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A firm belonging to the son of Nigeria’s president-elect bought an $11 million London mansion that his predecessor’s government was seeking to confiscate as part of a probe into one of the biggest corruption scandals in the West African nation’s history, according to previously unreported UK company documents.

There’s no suggestion that President-elect Bola Tinubu was personally involved in the acquisition of the UK property in 2017. Current President Muhammadu Buhari visited him there in August 2021, nearly four years after the purchase took place. Tinubu, who will take over as head of state this month, has long been questioned about the source of his family’s wealth, including throughout the recent election campaign, when he and his representatives were pressed about it by local and international media.

He and his campaign have said he made his fortune before going into politics by inheriting real estate, investing well and working as an accountant at Deloitte LLP and an executive at the Nigerian subsidiary of Mobil Oil in the 1980s and early 1990s. In an interview with the BBC in the run-up to the election, Tinubu cited Warren Buffett as an example he followed to become rich.

The corporate documents seen by Bloomberg show for the first time that Tinubu’s 37-year-old son Oluwaseyi is the main shareholder of Aranda Overseas Corp., an offshore company that paid £9 million ($10.8 million) to Deutsche Bank for the property in north London in late 2017. The private three-floor residence in St. John’s Wood — a district favored by American bankers — is equipped with an eight-car driveway, two gardens, electric gates and a gym.

Bola Tinubu’s spokesman and Oluwaseyi Tinubu did not respond to emails, phone calls and text messages seeking comment. A British lawyer listed as Aranda’s agent in the UK declined to comment citing confidentiality rules.

At the time of the purchase, Nigeria’s government was seeking to arrest the house’s former owner, accusing him of going on the run while owing the country an oil-trading debt worth more than $1.5 billion. The state was also attempting to confiscate the upscale real estate and other assets it suspected had been acquired by the businessman — Kolawole Aluko — with the profits of crime. Aluko denies all allegations of wrongdoing and says a court judgment earlier this year acquitting a former business partner has cleared his name. That ruling is being challenged by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency.

Tinubu, 71, won an election in February as the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress and is scheduled to succeed his political ally Buhari on May 29. He was a key powerbroker in the merger of opposition parties that brought the current head of state to office in 2015.

While Buhari was elected on a pledge to tackle widespread graft, the country’s ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index has deteriorated over the past eight years.

Buhari Visit

A former governor of Lagos state, Tinubu has long been dogged by allegations of graft and rule-breaking, which he denies. In 1993, he forfeited $460,000 to resolve a lawsuit in Chicago after US federal authorities said that bank accounts in his name held the proceeds of heroin trafficking. Tinubu’s lawyers have said he was never charged over the matter.

While staying at the 7,000-square foot London home in August 2021, Tinubu received a visit from Buhari there, according to the Lagos-based Premium Times.

The online newspaper — using documents obtained from the Pandora Papers leak of offshore companies data — revealed that the shareholders and directors of Aranda from its formation 24 years ago until at least 2010 were Adegboyega Oyetola, the former governor of Osun state, and Elusanmi Eludoyin, head of a Nigerian property group. Oyetola’s spokesman and Eludoyin did not respond to requests for comment.

Documents filed this year in response to new anti-money laundering rules in the UK and seen by Bloomberg show that Tinubu’s son — an entrepreneur active in advertising who played a prominent role in his father’s presidential campaign — has been in control of British Virgin Islands-registered Aranda since June 2011. The company registered as an overseas entity in the UK on Jan. 20.

Aluko Allegations

Early in Buhari’s first term, his administration initiated legal cases against Diezani Alison-Madueke, who served as oil minister for five years until 2015, and two businessmen — Aluko and Olajide Omokore — who won lucrative contracts during her tenure. The US government said in a 2017 forfeiture lawsuit filed in Texas that the pair bribed the minister by funding her “lavish” lifestyle and failed to pay the state energy company for most of the crude they received.

Alison-Madueke, who is based in London, has denied the allegations. She is challenging multiple forfeiture orders issued by Nigerian courts and has accused the anti-corruption agency of blocking her efforts to defend herself in criminal proceedings.

In June 2016, a federal judge in the capital, Abuja, granted a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to seize more than a dozen properties that Aluko had acquired in Nigeria and abroad, including the one in St. John’s Wood. That forfeiture order was still in force when Tinubu’s son bought the house out of receivership 16 months later.

The ruling was made on an interim basis pending the conclusion of an investigation into Aluko that was still ongoing as of at least the end of 2018, according to court filings. Aluko can’t comment on the forfeiture case because it is still “sub-judice,” his lawyer Tokunbo Jaiye-Agoro said by email.

Deutsche Bank had foreclosed on the house and appointed receivers to sell it in late 2016, though there is no indication in court filings that the Nigerian government was aware the lender had taken over the house from Aluko as it proceeded with the seizure process. Aluko took out loans using other properties as collateral, according to the US Justice Department.

The EFCC said the buildings “were suspected to have been purchased with the proceeds of crime” and Aluko “fled the country” to avoid answering the fraud allegations against him, according to court filings.

Omokore was acquitted in February by a Nigerian court of charges related to the same allegations. The EFCC – which accuses him of defrauding the state energy firm of $1.6 billion – has said it will appeal. The judge removed Aluko and Alison-Madueke from the indictment because they were not in the country. Aluko’s location is unknown.

The acquittal of Omokore “puts to rest all the false allegations” about his and Aluko’s wealth, according to Jaiye-Agoro. Despite the appeal, “the current state of affairs” is that Aluko’s income was “legitimate and not from any corrupt practice,” Jaiye-Agoro said.

Omokore “objects to the continuous link of his name to any corrupt practices,” his lawyer, Rafiu Lawal-Rabana, said by text message. The court decision earlier this year discharged Omokore on all counts and any hitches in the implementation of the oil contracts were “purely technical not criminal,” he said.

Buhari’s spokesman and Alison-Madueke’s lawyer declined to comment. Spokespeople for Attorney General Abubakar Malami, the Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd. and the EFCC did not respond to requests for comment.

Yachts, Penthouses

In October 2017, as the government that Tinubu played an instrumental role in bringing to power was chasing Aluko and his assets, his son’s company bought one of the targeted properties. Aranda still owns the building and there is currently no mortgage registered to it, according to the UK land records.

The firm didn’t purchase the house directly from Aluko, but from a UK unit of Deutsche Bank AG that held a mortgage on the property and had appointed receivers to sell it a year earlier. Aluko acquired the mansion via a BVI company in 2013 and, according to Premium Times, paid £11.95 million. Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Aluko has no knowledge of Aranda or the individuals behind the company and “was not privy to the sale” as the bank had foreclosed on the house, Jaiye-Agoro said. The UK’s National Crime Agency did not respond to questions about whether it had ever received a request from the Nigerian authorities to freeze the property. The UK Home Office declined to comment.

The US Justice Department announced on March 27 that it has recovered more than $53 million by confiscating assets bought by Aluko for more than $160 million with what it considers to be the proceeds of corruption — including a 65-meter superyacht and luxury homes in California and New York.

Source- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-02/a-1-8-billion-oil-probe-a-london-mansion-and-nigeria-s-next-president

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Flapp478:
You guys should allow this man to rest please. Even if u don't like him, do not mock his health, rather pray for him. Our health is in God's hands and we can't control it.

Where should a sick man be?

Nigeria's 'President-elect' Bola Tinubu, returned from France with a thin tube suspected to be a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC line) on his right arm, confirming he was undergoing medical treatment abroad.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that Tinubu returned to Abuja, Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory, on Monday after weeks of medical treatment abroad, ahead of his inauguration as the next President on May 29.

This confirms SaharaReporters' story that Tinubu was expected to return to the country today (Monday), more than a month after leaving for France to seek medical treatment.

Although, his Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga insisted the ‘President-elect’ was on vacation in France, SaharaReporters had exclusively reported that Tinubu fell ill after the March 18 governorship and State Assembly elections and was flown to France for medical treatment.

However, despite the denials, SaharaReporters earlier reported that Tinubu’s ailment was so severe that for five days while being hospitalised, he could not speak and had to be intubated.

Intubation is a procedure required to help save a life when the patient cannot breathe.

It is a process where a healthcare provider inserts a tube through a patient’s mouth or nose, then down into their trachea (airway/windpipe). The tube keeps the trachea open so that air can get through. The tube can connect to a machine that delivers air or oxygen.

According to Cleveland Clinic, common conditions that lead to intubation include airway obstruction (something caught in the airway, blocking the flow of air); cardiac arrest (sudden loss of heart function); injury or trauma to your neck, abdomen or chest that affects the airway; loss of consciousness or a low level of consciousness, which can make a person lose control of the airway.

Others include the need for surgery that will make you unable to breathe on your own; respiratory (breathing) failure or apnea (a temporary stop in breathing) and risk for aspiration (breathing in an object or substance such as food, vomit or blood).

SaharaReporters also reported that Tinubu’s tongue was reportedly sticking out during the time his condition was severe.

“Tinubu’s ailment and health were in shambles before he left Nigeria to undertake treatment in a French hospital,” a source had said.

“The sickness was so severe that for five days during his hospitalisation, he could not speak and had to be intubated,” another source had said.

“His tongue was reportedly sticking out,” one of the sources had added.

However, while addressing journalists shortly after his return, it was noticed that Tinubu had a suspected PICC line attached to his upper arm.

Pictures of Tinubu with the 'medical device' have since gone viral on social media platforms.

According to some medical experts, PICC is used to deliver medications and other treatments directly to the large central veins near your heart.

"Your doctor might recommend a PICC line if your treatment plan requires frequent needle sticks for medicine or blood draws," Dr Gerald Okoye told SaharaReporters.

Source- https://saharareporters.com/2023/04/24/tinubu-returns-nigeria-tube-suspected-be-picc-line-attached-right-arm-nigerians-express

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Former Lagos State governor, who is Nigeria’s 'president-elect', according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, Bola Tinubu, is travelling to Europe to seek medical care after falling ill, SaharaReporters has learnt.

SaharaReporters gathered that Tinubu fell ill after the “hectic” electioneering that led to his emergence as the 'President-elect' and the tension that built up ahead of the March 18 Lagos State governorship and House of Assembly elections where he also voted.

Authoritative sources revealed on Wednesday that Tinubu left for Europe on Tuesday night.

“Tinubu has left for Europe for medical care. He fell ill after voting on Saturday during the Lagos guber election. He was attended to by local doctors but he has left for Europe for proper medical care,” one of the sources close to him revealed.

“He initially said his doctors should be brought down to Nigeria for him, and that when things die down, he would leave. But I've confirmed that he left last night (Tuesday night) because he is definitely ill,” another source confirmed.

"His plane Falcon 9X with registration number VP-CBT can’t be tracked by air flight tracking websites."

Indeed, efforts made by SaharaReporters to track the flight came back with: "VP-CBT - Unknown Owner (Cayman Islands (UK))

This aircraft (VP-CBT) is not available for public tracking per request from the owner/operator."

SaharaReporters had reported that Tinubu cast his vote at his polling unit in Lagos on Saturday.

He had shared photos of himself voting on his Instagram page.

“I just joined other Nigerians in exercising my civic duty in the ongoing governorship and state assembly elections. I encourage you all to go out and vote peacefully," he had written.

SaharaReporters in February reported that a video went viral on social media showing Tinubu with suspected pee stains on his attire during a visit to the Awujale of Ijebuland.

Tinubu, who was seated on a black leather couch alongside some other party stalwarts had risen to give a speech but his attire had soaked from behind, particularly at the butt area.

The politician's security aide was seen constantly holding his nose while looking at the wet area and another woman immediately wore her face mask as the Asiwaju rose to speak.

This heightened concerns over Tinubu's health challenges ahead of the presidential election.

SaharaReporters had reported that Tinubu spent over four months patronising hospitals in France, the United States and the United Kingdom where he underwent several surgeries between 2020 and 2022.

He was flown out of the country some days before Christmas in 2020 to Paris, France.

The APC leader returned to Nigeria on January 24, 2021, after a month's absence from Nigeria.

He also went for a medical check-up on Thursday, June 10, 2021, to France and was conspicuously absent from a one-day working visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Lagos State.

Tinubu, amidst death rumours, was forced to return to the country on Tuesday, June 15, 2021.

SaharaReporters also reported that Tinubu was hospitalised in Maryland, the United States in July 2021.

On August 9, the APC leader had another knee surgery at the John Hopkins University Hospital in Maryland, the United States.

The APC chieftain, it was learnt, left the US for the United Kingdom on crutches, a few days after the surgery.

Sources close to Tinubu had told SaharaReporters that he wanted the surgery in Paris, France but changed his plan over rumours of his death.

In August, President Buhari paid a visit to Tinubu in London and the latter was seen with a walking stick during Buhari’s visit, confirming SaharaReporters’ story that he underwent a second surgery in the United States.

His London home also became a mecca of sorts as he was visited by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Governors Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti).

Upon his return in October, Tinubu confirmed that he underwent surgery on his right knee as well as post-surgery physiotherapy on the said knee during his medical trip abroad.

Some days ago, Tinubu returned to the country after going out of the country for medical attention in the United Kingdom for 10 days.

Source- https://saharareporters.com/2023/03/22/exclusive-nigerian-president-elect-tinubu-leaves-europe-medical-care-after-falling-ill

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Festus Keyamo, a spokesperson for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, says he is happy President-elect Bola Tinubu’s drug-related case in the United States would be heard in Nigeria’s court.

In a tweet he posted on Monday via his verified account, Mr Keyamo stated that the hearing would set aside the difference between dispassionate adjudication of issues and stop the propaganda against Mr Tinubu’s shady past.

Mr Keyamo said he was confident that the court would favour Mr Tinubu.

“I am excited about the issues raised in those election petitions. All the deceit and lies and disinformation and misinformation about otherwise very simple and clear issues are about to be busted by our Law Lords. Whoever continues to argue after that should relocate to another planet,” stated Mr Keyamo.

The APC campaign spokesman added, “Nigerians will finally see the huge difference between calm, dispassionate adjudication of issues and all the hoopla caused by garrulous spokespersons shaking and falling on stage. Ignorant TV hosts turned debaters, misinformed documentaries, illiterate tweeps and some dancing Hijabi mamas.”

Last November, Mr Keyamo claimed that Mr Tinubu, the party’s flag bearer, only shared a “block of flats” with notorious cocaine dealers in Chicago, pushing back after the release of court documents that suggested Mr Tinubu’s ties to illicit drug business and money laundering in the United States.

“What happened was that Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) went to open an account. The address which he used in opening the account was the address used by these people…(sic). I think some blocks of flats. Maybe, he happened to be in that block of flats too,” Mr Keyamo had said to defend his principal. “So, they now link it that the other people they were investigating for narcotics are in the same address used by Asiwaju to open that account.”

Peoples Gazette published certified copies of the 1993 case recently released by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The documents confirmed that the U.S. government had in July 1993 sought forfeiture of proceeds of narcotics Mr Tinubu was accused of laundering.

The matter was resolved in a compromise between the Tinubus and the U.S. authorities, with the Tinubus being asked to keep the money in the Heritage Bank account while the $460,000 in the Citibank account was forfeited.

Source- https://gazettengr.com/im-happy-bola-tinubus-drug-dealing-in-chicago-will-take-centre-stage-before-nigerias-supreme-court-festus-keyamo/

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) decision to approach the Court of Appeal in Abuja, for an order varying the permission the court had previously granted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) to inspect materials used by the commission in the conduct of the February 25 presidential election has elicited questions about the integrity of the recently held poll.

INEC said the request was predicated on the need to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used in the presidential election before deploying them for the March 11 governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls.

However, some IT experts who didn’t want their names in print were unanimous that granting the order would allow the electoral body to tamper with the evidence and compromise the pending litigations on the controversial poll and further worsen the credibility of the entire process.

The IT experts believe that INEC does not need to reconfigure the BVAS ahead of the gubernatorial and the states’ houses of assembly polls.

The presidential candidates of PDP, Atiku Abubakar, and LP, Peter Obi, had in their challenge of the outcome of the presidential election, recently, obtained the order of the court to inspect materials used in the conduct of the poll, including the BVAS.

INEC had declared candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, winner of the presidential election, which was marred by technical challenges.

The controversial poll has been rejected by the two leading opposition parties and had been criticised by international observers and civil society organisations.

Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, was said to have polled a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival and presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku, who scored 6,984,520 votes, and Peter Obi of LP, who polled 6,101,533 votes, in an election that INEC failed to ensure instantaneous transmission of results to its IReV at the conclusion of voting at polling units as originally planned for the 2023 general election.

Both Tinubu and Atiku won 12 states each, while Obi won 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Court of Appeal presided by Justice Joseph Ikyegh had last Friday, while delivering ruling in two separate applications, permitted Atiku and Obi to inspect the said materials, which they intended to use in proving their allegations of non-compliance and rigging of the poll.

The appellate court, ruling in an ex parte application, permitted Atiku and Obi to inspect, “All the electoral materials used in the conduct of the election for the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria held on February 25, 2023.”

The court also permitted Atiku and Obi to do electronic scanning and/or make photocopies of Voter’s Registration and ballot papers used in the presidential election.

In addition, both Atiku and Obi were by the order permitted to, “Carryout digital forensic inspection of BVAS machines used for the conduct of the February 25” presidential election.

However, INEC, in a fresh application, which THISDAY learnt was filed over the weekend, asked the appellate court to vary the order so as to allow the electoral umpire reconfigure the BVAS for use in the March 11 governorship and Houses of Assembly elections.

According to a source in INEC, the application became necessary following an order restraining the commission from tampering with the information embedded in the BVAS machines until due inspection was conducted and Certified True Copies (CTC) issued to the applicants.

The source added that INEC needed sufficient time to reconfigure the BVAS to be used during this Saturday’s poll holding in the 36 states of the federation, excluding the FCT.

According to the source, considering the number of BVAS machines required to conduct the election across the states, INEC needs to reconfigure the BVAS used for the February 25 elections before deploying them to the various polling units.

The source said the technical team of the commission had to be deployed on time to start the reconfiguration of the devices, which had to be done one by one.

The source maintained that not varying the order could result to postponement of the March 11 elections.

Source- https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/03/07/inecs-application-to-court-to-reconfigure-bvas-raises-integrity-questions/

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have instituted a suit to restrain the Labour Party (LP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from doing anything to stop the collation and announcement of the results of the February 25 presidential election.

In the suit filed before the Federal High Court in Kano and marked FHC/KN/CS/43/2023, the Action Alliance and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were joined as defendants while the Vice Presidential of the APC, Kashim Shettima, was also listed as plaintiff.

The plaintiffs in a motion on notice filed alongside the originating summons, asked the court to make the order restraining the defendants from stopping the collation and announcement of the results because “damages will not adequately compensate for the injury that may be occasioned on the Plaintiffs if by the Defendants stop the collation of the result.”

Source- https://dailytrust.com/breaking-tinubu-files-suit-to-stop-lp-pdp-from-halting-results-collation/

Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, says the electoral process cannot be perfect and devoid of manipulations in some areas but politicians must accept the result of a free and fair elections.

Mr Tinubu disclosed this to journalists on Saturday at his home in Lagos, while insisting that he would emerge president from Saturday’s election because he had worked harder than other candidates.

“A democrat, a trust democrat, must accept the result of a free and fair elections. As a democrat, you must have faith in the system. Once you have faith in the system, it is not a problem to accept the result of a free and fair elections,” Mr Tinubu said when asked if he would accept the result of Saturday’s election if he loses.

“Perception is one thing. On rare occasions that you have skirmishes and lack of confidence, it is created by the politicians. Not the electoral process. In the electoral process we cannot see 100 per cent perfection. People have to tolerate that. Equally when you are talking of manipulation in some areas, you have to evaluate what is material. Materiality comes to play. How many compared to total turn out or total who voted. You’ve got to accept the result of a fairly responsible voter’s decision,” he added.

In Lagos, Mr Tinubu’s home state, Nigerians witnessed disruption of the electoral process on Saturday by thugs suspected to be loyal to the former two-term governor of Lagos, while the late arrival of INEC’s staff and failure of BVAS affected the process in some parts of the country.

Mr Tinubu, 70, is up against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

Source- https://gazettengr.com/electoral-process-cannot-be-perfect-without-manipulations-in-some-areas-tinubu/

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The Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, has defeated the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance in the presidential poll held at polling unit 017, Agụ Awka Ward located in the Government House.

Obi scored 61 votes to defeat the APGA presidential candidate, who scored zero votes.

The particular polling unit is populated with civil servants, government functionaries and others.

Obi won despite the fact that Governor Chukwuma Soludo had directed the civil servants to vote for APGA during a retreat in December 2022.

The Peoples Democratic Party also got two votes, while the All Progressives Congress scored zero votes.

For the Senate, the senatorial candidate of LP, Chief Victor Umeh scored 49, Dozie Nwankwo of APGA scored eight, Uche Ekwunife of PDP scored five and APC scored one.

For the House of Reps, LP candidate, Lilian Orogbu, 51; APGA seven; PDP four; zero for APC and one invalid vote.

Source- https://punchng.com/nigeriaelection2023-lp-wins-in-anambra-govt-house-soludos-apga-scores-zero/

Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) has won the presidential election in his polling unit in Anambra state.

At polling unit 19 in Agulu 2 ward of Anaocha LGA where Obi voted, the LP got 236 votes.
However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got zero votes at the polling unit.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) got three votes, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) secured two votes.

Seven votes were declared invalid.

Source- https://www.thecable.ng/breaking-apc-pdp-get-zero-votes-as-obi-wins-his-polling-unit/

A raving mob of ruling APC supporters attacked a reporter for Peoples Gazette while she was on election duty in Lagos on Saturday.

Adebola Ajayi, a Lagos metro beat reporter, saw her mobile phone briefly confiscated shortly after snapping photographs and filming in Orile-Oshodi Ward, where the rampaging thugs were terrorising polling centres in the city’s central suburb of Oshodi.

The hoodlums had threatened residents to vote only for Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, and chased away officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

About 15 thugs charged towards Ms Ajayi, who was the only reporter at the scene, and quickly snatched her phone to erase all photos and videos she had captured.

“After deleting the photos and videos from my phone, they also forcibly accessed my cloud storage to also delete the materials there,” Ms Ajayi said as she narrated the traumatic experience that occurred around 11:30 a.m.

Ms Ajayi, who did not sustain physical injuries, said a police officer who was at the scene was helpless during the assault. A spokesman for the police in Lagos did not immediately return a request seeking comments about the incident.

Security operatives arrived at the scene at noon and allowed voting to commence at 12:20 a.m. at PU 067 and PU 110, Orile-Oshodi, Oshodi-Isolo LGA.

Source- https://gazettengr.com/apc-thugs-ambush-peoples-gazettes-reporter-at-lagos-polling-unit-delete-files-from-her-cloud-storage/

Operatives of the Nigerian Army on Saturday gunned down an unknown ballot thief in Ogege Road, Odaba polling unit in Dekina ward in Kogi State.

The PUNCH had earlier reported that Voters in the area fled from voting arena following the activities of political thugs who came in large numbers to destroy voting materials.

The thugs who appeared with machetes and guns snatched ballot boxes, broke chairs and dispersed voters.

Source- https://punchng.com/nigeriaelections2023-soldiers-gun-down-ballot-thief-in-kogi/

The Anambra State Police Command said it had ordered an investigation into unravelling the circumstances surrounding the alleged discovery of a bag full of Permanent Voter Cards belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

A hunter, name withheld, found a bag containing the PVCs in a forest the in Akamili community in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Tuesday and later took it to the premises of a popular radio station, Authority FM.

The manager of the radio station, Mr Charles Ede, who spoke to journalists, said he was off duty when the cards were brought, but his employees had confirmed the development to him.

He said, “I was off duty when the incident happened, but one of the staff members received the hunter when he came.”

A video of the PVCs, which was made in the compound of the radio house in Nnewi, and which has been trending online, showed that most of the PVCs belonged to people of the area.

The radio station’s employee, who ran a short commentary on the video, urged those who had yet to get their PVCs to come to the premises of the FM to check if they could find theirs.

It was also gathered that most of the PVCs were owned by people from the Nnewi South Local Government Area.

An employee of Authority FM, who identified himself as Ikenna, confirmed that he received the PVCs, and that they had all been taken to the Obi of Umudim community in Nnewi.

But reacting to the development, the state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the command had not received any such complaint.

Ikenga said, “The command has not received any such complaint from the concerned authority, following the emergence of a video claiming that a hunter found some PVCs in a forest at Nnewi.

“Given the above, the Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, has ordered investigations into the video to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident and possibly arrest the suspects behind the act.

“Therefore, the command is constrained to make further comments and any development in this regard shall be communicated.”

Source- https://punchng.com/bag-of-pvcs-found-in-anambra-forest-police-begin-probe/

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The Kogi State Government has faulted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for reportedly confiscating 14 of its properties in Lagos State, Abuja and the United Arab Emirates, following an order from the court.

The government described the forfeiture as a “desperate concoction of confused unintelligent officials” and the EFCC as “Nigeria’s corruption headquarters headed by convicted chairman.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Kingsley Fanwo, the state Commissioner of Information and Communications to Governor Yahaya Bello, said, “Bawa had shown, like many Civil Society Organisations had pointed out, that his mandate at the EFCC was to bring down perceived enemies of those who planted him there at the expense of the nation’s integrity.

“The fact that the EFCC could send out a press statement, titled, “Court Orders Interim Forfeiture of 14 properties linked to Kogi State Government,” showed clearly that uninformed minds had been picked to oversee the affairs of an agency as important as the EFCC.”

According to him, for the avoidance of doubt, Kogi has no property that can be forfeited to the Federal Government under any guise, adding, “it is a campaign of calumny taken too far.”

Fanwo noted that it was clear that the EFCC had declared a tactless open war against the state government owing mainly to Governor Bello’s unflinching loyalty to the All Progressives Congress and not individuals, stressing that the Governor was not one that could be cowed once he believes in a cause.

“Nigerians, and indeed, the international community are not as ignorant as the convicted Bawa and his sponsors.

“They know, with the different onslaughts against the Kogi government, and its officials, that this is clear persecution by a desperate and power-drunk EFCC.

“In due course, Nigerians will confirm that the EFCC, under Bawa, is the capital of corruption amongst agencies in Nigeria,” the statement read.

It added, “Unlike the convicted Bawa, who has no regard for the courts.

“We want to state clearly here that, from what we have read in the media, not one we witnessed, this is a forfeiture proceeding and the order is an order of interim forfeiture, which gives persons who allegedly own the properties rights to come to court to establish their ownership of the said properties. We will follow through with the courts.

“For now, it is clear the EFCC has declared a tactless open war against the Kogi State Government, owing mainly to the Governor’s unflinching loyalty to the All Progressives Congress and not individuals. We will prove our innocence in court. It is a matter of time.”

The state government further thanked Nigerians for standing by what is right and pointing out the mess that had become of the fight against corruption under an “emergency chairman”.

“On this note, we advise the public to ignore Bawa’s EFCC’s latest naked dance in the market square as the desperate last kicks of a dying horse,” the statement added.

Source- https://punchng.com/alleged-forfeiture-of-property-shows-efccs-desperation-kogi/

Earlier thread: https://www.nairaland.com/7580378/court-orders-forfeiture-14-properties

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali, on Wednesday revealed that the force is investigating individuals, including state governors whose utterances are considered to have incited citizens to riots over the naira redesign policy of the federal government.

Briefing correspondents alongside the Attorney General of Federation, Abubakar Malami, after a meeting of the National Security Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he said, however, that despite the investigation, the police cannot prosecute the state chief executives because they enjoy immunity.

Recall that many governors led by the Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State had openly denigrated the Buhari policy, asking their citizens not to comply with the expiration of the legality of the old N500 and N1000.

Asked why the governors had not been cautioned, the Police boss stated: “We all know why unless you want to hear from the mouth of the Attorney General. We are investigating, we are investigating. Whoever does anything can be investigated.

“But for him to be investigated, some people have immunity. I think that is some of the reasons. But that will not stop us from cautioning, warning, or advising them, and we are doing so. That’s for the incitement by governors.”

Source- https://tribuneonlineng.com/cash-swap-riots-we-are-investigating-governors-over-inciting-utterances-igp/

ozo13:
meaning they will still be able to buy votes with the old notes

No be pesin wey go gree collect am from politicians hand. Buh, if you collect ham, you no go for spend ham or deposit ham for bank.

Na your loss las las

Holluwhakemmy:
Old notes will still be useful after election. Our politicians knows how to play the game.

Stop deceiving yourself

Dotherightthing:
Old notes are coming back after the presidential election, most likely.

Na El-Rufai yarn this dust give you

owunabastard:
I don't understand how you guys reason. Do you know banks are collecting old currency now till after election, therefore those monies are still useful. So what changed to use it for vote buying? I think CBN just punish Nigerians unnecessary

Your own personal bank abi

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has fixed Friday, February 24, for judgment in the suit seeking to stop the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from using, engaging or further dealing with the Chairman of the Lagos Parks and Garages Management Committee, Musliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo or any of his representatives in the distribution of election materials and adhoc staff for the forthcoming polls in the state.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke fixed the date, after listening to counsel to the applicants, Abass Ibrahim.

The applicants in the suit are: Labour Party, and its governorship candidate in the state, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, African Democratic Congress and its candidate Funsho Doherty and the Boot Party, and it’s candidate Wale Oluwo.

On Monday, Feb. 20, the court had granted an interlocutory injunction restraining INEC from engaging the Oluomo led-park managers, or any of its commercial bus drivers, to distribute election materials and personnel for the 2023 polls in Lagos State.

While adjourning the substantive suit till today, the judge ordered the applicants to serve the restraining order and other processes in the suit on INEC who is the only defendant in the case.

At the resumed hearing of the matter today, counsel to the applicants, Abass Ibrahim, told the court that he had fully complied with the court orders, by serving all processes and the hearing notice on the INEC, but he was surprised that the respondent failed to appear in court.

The counsel then asked the court to allow him move his clients’ application, a request which was granted by the court.

In moving the originating motion, the counsel told the court that the motion dated February 13 but filed on February 16, 2023, was brought pursuant to section 6 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, sections 26 and 27(1)(2) of the Electorial Act, 2022 and under the court’s inherent jurisdiction.

He also told the court that the motion is supported with a 27-paragraph affidavit, written address and exhibits.

The reliefs sought for in the originating motion are:

“a declaration that the appointment, partnership, or contracting of Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo-led Lagos State Parks Management Committee by INEC to distribute 2023 election materials and personnels in Lagos State violates Section 26 and 27 of the Electoral Act 2022 and consequently unlawful, null and void.

“A declaration that the appointment, partnership, or contracting of Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo-led Lagos State Parks Management Committee (established by Governor Babajide SanwoOlu, the APC gubernatorial candidate in Lagos State) and any of its members and/or drivers by INEC to distribute election materials and personnels in Lagos State will give room for election sabotage, manipulation, and rigging in favour of the APC and consequently unlawful and illegal.

“A declaration that the appointment, partnership, or contracting of Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo-led Lagos State Parks Management Committee or any of its members and/or drivers by INEC to distribute 2023 election materials and personnels in Lagos State is unlawful, wrongful, unjust and/or unreasonable and should be immediately stopped.

“An order setting aside any partnership, undertaking, contract and/or MOU of any form or nature executed by Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo, the Lagos State Parks Management Committee or any of ifs members and/or drivers with INEC to distribute election materials and personnels in Lagos State.

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC and/or their privies or any persons acting under their directions from contracting, partnering of appointing Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo, Lagos State Parks Management Committee or any of its members and/or drivers to distribute 2023 election materials and personnels in Lagos State.”

After moving the application, he urged the court to grant reliefs sought. Justice Aneke subsequently adjourned till Friday, for judgment.

Source- https://www.channelstv.com/2023/02/22/court-fixes-friday-for-judgment-in-suit-to-stop-inec-from-using-mc-oluomo/

Ritchiee:
Why?
Banks are collecting old naira notes nah.
Abi na Tokyo you dey?

Your own personal bank abi

Dotherightthing:
You are the real olodo! Supreme Court exparte order can only be vacated. It NEVER expires pending a final ruling.

Banks are collecting the old notes with reference code from the CBN website. Otondo!

Are you Tinubu's brother and a distant cousin to El-Rufai?

Johncuppa:
Commercial banks have been collecting it since last Saturday.

Only the Central Bank of El-Rufai. We know.

SALLYBERRY01:
So are we to obey Supreme Court or Buhari

Supreme Court haven't given their judgement yet, Oshiomole and El-Rufai tha are spreading rumors here and there.

Johncuppa:
Are you from another planet?
Banks are still collecting it till now.

El-Rufai commercial bank. Right?

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State on Wednesday ordered the forfeiture of 14 properties in Lagos, Abuja and the United Arab Emirates linked to the Kogi State government.

Justice Nicholas Oweibo granted the interim order following an ex parte motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

EFCC counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who argued the ex parte motion, told the court that the properties, including the one in the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, UAE, were reasonably suspected to have been derived from unlawful activity.

Justice Oweibo further authorised EFCC to confiscate the sum of N400m, also linked to the state and recovered from one Aminu Falala.

Oyedepo informed the court that the N400m was reasonably suspected to have been derived from unlawful activity “and intended to be used for the acquisition of Plot No. 1224 Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.”

In addition, the judge directed the EFCC to publish the order within 14 days for any interested party to show cause why the forfeiture order should not be made permanent.

Source- https://punchng.com/just-in-court-orders-forfeiture-of-14-properties-linked-to-kogi-govt/

More

The Archive.org link in case he deletes it or say it's fake news- https://web.archive.org/web/20230220163623/https://twitter.com/aonanuga1956/status/1627662327834198016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EyPn6et55s

The Director of Media and Publicity for the APC PCC, Bayo Onanuga shared a video on Twitter with the headline ”PETER OBI EXPOSED!!!”, without knowing the post was actually campaigning for Peter Obi.

He was called out by tweeps who faulted him for not watching the video accompanying the post first, but rushed to share it in a bid to de-market the LP candidate.

Source- https://twitter.com/aonanuga1956/status/1627662327834198016

Earlier thread: https://www.nairaland.com/7575841/governor-abiodun-shares-old-naira

Residents of Sagamu expressed their frustrations against the governor’s failed assurance that the old naira notes remain legal tenders for commercial activities in the state by pulling down his campaign posters and billboards alongside that of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, to make bonfires on major roads.

Agents of Mr Abiodun had visited parts of the states over the weekend, wooing supporters to comply with the opposition that the governor and his APC counterparts had put up against the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) insistence on phasing out old naira notes before the general elections.

The residents of the state accepted the cash disbursement based on the assurance but were disappointed when banks rejected the notes on Monday.

The situation was worsened by the continuing acute shortage of new notes which made many ATMs out of service and banks out of operation.

At press time, traffic flow has been disrupted in the town’s commercial hotspot along Akarigbo road and Sabo, a street that housed major commercial banks.

The protests have now broken into full-scale violence as several bank facilities including the Sagamu offices of Union, First, and Keystone banks have been set on fire by protesting youths.

In videos that have been shared by eyewitnesses on social media, the bank buildings were being burnt and vandalized with no security agency on-site to stem the wanton destruction of the facilities.

The arson complicates the episodes of violence that have rocked the country and fueled by the economic hardship that was occasioned by the scarcity of cash.

Despite the violence and the glaring impracticability of achieving its aims alongside maintaining public peace and economic order, the President Muhammadu Buhari regime has insisted that it will not reconsider its position as regards the cash swap policy.

Mr Buhari’s position violates a subsisting ruling of the Supreme Court which had ordered the presidency to cease the implementation of the policy.

The regime’s flagrant disregard for the country’s apex court, in its twilight, reinforces the public perception of the Buhari regime as an autocratic one, disguised in a democratic charade with scant regard for the rule of law and utter contempt for the country’s constitutional order.

Source- https://gazettengr.com/union-first-bank-keystone-set-ablaze-as-sagamu-rioters-protest-rejection-of-old-notes-given-by-gov-abiodun/

Nlfpmod
Yokiti
Domique
Mynd44
Lalasticlala

The Federal High Court in Lagos, has granted an injunction restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from using, engaging or further dealing with the Chairman of the Lagos Parks and Garages, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo or any of his representatives in the distribution of election materials and adhoc staff for the forthcoming polls in the state.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke granted the injunction following an application filed by the Labour Party and its governorship candidate in the state, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.

Channels Television learnt that INEC was absent at the proceedings even though lawyer to the Labour Party told the court that the commission was served with the court papers.

Source- https://www.channelstv.com/2023/02/20/breaking-court-stops-inec-from-engaging-mc-oluomo-for-electoral-items-distribution/

Nlfpmod
Yokiti
Domique
Mynd44
Lalasticlala

Famous Nollywood actor, Alexx Ekubo has declared support for the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

In a video making the rounds, the artiste opined that the former Anambra governor has the ability to change the country for good if elected president during the coming poll.

He called on eligible voters to get their Permanent Voter’s Card, PVC, ready to elect good leaders in the February and March general elections.

He said: “If you don’t have your PVC, you are not just part of the problem, you are actually the problem. With the various candidates running for the office of this great nation, I have made my decision to vote based on transparency, precedent and character and Peter Obi is the man for the job.

“It is important to voice out my stand because silence is consent. If you fail to vote, you forfeit your right to complain. I have carefully listened to Peter Obi. I strongly believe that with Peter Obi as president, together we will be able to eliminate the challenges we face as a nation.”

Source- https://dailypost.ng/2023/02/13/nollywood-actor-alexx-ekubo-reveals-preferred-presidential-candidate/

Nlfpmod
Yokiti
Domique
Mynd44
Lalasticlala