$157bn left Nigeria illegally between 2003 and 2012, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria lost $157.5 billion to illicit financial flows between 2003 and 2012.

He said international laws and other systems make it difficult to repatriate stolen funds.

Buhari said this at a high-level event on illicit financial flows (IFFs) which was held on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He said such massive loss of assets, resulted in dearth of resources “to fund public services or to alleviate poverty”, in the country.

He said though his administration has recovered “millions of dollars stolen from our country in the last five years, a lot more was still stuck in foreign bank accounts”.

According to him, a combination of “international laws, different jurisdictions and justice systems”, make it deliberately difficult for repatriation.

Buhari said any lasting solution to stem illegal financial flows would require international cooperation and coordination.

He also acknowledged the lack of sufficient capital and corruption as impediments to the socio-economic development of the continent.

“This is why, as Africans, we have no choice but to break the back of corruption. That is why our government has made it a war we intend to win,” he said

“We will give all it takes to ensure there is no hiding place for purveyors of corrupt practices who are truly enemies of the people.

“Therefore, here lies a role for the African Union. The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) must be supported to play a critical role in securing the cooperation of African countries and their international counterparts.”

The president commended the organisers of the meeting for their shared commitment to root out corruption from Africa.

“I am motivated by the belief that, if we join hands, we can bequeath to our children an Africa that is not defined by corruption,” he said.

- THECABLE

Brazil vs Nigeria: Super Eagles suffer major injury blow ahead of friendly match

Nigeria’s head coach, Gernot Rohr, could be without Rangers midfielder, Joe Aribo due to injury when the Super Eagles take on Brazil national team in an international friendly game on October 13, at the Singapore National Stadium.

Aribo sustained a head injury during Rangers’ 1-0 victory over Livingston in the Scottish League Cup on Wednesday night at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

The 23-year-old was caught by an elbow from Livingston defender, Ricki Lamie which left him with blood pouring from his head. He was later substituted.

Providing the latest update on Aribo’s injury. Rangers manager, Steven Gerrard told Rangers TV: ”I think he is okay, he’s got a nasty gash on his head which was stitched up, he was on the end of a bad one there.

”Joe is a tough lad, I am sure he’ll get on with it, I am not sure whether it will affect him in the coming games, we’ll have to assess that tomorrow.

”But he, himself, wanted to play on and that’s the kid, that’s the character, he is a tough lad”.

- DAILY POST

Two brothers beaten to death for open defecation

Two children were beaten to death in India for defecating in the open, police said Thursday, underlining the violence sometimes unleashed to enforce Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship cleanliness drive.

The children from the Dalit community, India’s lowest social caste previously known as “untouchables”, were on their way to their grandfather’s house in the Shivpuri district in the central state of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.

“It was early morning and they had stopped to attend to nature’s call” when they were attacked, police inspector general Raja Babu Singh told AFP by phone.

“The kids were taken to the hospital but they succumbed to their injuries.”

Two brothers had been arrested, one of whom appeared to be “mentally unsound”, Singh added.

Modi is set to declare India free of open-air defecation on Wednesday, coinciding with the 150th birthday of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, who also campaigned vigorously for better sanitation.

Modi, currently in his second term, launched his pet Clean India Mission in 2014, promising to build toilets for all by 2019.

His government says it has built more than 100 million toilets, particularly in rural areas, a major public health issue in the country of 1.3 billion people.

The multi-billion-dollar campaign combines raising awareness, subsidies for making latrines, and communal naming and shaming of those still relieving themselves in the open.

Critics, however, say lack of running water, poor maintenance and slow behaviour change are hampering the programme.

Catching those defecating in the open has previously resulted in violence.

In 2017, a man was lynched after he tried to stop authorities from photographing women who were defecating in the open.

A news channel earlier urged viewers to send in images of those defecating in the open so they could be shamed on national television.

The father of one of the children who died in the latest incident alleged his family had been facing discrimination from higher caste men.

“We don’t have a toilet at home. The children went out to defecate in the morning,” Manoj Balmiki was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.

“The (brothers)… shouted at them for defecating on the road and rained sticks on their heads while the children were relieving themselves, killing them in seconds.”

- PM NEWS

EFCC arraigns one of most wanted FBI suspects in Ilorin

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ilorin zonal office, Thursday arraigned a 36-year-old Joseph Oyediran, one of the most wanted suspects by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, FBI.

Oyediran was arraigned before Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar of a Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, on a five-count charge bordering on internet fraud and other fraud-related offences, obtaining money under false pretense among others.

Count two of the charge read; ” that you Joseph Oyediran (Joe MG, Morris Graves) sometime in May 2015, within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N1,421,968.00 from one Andrea Smith, a white American man in love with her, a representation you knew to be false, punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advanced fee fraud and other related offences Act no.14 of 2006.”

Oyediran, however, pleaded not guilty to all the count charges levelled against him by the anti-graft agency.

When the matter was called Thursday, the prosecuting counsel, Sessan Ola, told the court, “my Lord, we have a five-count charge before this honourable court dated 19th September 2019, we urge the court to accept the charge and allow the accused person to take his plea.”

Counsel to the accused, M A. Bello, did not object to the application.

After the plea was taken, prosecuting counsel informed the court that “in view of the defendant’s plea of not guilty we are asking for a trial date to enable the prosecution prove its case, we also pray your Lordship to remand the defendant in prison custody pending the hearing and determination of this matter.”

Ruling on the submission, Justice Abdulgafar ordered that the accused person be remanded in Mandala prison and adjourned the case till September 9, 2019 for commencement of trial.

- DAILY POST

Former French president, Jacques Chirac dies at 86

A former President of France, Jacques Chirac,has died at the age of 86, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

France’s National Assembly stood for a minute of silence after learning of the news, with one deputy gasping loudly when it was announced by assembly president Richard Ferrand.

The conservative Chirac was best known abroad for his staunch opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

At home, perhaps his greatest legacy was his acknowledgement, for the first time, of the French state’s role in the wartime round-up and arrest of Jewish people to Nazi death camps.

Chirac was president of France from 1995-2007.

Under his presidency, France entered into the single European currency and abolished compulsory military service.

Chirac also cut the presidential term of office from seven to five years.

He disappeared from public life in recent years. He reportedly suffered from severe ill-health.

- DAILY POST

Lagos residents raise alarm over incessant shootings

Some residents of Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State have raised alarm over incessant shootings inside the council secretariat.

The shooting had created fear in the residents, forcing some to run away from their homes to avoid stray bullets. On Sept. 18, there were sporadic gunshots within the council secretariat, which saw many running for dear life following the booming of guns.

It was gathered that the gunshots were carried out by some suspected cultists called “Agbalajobi Boys” allegedly doing the bidding of a senior council official (name withheld). When the alleged council official was challenged over the incessant shootings by some political leaders in the area, the official claimed that “he was trying to test the efficacy of his newly acquired bulletproof charm.”

“As if the September 18 shooting was not enough, the police orderly to the said council official held another round of shootings on September 20, thus becoming a norm in the Ajegunle council secretariat. These cultists move around during the day with guns unmolested or check by the security agencies. The police station is just a stone throw away from the secretariat, but the officers seem not bothered,” a source told NAN.

As people in the area continued to live in palpable fear, concerned residents were beginning to question if the police were aware of these security breaches or if the said senior official was licensed to bear arms.

“I feel I owe it to posterity to draw attention to a very dangerous and quite unbecoming aberration happening right inside the Ajeromi Ifelodun Secretariat. Enough is enough. This is not the first time that this same senior official will do this. Indeed, the first time it happened, it was a very scary scenario. I think something drastic needs to be done on this matter before it becomes endemic. I think that the police in Lagos State should look into this issue before it escalated,” said a resident of Ajegunle who craved anonymity.

When contacted, Spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Bala Elkana, told NAN he was yet to receive such a report.

“I have not received such brief,” Elkana said.

- PM NEWS

Pat Utomi: Nigerian regulators more likely to kill businesses than any market risk

Pat Utomi, a professor of political economy and former presidential candidate, says regulatory risk is the biggest challenge to any business operating in Nigeria.

Utomi made this claim on Tuesday while speaking at the Regulatory Conversations 4.0 themed ‘Foreign Exchange Restrictions on Food Imports and Implications for Regulating and Growing the Nigerian Economy’.

Utomi said many companies had collapsed in Nigeria due to regulatory risk and lack of national strategy.

“We should have a clear national strategy that we want to become global leaders in this one, two, three areas,” he said.

“We can do isolated industrial policy to those areas of which our endowments allow us to become competitive globally and dominate that value chain.

“The biggest risk in doing business in Nigeria is a regulatory risk. The regulator is more likely to kill a company than any market risk.”

Utomi said certain sectors of the economy had been wiped out by an unthinking regulator’s actions

He said the government needs to think through the consequences of its policies before implementation, noting that restrictions would not take the country anywhere.

Utomi explained that players in the industry should educate each other on the consequences because the economy belonged to everyone.

“Part of our duty as players in this, is to say to ourselves, look this economy belongs to all of us; can we begin to educate ourselves on the consequences,” he said.

In his comments, Muda Yusuf, the director-general of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said that the regulatory environment is one of the biggest challenges being faced currently in business in the country.

Yusuf said that regulators meant well for the country but the problem was in strategy and how to achieve it.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have regulators who are in government, who actually listens or engages so that you can have the right kind of strategy to achieve the desired result,” he said.

“There are too many regulations in the country and the damage it is doing to the economy is enormous.

“To do business with integrity in Nigeria today is a tall order.”

He said that many businesses had gone under because of challenges of regulatory compliance adding that many have transited to become informal sector players.

The LCCI boss said that smugglers had taken over businesses in Nigeria, adding that the country was losing because smugglers don’t pay taxes.

He explained that the emphasis should be on building domestic capacity for the development of the country.

- THECABLE

UK probes killing of farmers by Fulani herdsmen in Benue

Catriona Laing, UK High Commissioner in Nigeria

The United Kingdom has opened an investigation into the killing of farmers by suspected herdsmen in Benue State and other parts of the country, including two catholic priests and 17 worshippers.

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing disclosed this during a meeting with Governor Samuel Ortom in Makurdi, Benue State capital, Channels TV reported.

The probe follows a UK parliament resolution mandating the Prime Minister to investigate the alleged killing and persecution of Christians in the state.

Laing said she was in the state as part of her fact-finding mission to areas affected by the farmers/herders conflict in the state.

“The killing of the Chief Priest and others in April last year was the subject of our case study. This is why I have come here to find out myself what is really going wrong and speak to people affected to understand the issue better,” she said.

Governor Ortom, while briefing the High Commissioner on the crisis lamented the difficulty in resettling the victims of attacks.

“We are happy that gradually peace is returning and some are going back to their farms but it has not been easy trying to reconstruct the schools and hospitals affected in the crisis.”

He also raised concerns concerning IDP settlements noting that more provisions are needed for the IDPs.

- PM NEWS