CORRUPTION REPUBLIC !! Presidential poll: EFCC arrests 6 Kwara Commissioners for withdrawing N1bn

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested six Commissioners in the Kwara State Government for allegedly withdrawing N1 billion a week to the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

A statement from the EFCC, obtained by Punch said the Ilorin zonal office, of the commission on Thursday uncovered about N1 billion cash withdrawal by the Kwara State Government, a week before the last presidential and National Assembly elections.

The EFCC said those arrested and currently being interrogated in respect of the suspicious withdrawal included the Commissioner for Finance, Nurudeen Banu; Accountant General, Sulaiman Ishola; Commissioner for Water Resources, Yusuf Abdulkadir; Head of Service, Susan Modupe Oluwole; Special Adviser, Commissioner for Energy, Eleja Taiwo Banu; Chief of Staff, Abdulwahab Yusuf; officials of the Secretary to the State Government, and those of the Government House.

“Investigations by EFCC operatives revealed that the said money was withdrawn from the state’s account domiciled with Sterling Bank,” it said.

According to the report, an official of the State Government, Hafees Yusuf, confirmed to the operatives that he got instructions from his boss to withdraw some monies sometime in February 2019.

“My Controller of Finance told me that the sum of N350m was paid into the account of Kwara State Government, and I was instructed by my boss to raise cheques of various sums of monies, which I did and were duly signed by the Controller of Finance. I withdrew the monies as I was instructed by my supervisor.

“An employee of Sterling Bank, who is currently being interrogated by EFCC operatives, revealed that the Accountant General, Commissioner for Finance and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, are signatories to the account where N720m cash was withdrawn from the Kwara State Government Account domiciled in the branch of the bank located at Post Office in Ilorin, between February 7 and 11, 2019,” the report added.

According to the EFCC, “Three Relationship Managers of the bank – Rahaman Alimi, Akinleye Ademola and Olarewaju Sarafa, were said to be the ones who packed the said money in bullion vans and personally delivered it to the Chief of Staff to the Kwara State Governor, Abdulwahab Yusuf.

“The bank officials further told operatives that they acted on the instruction of their ‘boss’ which was identified as, Rasaq Abolarin. Meanwhile, the officials of the Kwara State Government have been granted administrative bail, even as investigations continue. They are expected to be arraigned before a Federal High Court in Ilorin next week.”

It added that the suspicious withdrawals were uncovered after operators acted on a petition by a Non-Governmental Organisation, the Kwara Coalition for Good Governance and Accountability, asking for the probe of over N1bn loan that the State Government secured from a bank a few days before the general elections.

Hassan Omoiya, Secretary General of the organisation, noted that intelligence had it that the state government obtained the loan on February 13 from a bank, using the remittance of Kwara State VAT allocation due in February and March 2019 as collateral.

He further urged the EFCC to “determine the appropriateness of utilisation of credit facility of N1bn by Kwara State Government in the twilight of the general election.”

- PM NEWS

LAND OF CORPORATE CRIMINALS !! Former CBN govenor, wife buy N15.6bn property in UK

Paul Ogwuma, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and his wife have acquired property worth £33 million (N15.6 billion), a UK investigative journalism magazine has revealed.

According to the magazine, Private Eye, Ogwuma, who served as CBN governor for six years has “amassed a £33m British property empire”.

In its report titled “Abuja on Thames” the paper said it “has identified a network of 15 British companies owned or controlled by Anna Ogwuma,” wife of the governor, adding that her husband “looted his country under 1990s military dictatorship”.

“Paul Ogwuma, 86, was governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria during the brutal and kleptocratic rule of General Sani Abacha, when the bank was the latter’s personal piggy-bank. Some estimates suggest looting under Abacha ran to billions of dollars,” the report read.

“Under his successor for one year, retired general Abdulsalami Abubakar, Ogwuma oversaw a depletion in Nigeria’s foreign currency reserves of around $3bn, or 40%”.

“Between 2002 and 2017, her companies were used for 20 separate property purchases. They ranged from commercial sites in the north of England to luxury apartments in west London.

“Among them are townhouses in Kensington and Paddington, a couple of apartments in Mayfair, and premises in Bishop’s Stortford town centre that currently house a branch of Greggs.”

The report added that “although the Abacha era and its excesses are receding into history, banks that were often complicit at the time might be expected to know some of this history.

“Yet Mrs Ogwuma’s most valuable properties were either bought or remortgaged with loans from Barclays Bank (which handled $170m of Abacha’s ill-gotten wealth) and Lloyds Bank in the years after 2015.

“While times have moved on, so has the law on money laundering, and Mrs Ogwuma’s lavish property buying should have prompted questions about the origin of her money. The looting of Africa has a long legacy on the streets of Britain”.

Ogwuma served as the managing director/CEO of Union Bank of Nigeria prior to his appointment as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria in September, 1993.

- THECABLE

CBN, EFCC to bar convicts from opening bank accounts

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may bar individuals or corporate convicted of committing economic crimes from opening bank accounts.

In a statement released on Thursday by Isaac Okorafor, CBN’s director of corporate communications, the apex bank said it is working with the EFCC over the proposal.

He did not give further details. Currently, assets of individuals undergoing corruption trial are seized as provided for under executive order no. 6.

Both institutions held a meeting at the CBN headquarters in Abuja where they shared experiences and peculiar challenges in the fight against economic-related crimes.

“The two agencies adopted strategies aimed at curtailing the unwholesome activities of economic saboteurs which include smuggling of commodities like rice, textile materials, fertilizer, wheat and other items on the prohibition list for accessing foreign exchange through the official window, as well as tracking illicit financial flows,” the statement read.

They also agreed to work together on anti-money laundering and monitoring politically exposed persons in the country.

The inter-agency meeting, chaired by the director, governors’ department of the CBN, Jeremiah Abue, also agreed to improve on the level of information-sharing and surveillance of the financial sector.

This not the first time this kind of threat has been issued; the bankers’ committee of the CBN had earlier made the same statement warning people to desist from economic crimes.

- THECABLE

Lekan Shonde sentenced to death for killing wife

The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, on Friday sentenced Lekan Shonde to death by hanging, for beating his wife to death.

Justice Josephine Oyefeso found him guilty of the murder of his wife, Ronke.

The 51-year-old Lekan Shonde, a depot worker in Apapa before he was charged with the offence, had accused his wife of sleeping with another man.

According to the police, he allegedly beat her to death at their home in the Egbeda-Idimu area of Lagos State.

He was alleged to have also locked the door on the corpse and their two children before the incident was discovered by a housekeeper and later reported to the police.

The couple who had two children aged six and four is said to have a history of violent clashes prior to the murder.

The Lagos Police Command had in 2016 arrested Mr. Lekan Shonde in the Egbeda area.

The then spokesperson for the Command, Dolapo Badmos, Mr. Shonde said he had been on the run for days before he was finally apprehended.

Shonde was transferred to the state department of criminal investigation for further investigations on the case before he was charged.

- DAILY POST

EFCC arraigns suspected Yahoo boy’ who pretended to be divorced mother of one

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Lagos Zonal office, on Thursday arraigned one Godwin Ikechukwu Kwentoh before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offence Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos for fraud.

The suspected ‘Yahoo boy’ was tried on a two-count charge bordering on possession of a document containing false pretence, an offence contrary to Section 6, 8, (b) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006.

One of the counts reads: “That you, Godwin Ikechukwu Kwentoh (a.k.a Edward Herman, Philip Jones and Robert Mueller 111), on or about 18th December, 2018 in Lagos within the ikeja Judicial Division, had in your possession a document dated Monday, October 19th, 2015 wherein you falsely represented yourself to a lady, Ira Rajali, as Edward Herman, single for the past four years; has a daughter and got divorced after 15 years of marriage due to infidelity, disrespect and immorality when you knew or ought to know, having regard to the circumstances of the case, that the document contains false pretence.”

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.

In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, Frank Ifeoma, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed the court to remand the defendant in prison custody.

Counsel to the defendant, however, prayed the court to remand him in the EFCC custody.

Justice Taiwo, in a ruling, ordered the defendant to be remanded in Ikoyi prison custody.

The case was then adjourned to March 19, 2019 for the commencement of trial.

- DAILY POST

Cristiano Ronaldo sends message ‘women’ in his life

Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo on Friday joined the world in celebrating the International Women’s Day.

The International Women’s Day is marked world over on March 8.

Ronaldo took to his verified Twitter page to appreciate and celebrate women for their role in nation-building.

He wrote: “Happy International Woman Day to all women and a special kiss to the women of my life!”

Ronaldo will on Friday night hope to lead Juventus to victory when they tackle Udinese in the Serie A fixture.

Juventus are currently on top of the Serie A table with 72 points from 26 games.

The Old Lady are 16 points ahead of second-placed Napoli on the Italian top-flight league table.

- DAILY POST

Mourinho praises Ole for 'incredible' Utd win

 Mourinho says Manchester United's "phenomenal" Champions League victory against Paris Saint-Germain is testament to the impact his successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has enjoyed.

United became the first team in the history of the European Cup to overturn a 2-0 first-leg home deficit as Marcus Rashford's stoppage-time VAR penalty sealed a memorable comeback in Paris on Wednesday.

Mourinho's former side are through to the quarter-finals of Europe's top-tier competition for the first time in five years and he was full of praise for the Norwegian caretaker boss.

The dramatic win followed Ajax's shock success at another of the Portuguese's former clubs Real Madrid and speaking to RT, he was asked to choose his 'Special One' from the midweek European matches.

"In terms of players, I was immediately thinking about [Dusan] Tadic, because he was a key player in that amazing match," Mourinho said.

"But I think independent of the performances, Ajax and Manchester United results are phenomenal results, and if the responsibility in the bad days is for the managers, the responsibility of the good days is then also for the managers.

"So for me, [Erik] ten Hag from Ajax and Solskjaer from Manchester United. Incredible results, so credit to them."

Real's defeat to Ajax followed back-to-back El Clasico defeats and increased pressure on manager Santiago Solari.

Former Los Blancos president Ramon Calderon told Sky Sports News that Mourinho is the first choice if there was a change in the Bernabeu dugout, but the 56-year-old, who left Real in 2013, says he is "not desperate to work at all".

"Honestly I don't know, speculations are speculations," he said.

"I never hide it, I'm in a very calm situation. I'm not desperate to work at all, I'm studying, I'm doing things that I can't do when I'm working.

"I'm on this side of the cameras, which is a good perspective for me too.

"I don't know, probably I hope to be working in the summer. Working happily in the next pre-season, June, July.

"But there is nothing at all to say. I promise if one day there is anything to say, I will let you know."

- SKY SPORTS

Ranieri named Roma boss until June

Claudio Ranieri is back in management after taking over at Serie A side Roma.

The 67-year-old Italian was sacked by Fulham last week after recording just three wins from 17 Premier League games in charge.

But Ranieri has been handed a swift return to the dugout for what will be his second spell in charge of Roma.

He replaces Eusebio Di Francesco, who was sacked on Thursday following their Champions League exit against Porto.

Ranieri, who was born and raised in Rome and supported the club as a youngster, previously had an 18-month spell as head coach between 2009 and 2011 and steered them to a second-place finish.

He told the club’s website: “I’m delighted to be coming back home. When Roma call you, it’s impossible to say no.”

Ranieri memorably led Leicester to the Premier League title in 2016 but his reputation nosedived following his struggles with Fulham.

However, Roma director Francesco Totti has backed the former Chelsea, Valencia and Monaco boss to ensure they qualify for next season’s Champions League.

“Claudio’s from the city, he’s a Roma fan but more than that, he’s one of the most experienced coaches in world football,” said Totti.

“What we need now is a safe pair of hands to guide us back into the top four and ensure that we are playing Champions League football again next season.

“We have 12 games left and we need to win as many of them as possible.”

Roma are currently fifth in Serie A, three points outside the top four.

Earlier in the day Roma announced that their sporting director Monchi had left the club by mutual agreement.

The 50-year-old was strongly linked with a move to Arsenal prior to his exit from the Serie A club.

Roma chief executive Guido Fienga said: “I want to put on record our thanks to Monchi for his dedication during his time at the club and we wish him all the best for his future endeavours in football.”

Frederic Massara will look after the club’s sporting operations following Monchi’s departure.

- PA

1,538 Nigerians died in road accidents in 3 months

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said no fewer than 1,538 Nigerians died in road accidents in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The NBS Road Transport Data for the fourth Quarter, 2018 posted on its website said a total of 2,532 road accidents were recorded in the period under review.

The report said 92 per cent (1,422) of the 1,538 people that died were adults, while the remaining eight per cent (116 people) were children.

It said that 79 per cent (1,209) of the figure that died were males, while 21 per cent (329) were females.

Similarly, the bureau said a total of 8,406 Nigerians were recorded to be injured in road accidents in thet period.

The report said that 93 per cent (7,815) of the 8,406 injured persons were adult, while the remaining seven per cent (591) were children.

It said 74 per cent (6,194) that got injured in the quarter under review were males, while 26 per cent (2,212) were females.

It, however, attributed speed violation as the major cause of road accidents in the fourth quarter, 2018 which accounted for 52 per cent of the total road accidents reported.

It said dangerous driving and wrongful overtaking followed closely as they both accounted for nine per cent and eight per cent of the total road accidents.

In addition, the report said estimated vehicle population in the country as at fourth quarter, 2018 was put at 11.82 million with the total population estimate of the country put at 198 million in 2018.

According to the report, Nigeria’s vehicle per population ratio is put at 0.06.

Meanwhile, data on the category of vehicles involved in road accidents in the quarter reflected that 60.18 per cent of vehicles were commercial (2,407).

It said 38.30 per cent (1,532) of the vehicles involved in road accidents were private, while 1.50 per cent (60) were government and the diplomatic had one.

The report said a total of 185,883 national drivers licenses were produced in the quarter under review.

It said Lagos and FCT produced the highest number of drivers’ license, while Zamfara and Kebbi states produced the least number of national drivers’ license.

- PM NEWS

Maradona accepts paternity of 3 Cuban children

Argentina’s 1986 World Cup soccer winning captain, Diego Maradona, has three children in Cuba and will travel to the country to legally recognise them, his lawyer told Argentine media.

Maradona, 58, now a technical director at Mexican club Dorados de Sinaloa, has five children from other relationships with different women.

Lawyer Matias Morla said that Maradona would travel to Cuba in the middle of the year and would do paternity tests.

“We are going to do the DNA tests. They are from different women and Diego will recognise them when he returns to Cuba,” Morla said.

He said he was in contact with the children. He did not identify them.

The lawyer said that the claims were going through the Cuban legal system, but that Maradona, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, planned to give the children his surname in the near future.

Maradona spent four years in Havana from 2000 to shake an addiction to drugs.

Cuba has strict penalties for drug possession and is known in the region for deploying doctors and humanitarian aid to countries in need.

During that time, he developed an unlikely friendship with Fidel Castro, including getting a tattoo of the late Cuban revolutionary’s face on his calf.

Castro would call on him early in the morning to talk about politics or sports and encourage him to push toward a full recovery.

However, with no press hounding him, Maradona enjoyed Havana’s night-life and frequented its best clubs.

After his marriage broke up, he was frequently seen with teenage Cuban women, sometimes one on each arm.

Morla has previously said that Maradona could have more children from his time in Cuba.

“I’m afraid of Cuba; I hope it’s one (child) … he was there a long time, he was single and behaved badly,” Morla said on a television show in 2018

- PM NEWS

MADAM CORRUPTION !! Supreme Court okays interim forfeiture of Patience Jonathan’s $8.4m

The Supreme Court on Friday backed an order of interim forfeiture made by the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court in respect of the sum of $8.4m linked to the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mrs Patience Jonathan.

The five-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Dattijo Muhammad, in a unanimous judgment, dismissed the ex-first lady’s appeal and directed her to return to the Federal High Court to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the government.

The court also rejected her prayer to strike down the provisions of Section 17 of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act, which was relied on by the Federal High Court to issue the order of interim forfeiture.

In upholding the decision of the Court of Appeal in Lagos, which had affirmed the Federal High Court’s interim order, Justice Kumai Aka’ahs, in the lead judgment of the apex court said, “I do not find any reason to interfere with the decision of the lower court”.

“Appellant is to go back to the trial court to show cause why the interim order should not be made permanent,” he added.

Channels Tv reports that the lead judgment was read on behalf of Justice Aka’ahs by Justice Ejembi Eko, who is also a member of the panel.

The EFCC had last year approached the Federal High Court in Lagos with an ex-parte application seeking the forfeiture of the sum of $8,435,788.84 and other sums in various bank accounts linked to the wife of the former president.

The anti-graft agency, in its application anchored on Section 17 of Advance Fee Fraud Act, had urged the court to grant an order of interim forfeiture of the funds which they said were suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

Patience Jonathan and others including some organisations were joined in the said ex parte application as respondents.

Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court in Lagos had on April 20, 2018 granted the ex parte order.

She also ordered the EFCC to publish the court’s order in any major national newspaper to enable the respondents or anyone interested in the funds to appear before the court to show cause within 14 days why the final order of forfeiture of the said funds should not be made in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

- PM NEWS

SICK NATION !! EFCC arrests Okorocha’s AG for laundering N1.05bn to buy votes for son-in-law

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has arrested the Accountant-General of Imo State, Uzoho Casmir, for allegedly helping Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, to launder N1.05 billion for the governorship and assembly elections on Saturday.

A statement from the EFCC, Enugu Zonal Office, on Friday said it arrested Casmir on Thursday on suspicion of laundering the sum of N1.050bn through a new generation bank for the governor of the state, Okorocha.

The statement said Casmir’s arrest followed intelligence report that the governor intended to use the money for vote-buying in favour of a particular candidate in tomorrow’s gubernatorial election.

“Intelligence further revealed that Mr Casmir withdrew the amount in three tranches between Tuesday and Thursday this week in the following order; N200m on Tuesday, N500m on Wednesday and N350m on Thursday.

“Meanwhile, the EFCC has blocked the traced accounts, while the arrested Accountant General has been providing useful information to the commission.

“Mr Casmir was before his appointment, a Director of Finance in Okorocha’s government and was in 2016 fingered in N2bn bailout fund scam, which was then given to the state by the Federal Government for the payment of salary arrears of civil servants,” the statement said.

It should be recalled that Okorocha, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is supporting his son-in-law, Nwosu of the Action Alliance against the governorship candidate of the APC, Senator Hope Uzodinma.

- PM NEWS