. Speaking at the end of a presentation on the Ministry of Transport by the Permanent Secretary, Mohammed Bashar at the Presidential Villa, President Buhari said that it was disappointing to find that foreign loans obtained in line with signed agreements were moved from one project to another. “I hope that due process was followed before such diversions were carried out. Taking money from one project to another has to be done properly,” Garba Shehu, his senior special assistant on media and publicity, quoted the President as saying. Mr. Buhari was reacting to the specific instance of the diversion of a substantial part of the loan of USD1.005 billion from the Chinese Exim Bank, obtained for the construction of a standard gauge rail line linking Lagos to Kano but which was moved elsewhere. Th...

Details are beginning to emerge from the private meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The Nations reports that a former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar facilitated the meeting. According to the report, the meeting was at the instance of the 2015 Elections Peace Committee, after former President, Jonathan complained that President Buhari was not sticking to the peace accord they signed. Jonathan was reported to have also sought for understanding on alleged corrupt practices and mismanagement of funds under his administration, with a source saying the former President claimed he was hearing about some of the graft allegations for the first time. The report however claimed that President Buhari reportedly insisted that all looted funds must be returned to the nation’s coffers, adding that the President also restated his pledge that Jonathan had nothing to fear at all. According to a s...

Justice Ibrahim Mairiga of the Kebbi State High Court has convicted Suleiman Ibrahim Musa, Bilyaminu Usman and Lawal Suleiman on a 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, theft and criminal breach of trust brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and sentenced them to 91 years in prison. The convicts, who are former members of staff of FinBank Plc (acquired by First City Monument Bank Plc in 2011), Birnin-Kebbi branch in Kebbi State, were first arraigned on July 21, 2010, and had pleaded not guilty to the charges. Mr. Musa, who was then the head of operations, defrauded the bank of N101, 707,000. Messrs Usman and Suleiman, both tellers, connived to defraud the bank of N6, 627,500 and N6, 267,500 respectively. The crimes were committed between 2008 and 2010. They had at different times debited the bank’s customers by carrying out unauthorized withdrawals. They were arrested by EFCC operatives following a petition by the bank’...

The police in Lagos State have arrested a part-time lecturer, Afeez Baruwa, for allegedly raping an 18-year-old girl, identified as Caroline (pseudonym) in the Yaba area. PUNCH Metro learnt that the victim, who was reportedly raped inside a study room, was seeking admission into the University of Lagos, Akoka. It was gathered that Baruwa was arrested by the Surulere Police Division on Monday, August 3. Our correspondent gathered that the lecturer, however, told the police in his statement that the sexual intercourse was by mutual consent, insisting that he did not rape the victim. ADVERTISEMENT PUNCH Metro learnt that the lecturer and Caroline’s father belonged to the same landlords’ association in the Abesan, Ipaja area. It was gathered that the victim’s father had allowed her daughter to follow the lecturer on July 23, to UNILAG for an admission process. It was learnt that Baruwa allegedly took the girl inside one of the study halls, bolted the door, an...

The arrest of former National Security Adviser may not be unconnected with a monumental of $8,853,600 (N1,751,864,867) fraud while in office, Sambo Dasuki was the NSA during the just-terminated tenure. The fraud pertains to shipments of guns and ammunitions allegedly for the fight against Boko Haram terrorists, for which the amount was allegedly allocated for the purchase of arms and ammunition, none of which seem to have ever arrived in Nigeria. This fraud appears to have been perpetrated at a time that Nigeria was in desperate need of military hardware to fight the insurgency in the northeast of the country, with Boko Haram murdering or abducting thousands of civilians. The then President, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan, and his officials, were also openly critical of international partners, including the United States, for not selling arms to Nigeria. The news of this particular fraud breaks only two weeks after the former the home of Mr. Dasuki was raided by State Security ag...

An N2.4 million bribery scam is rocking the Delta State House of Assembly. SaharaReporters learned that the Speaker, Monday Igbuya, and other members of the State House of Assembly allegedly collected N200,000 bribes from the twelve commissioner nominees forwarded by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for “screening.” Confiding in a SaharaReporters correspondent, a senior management staff person of the State’s House of Assembly who did not want to be named disclosed that one of the commissioner nominees told him in confidence how the twelve nominees’ arms were twisted to pay N200,000 each. The ultimatum was that without the N200,000 none of them would be cleared by the lawmakers. However, the source said, “If you were around during their screening on the floor of the House, you would have noticed that all the nominees were only told to take a bow” and to go. An aide to one of the commissioners who pleaded anonymity confided in SaharaReporters that the money was definitively give...

Concerned by the spate of illegal activities of Bayelsa State Police, including the indiscriminate arrest of innocent persons, extortion, and shady deals of rank-and-file policemen, the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) has written a strongly worded petition to the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, and the authorities of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to intervene. In a statement issued by the State Chairman, Nengi James, the CLO said that the recent cases of indiscriminate arrests of innocent youths and elders in Bayelsa State under Police Commissioner Paul Okafor is worrisome, wicked, and without due regard to the rule of law. The CLO, after a preliminary investigation by a special team of undercover agents and youth leaders, discovered a shocking dimension to the illegal deities of the Bayelsa State Police through the men of the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the various divisions of the State Police command. The report showed...

Two weeks after whistleblowers at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) wrote a powerful petition to President Muhammadu Buhari alleging monumental fraud and waste of funds by its Director-General, Dr. Paul B. Orhii, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday swung into action. Dr. Orhii was grilled for several hours on issues relating to fraud and misappropriation of funds worth billions of naira, a source told SaharaReporters. The petitioners had accused the Director-General of awarding frivolous contracts and supplies; manipulating NAFDAC publicity and donations; international air travel racketeering; and compulsory recertification by bottle and sachet water producers.  The complaint listed 14 companies that are being used in the money games at NAFDAC. An EFCC source said Orhii was granted “administrative bail”...

Two months after leaving power,  no fewer than 12 close aides of former President Goodluck Jonathan have been stripped of their official passports. A competent source told Saturday Vanguard that the decision to withdraw the official passports of the former aides of Dr Jonathan was to prevent misuse and conflict with new aides and officials of President Muhammadu Buhari, who assumed duties on May 29, 2015. It could not be established last night whether the affected officials were ordered by the Presidency to surrender the passports or whether they did so voluntarily. But Saturday Vanguard learned that the affected former aides of Jonathan had already returned the passports to the Presidential Villa preparatory to being handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS. Abati, Adegbe, Obua, 9 others affected Among those whose passports have been retrieved are former Special Adviser to the President on Media Reuben Abati; former Aide-de-Camp, Col. Ojog...

He was drenched with sweat by the time he wriggled himself through the narrow entrance of his room into the passageway. Looking very depressed and drowsy that Thursday afternoon, he dragged himself along the hole-ridden passage and collapsed into the rickety sofa beside the staircase that leads to the upper floors in one of the buildings in the barracks. With frustration written all over his face, Emma Uden (not real names), a sergeant in the police, kept muttering to himself, but dosed off few minutes later. Apparently disturbed by the music blaring in his neighbourhood, Uden could not but open his eyes feebly and intermittently. His pain was obvious to anyone who came across him, but the reason for his frustration was largely unknown. However, as Uden would later tell our correspondent in a conversation he grudgingly consented to, since the apartment allotted to him in the barracks collapsed in June last year, he and his family had been living in the kitchen...

Twenty senators of the Northern caucus of the All Progressives Congress in the Senate, who with 59 others co-sponsored the confidence vote passed on the leadership of the legislative body, Thursday, denied working against the interest and agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari. The Nation had published a report, alleging that the Northern senators aligned with their Peoples Democratic Party counterparts to team up “with the opposition to work against President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling party”. However, at a press briefing on Thursday, the Chairman, Senate ad hoc committee on Media and Publicity, Dino Melaye, dismissed the allegation on behalf of his colleagues. Mr. Melaye said the report which dubbed the 22 senators “Anti – Buhari”, “was wicked, satanic and unacceptable because all of them actually worked for Buhari’s victory at the poll and had determined to ensure the success of his administration”. He also alleged that the sponsors of the publication were “ac...