₦airaland Forum

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi has revealed that he became a billionaire at 25 years of age due to hard work and commitment to duty.

Umahi, who made the declaration while interacting with leaders of Abakpa main market in Abakaliki, debunked social media reports that he owns shops at the market and built his house within one year.

“I work very hard, I am not a poor person, but a very, very rich person. You can’t use the state’s money and still do all these things (projects) we are doing, I don’t have any shop or any interest in the market,” he said.

The governor also said rescinding some of the decisions on the relocation of the traders from the market was due to the intervention by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). He also announced that the Abakpa market would now be designated and called Ebonyi Fruits and Vegetable Market.

“We presently have a special assistant on the market, the structures that are still strong are going to be renovated. The traders have two options: it is either you renovate it to our taste and become landlords or we do it on our own and you are no longer the landlord,” he added.

Umahi also announced that due to the intervention of CAN, the government has changed the date of the trader’s relocation to the state’s international market to Jan.10, 2020 instead of the original October 15, 2019.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Lagos Zonal office, on Thursday, October 8, 2019, re-arraigned one Abdullahi Babalele before JusticeChukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on a two-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of $140,000.00.
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Babalele, a son-in-law to a former Vice President and People’s Democratic Party( PDP) candidate in the 2019 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, allegedly persuaded one Bashir Mohammed, a Bureau De Change(BDC) operator, to make a cash payment of the sum of $140,000 without going through any financial institution, an offence contrary to Section 18(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under Section 16(2)(b) of the same Act.
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One of the counts reads: “That you, Abdullahi Babalele, on or about the 20th day of February, 2019 in Nigeria, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, procured Basir Mohammed to make a cash payment of the sum of $140,000.00 (One Hundred and Forty Thousand United States
Dollars) without going through a financial institution, which sum exceeded the amount authorized by the Law and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(C) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under Section 16(2)(b) of the same Act.”
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The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him. .
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In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, informed the court of the existing bail earlier granted the defendant and applied for the commencement of the trial.
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“My Lord, one of our witnesses is present in court,” Oyedepo said.
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Counsel to the defendant, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, informed the court about an application before the court for the release of the international passport of the defendant.