₦airaland Forum

Hearing in the case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Ali Bello and another over an alleged N3bn fraud has been adjourned till May 22, 2023 for continuation of hearing.

Prosecution opened their case (FRN Vs. Ali Bello and another) against the defendant by calling two witnesses – a compliance officer from Zenith Bank, Daniel Udoh; and a compliance officer from the United Bank for Africa, Bananda Edward.

Rotimi Iseoluwa Oyedepo, SAN, was lead Counsel for the EFCC in the case filed with suit no FCH/ABJ/CR/550/2022.

The first witness tendered in evidence the bank statements of “Kogi State Government” and a certificate of compliance, which were admitted in evidence.

The defence counsel, A.M. Aliyu, SAN, objected to the admissibility of the two documents, stating that he would address his objection in his final written address.

During cross-examination, Udoh admitted that the bank statement he presented did not belong to the Kogi State Government but to the Government House administration, adding that he does not know the defendants in the matter.

He said he was not a staff in the IT department of his bank and was not involved in the entrying of the information that had been printed out as bank statement.

The second witness, Bananda Edward, a compliance officer with UBA, also tendered the statement of account of Kogi State Government House (Exhibit C) and the Certificate of Compliance (Exhibit D).

He gave an account of inflow and outflow from the said account from September 1, 2021 to April 2022.

The defence counsel objected to the evidence relating to Abdulsalam Hudu, Government House cashier, on the ground that he was not a defendant in the matter. He challenged it on the basis of relevance to the instant action and said his objection would be raised in his final written address.

Justice J.K. Omotosho adjourned the case to May 22, 2023 for continuation of hearing.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested four top officials of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) over an alleged N2 billion-naira Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) fraud.

It was gathered that the suspects included one director and three deputy general managers in the authority.

A source who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the arrests, saying that one of the deputy general managers was taken into EFCC custody Thursday last week, while others were arrested on Monday, March 20.

As of Monday evening, the suspects are reportedly being grilled by a team of operatives at the anti-graft agency’s headquarters in Abuja.

The NCAA officials allegedly paid themselves and others DTA in excess of N2billion.

(ChannelsTV).

Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is embroiled in a fresh crisis over the secret recruitment of more than 400 new employees without recourse to extant guidelines such as advertisement in national dailies to enable all interested Nigerians apply.

A senior staff of NPA who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation that the recruitment was done “hush hush” by the Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko in contravention of the due process for conducting recruitments into Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as established by the Federal Government.

The staff said an induction ceremony was also held “secretly” for the new employees at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) from January 25 to February 1, 2023.

Recently, the Federal Character Commission (FCC) warned MDAs against flouting laid down guidelines for recruitment into government establishments.

Part of the guidelines stipulate that all vacancies in MDAs shall be advertised in at least two newspapers circulating nationally, giving prospective candidates a minimum of six weeks within which to apply.

There have also been questions about the placement of the new NPA employees on various grade levels, which was said to run foul of laid down procedures.

By Kunle Somorin

About 45 months ago, Prince Dapo Abiodun came to office amidst massive hope and expectations from the people of Ogun State that at last a leader had come to truly guide Ogun to progress, development and the realisation of her destiny.

The mood all over the State, at the time he took over, was, incontestably, euphoric. Looking back now, it is even grandly euphoric as the Governor’s Midas touch can be felt in every part of the state.

Come Saturday, the people of Ogun State will come out, again, to express their franchise to choose or reject his leadership. But the gale of endorsement across different demographic, social and religious groups, attests to one thing: he has taken the state a notch higher. First elected governor on March 9th, 2019 it has been so far, so remarkable for the businessman turned politician and his party, the All Progressives Congress.

No wonder, the party cleared all the available seats in the February 25 round of elections. In the world of performance-based rewards, no one gets cheated on. No one’s mandate is stolen. If you earn it, then you deserve it. More reason an American Author, Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” It is about bettering the lives of others, being part of something bigger than yourself, and making a positive difference. Governor Dapo Abiodun has contributed, in no small measure, to the growth of Ogun State and its people; and this piece intends to highlight some of the strides of his administration.

As facts are known to be stubborn and good works unable to be hidden, the servant-leader has garnered recognition and conferred with numerous awards for his hard work, the most recent award is “Forbes Best of Africa’s Governor in the Industrial Revolution,” which is a testament to the giant strides that has been recorded in the state’s industrial sector.

From the get-go, to curb unemployment level in the state, Gov. Abiodun launched, in August 2019, the Ogun Job Portal which dimensioned unemployment crises and linked young people with business owners. The State Government utilised the online platform to get details of applicants for employment and empowerment in different sectors, especially education, security and agriculture. Consequently, over 10,000 youth have been empowered and recruited into teaching internship scheme called OgunTeach, the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency, OGEPA, different cadres in the health sector, as Fire Service officers and into Amotekun, the security architecture designed by state government in the South Western parts of Nigeria. Within the same period, 400 youth artisans across crafts (building, electrical, and plumbing) were employed in a direct labour initiative into the State Ministry of Housing under an ambitious programme that achieved the construction of over 1,700 affordable housing units across the length and breadth of the state.

Equally, Dapo Abiodun’s Administration mainstreamed 2000 ASCON entrants who had been supposedly employed by the immediate past administration but without files and records into the Ogun State Civil Service, and paid the backlog of their salaries.

Security and development are intertwined. No wonder, Abiodun in his first 100 days in office saw to the re-energisation and restructuring of Security Trust Fund to receive and manage donations from the private sector. The Committee also mobilized these funds and resources for the training and retraining of security personnel. The private-sector led OGSTF has made remarkable achievements that have strengthened the security architecture of the State, received significant donations and earned the trust of the Federal Government that released Police aircraft to monitor the State.

Security has equally gone digital in Ogun with drones and technology now deployed for surveillance and monitoring as a way of preventing and detecting crimes in the tandem with the dictates of the 21st century. Unlike in the past, strategic meetings are held with security chiefs, patrol vehicles and motorcycles have been donated to all security outfits, including those to support local vigilante and hunters who now work with the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Army, State Service, Civil Defence Corps, Operation So Safe and others to engender mutual collaboration.

The live-wire of any nation is education. Therefore, at every point in time, a nation stands between education and destruction. A nation survives and triumphs on promoting its quality education and it dies and perishes on neglecting its education.

Education is life; ignorance is death. And this serves the main reason Abiodun resuscitated, in Ogun, the excellence and eminence that is attached to education in the developed parts of the world. In effect, the Ogun State Government launched the Ogun State Teaching Experience Acquisition Channel (Ogun TEACh) in March 2021.

This two-year, paying special intervention programme was created to fill open positions in public primary and secondary schools as well as technical colleges in the State. 5000 interns are been hired during the review period across the State’s 20 local government areas, or LGAs, without no discrimination. His impact on education did not stop here as he triggered a significant transformation by resolving inherited crises in the tertiary education sector that resuscitated institutions like the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic that was in limbo when he was sworn in and the Tai Solari College of Education that never graduated any set of students for 11 years previously. Today, classrooms, hostels, restrooms, offices, stores, and computer rooms with equipment have been built in various schools.

Similarly, the yellow roof revolution dot all the State schools and healthcare facilities. So far, over 100 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) have been rehabilitated, equipped and appropriately staffed.

Gov. Abiodun’s impact also cuts across to the infrastructure, rural development, commerce, agriculture and youth development ecosystem. A man of ideas, from day one, Governor Abiodun appreciated (and still does) the role of investment as the engine of economic growth. For this, he established the Ogun State Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency. It was “with a mandate to attract investors into the State; coordinate the private sector investment activities, and streamlining processes and procedures to ease the investors’ journey to setting up their operations successfully in the state.” Other supplementary initiatives include capacity building for well over 500 entrepreneurs across the State to enable them to access financing and also scale up their businesses; empowerment of over 2500 rural women across the state through the provision of products worth N100m; land acquisition within 30-day for the issuance of C of Os through the launch of an online portal and above all Ogun State Land Administration and Revenue Management System (OLARMS). Observers are unanimous that the ambitious Digital Economy Infrastructure Project of laying 5000 kilometre of fibre optic cable and Tech Hubs across the state is the pathway to making the State to Nigeria’s future Silicon Valley.

Infrastructure is another area that Governor Abiodun has scored a bull’s eye, spreading projects around all the Senatorial Districts like confetti. When he came on board, he discovered that all the major roads within communities had become dilapidated. He initiated the direct labour agency – gun State Public Works Agency (OGPWA) which moved into all the 20 local government areas of the state simultaneously and started rehabilitating roads. That done, the governor then did something entirely different: he embraced the projects abandoned or half-executed by his predecessors.

Today, he has rebuilt 400 km of roads, including the Ijebu-Ode-Epe expressroad, Sagamu-Interchange-Abeokuta expressroad and Ilaro-Owode-Yewa road. The Lusada-Atan – Agbara road, in particular, is crucially important to the South-West, Nigeria and indeed the West African sub-region because it hosts the biggest industrial complex in Nigeria. Even federal roads are receiving attention. As he usually says, people in the area care less about the Federal Government: it is state government that they know. Everywhere you turn in Abiodun’s Ogun, you find projects. Numberless rural road are being rehabilitated and reconstructed in villages that didn’t witness caterpillars in the last 30 years!

The icing on the cake is the Ogun State Gateway Agro-Cargo International Airport meant to serve as cargo and passenger facility from the heavy industries built between the Lagos-Ogun corridor and the Agbara Industrial Layout. It is expected that the airport, which is well located, will provide seamless service for the evacuation of finished products from these companies and delivery of raw materials, as well as create jobs for 25,000 persons. Already test flights had commenced and a Special Agro-Processing Zone (SAPZ) has been inaugurated. The location of the airport at the off limits of the notorious traffic gridlock that characterises Lagos State puts the facility in a vantage position to move goods to other parts of the country from the airport. Essentially, it will be a rendezvous for the assemblage of farm produce before export, as the government of Ogun State is putting things in place to build an aerotropolis at the airport. This means that agro based factories and others can sprout at the airport. That will give rise to an economic community that will create jobs, create revenue for the government and expand businesses between the two major states in the South-west.

These are some enviable records set by the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration that reassures citizens that their votes have not been wasted. The people of the state have, as a result of his leadership, had been living peacefully. Ogun State can only wait and anticipate even improved outcomes in the upcoming years, including the second term of the effective and development-oriented governor.

• Somorin is the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Dapo Abiodun

Weighty corruption allegations against EFCC chair before his appointment not cleared – Adeniran

Frontline Anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations, numbering over 130, have resumed their call for the sack of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, over alleged politicisation of the Commission, Disobedience of Court Orders and Infringement on Human Rights of Nigerians, among others.

The activists who were joined by over 20 Constitutional lawyers, led by Barr. Mogbojuri Kayode of the Citizens Rights Advocacy Group,
noted that the desperation of Bawa to save his face after dishonourable acts in office had taken a laughable turn, insisting that no amount of “purchased CSOs’ vote of confidence” would cover the truth about the abnormalities being condoned in EFCC under its current leadership.

They spoke at a joint press conference in Lagos on Tuesday.

According to them, the EFCC has become so desperate to launder what they called a rapidly diminishing image of Bawa, to the extent that the Commission’s spokesman laughably signed a Press Release, recently, informing Nigerians that a Civil Society Organization had passed a vote of confidence in its chairman.

“Isn’t it the job of the media to see that and independently report?” they asked.

The leaders of the struggle said it was a thing of honour that, despite the immense pressure mounted on leaders of the “Bawa Must Go” protests to abandon their objective cause, over 120 of the main actors had remained resolute while more had joined in the interest of the rule of law.

The Anti-corruption activists, however, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for bailing the country out of what they described as a Judicial quagmire “by dissociating the Presidency from any act of disobedience to court orders and making the Central Bank of Nigeria comply with a Supreme Court order that extended the validity of old naira notes till December 31, 2023.”

“As this is expected to ease the pain of the masses, we hereby call on the President to also wade into the seeming fixation of the EFCC on certain individuals and the desperation of the Chairman of the Commission to score cheap political goals through unwarranted media trials of non-convicted individuals in the country. He should direct Mr. Bawa to step aside until he purges himself of contempt as ruled by a High Court,” Spokesperson for the Coalition, Olufemi Lawson, said in a speech delivered on behalf of the activists.

Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, Debo Adeniran, specifically noted that his organisation had, from the outset, alerted the National Assembly to the fact that Bawa was unfit for the post of EFCC chairman, over alleged corrupt practices and his rumoured relationship with the Attorney-General of the Federation who was believed to have masterminded the travails and eventually removal of Bawa’s predecessor, Ibrahim Magu.

According to him, Bawa’s alleged misconduct in office is a confirmation of CACOL’s fears of his being a misfit for the position.

Adeniran, who made copies of CACOL’s initial objection to Bawa’s appointment available to the press, said, “Up till now, he (Bawa) has not cleared himself of all the allegations against him and he has been made to catch other people who committed offences that are not as grievous as the ones that he has been accused of. And on top of all of these, he has been behaving as if he is an authority to himself. And we are now saying that, no matter how highly placed you are, no matter how influential you are, you still are duty-bound to operate within the confines of the laws of our own country. That is the Constitution.

“Nobody is above the law. Everybody should be equal before the law. If we don’t allow the rule of law to govern our society, then we are plunging our society into that kingdom where anarchy rules, where there will be chaos and where there will be no control over who does what, and that would be a disorganised society.

“This man has been convicted about two times for flagrant disobedience of court orders. The Inspector-General of Police has been lagging behind in the performance of his duty in this regard, may be because of what they believe should be esprit de corps. Gradually, other agencies would not want to obey the rule of law.

“This would only draw back the gains we have made over the years when we thought that we had struggled ourselves out of the stranglehold of the Military. This is not expected of a born-again democrat that our President now claims to be. For how long will our President allow impunity to govern our society before he knows that he has to exercise his enormous power to insist that the rule of law that he has relied upon over the years holds sway?”

“Those in authority are duty-bound to ensure that judgements of any court, even if by a drunken judge, are implemented by the Police Force. And if the Police Force refuses to implement it, the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He should call them to order, instruct the Inspector-General of Police to implement the order. If the President also refuses to insist that the rule of law should be held sacrosanct, then there would be protests without end.

“We are just observing a break now as a result of the elections which we must all partake in. We will continue until the rule of law is obeyed. Everybody should be equal before the law,” the CACOL chairman stated.

Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun, wondered why some people, in the name of CSOs would allow themselves to be used to reinforce failure, contrary to what genuine CSOs stand for, noting that in spite of pressure from different quarters, patriotic activists refused to be bought over.

“The issue of Bawa did not start today. When he was in the Port Harcourt division of the EFCC, he had allegations of misconduct around seized property hanging around his neck. These are allegations that were not cleared because he was forced upon the agency.

“We are repeating that we are not against the fight against corruption. But if the successes of the EFCC must stay, we cannot continue to have an ignoble personality like Abdulrasheed Bawa heading that agency. So we are not just asking the incoming government not to inherit him, we are saying he should be removed from office even before the expiration of the term of President Muhammadu Buhari,” he declared.

The anti-corruption CSOs maintained that the Commission had become synonymous with all kinds of scandals, saying, “There are allegations of age falsification to remain in office beyond the statutory limit of civil service regulations. An organization fighting against corruption should not be found enmeshed in such a scandal with the alleged active connivance of the Commission’s leadership.

“We call on the IGP to immediately swing into action and thoroughly investigate these allegations and ensure that all culpable personnel face the full weight of the law, including their facilitators.”

“We are also not unaware of some sponsored campaigns for the incoming administration to retain the services of Mr Bawa as the head of the EFCC. While we concede that it is the exclusive preserve of the President to appoint whoever is deemed fit to head the EFCC and other similar agencies of government, we cannot but as stakeholders state that Mr. Bawa has become deficient in character and as such should be the least considered by any administration determined to truly fight corruption for such a sensitive position which demands not only professional competency, but also high moral value,” they stated.

The ‘Bawa Must Go’ protests are being led by CACOL Chairman, Debo Adeniran; Executive Director, Zero Graft Centre, Kolawole Sanchez-Jude; Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, Toyin Raheem; Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson; Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun; Director, Activists for Good Governance, Declan Ihehaire; and Ahmed Balogun of Media Rights Concern, among over 120 notable leaders of Anti-corruption CSOs.

Over 20 vibrant constitutional lawyers have also joined the protests.

…reinforces its commitment to empowering women

In furtherance of its leading role in promoting the socio-economic inclusion of women in society, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider, has announced its dedication of the month of March to the celebration of women across the world, as it commemorates the globally celebrated International Women’s Day, scheduled for 8 March 2023.

Kicking off the series of internal and activities designed to celebrate women is The First Women Network (FWN), Mentoring, Coaching and Sponsorship Pillar Webinar scheduled to hold on Friday, 3 March 2023. The event is organized by the Bank’s First Women Network, an initiative that seeks to address the gender gap and increase the participation of women at all levels within the organisation.

On Wednesday, 8 March 2023, the Bank will join the rest of the world to celebrate the 2023 International Women’s Day themed: “Embrace Equity” as it convenes its International Women’s Day 2023 event.

As a member of UN Women, FirstBank employs the relevant women empowerment tools including the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Gender Gap Analysis Tool in the process of assessing its performance and provides progress reports that feeds into the WEPs performance indicators. FirstBank has a ratio of about 39%:61% female to men employees while 32% women in management driving a deliberate policy consistent with the WEPs – Equal Opportunity, Inclusion, and Nondiscrimination.

In line with this commitment, FirstBank is partnering with UN Women on 15 March 2023 and is set to play a key role in a scheduled event driven by UN Women that will showcase young women and men between the ages of 18-35 in Nigeria who are using technological innovations and tools to promote gender equality, women’s empowerment and inclusion. This is in line with the UN International Women’s Day theme for 2023 is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’’.

The conversation on ‘’Embrace Equity’’ as well as ‘’DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’’ will be reinforced on Twitter Spaces with notable speakers including Foluso Gbadamosi, the Executive Director of Junior Achievement Nigeria.

Amongst the activities scheduled to round off the Women’s Month commemoration is the Bank’s support of the Heroism of Erelu Ota – a play which aligns with the Bank’s First@arts goal of supporting the arts and women. Heroism of Erelu Ota is an untold story of a legendary goddess in Ikorodu Kingdom who travels on the sea with a mat, and her ability to see what the enemies of Ikorodu are planning in their town, played a huge role in assisting the people of Ikorodu during the Agbala war.

Speaking ahead of the events, Folake Ani-Mumuney, Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank said: “We remain committed to diversity and inclusion as well as women empowerment through digital education and the provision of opportunities for women to access digital tools to bridge the gender digital divide and achieve gender equality. Therefore, as in previous years, FirstBank has dedicated March 2023 as a month set aside to celebrate women and all their remarkable achievements over the years which include their leadership roles and pace-setting standards in Science Technology Entrepreneurship, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM). We are deliberate about partnering to ensure more impact – ensuring that we touch as many women as possible in Women’s Month and beyond.’’

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it has replaced Eroton Exploration and Production Limited, owned by billionaire, Onajite Okoloko over mismanagement of Oil Mining License 18 (OML 18).

Garba Deen Muhammad, NNPC spokesperson, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

NNPC said the action was taken to curtail further degradation of the asset and revamp production of oil and gas.

OML 18 is an oil-producing block covering 1,035 square kilometers located south of Port Harcourt and contains eleven oil and gas fields with about 714 MMSTB of oil and condensate and 4.7Tcf of natural gas reserves. Eight fields have been developed, but only four are currently producing. They are Cawthorne Channel, Awoba, Akaso, and Alakiri.

In 2014, EROTON acquired the 45 per cent interest previously owned by Shell (30 per cent), Total (10 per cent), and NAOC (5 per cent) in the then OML 18 NNPC -SPDC JV.

Subsequently, in 2018, EROTON farmed-out equity to Sahara Field Production Limited (16.20 per cent) and Bilton Energy Limited (1.80 per cent). Subsequent to the equity acquisition, EROTON Exploration and Production Company became NNPC Ltd ‘s Joint Venture partner on the OML 18 NNPCL-Eroton JV, and the company was designated as the Operator in accordance with relevant provisions of the Joint Operating Agreement between the parties.

It was learnt that over the years, there have been several concerns over the way and manner the block is operated by EROTON, mostly bothering on transparency of procurement processes, confidence in reported production numbers, transparency of matching cash call payments and administration of JV partners’ funds.

…says last election peaceful, free, fair, credible, acceptable in Ogun

Political parties under the aegis of Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), Ogun State chapter, have unanimously endorsed the second term ambition of Governor Dapo Abiodun.

Speaking at a meeting with the governor at his Iperu country home on Tuesday, the State Chairman of IPAC and People’s Redemption Party state chairman, Mr. Samson Okusanya said the governor, being a disciplined and focused man, has, through his words and actions, brought peace and development to the state.

“We have come to pay a visit to our governor as the Chief Executive and the Chief Security Officer of the state. We are here to congratulate him for his exemplary leadership and, most especially, for the peaceful conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections.

“The elections in Ogun were free, fair and acceptable to all of us. We, the registered political parties, are in support of the governor. We are happy as a body to come and assure you that your second term is inevitable. We shall support you in the gubernatorial election.

“We have observed all the processes. The state has enjoyed the peaceful co-existence among all the political parties. We are here to appreciate you for a job well done, “he stated.

Okusanya attributed the success of the APC at the presidential election to the hard work, discipline and consistency of the governor who brought peace to the electioneering processes as there was a level playing field for every party to campaign without molestation.

Responding, Governor Abiodun said he has lowered the political temperature in the state by focusing on issues-based campaigns as he believed that people are free to join any party of their choice.

“Since we believe that our performance will speak for us, we have no need to stop people from joining any political party of their choice and marketing their parties for votes.

“As an industrial hub, the state must be peaceful for people to live and do business. We cannot allow insecurity because it will affect investments.

“I want to appreciate you for testifying that the elections were peaceful. All our candidates won convincingly, and our presidential candidate won overwhelmingly, and other parties did not win up to 20 per cent.

“You have endorsed my continuation in office because of the fact that we executed people-oriented programmed and policies. Being from another party and not from our own party gives you the opportunity to assess our performance critically, and I am sure this has not been an easy task for you, “the governor said.

He further appreciated other political parties for not seeing elections as a do-or-die affairs, but have complemented the state government in maintaining peace through cooperation and collaboration, pledging to continue the implementation of his vision through the ISEYA Agenda.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour party, Oluwafemi Arambambi, lauded the state government for creating a conducive environment for all parties to campaign without any form of attack.

Arambambi who adjudged the Presidential and National Assembly elections as free, fair and credible in the state, said his party would not support the cancellation of the elections or any act that would truncate the electoral process in the country.

The meeting was attended by representatives of National and state officials of APP, APGA, SDP, YPP, Accord Party, PRP, and Boot Party, among others.

A storm has swept over EROTON Exploration and Production Company Ltd owned by Delta-born billionaire, Onajite Okoloko, after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) claimed Oil Mining License 18.

TheWhistler reported the NNPC had taken over OML 18 following a discovery of Eroton’s mismanagement of the oil asset.

OML 18 is an oil-producing block covering 1,035 square kilometers located south of Port Harcourt and contains eleven oil and gas fields with about 714 MMSTB of oil and condensate and 4.7Tcf of natural gas reserves. Eight fields have been developed, but only four are currently producing. They are Cawthorne Channel, Awoba, Akaso, and Alakiri.

In 2014, EROTON acquired the 45 per cent interest previously owned by Shell (30 per cent), Total (10 per cent), and NAOC (5 per cent) in the then OML 18 NNPC -SPDC JV.

Subsequently, in 2018, EROTON farmed-out equity to Sahara Field Production Limited (16.20 per cent) and Bilton Energy Limited (1.80 per cent). Subsequent to the equity acquisition, EROTON Exploration and Production Company became NNPC Ltd ‘s Joint Venture partner on the OML 18 NNPCL-Eroton JV, and the company was designated as the Operator in accordance with relevant provisions of the Joint Operating Agreement between the parties.

It was learnt that over the years, there have been several concerns over the way and manner the block is operated by EROTON, mostly bothering on transparency of procurement processes, confidence in reported production numbers, transparency of matching cash call payments and administration of JV partners’ funds.

The newspaper reports that in a bid to determine a true and impartial state of affairs and in accordance with clauses 2.2.11, 4.1.1, 6.6 -6.8 of the Joint Operating Agreement, the Management of NNPC Ltdvappointed two Auditors – Messrs KPMG and Tamuno George & Co in July 2020, to carry out a forensic audit on the JV operations.

The forensic audit covered areas of budget process and implementation, governance and compliance and possible collusion with third parties.

In the Audit Report of Tamuno George & Co of July 2020, the Audit Firm discovered that the expenses incurred by the company were excessive and over inflated.

For instance, the Audit Report revealed that two travel and tour contracts awarded to Dees Travels & Tour, and Silhouette Travels and Tours at N300,000,000 both totaling N600,000,000 on call-off basis from 1st Nov 2019- 31st May 2020 appear exorbitant and negates the accounting processes of the company.

The Auditors stated further that travel and tour expense paid for in 2019 (N798,631,103.78); 2018 (N389,495,871.86); and 2017 (N382,984,561.02); whose invoices were provided by EROTON to prove genuineness of travel and to expenses from vendors could not be supported with official receipts.

The Audit Report added, “Travel and tours expenses are excessive and inflated without arm’s length transaction.

“The N38,000,000 contract for Christmas Gift Cards in 2019 awarded to Artee Industries Limited is excessive and not at arm’s length.

“The sum of N439,255,269.49 was paid to Oilserv as an advancement in respect of 30 per cent pipeline installation of N1,169,182,468.20 (EROTON’ s purchase Order)/ $12,001,512.89 (Oilserv Invoice) without specifying the 30 per cent was calculated on purchase order or invoice.

“Oilserv limited was paid N439,255,269.49 for services rendered portrays some elements of compromise and casts doubt on the true value of the contract.”

With similar concerns about the mismanagement of the oil assets by EROTON, findings revealed that another partner in the Joint Venture, Sahara Energy, in a letter dated 21st October 2021, petitioned the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), alleging persistent mismanagement of operations of OML 18 by the Company.

Sahara Energy also wrote the NNPC In a letter dated January 10,2020 raising the alarm about the mismanagement of the OML 18 by EROTON.

As soon as the petition got to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the commission quickly constituted a committee to investigate the allegations on EROTON to determine the veracity or otherwise of these allegations.

It was learnt that upon the conclusion of their preliminary investigation, the outcome also indicated mismanagement of the asset by EROTON.

NUPRC was said to have confirmed EROTON’s default in making statutory payments (Oil Royalty, Gas Sales Royalty, Gas flare payments, and Concession rentals), award of contracts to unapproved vendors without recourse to due process.

The regulator also confirmed the sale of gas to a related company without the JV partners’ approval, a valid Gas Sales Agreement, and a proper revenue remittal and accountability framework.

In the letters, Sahara Energy requested for the intervention of NUPRC and the NNPC to avoid catastrophic outcomes for the OML 18 JV partners, the Federal Government, the local communities and the environment.

In the letter to NNPC, Sahara Energy alleged that EROTON has continued to act with impunity, adding that it had become imperative to take decisive steps to ensure compliance, by EROTON, with due processes in order to assure prudent management of the OML 18 asset.

The letter, addressed to the NNPC Group Managing Director which was the former nomenclature of the current Group Chief Executive Officer reads, “Sir, we had specifically informed you that EROTON has continuously failed to officially invite Sahara or frustrated attendance at various meetings at which the 2020 Budget were discussed.

“We thought it useful to express some of our grave reservations (which we have severally – follows:

“Following interactions (at Sahara’s insistence) between Sahara and EROTON with a view to streamlining the 2020 budget and reducing costs, the said budget costs were only partially reduced to $412m from the in initially proposed $517,650,000) even though EROTON could justify only US$205m aggregate expenditure.

“Also, EROTON’s proposed 2020 budget sum of USS412,000,000 (with a view to attain increase in production) is unsupported by tenable underlying technical facts. Thus to provide supporting information to justify $205,000,000 production and evacuation facilities which yields the same desired increase in the production for the asset). This is the amount Sahara is willing to accept despite the fact that the asset, on its own (including the anticipated new production can only support $177,000,000 expenditure.


“Despite repeated requests from Sahara, EROTON is unable to provide any tangible explanations for how it intends to fund this budget cashflow deficit nor has provided any tenable supporting information for the $207,000,000 proposed expenditure above the U$205,000,000 portion of the proposed budget that it has supported.

“Despite numerous requests from Sahara as it is entitled to do pursuant to the OML 18 JOA for EROTON to render account of its stewardship of OML 18 and how it expended monies on behalf of Sahara in the period when EROTON held Sahara’s interest in OML 18 in trust, EROTON has failed to render such account and has instead ignored Sahara’s request for an account of its stewardship.

“It has become glaringly obvious that the asset is being run as a ‘family business’ with very poor governance structures, a total lack of transparency and total lack of value for money for expenditure.”

Following the letter by Sahara Energy, NUPRC constituted a committee to investigate the allegations on EROTON to determine the veracity or otherwise of these allegations.

NUPRC’s investigation revealed that EROTON defaulted in making statutory payments on Oil Royalty, Gas Sales Royalty, Gas flare payments and Concession rentals that fell due in excess of $30,151,491.40 and N210,946,398.17 as of December 2021 which remained unpaid.

It was also revealed that the Audit exercises carried out by NNPC Ltd Internal and appointed External Auditors indicated the award of contracts to unapproved vendors without recourse to due process, amongst several other compliance-related issues.

EROTON has also been selling gas to a related company without the JV partners’ approval, a valid Gas Sales Agreement and proper revenue remittal and accountability, despite several requests by the JV parties.

This action contravenes the provisions of the JOA. It was revealed that NNPCL has initiated reconciliation exercises with EROTON to recover all outstanding unremitted revenue due to the federation from NNPCL’s 55 per cent equity.

As at the last reconciliation of non-remitted proceeds from gas sales, EROTON had sold 46.19 BSCF of gas and is yet to remit NNPCL’s share of the revenue, amounting to a total of $36.88m.

Further findings revealed that from 2016 to date, OML18’s net crude production has significantly fallen from about 30,000 barrels per day to less than 1,000 barrels per day despite the JV Partner’s consistent cash call payments over the same period.

Asides from the insecurity-related impact on the corridor of OML 18 operation, the newspaper reports that that there has been the persistent issue of poor implementation of the JV-approved work programs, including the Alternative Crude Oil Evacuation Project.

EROTON is also said to have been heavily indebted to contractors making it challenging to secure service providers in addition to the financial exposure to the JV.

Other infractions include the non-remittance of domestic gas revenue to joint venture partners, default on tax obligations, and shut-in of production for the last 18 months.

NNPC Writes EFCC, Demands Probe Of EROTON OML 18 Mismanagement
Following the Audit exercise initiated by NNPC Ltd, it was gathered that the management of the National Oil Company wrote several letters to EROTON to resolve the underlying commercial and operational issues.

The NNPC had also commenced appropriate steps to invoke relevant provisions of the JOA to remedy this operational malady of OML 18.

In a letter to the EFCC seen, the NNPC stated that, “While we continue to find solutions within our sphere of influence, We kindly request that the EFCC carry out an independent, in-depth investigation into the allegations against Eroton in the interest of the JV and the Nation at large.”

Kogi to Nigerians: Ignore EFCC’s forfeiture joke as desperate concoction of confused ‘unintelligent officials’


The Kogi State Government has called the Nigerian public’s attention to what it described as the ridicule the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has made of the fight against corruption in Nigeria with its “disgraceful fixation on the State in the pursuit of desperate political interests of its Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa and his godfathers.”

The Commissioner for Information and Communications in the state, Kingsley Fanwo, said in a statement on Wednesday that Bawa had shown, like many honourable 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.

He said 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, adding that the “forfeiture joke is clearly a desperate concoction of confused, unintelligent officials.”

According to him, for the avoidance of doubt, the Kogi State Government has no property that can be forfeited to the Federal Government under any guise, 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 Kogi State Government, owing mainly to the Governor’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 State 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 state government said.

The Commissioner stated, “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 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 EFFC’s latest naked dance in the market square as the desperate last kicks of a dying horse,” the statement said.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, granted Ali Bello and 3 others bail in an alleged N3 billion fraud suit filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Ruling against a counter-affidavit by the EFCC counsel opposing the bail request, the judge held that the charges against the defendants were bailable and that it was to enable the defendants charged with an offence to prepare adequately for their trial.

Bello was on February 8, 2023, arraigned alongside Abba Adauda, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege and Iyadai Sadat, on an 18-count charge before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Following their not guilty plea, Justice Egwuatu, adjourned till February 13 for hearing in their bail application.

However, delivering ruling in the applications, Justice Egwuatu held that he was inclined to admit the defendants to bail and ruled that the bail was granted in the sum of N500 million each, with two sureties in like sum.

The sureties should be resident in Abuja, with identiable address and own landed property worth N500 million within the jurisdiction of the court.

The judge added that the original title documents to the said property must be deposited with the Registrar of the court, as well as evidence of tax payment for three years running from 2020 to 2022.

Besides the judge held that the defendants are to deposit their international passport with the court and could only travel after due permission from the court.

Subsequently, the matter was adjourned till April 16 for commencement of trial, contrary to an earlier press statement from EFCC, which indicated that trial had begun in the case.

Recall that a senior advocate, Mr Ahmed Raji, SAN, who had argued the bail applications of the four defendants observed that the offences brought against his clients were ordinarily bail-able and as such should be considered and granted.

He also stated that bail was at the discretion of the court and that the court should use its discretion in favour of the defendants.

Raji submitted that the EFCC had been investigating the defendants in the past one year without any interference from the defendants.

The senior lawyer disclosed that the anti-graft agency on its own admitted the defendants to administrative bail prior to their arraignment, adding that throughout the period of the administrative bail, the defendants did not do anything untoward.

Besides, Raji argued that EFCC granted one of the defendants permission to travel to Saudi Arabia, adding that the defendant kept faith by returning to Nigeria and surrendered his traveling passport to the commission.

He dismissed the allegations by EFCC that the defendants were flight risk and would tamper with witnesses if granted bail, adding that apart from being mere allegations, the anti-graft agency did not support the claim with any evidence.

Raji accordingly urged the court to admit the defendants to bail in liberal terms.

Responding, counsel to the EFCC, Mr M. K. Husseini, had vehemently opposed the request, claiming that if admitted to bail the defendants would tamper with evidence as well as interfere with witnesses.

He also argued that the defendants were likely going to jump bail and not make themselves available for trial.

Husseini accordingly urged the court to deny the defendants bail.

In a short ruling, Justice Egwuatu announced that ruling in the bail applications would be delivered on Monday, February 20, 2023.

The defendants were in count one charged with procuring, “E- Traders International Limited to retain the aggregate sum of N3,081,804,654.00 which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful activity to wit: criminal misappropriation, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to sections 18(a), 15(20)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.

They were also charged with procuring, “E-Traders International Limited to transfer the aggregate sum of $570,330 to account number no; 426-6644272 domiciled in TD Bank, United States of America, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful activity to with: criminal misappropriation, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act”, in count three.

Harsh, extremely difficult, gut-wrenching. These are not very palatable words to read at the beginning of an article, especially early in a new year. But maybe they aptly describe the economic situation and life in general that a special group in Nigeria is experiencing at the moment.

If economic conditions are tough for you with a spouse, family or network of other people you can turn to, consider underprivileged widows. Left to their fate by the families of their late husbands after being stripped of everything except the children that they now have to care for all by themselves, these widows and their vulnerable children are at the bottom of the food chain.

Imagine what life is like to them at these most trying of times when even the most optimistic of us have their hope buffeted left, right and centre. How do these underprivileged widows manage to cope? How are they even able to survive? These are the constant questions in the heart of the president / founder of CBA Foundation – Chinwe Bode-Akinwande

These concerns and putting oneself in the shoes of such widows have inspired public-spirited individuals and organisations, which have made it their business to try to support underprivileged widows. In spite of limited resources, these individuals and organisations have never wavered in their commitment to ensuring that underprivileged widows and their children receive help and a fair chance to get their lives back on an upward trajectory.

In December 2022, one such organisation that has been in the trenches supporting underprivileged widows since 2015, embarked on massive interventions across three states in Nigeria in their bid to bring succour to widows. Over 360 widows across Lagos and Ogun States in the South West as well as Anambra State in the South East experienced the touch of kindness of the Chinwe Bode-Akinwande Foundation (CBA Foundation).

Ogun State witnessed the first of the interventions. With the help and coordination of the Baales and Olota of Ota, as many as 160 widows were assembled from far and near on 10th December. They were hosted and catered for at Sango-Ota.

Whatever may have been their story before that day, being gathered with people in similar situations and hosted by people who were determined to help as much as they could, would have planted in the widows hope and a sense that their story could change. The joy that flowed as the widows received the support the Foundation distributed freely is the kind you would want captured by a cinematic camera for continuous display in our mind’s eye.

Badore, Ajah was the location for the intervention in Lagos State which followed on 17th December. The 102 widows who were supported came from six different communities around the location. The Lagos intervention also delivered in terms of giving the widows hope.

On 22nd December, Anambra State took its turn. St Cletus Catholic Church, Otolo, Nnewi was the location where the 100 underprivileged widows from five different communities converged to receive much-needed support. From the choice of location to the support distributed among the widows, everything spoke of hope and the possibility of a better tomorrow.

Announced a month ahead, in November 2022, by the President and Founder of CBA Foundation, Mrs Chinwe Bode-Akinwande, the interventions were designed to “support Nigerian widows and put smiles on their faces ahead of the 2022 Christmas and the 2023 New Year…celebrations.” And that is what the interventions delivered, restoring hope in the widows to boot.

In all the three states the interventions delivered free medical outreach, provision of free clothing and free food distribution. Other lines of support extended to the widows included one-on-one counselling and business support.

The ecstatic joy on the faces of the women at the intervention locations may have made people who were around to witness the events forget, albeit temporarily, the biting economic hardship in Nigeria. For even people in government and those with access to people in government would readily admit that things are very tough for most people in Nigeria.

But while the challenging economic environment has made living very difficult for most Nigerians with many going to bed hungry every night, it has created a Nigeria-based hell for many an underprivileged widow and their vulnerable children. And so, many of such widows, given the hell they go through, would have quit trying to survive and given up living but for interventions by individuals and organisations such as CBA Foundation.

For many of these widows, CBA Foundation has been the hope that has kept them going. The Foundation, along with others which share the same goal as it, has been the only support structure these widows know. This support structure has been critical in making the widows will to remain on this side of the life and death divide each time things move from downhill to that state of hopelessness where ending it all is the only message that rings in their heads.

It is gratifying that Mrs Bode-Akinwande understands this crucial role her Foundation and others like it play. Theirs is a mission that not only caters to the welfare of vulnerable widows but could also save lives or pull such widows back from that place where taking their lives is all that they think about.

As important as this mission is, Mrs Bode-Akinwande does not let the work of restoring hope and saving lives that her Foundation is involved in go to her head. She is very humble about it and modest about their achievements.

If anything, she is immensely grateful for the opportunity to even be involved in the mission. She would have felt a strong sense of fulfilment if she were to be invited to volunteer on such a mission. But to be the one driving it is more than fulfilment and reward to her.

Fully sold out to the mission, Mrs Bode-Akinwande used the Sango-Ota event to restate her commitment to the noble cause of supporting vulnerable widows. She promised that her Foundation would continue to assist such widows across Nigeria as much as the Foundation is able to, with the kind support of donors.

The beneficiaries were equally grateful. Expressing gladness and appreciation for the multifaceted support the Foundation extended to them in their hundreds, the widows stated that they were deeply touched by the magnitude of the Foundation’s kindness. They observed that the support received would go a long way in helping them care for themselves and their children during and long after the yuletide.

Thanks to CBA Foundation, the 362 widows that were beneficiaries during the Foundation’s December interventions will not be describing their lives or situations with any of the unsavoury descriptive terms this article opened with, any time soon. With hope restored, the widows would now be eagerly looking to the future with optimism, believing the best about humanity, looking on the bright side of life and more confident that it would all end in praise even if it does not seem like that at the moment.

Today, the widows may not be where they should or could be. But they are not and will not, with the generous donations that public-spirited and kind people (like you reading) to give to the CBA Foundation to continue to support such widows, be allowed to descend back to where their lives could still be described as: Harsh. Extremely difficult. Gut-wrenching.

Budding Afro pop singer, Bobbyaino, has declared himself as the next big thing to happen to the Afro pop genre of music in Nigeria, adding that with his talent and experience he has the capacity to be the best in the ever-growing Nigeria music industry.
The singer born Jimoh Abiodun Michael and study Music at Cyprus International University, says he would bring a new type of dynamism to the Afro music industry and give many established acts a run for their money.
Speaking in an interview, the Music graduate whose performance in the song ‘Nigboro’ with Qdot ruled the airwaves for months maintained that the versatility of his craft is easily noticeable in songs song among other hit songs he has dropped over the years. No doubt Bobbyaino believe he can be the best in a couple of years go come.
“I want to be remembered for making myself and my country proud, I want to be remembered for making good music, changing lives with my brand of music. I want to be mentioned in the region of some of the greatest artiste like Fela, Sunny Ade etc. I want to be the best. I see myself in the biggest stage, doing music for not just only Nigeria but for the world, doing collaboration with the finest in the industry, winning awards.”
Afro music, according to the 'Nigboro' crooner is a general term covering a wide range of music styles, while adding that Afro music helped the African continent to get acquainted with the popular dance and music of the people from Africa.
“I would say Nigeria music is reach both in culture and tradition, the whole world today is listen to our music not just because of the lyrics but also because of the song we produce. Again, in terms of creativity our music can compete with the best in the world, Afrobeat is the biggest genre of music in the world right now, Nigeria is in the forefront of such movement, just look at the likes of Burna Boy, Wizkid etc see what they are doing in the international stage, shutting down concept in Europe and other part of the world. I would just say our style of music makes us different,” the artistes stated.
Speaking on how his music career started, the Ogun state born artists, the ‘Omo Ologo’ crooner said, he fell in love with music from a very tender age and all he wanted was to excel in the craft.
“Music is my life, this is all I wanted to do from my childhood, I feel like it my destiny to do music, every time I try to run away from doing music, I see myself even singing and composing music unknowingly. My interest in music started when I was just 15 years old, so professionally this is my 14 years of being in the music industry. And over this period, I have learnt a lot about the craft. I can boast now that I am the next big name in the music industry, I just want to tell my fans all over the world to keep supporting me and keep listening to my music.”
Most music lovers may not know Bobbyaino is the younger brother to budding Nigerian musician, Qudus Fakoya Oluwadamilare popularly known as Qdot, according to Bobbyaino, “Qdot is my brother, his real name is Damilare. He has been very helpful to me and my music career, he always encouraging and advising me how I can get better. He’s one person who has so much belief in me and he’s always ready to assist me. He gave me one of his songs (Nigboro) and we recorded it together and the song went viral. He is one of my role models in the industry, he has always shown me love and affection all the time.”
The musician said he intends to use his native language, Yoruba, combined with pidgin English to pass his messages across to his fans just as he promised to continually make music that would always make his fans happy whenever they hear his song.
“For me, it feels like each, and every song transports us into a different world, with different characters, different feelings, and emotions. My plan this year is to take Afro music to the next level by touching people’s souls with my unique style and music,” he concluded.

...allegations by Abuja-based 'fake APC members' ludicrous, laughable


The Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, has described as ludicrous and laughable, cooked up allegations by a group he described as "illegal and unknown to the APC constitution", Kogi Mandate Group, around the Delegates list for the All Progressives Congress' forthcoming primary election in the State.

Fanwo said the "phantom" group was an "unholy congregation of Abuja-based pretentious members of the party" who had no stake whatsoever in the Kogi State chapter of the APC, adding that no ward in Kogi is located in Abuja.

The Commissioner, who responded to a letter purportedly sent by the lawyers of the Group to the National Secretariat of the party, in a statement he signed on Friday, noted that the National Headquarters of the party followed due process in the exercise.

According to him, there is no ambiguity in the APC constitution on how congresses are conducted.

"The constitution of our party is very clear on how congresses are conducted. The National Headquarters of our party followed the due process required as well as all constitutional requirements, processes and procedures. There is no ward in Kogi that is domiciled in Abuja. Therefore, those who wish to participate in the process should come to Kogi State.

"The Congresses were held at the various wards across the state and delegates have been duly elected. The Governor is only interested in a peaceful APC that follows the dictates of its constitution," Fanwo said.

He commended the leadership of the All Progressives Congress for providing equal opportunities for all party members to participate in the Congresses.


Kingsley Femi Fanwo
Hon Commissioner for Information and Communications,
Kogi State.
February 17, 2023

Bawa deliberately misinforming public in media trial to satisfy power-drunk paymasters - Kogi govt

.Says EFCC boss is at large, evading arrest, detention

Kogi State Government, on Wednesday, said no matter how the godfathers of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, tried to shield him from facing the consequences of disobeying court order, he remained a convict that must join others in the correctional centre to be purged of contempt.

Responding to what it described as the EFCC's laughable excuse for not obeying a court order that committed him to prison for contempt, which the Commission gave at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, the state government noted that unless his conviction was set aside or vacated by the Court or a higher Court, he remained a convict.

The Commissioner for Information and Communications in Kogi State, Kingsley Fanwo, who spoke during a press briefing in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, noted that the EFCC's recent despairing attempt to embarrass and intimidate some Kogi State Government officials and persons related to the Governor was nothing "but the classic naked dance of a hen whose anus has been unfurled by the wind of truth."

He noted that regardless of any appeal filed, the conviction and jail term imposed by the Court on Bawa stands until set aside, adding that "if Bawa is not at large, the honourable thing to do is to turn himself in and stop avoiding justice."

He added that the EFCC boss was deliberately misinforming the public with unfounded claims and outright lies "to satisfy his interested, power-drunk paymasters."

Fanwo said Bawa "might cry his eyes out that people under investigation are instigating the populace against him” but the fact remained that he had allegedly "been found to be a chronic liar, a vindictive tormentor of the innocent and a hater of justice. These are enough to make people protest!"

"We cannot leave the fight against corruption in the hands of a political hired-gun whose interest is to fight perceived opponents of his paymasters. We cannot leave the fight in the hands of people who breach human rights at will and whose human rights credentials are questionable," he stated.

"While we might not dwell on the matter like the EFCC is doing right now because of our own respect for the Judiciary, we make bold to say that monies belonging to the State Government are not missing. Like the 'missing' or ‘fixed’ 20 billion Naira Bailout Loan, the recent attempt is a political tool to silence the Governor and distract him from the task of garnering support for the election of the APC Presidential Candidate, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu," the Commissioner added.

He pointed out that the current display of desperation of Bawa to paint the Kogi State Government and its officials in the colours of corruption at all costs was not unexpected.

"Having failed to make Nigerians believe that a 20 Billion Naira Bailout Loan was placed in a phantom fixed deposit account with Sterling Bank Plc, he kissed the dust of defeat when Sterling Bank unequivocally DENIED UNDER OATH that Kogi State owned such an account or such funds," he stated.

"If Bawa continues to walk free after conviction by a competent court of jurisdiction, it spells doom for our justice administration in the country. We cannot have one law for Bawa and another for the rest of us. That is why Bawa could refer to a free citizen as being at large. Someone who was not invited for questioning; someone who was not informed of having committed any offence; someone who is not a convict like Bawa. If Bawa is not at large, the honourable thing to do is to turn himself in and stop avoiding justice," the state government argued.

Responding to a live press briefing by a group on Tuesday, in support of the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Fanwo said, "The recent press conference by some 'very rich' 'CSOs', recklessly delivering the lines of their  highly placed power-drunk sponsors in Abuja that could afford live telecast on many TV stations simultaneously, has further shown how some people in high places feel the rule of law does not matter.

"The reason the Kogi State Government went to court to challenge the Naira Redesign Policy, especially the date the old naira will cease to be legal tender, was borne out of the need to defend the survival and the economic rights of Nigerians. The hardship experienced by Nigerians from all walks of life who could not and still cannot access the new naira notes is horrible.

"Nigerians do not deserve such extreme hardship. As a Government of the people, the Kogi State Government teamed up with the Government of Kaduna and Zamfara States and proceeded to the Supreme Court, which in the interim restrained the CBN from enforcing the deadline for the validity of the naira notes as legal tender. The CBN, like its collaborator-in-chief, the EFCC, ignored and disobeyed the ruling, therefore undermining the authority of the apex court of the land."

FULL TEXT

TEXT OF THE PRESS BRIEFING BY THE KOGI STATE GOVERNMENT ON THE STATE OF AFFAIRS IN KOGI, MEDIA TRIAL BY THE EFCC AND CBN’S WANTON DISREGARD FOR THE RULE OF LAW OVER NAIRA REDESIGN POLICY

1.Gentlemen of the Press, it has become imperative to interact with you in order to bring you to speed with the state of affairs in the Confluence State and to also speak to the world about the media trial, blackmail and  reckless intimidation of Kogi State Government officials, their families and associates by the leadership of an agency that has derailed from its primary aim of fighting corruption to becoming the political tool in the hands of brutal minds in the pursuit of evil causes.

2.The current display of desperation of Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, the Chairman of the EFCC to paint the Kogi State Government and its officials in the colours of corruption at all costs is not unexpected. Having failed to make Nigerians believe that a 20 Billion Naira Bailout Loan was placed in a phantom fixed deposit account with Sterling Bank Plc, he kissed the dusts of defeat when Sterling Bank unequivocally DENIED UNDER OATH that Kogi State owned such an account or such funds. Mr. Bawa then rushed to a willing collaborator and a co-hater of the justice system, the Central Bank of Nigeria, which claimed that it has received the “missing” funds from Sterling Bank. The CBN has since November 2021 till date provided no clarification to the Kogi State Government on whose funds it allegedly received from Sterling Bank, even after three reminders. The EFCC did a tactical retreat by failing to file a Defence or joining issues after being thoroughly embarrassed by the avalanche of facts presented by the Kogi State Government to Court in respect of a pending suit. We will not give in to any intimidation or threats by the convicted Abdulrasheed Bawa using the EFCC and taxpayers resources at its disposal to fight personal and proxy battles.

3.As a Government with utmost respect for the rule of law, we see the EFCC Chairman as a Convict. He has been convicted by a High Court, a court of competent jurisdiction, and that conviction is yet to be set aside or vacated by the Court or a higher Court. Regardless of any appeal filed, the conviction and jail term imposed  by the Court stands until set aside. This is the position of the law! No matter how his godfathers in the justice administration of the nation cover him, that toga remains and he must be arrested and be made to join others in the correctional centre to be purged of contempt. If Bawa continues to walk free after conviction by a competent court of jurisdiction, it spells doom for our justice administration in the country. We cannot have one law for Bawa and another for the rest of us. That is why Bawa could refer to a free citizen as being at large. Someone who was not invited for questioning; someone who was not informed of having committed any offence; someone who is not a convict like Bawa. If Bawa is not at large, the honourable thing to do is to turn himself in and stop avoiding justice.

4.In our bid to fight corruption, we cannot wish away laws and rules which govern the administration of Criminal Justice System. We cannot ignore or take away the rights of people who by the greatest law of the land are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. We cannot leave the fight against corruption in the hands of a political hired-gun whose interest is to fight perceived opponents of his paymasters. We cannot leave the fight in the hands of people who breach human rights at will and whose human rights credentials are questionable. Bawa may cry his eyes out that “people under investigation are instigating the populace against him” but the fact remains that he has been found out to be a chronic liar, a vindictive tormentor of the innocent and a hater of justice. These are enough to make people protest!!!

5.What will he tell Kogites who he earlier told their monies were placed in a fixed deposit account and some dissipated only for them to find out through the same Bank said to be holding the alleged funds that no such funds belong to their State. How does he explain the monumental infrastructural developments by way of the best hospitals in Nigeria with best equipment, excellent roads, flyover, schools and other infrastructural facilities around the State in the face of the picture of doom and gloom and wanton pilfering of public funds he has painted to Kogites and Nigerians? He has shown that he is not fighting corruption but individuals who do not align to the antics of his godfathers and paymasters.

6.The recent despairing attempt to embarrass and intimidate some Kogi State Government officials and persons related to the Governor is nothing but the classic naked dance of a hen whose anus has been unfurled by the wind of truth. While we might not dwell on the matter like the EFCC is doing right now because of our own respect for the Judiciary, we make bold to say that monies belonging to the State Government are not missing. Like the “missing” or ‘fixed’ 20 billion Naira Bailout Loan, the recent attempt is a political tool to silence the Governor and distract him from the task of garnering support for the election of the APC Presidential Candidate, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

7.The recent press conference by some “very rich” “CSOs”, recklessly delivering the lines of their  highly placed power-drunk sponsors in Abuja that could afford live telecast on many TV stations simultaneously, has further shown how some people in high places feel the rule of law does not matter. The reason the Kogi State Government went to court to challenge the Naira Redesign Policy, especially the date the old naira will cease to be legal tender, was borne out of the need to defend the survival and the economic rights of Nigerians. The hardship experienced by Nigerians from all walks of life who could not and still cannot access the new naira notes is horrible. Nigerians do not deserve such extreme hardship. As a Government of the people, the Kogi State Government teamed up with the Government of Kaduna and Zamfara States and proceeded to the Supreme Court which in the interim restrained the CBN from enforcing the deadline for the validity of the naira notes as legal tender. The CBN, like its collaborator-in-chief, the EFCC, ignored and disobeyed the ruling therefore undermining the authority of the apex court of the land.

8.At the same press briefing, the Governors that went to court were tagged to have “shifted allegiance from the President to someone who is yet to become President”, with severe attacks on the Governor of Kogi State and the haste at using the media to convict and condemn him when no law court has found him guilty. It is therefore clear that certain elements are truly victimizing Governors known to be vociferously supporting the candidacy of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Bawa and Emefiele are clearly destroying the integrity of Mr. President. We make bold to say that no amount of intimidation will stop the Governor from supporting and mobilizing support for the candidature of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

9.We are not unaware of a high-level conspiracy to gag more voices on the side of the party in power. But we shall continue to fight injustice and discrimination across the country. Bawa and Emefiele cannot stop the political victory ahead. Who doesn’t know whose interest the “CSOs” were serving? Where did the CSOs get funds to pay multiple TV stations for live coverage? Why did they devote so much of their time to speak about Kogi and condemn officials of the State even before the decision of the Court? What evidence has the CSO about the allegations of corrupt practices that the EFCC is flying about? We know the interest they are serving and Nigerians now know better.

10.We call on the President to call Bawa and Emefiele to order before they throw this country into a huge crisis with their disdain for the rule of law. As a Government, Kogi State will continue to resort to constitutionally provided mechanisms in resolving disagreements. We shall never encourage violence.  Now that Nigerians know why they are after Governor Yahaya Bello, we must toe the line of the rule of law to avert crisis.

11.We call on Nigerians to remain steadfast in the build up to the February 25, 2023 polls. Nigerians will only triumph if we refuse to allow the current confusion and provocation to dampen our spirit for continued progressive leadership. We must show the EFCC, the CBN and their collaborators that the collective resolve of our people is bigger than their antics.

12.Thank you all and God bless.

Kingsley Femi Fanwo
Hon. Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kogi State

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has warned that the state government will shut any bank that refuses to accept old naira notes in the state.

This is coming on the heels of an application filed at the Supreme Court, to join an ongoing suit against the Federal Government over the new naira policy implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The warning is sequel to complains received from the people that some commercial banks and some filling stations are rejecting the old naira notes.

Governor Abiodun gave the warning on Tuesday during his re-election campaign tour of Abeokuta North Local Government, while addressing party faithful and Market men and women, at different gatherings.

The governor frowned at the action of the banks, noting that, since the new naira notes are not available, commercial banks must accept and also give out the old notes, as ruled by the apex court and agreed by National Council of State, to ease the suffering of the people.

The state government had earlier filed an application at the Supreme Court, seeking to join Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States, in a suit against the Federal Government of Nigeria, over the policy which introduced new notes of N200, N500 and N1000.

The state, in a Motion of Notice filed by its counsel, Afe Babalola and Co, on February 13, sought to be joined as 4th plaintiff/applicant, in a suit number SC/CV/162/2023.

The applicant in the Notice further stated that it sought to be a co-plaintiff for the just and effective determination in the suit instituted by the other three plaintiffs.

The governor called on the people to remain calm, assuring that his government was working assiduously to ensure that the present situation was brought under control.

The state also notified the Supreme Court that it shall rely on all the processes already filed in this action in addition to the affidavit in support of the application.

Listing 13 grounds upon which the application was predicated, the plaintiff submitted among others, that the implementation of the CBN policy has thus far negatively affected the citizens all over the federation which includes Ogun State, and left several residents of the state stranded, cash strapped and frustrated leading to riots, grievous interruption of commercial activities, and a gradual economic downturn in the state.

It added in the Motion on Notice, that the plaintiffs commenced this suit vide an Originating Summon, dated on the 3rd of February, 2023 challenging the policy of the Federation being currently carried out by the Central Bank on Nigeria on the ground that same is not in compliance with the extant provisions of Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Section 20 (3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 and the extant laws of Ogun State.

The plaintiff submitted further that: "Ogun State is one of the constituent members of the Federation recognised under the provision of Section 3 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

"The Attorney General of Ogun State seeking to be added or joined as the 4th plaintiff in this suit is the Chief Law Officer of Ogun State vested with the power and responsibility of representing Ogun State in legal matters including the protection of the interest of Ogun State by challenging any law, policy or action of the Federal Government perceived to be in violation of the laws of the Federation for the order and good government of Ogun State.

"The implementation of the policy has totally paralysed and brought to standstill, the economic activities of Ogun State and also severely impaired the government's ability to deliver on its economic agenda to the people.

“The already existing Plaintiffs and Defendants will not be prejudiced in any way by the grant of this application which had been brought in the interest of justice and right to fair hearing to join the Applicant/Party seeking to be joined as a co-plaintiff.

"This application is necessary in order to prevent a multiplicity of suits.

"It is necessary to join the Applicant of this suit in order to allow for a complete and just determination of this suit.

"This suit is liable to be defeated if the Applicant, who is a necessary party to this suit, is not joined.

"If this Honourable Court refuses this application, the interest of Ogun State and its people would be prejudiced by any contrary decision given by this Honourable Court in the substanstive suit.

"The applicant is ready to be bound by the eventual judgment of this Honourable Court;

"The leave of this Honourable Court is required to add or join this Applicant/Party seeking to be joined as a Co-Plaintiff.

"It is in the overall interest of justice and fair hearing that this application is duly considered and granted by this Honourable Court".

Day 4: Over 120 CSOs petition National Assembly, insist EFCC boss must leave office, serve his prison term

. Say 'Nigerians know hired CSOs when they see them'

The protests by over 100 frontline Anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations, against alleged "Politicisation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Disobedience of Court Orders and Infringement on Human Rights of Nigerians", continued on Tuesday, as the activists vowed never to be intimidated by what they described as fresh falsehood being peddled by the anti-graft agency.

The protesters, who marched through the streets of Ikeja and converged on the Lagos State House of Assembly, Alausa, noted that the majority of Nigerians were intelligent people, who could easily differentiate between a genuine cause and sponsored ones, adding that there was no going back on the call for the removal of the EFCC boss, Abdulrasheed Bawa.

The activists alleged that the EFCC had resorted to cheap blackmail to divert the thinking of the public away from its lawlessness, pointing out that this had only compounded the Commission's problems and further exposed the dangerous political agenda of its Chairman.

The CSOs said they had uncovered plans by Bawa and his alleged sponsors to raise supposed CSOs, who they would back with live coverage, to demonstrate "fake solidarity for an EFCC boss that had clearly become an embarrassment to Nigeria."

"We are waiting for them. We don't expect them to fold their arms. But no amount of falsehood can cover the truth. Bawa came in through vendetta and he is unleashing the same on perceived opponents of his godfathers. We have seen that Ibrahim Magu was bundled out with lies so that Bawa's godfathers can reign with impunity. The fixation on specific cases is glaring to informed Nigerians," Director, Activists for Good Governance, Declan Ihehaire, said.

"We have been on this struggle for close to a week now. All what we want is for Bawa to leave that office so the Commission can be sanitised. He is clearly unfit to head EFCC. He that comes into equity must come with clean hands," he maintained.

According to him, there are God-fearing EFCC officials that are in solidarity with the CSOs, "who have said they are tired of being used as witch-hunting agents, and are praying for the success of the struggle."

Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, who spoke shortly after the protesters arrived at the Lagos Assembly, queried how Bawa, "who does not respect the rule of law or believe in fair hearing would say that he was not given fair hearing before the contempt ruling."

He said, "What we are agitating against is his disobedience of the courts and the brazen politicisation of the EFCC. The IGP should immediately effect his arrest in line with the court ruling.

"Before Bawa can appeal against a court order sending him to prison, he must obey the order first. This is settled in law. Recently, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, directed ASUU to first comply with an order of the National Industrial Court ( NIC) directing them to suspend their strike before their appeal could be heard.

"Also, just last week, the EFCC itself arrested Senator Nwabaoshi for refusing to go to prison after he was sent there by the Federal High Court. This is despite his appeal against his sentence."

"Appeal or no appeal, Bawa must report to Kuje prison. His appeal can't be heard until he complies with the valid court ruling sending him to prison," he insisted.

He disclosed that the CSO leaders were at the Lagos State House of Assembly to submit a petition on Bawa's disobedience of court orders and the politicisation of the EFCC to the National Assembly through the Speaker of the state Assembly.

"All we are telling him is obey our courts, let us preserve the integrity of our legal system. If the Head of a frontline anti-corruption agency is being manipulated and controlled by a few people in the political space, and he is breaking the law with impunity, it portends danger for our Democratic system and the wellbeing of the society at large," Funmilayo Jolade Ajayi, of the Community Women Initative, added.

The Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, had said,
"A situation whereby somebody is so powerful, somebody is so influential, somebody sees that he has a larger than life image and decides that he is not going to respect our law courts or the laws of the land, it is against the rule of natural justice, it is against the ethos of democratic practice, it is against the principles of human rights.

"So, definitely, a serial violator of court order is not fit to be the Head of an agency that is supposed to sanitise the society."

The 'Bawa Must Go' protests are being led by CACOL Chairman, Debo Adeniran; Executive Director, Zero Graft Centre, Kolawole Sanchez-Jude; Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, Toyin Raheem; Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson; Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun; Director, Activists for Good Governance, Declan Ihehaire; and Ahmed Balogun of Media Rights Concern, among over 100 notable leaders of Anti-corruption CSOs.

His explanation of why he has refused to obey
know the traits of sponsored or hired CSOs,

In the response of the Debo Adeniran group, let them say it's obvious who is being sponsored. Those who have the money to pay for tv live coverage are obviously being bankrolled by those who support impunity and lawlessness.
Our main concern is the rule of law and obedience of court orders.  Bawa cannot use corruption to fight corruption.  Disobedience to lawful court order is corruption which began on Friday, continued on Tuesday, with 'Bawa Must Go' protest continues in Lagos, as more anti-corruption CSOs join CACOL, 100 others in mass rally.

.A serial violtor of court order not fit to Head EFCC - Debo Adeniran
Nigeria's foremost Anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations, numbering over 100, again, trooped out on the streets of Lagos, on Monday, with thousands of their members and supporters, in continuation of their "Protest Against Politicisation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Disobedience of Court Orders and Infringement on Human Rights of Nigerians."

Monday's protest was the third since the top activists began their call for the sack of the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, on Friday.

They insisted that EFCC, under Bawa, had turned itself into a sensational media agency, churning out deliberate misinformation on almost a daily basis to strengthen a political cause, adding that responsible CSOs would not fold their arms and watch the country's global anti-corruption outlook slip into a mess "all in the name of the anti-democratic tendencies of a few recalcitrant leaders."

The 'Bawa Must Go' protesters, were led on Monday by the Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran; Executive Director, Zero Graft Centre, Kolawole Sanchez-Jude; Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, Toyin Raheem; Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson; Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun; Director, Activists for Good Governance, Declan Ihehaire; and Ahmed Balogun of Media Rights Concern, among others.

When asked why the CSOs wanted Bawa to quit, the Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, said Bawa had to be removed because he had allegedly become an embarrassment to the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

According to him, a serial violator of court order is not fit to be the Head of an agency that is supposed to sanitise the society.

Adeniran, a foremost Nigerian anti-corruption activist, said, "We are not only asking him (Bawa) to quit, we are asking the authorities to remove him because he has become an embarrassment to the fight against corruption. Any act of dishonesty is corruption. Anything that is against the law, that is deliberately done with impunity is corruption. It doesn't matter how you feel about a case. Even if it is a drunken judge that gives a verdict on any issue taken to the court, you are bound to obey the court order.

"For several years, we have criticised the military regimes and civilian administrations that have ruled us with impunity. Impunity comes when the court is no longer seen as an arbiter between the people and the provisions of the extant laws. We rely on the courts to adjudicate in matters of conflict between the people and the system. And anytime anyone runs against the system, it is also the court that will adjudicate."

"A situation whereby somebody is so powerful, somebody is so influential, somebody sees that he has a larger than life image and decides that he is not going to respect our law courts or the laws of the land, it is against the rule of natural justice, it is against the ethos of democratic practice, it is against the principles of human rights. So, definitely, a serial violator of court order is not fit to be the Head of an agency that is supposed to sanitise the society," he declared.

The anti-corruption CSOs also hinted that they would petition the Chief Justice of Nigeria to demand that until the court order to arrest Bawa is effected, "no court should entertain any EFCC case henceforth."

Other leaders of the CSOs, who took turns to speak with the media claimed that some EFCC officials had confided in their members that they were not happy that the Commission appeared to be focusing mainly on settling political scores than confronting its big mandate.

"You can't run to the same courts you disrespect to get judgment for your cases. And you can't also choose which court judgement to obey. If Bawa has been committed to prison, he has no business being in office right now. And someone who has flouted the order of the court on several occasions cannot head an agency as sensitive as EFCC.

"Some of their officials had confided in our members at different times that they were not happy that the Commission appears to focus more on settling political scores than actually confronting its big mandate," Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson, said.

On his part, Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun, noted, "Many cases of genuine corruption are left unattended under Bawa. He came on board through vendetta and he has proved in the period he has been in office that he might have been appointed to serve as a tool for political assault on opponents of his sponsors."

Other CSO leaders present at the protest were Ochiaga Jude, Centre for Ethics and Good Governance; Barr. Cletus Okedube, Barr. Johnson Areola, Barr. George Sanda, among a host of other notable activists, lawyers and women's rights NGOs.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday, explained why its Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, did not obey a court order that committed him to prison for contempt.

The Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, who spoke to the press in Abuja, said the Commission believed it was denied fair hearing and that as a law abiding institution, the EFCC had approached the appellate court, for a stay of execution.

He did not say whether the stay of execution had been granted to forestall the order for the arrest of Bawa by the Inspector-General of Police.

Uwujaren, however, alleged that the protests by over 100 anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations, which entered the third day on Monday, was sponsored against the EFCC chairman to discredit his person.

"The group, through press conferences and staged street protests, have been calling for the sack of the EFCC Chairman for alleged disobedience of court orders. They claim they are motivated by the need to strengthen the fight against corruption.

"Contrary to these claims, the EFCC wishes to alert the public that this group have no interest in the fight against Corruption and their allusion to disobedience of court orders by the EFCC chairman is an alibi to manipulate facts around judicial pronouncements and processes to pitch the public against the Commission," he said.

He alleged that information available to the Commission indicated that the group was being sponsored by persons under investigation by the Commission and had been mobilized and mandated by their paymaster to embarrass the person of the chairman through choreographed street protests across the country, until he is removed from office.

The EFCC appealed to the public to disregard the campaign by this group as they do not represent the genuine interest of millions of Nigerians who are desirous of seeing progress in the fight against Corruption.

"It is also important to reassure Nigerians and all stakeholders that the Commission has never, and will not take any steps to undermine the judiciary. As a law abiding institution, EFCC has conducted all its activities within the ambit of the law. Where judicial decisions were made against it, it has never resorted to self-help but availed itself of remedies under the law as it did in the instant case of committal orders of court," the EFCC stated.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday, explained why its Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, did not obey a court order that committed him to prison for contempt.

The Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, who spoke to the press in Abuja, said the Commission believed it was denied fair hearing and that as a law abiding institution, the EFCC had approached the appellate court, for a stay of execution.

He did not say whether the stay of execution had been granted to forestall the order for the arrest of Bawa by the Inspector-General of Police.

Uwujaren, however, alleged that the protests by over 100 anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations, which entered the third day on Monday, was sponsored against the EFCC chairman to discredit his person.

"The group, through press conferences and staged street protests, have been calling for the sack of the EFCC Chairman for alleged disobedience of court orders. They claim they are motivated by the need to strengthen the fight against corruption.

"Contrary to these claims, the EFCC wishes to alert the public that this group have no interest in the fight against Corruption and their allusion to disobedience of court orders by the EFCC chairman is an alibi to manipulate facts around judicial pronouncements and processes to pitch the public against the Commission," he said.

He alleged that information available to the Commission indicated that the group was being sponsored by persons under investigation by the Commission and had been mobilized and mandated by their paymaster to embarrass the person of the chairman through choreographed street protests across the country, until he is removed from office.

The EFCC appealed to the public to disregard the campaign by this group as they do not represent the genuine interest of millions of Nigerians who are desirous of seeing progress in the fight against Corruption.

"It is also important to reassure Nigerians and all stakeholders that the Commission has never, and will not take any steps to undermine the judiciary. As a law abiding institution, EFCC has conducted all its activities within the ambit of the law. Where judicial decisions were made against it, it has never resorted to self-help but availed itself of remedies under the law as it did in the instant case of committal orders of court," the EFCC stated.

...serial violator of court order not fit to Head EFCC, says CACOL


For the third day running, Nigeria's foremost Anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations, numbering over 100, trooped out on the streets of Lagos, on Monday, with thousands of their members and supporters, in continuation of their "Protest Against Politicisation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Disobedience of Court Orders and Infringement on Human Rights of Nigerians."

Monday's protest was the third since the top activists began their call for the sack of the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, on Friday.

They insisted that EFCC, under Bawa, had turned itself into a sensational media agency, churning out deliberate misinformation on almost a daily basis to strengthen a political cause, adding that responsible CSOs would not fold their arms and watch the country's global anti-corruption outlook slip into a mess "all in the name of the anti-democratic tendencies of a few recalcitrant leaders."

The 'Bawa Must Go' protesters, were led on Monday by the Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran; Executive Director, Zero Graft Centre, Kolawole Sanchez-Jude; Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, Toyin Raheem; Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson; Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun; Director, Activists for Good Governance, Declan Ihehaire; and Ahmed Balogun of Media Rights Concern, among others.

When asked why the CSOs wanted Bawa to quit, the Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, said Bawa had to be removed because he had allegedly become an embarrassment to the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

According to him, a serial violator of court order is not fit to be the Head of an agency that is supposed to sanitise the society.

Adeniran, a foremost Nigerian anti-corruption activist, said, "We are not only asking him (Bawa) to quit, we are asking the authorities to remove him because he has become an embarrassment to the fight against corruption. Any act of dishonesty is corruption. Anything that is against the law, that is deliberately done with impunity is corruption. It doesn't matter how you feel about a case. Even if it is a drunken judge that gives a verdict on any issue taken to the court, you are bound to obey the court order.

"For several years, we have criticised the military regimes and civilian administrations that have ruled us with impunity. Impunity comes when the court is no longer seen as an arbiter between the people and the provisions of the extant laws. We rely on the courts to adjudicate in matters of conflict between the people and the system. And anytime anyone runs against the system, it is also the court that will adjudicate."

"A situation whereby somebody is so powerful, somebody is so influential, somebody sees that he has a larger than life image and decides that he is not going to respect our law courts or the laws of the land, it is against the rule of natural justice, it is against the ethos of democratic practice, it is against the principles of human rights. So, definitely, a serial violator of court order is not fit to be the Head of an agency that is supposed to sanitise the society," he declared.

The anti-corruption CSOs also hinted that they would petition the Chief Justice of Nigeria to demand that until the court order to arrest Bawa is effected, "no court should entertain any EFCC case henceforth."

Other leaders of the CSOs, who took turns to speak with the media claimed that some EFCC officials had confided in their members that they were not happy that the Commission appeared to be focusing mainly on settling political scores than confronting its big mandate.

"You can't run to the same courts you disrespect to get judgment for your cases. And you can't also choose which court judgement to obey. If Bawa has been committed to prison, he has no business being in office right now. And someone who has flouted the order of the court on several occasions cannot head an agency as sensitive as EFCC.

"Some of their officials had confided in our members at different times that they were not happy that the Commission appears to focus more on settling political scores than actually confronting its big mandate," Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson, said.

On his part, Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun, noted, "Many cases of genuine corruption are left unattended under Bawa. He came on board through vendetta and he has proved in the period he has been in office that he might have been appointed to serve as a tool for political assault on opponents of his sponsors."

Other CSO leaders present at the protest were Ochiaga Jude, Centre for Ethics and Good Governance; Barr. Cletus Okedube, Barr. Johnson Areola, Barr. George Sanda, among a host of other notable activists, lawyers and women's rights NGOs.

. We mistakenly filed counter-affidavit before another judge - EFCC

. Governor Bello's wife not a defendant in the matter, Court proceedings show


The Federal High Court, Abuja, has adjourned till 14th February for hearing on the bail application filed by Ali Bello and 3 others on an alleged N3 billion fraud charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

On 8th February, 2023, Justice Obiora Egwuatu adjourned for hearing on the bail application filed by the defendants after they had pleaded not guilty to the 18-count charge.

At the resumed sitting, Counsel to the defendants, A. HUSSEIN (SAN), had told the court that the EFCC had filed a counter affidavit to the bail application.

The EFCC's Counter Affidavit, filed on Friday, was not in the Court's file and not at the Registry of the Court. It was alleged by the EFCC that it was mistakenly taken to another Court, Court 7.

Justice Egwuatu noted that there were no copies of the counter affidavit in his record.

In the light of the above, the Court adjourned the matter to tomorrow, 14th February, 2022 for hearing of the bail application.

Governor Yahaya Bello's wife, Mrs. Rasheedat Bello, was not a defendant in the matter as an EFCC press release stated on Sunday.

Contrary to insinuations that the Monday sitting was for ruling on the EFCC case against Ali Bello and 3 others, it was for hearing on the bail application filed by the defendants.

...100 anti-corruption CSOs begin week-long mass protest
...say 'we won't allow EFCC boss rubbish our courts'


Over 100 Anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations and thousands of their members and supporters staged a massive protest in Lagos on Saturday in continuation of their call for the removal of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, over alleged continued disobedience of court orders.

Leaders of the Anti-corruption groups, who began what they described as a "Week Long  Protest Against Politicisation of the EFCC, Disobedience of Court Orders and Infringement on Human Rights of Nigerians" on  Friday, said many CSOs called to join the struggle after the maiden press conference held in Lagos.

The CSOs were joined by senior lawyers at the rally, staged through the streets of Ikeja, through Ikeja City Mall, ending at the Oregun Junction, in Ikeja, Lagos.

They noted that they were aware of the persistent pressure on and intimidation of the Nigerian media to underplay the dissatisfaction of the anti-corruption CSOs with Bawa, stressing that no amount of intimidation would make them give up their collective struggle against corruption and leaders undermining the struggle.

Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun, who spoke on behalf of the anti-corruption CSOs, said the Coalition of Anti-corruption Organisations, could not watch the country’s legal system being bastardised by the selfish interests of a few, insisting that if Bawa was bent on playing politics, he should get a membership card from any of the political parties.

He said the need to press home their grievance strongly and call for the removal of the EFCC boss was founded on the realisation that some anti-democratic elements were drawing the civil societies back in the fight against corruption.

According to the CSOs, the fixation of the EFCC boss on certain individuals and institutions "when grievous petitions capable of bringing the economy down are left unattended, gives the anti-corruption war, under the leadership of Mr. Bawa, a dangerously political colouration."

Ologun said, "We are beginning to see anti-democratic elements within the Democratic process, who are daily drawing us back in the fight against corruption. This is a coalition of different civil society organisations against corruption. For a while now, we have observed the EFCC Chairman flagrantly disobeying court orders. And we believe that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. If you are at the helm of affairs of an anti-graft body and you find it difficult to obey court ruling, such a person is a law breaker. You cannot be in charge of taming corruption in the county and you yourself would be a culprit of disobeying court order."

"One of the essence of leadership is obeying the tenets of democracy and the rule of law and key to that is court ruling. If Bawa has, in the last few months, continued to disobey court orders, he is unfit to sit at the helm of that body and we are calling for his sack," he declared.

Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson, who called on the media to be partners in the struggle for a better society by resisting intimidation, said, "We are not unaware of the persistent pressure on the media to downplay what is happening currently at the EFCC. This is just one of the series of actions that we are going to be undertaking as Nigerians. We will not relent until the Commission begins to toe the path of the rule of law.

"We cannot run a society on the wish and aspirations of a man. It must be consistent with the provisions of our law. And if there is negative pressure on the media, then we will not accept it. We are glad that the media has refused to compromise and we will continue this struggle until the President overhauls the EFCC. The biggest form of corruption is disobedience to the rule of law."

On his part, Declan Ihehaire, of the Activists for Good Governance, said if Bawa had been committed to prison for disobeying Court order, he must go to prison.

"We have found out that as young as Bawa is, he has refused to obey court orders and he wants to send people to prison. And we are saying you can't be sending people to prison when you fail to obey the court order that says you must taste the prison for disobedience. You have been convicted three times by competent courts and three times, Bawa has refused to obey. He is not fit to be in office. Bawa must go," he said.

Leaders of the anti-corruption CSOs that began the call for the removal of Bawa include the Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran; Executive Director, Zero Graft Centre, Kolawole Sanchez-Jude; Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, Toyin Raheem; Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson; and Ahmed Balogun of Media Rights Concern.

Others are Ologun Ayodeji, Transparency and Accountability Group; Declan Ihehaire, Activists for Good Governance; and Ochiaga Jude, Centre for Ethics and Good Governance, among many others.

Saturday's protest was also led by Barr. Cletus Okedube, Barr. Johnson Areola, Barr. George Sanda, among a host of other notable activists.

...Anti-graft bodies flay commission's disobedience of court orders


Over 40 anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations gathered in Lagos on Friday to protest what they described as the incessant disobedience of court orders by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission under Abdulrasheed Bawa and the seeming politicisation of the agency's activities.

The anti-corruption CSOs alleged that the EFCC, under Bawa, had chosen to become an institution known for brazenly disobeying orders of courts in such a manner that does not only undermine the institutions of Nigeria's democracy, but also indicates a contradiction to the anti-corruption agenda of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, and came to a conclusion that Bawa must be sacked for the Commission to recover its past glory.

The bodies, led by the Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran; Executive Director, Zero Graft Centre, Kolawole Sanchez-Jude; Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, Toyin Raheem; Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson; and Ahmed Balogun of Media Rights Concern, among others, spoke at a press conference, themed: "EFCC’s Consistent Disobedience of Court Orders is a Recipe for Anarchy; A Call For The Immediate Sack of Mr. AbdulRasheed Bawa".

Other leaders include Ologun Ayodeji,
Transparency and Accountability Group; Declan Ihehaire, Activists for Good Governance; and Ochiaga Jude, Centre for Ethics and Good Governance, among others.

According to the anti-graft bodies, aside from the EFCC’s penchant for disobedience of court orders, the situation has reached an embarrassing height where the Commission's boss, Bawa, has been committed to prison more than once within two months for clear breach of the extant orders of the Court.

They said, "EFCC’s Gestapo-style regime of disobeying court orders must stop. Nigeria is not a banana republic. Attempts by institutions of state to ridicule the country and make it seem like a lawless fiefdom must be resisted by all. The EFCC seems to be allowing itself to be used as an instrument of political witchunt as it targets some individuals more than many others. 

"Some of our organizations have submitted several petitions to the Commission, which it has refused to act on even when you sit with them to reason on the merits of those petitions. Once there is a political interest the whole processes of investigation and litigation become politicized.

"The Commission seems only to act with gusto against perceived political enemies of some powerful political forces in the country rather than being neutral and professional. For instance,  the Ogun state Assembly Speaker was bundled Gestapo-style to Abuja on corruption allegations while several similar petitions elsewhere have been left untouched by the Commission.  Where is the justice, the impartiality and the professionalism?"

"This culture of impunity as consistently exhibited by the EFCC Chairman continues to ridicule Nigeria in the comity of nations and sabotage efforts at attracting foreign direct investment. Investors only go to jurisdictions where the rule of law and respect for human rights are guaranteed while shunning countries where ‘rule of men’ predominate," they added.

While insisting that "he who comes into equity must come with clean hands", the CSOs specifically stated, "We note that by the continued disobedience of the orders of the Courts, Mr. AbdulRasheed Bawa and the EFCC have displayed utter contempt for our courts and the country’s judicial system. It is ironic that these are the same courts the EFCC routinely runs to for orders which they zealously implement in the discharge of their mandate under the EFCC Act."

"It is not for EFCC and its leadership to pick and choose which court orders to obey or disregard. That is an invitation to anarchy," they maintained.


.................


FULL TEXT


EFCC'S CONSISTENT DISOBEDIENCE OF COURT ORDERS IS A RECIPE FOR ANARCHY; A CALL FOR THE IMMEDIATE SACK OF MR ABDULRASHEED BAWA.


Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemmen,

Gentlemen of the Press,

Comrades and Compatriots

About 50 anticorruption Civil Society Organizations are gathered here today to address an existential issue concerning Nigeria's anticorruption crusades that is becoming disturbingly skewed to suit political interests.

It is with the deepest concern and a feeling of national embarrassment that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, under the leadership of Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa EFCC has chosen to become an institution known for brazenly disobeying orders of courts in such a manner that does not only undermine the institutions of our democracy, but also indicate a contradictions to the anti-corruption agenda of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Aside from the EFCC’s penchant for disobedience of lawful court orders, it has gotten to the embarrassing height that the chairman of the Commission, Mr Bawa, has been convicted to prison terms on about three different occasions within space of one month for clear breach of the extant orders of the Court.

We must at this point make it clear that any form of disobedience to lawful orders of the court is not only an act of monumental corruption, but it also indicates a dangerous signal to the institutions of our democracy and the memories of those who sacrificed their lives for the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria.

This culture of impunity as consistently exhibited by the EFCC Chairman continues to ridicule Nigeria in the comity of nations and sabotage efforts at attracting foreign direct investment. Investors only go to jurisdictions where the rule of law and respect for human rights are guaranteed while shunning countries where ‘rule of men’ predominate.

It is even more worrisome that this blatant disobedience of valid court orders by the Bawa-led EFCC is coming on the heels of efforts  by stakeholders to galvanise more support for the war against corruption in  the country.

We note that by the continued disobedience of the orders of the Court, Mr. AbdulRasheed Bawa and the EFCC have displayed utter contempt for our courts and the country’s judicial system. It is ironic that these are the same courts the EFCC routinely runs to for orders which they zealously implement in the discharge of their mandate under the EFCC Act. It is not for EFCC and its leadership to pick and choose which court orders to obey or disregard. That is an invitation to anarchy. What is more, he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.

It is further recalled that the courts have severally cited the EFCC and its chairman for contempt, even as stiff damages have been awarded against the commission, thereby dissipating scarce public resources.

We hereby demand that President Buhari takes immediate steps to ensure that EFCC does not derail its avowed commitment to the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights of citizens by removing Mr Bawa as the Chairman of the Commission.

EFCC’s Gestapo-style regime of disobeying court orders must stop. Nigeria is not a banana republic. Attempts by institutions of state to ridicule the country and make it seem like a lawless fiefdom must be resisted by all. The EFCC seems to be allowing itself to be used as an instrument of political witchunt as it targets some individuals more than many others.  Some of our organizations have submitted several petitions to the Commission which it has refused to act on even when you sit with them to reason on the merits of those petitions. Once there is a political interest the whole processes of investigation and litigation become politicized. The Commission seems only to act with gusto against perceived political enemies of some powerful political forces in the country rather than being neutral and professional. For instance,  the Ogun state Assembly Speaker was bundled Gestapo-style to Abuja on corruption allegations while several similar petitions elsewhere have been left untouched by the Commission.  Where is the justice, the impartiality and the professionalism in that.
For the EFCC to recover its past glory, it must retrace its steps with the president overhauling its leadership by firing Mr. Bawa and his leadership team.

Enough is Enough!

…urges reopening of banks, financial institutions


Ogun State Government on Wednesday assured bankers and all citizens of adequate protection in the state while promising to continue to engage the Central BANK of Nigeria (CBN) in a bid to proffer solution to the cash scarcity presently bedeviling the nation.

The state Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) to the government, Dr. Dapo Okubadejo, gave the assurance during a meeting with the state chapter of Bankers Committee in his office in Abeokuta.

This was a follow up on the meeting earlier held between the group and the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, on Monday, where the governor extracted commitment from the bankers to adequately dispense cash to the public.

Okubadejo, moved with the determination to address the scarcity of the naira notes, said the situation is hampering economic activities in the state and that the government is fully prepared to forestall any destruction of banking facilities.

Speaking with an assurance of improved security across all financial outlets, the CEA said the unfortunate incident involving the destruction of some banks’ Automated Teller Machine (ATM) was as a result of frustration caused by the unavailability of cash.

Recalling that the governor had earlier met with the CBN Controller in Ogun State, the seasoned financial administrator said Governor Abiodun is concerned about the security of lives and property, noting that there are frantic efforts aimed at ensuring the supply of adequate cash as well as safety of every individual in the state.

Okubadejo reiterated that the state would continue to encourage peace and protect lives and property, while appealing to residents to exercise patience as the situation would soon be a thing of the past.

The financial expert also urged the people to desist from attacking banks and bankers, noting that the state is adequately prepared to provide security across the state.

He however advised the bankers to work round the clock because the onus lies with them to furnish the populace with the new naira notes, so as not to aggravate the already tensed situation.

He said: “The Central Bank of Nigeria has indicated that it would give money to the various banks, so as a state, we are using this opportunity to appeal to the Bankers’ Committee to ensure that people have access to their funds, for the smooth running of economic activities across the State,” Okubadejo said.

He further highlighted the need for the state to be at the forefront of industrialisation, insisting that the State Government will continue to engage the CBN in order to deal with the current situation.

In his remarks, the leader of the Bankers’ Forum, Mr. Adeniran Oladele, appreciated the State Government for its responsiveness, explaining that the meeting earlier held between Governor Abiodun and the CBN leadership had positively reduced the impact of the crisis.

The banker revealed that the crisis was caused by misinformation which has led to some banks losing revenue as a result of the panic closure.

He advised that there should be aggressive mass sensitisation on the availability of the new naira notes, saying that the public enlightenment will go a long way in reducing unrest.

“Ogun State is known to be a very peaceful state mainly because of the Governor’s deliberate strategy, not only to engage the youth, but also to be pragmatic, responsive and responsible,” the season banker said.

Contempt: Bawa must go to Kuje prison before any other action, Olanipekun, SAN insists

…as IGP receives order directing him to arrest, send EFCC boss to prison

A renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ola Olanipekun, has called on the Inspector-General of Police, to comply with a court order that committed the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa to prison for contempt.

Olanipekun, who said Bawa was trying to cause anarchy in the country by flagrantly disobeying court orders, said Bawa had recently been committed to prison in a similar ruling by a Federal Capital Territory High Court in November.

He said this just as the office of the IGP received and acknowledged the order committing Bawa to prison on Wednesday.

Speaking on Arise Television, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria argued that no Nigerian or foreigner, no matter how highly placed should be allowed to rubbish the courts, noting that the same instrument put the EFCC boss in office.

“In fact, the higher the position you occupy, the greater the burden of responsibility on you to show good example and live within the ambit of the law.

“Nobody, nobody at all, no matter how highly placed, no matter the position you occupy, not even the President of Nigeria, can disobey court order,” he stated.

In this particular case, Olanipekun said, “The Inspector-General of Police is going to carry out that order, he is going to go to prison or at the earliest time possible, he goes back to that court to go and purge himself of the contempt. All he has to do is to go and release that particular citizen and if there are other orders that the court has made, like in this particular case, the court has made an order for an apology to the citizen for so detaining him in flagrant breach of his fundamental human rights.

“So he has to go ahead and make that apology. We must comply with the law. We must realise that this is a Federal Republic of Nigeria, a country that is founded on law, on procedure, on rule of law.”

Justice R.O. Ayoola of the Kogi State High Court, in his judgement on Monday, granted the application for commital to prison of the EFCC chairman for disobeying a court ruling delievered on November 30, 2022, wherein the EFCC chairman was directed to produce the applicant in the case, Ali Bello.

Ali Bello had dragged Bawa to court for arresting and detaining him illegally, with the court ruling in his favour, only for the EFCC to arraign him for alleged money laundering three days after the ruling.

Insisting that the anti-graft agency boss could not effect any action without first obeying the court order that sent him to jail, the learned silk noted that the actions of the EFCC boss amounted to lawbreaking and could trigger anarchy in the land.

Olanipekun said, “Over the years, EFCC had been having a running battle with the law, we must realise that Section 34, in fact, the entire Chapter 4 has to do with the Fundamental Human Rights of Nigerians, and this is the area where EFCC always has problems.

“Section 34 talks about the dignity of the Nigerian person. You don’t just treat people anyhow. The fact that somebody has a case doesn’t mean he has lost his citizenship.

“There is presumption of innocence, not only when you are taken to court, it also applies when you are being investigated. The degree of innocence when being investigated is even higher than when taken to court. A man has his right to fair hearing.”

Explaining why Bawa has to be jailed, the SAN said, “The order is that he should be committed to prison until he purges himself of the contempt. What was it that the court asked him to do that he failed to do? He was asked to produce Citizen Bello in court, he didn’t produce him. Let me make something clear. It was not as if when the court made the order, he didn’t comply and the order of committal was made, no.

“There is a procedure. He did not comply; Form 48 was served on him, to let him know that ‘your disobedience has consequences.’ He ignored it. Form 49 was served on him for him to come and show cause why he should not be committed to prison for contempt of court, he ignored it. A motion was filed and served on him, giving him notice that we are going to move the court to give an order for you to be committed for contempt and you will be committed to prison, he ignored it.

“Well, at the last moment, the lawyers came to court and they could not give any reasonable argument so the court granted the application and made an order of committal. So he goes to prison.

“The Inspector-General of Police is going to carry out that order, he is going to go to prison or at the earliest time possible, he goes back to that court to go and purge himself of the contempt. All he has to do is to go and release that particular citizen and if there are other orders that the court has made, like in this particular case, the court has made an order for an apology to the citizen for so detaining him in flagrant breach of his fundamental human rights. So he has to go ahead and make that apology.

“We must comply with the law. We must realise that this is a Federal Republic of Nigeria, a country that is founded on law, on procedure, on rule of law. He must comply with the orders. It is not something that he can just walk away from. And if he doesn’t purge himself of the contempt, he is going to remain in prison for as long as it takes him to purge himself of the contempt. If he purges himself of the contempt within 48 hours, he gets released from the prison, he doesn’t have to spend the whole of 14 days there. But the law has to be complied with.

“There is an order now for the Inspector-General of Police to comply with. So, we are now waiting to see whether the IGP will comply with this order. If he doesn’t comply, he himself will become liable for committal for contempt.”

“We can’t just continue as if the law doesn’t exist. The EFCC or the Police or any institution whatsoever, they are all set up by statute, so, they must operate within the ambit of the law,” Olanipekun noted.

https://themomentng.com/2023/02/08/contempt-bawa-must-go-to-kuje-prison-before-any-other-action-olanipekun-san-insists/

…to celebrate its customers


Access Bank customers are in for a treat this Valentine season, as the retail giant is offering several discounts and mouth-watering freebies on its retail products and services to celebrate customers in this season of love.

The Valentine season campaign, tagged “Love is More,” will run from February 1 through March 11, 2023.

Robert Giles, senior retail advisor, retail banking, Access Bank, told reporters at the campaign’s debut, “Valentine season provides us with another opportunity to demonstrate our love and appreciation for our customers for the years of loyalty and support for the bank.

We are using this opportunity to thank our customers for their commitment to Access Bank. We value our customers and non-customers who rely on our services and products to conduct seamless banking activities, and we wish everyone the best of this season.”

Commenting further on the campaign, Njideka Esomeju, Group Head, Consumer Banking, Access Bank, said: “In the spirit of the season of love, we have unveiled several amazing offers to appreciate our customers during this month of love. Our customers who sign up for the XclusivePlus annual plan this month of February will not only receive a 10GB of data to share great moments with loved ones but will also get a 10% discount off their total purchases on Konga.

“Small business owners (SMEs) who open a Diamond Business Advantage Account (DBA) and grow their balance to N1,000,000 (DBA Trader Lite and DBA Basic) or N5,000,000 (DBA Growing to Prestige) and perform at least 2 transactions on the AccessMore app before February 28 stand a chance to win a free business protection bundle, a gift box, or a one-month fee waiver.

“This season, when our women use their “W” branded debit card at Beacon Health Diagnostics, they will receive a 20% discount on cervical cancer screening. Ladies, you can get your “W” debit card today from any Access Bank branch close to you.

“Customers who transact five times every week this February on AccessMore or *901# will qualify to win a N500 top-up on *901# and N1000 worth of data on AccessMore. In addition, we will provide our customers with free vehicle registration when they acquire a brand-new or pre-owned vehicle from one of our registered dealers nationwide.

“Our salary account holders with Access Bank are not left out, as they can access a bouquet of loan offers and enjoy a 5% interest rate reduction in the first month of the loan repayment.

“We are offering these and so much more to show how much we appreciate our customers’ consistent patronage.

“To join the reward train, dial *901# or download and log onto the accessmore app to open a new account. You can also visit any Access Bank branch near you to reactivate your account, and then start transacting immediately to enjoy the Valentine season campaign benefits,” Njideka said.

Please click HERE to see more Valentine’s Day season offers from Access Bank.

Access Bank is a leading full-service financial institution operating through a network of more than 600 branches and service outlets, spanning three continents, 18 countries and 49+ million customers. The bank is committed to providing innovative and convenient banking solutions to its customers.

https://themomentng.com/2023/02/06/access-bank-introduces-the-love-is-more-campaign-for-valentine-season/

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has been committed to prison for disobeying Court order.

The court also directed the Inspector-General of Police to effect Bawa’s arrest and remand him in kuje prison for the next 14 days until he purges himself of the contempt.

Justice R.O. Ayoola of the Kogi State High Court, in his judgement on Monday, granted the application for commital to prison of the EFCC chairman for disobeying a court ruling delievered on November 30, 2022, wherein the EFCC chairman was directed to produce the applicant in the case, Ali Bello.

Ali Bello had dragged Bawa to court for arresting and detaining him illegally, with the court ruling in his favour, only for the EFCC to arraign him for alleged money laundering three days after the ruling.

The EFCC’s applications for setting aside and stay of execution of the ruling were refused for want of merit.

The Court had, in Form 49, Order IX, Rule 13, marked: “HCL/697M/2022” and titled: “Notice to Show Cause Why Order of Committal Should not be Made,” asked the EFCC Chairman to appear before it on January 18, 2022 to explain why he should not be jailed for flouting the order given on December 12, 2022 in a case filed by Ali Bello against EFCC and Bawa, as the 1st and 2nd respondents, respectively.

The court ordered that the EFCC and Bawa be served the motion of notice together with Form 49 by substituted means.

The court had declared the arrest and detention of the applicant in the face of a subsisting Court order made by a Court of competent jurisdiction and without a warrant of arrest “or being informed of the offence for which he was arrested” as unlawful, unconstitutional, and in contravention of the personal liberty and dignity of human person guaranteed under Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

The court had also ordered the respondents to tender an apology to the applicant in a national newspaper and awarded N10 million compensation for him.

The Form 49, issued on December 15, 2022, and addressed to Bawa read, “Take notice that the Applicant will on the 18th day of January, 2023 at the hour of 9 o clock in the forenoon or so soon thereafter, apply to this Court for an order for your committal to prison for having disobeyed the order of this Court made on 12th day of December, 2022 that:

“That arrest and detention of the Applicant on the 29th November, 2022 by the 1st and 2nd Respondents in the face of a subsisting Court Order made by a Court of competent jurisdiction and without a warrant of arrest or being informed of the offence for which he was arrested is unlawful, unconstitutional and contravenes the Applicant’s right to personal liberty and dignity of human person guaranteed under Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Articles 5 and 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

“Perpetual injunction restraining the Respondents, their agents, servants, privies, or however called from further arrest, detention, harassment and intimidation of the Applicant .

“An order directing the Respondents to tender an apology to the Applicant in any of the National Daily having nationwide coverage for the illegal detention and harassment of the Applicant.

“An Award of the sum of Ten Million Naira as general damages jointly and severally against the Respondents for the unlawful detention and harassment of the Applicant.”

This followed an application by Counsel to Ali Bello, S. A. Abass.

More details later…

https://themomentng.com/2023/02/06/contempt-court-sends-efcc-boss-bawa-to-kuje-prison-directs-igp-to-arrest-him/

The abrupt collapse of one of Nigeria’s foremost commercial banks, Afribank Nigeria Plc, is not unconnected to mismanagement, crime and alleged fraud.

The French investors’ bank was established in 1959 and operated as commercial bank, real estate, and insurance broker. It had over 250 branches nationwide and rated in Nigeria’s “first four” until 2009 when the biggest financial heist was discovered among its top management executives, bulk of the reason the bank failed recapitalisation deadline issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria that year.

First in the list was the executive director, Treasury and Financial Institutions, Public Sector/Transaction Services, and Corporate Support, Mr Jibrin Isah, now the senator representing Kogi East senatorial district. Isah was dismissed from AfriBank in 2009 for alleged financial malpractices, frauds, and economic crimes.

Following his dismissal, Jibrin was arrested along with Mr. Sebastian Adigwe, Mr Chinedu Onyia, Mr Henry Arogundade, Mr Peter Ololo, Falcon Securities ltd, Osa Osunde, Isa Zailani and charged for financial malpractices, fraud, and Economic crime.

Thereafter a 36-count charge bordering on theft and alleged wrongful conversion of millions of shares belonging to Afribank Plc, valued at N87 billion were brought against the former Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr Sebastian Adigwe, Jibrin Isah, Mr Chinedu Onyia, Mr Henry Arogundade, Mr Peter Ololo, Osa Osunde and Isa Zailani who were ordered by Justice Olabisi Akinlade to be remanded in Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, custody by an Ikeja High Court. They were accused of conspiracy, receiving stolen property and stealing the sum of N87 billion belonging to Afribank and were subsequently docked.

The accused persons were alleged to have stolen the money which was fraudulently converted to the use of AIL Securities Limited, Asset Management Nominees Holding Limited and Falcons Securities Limited belonging to them.

It was a brazing and audacious criminal act to what transcend the modern-day stealing of the Nation’s resources by public office holders. No bank would have survived with such humongous amount of money unaccounted for.

However, Senator Jibrin Isah and co were arraigned, but, to the consternation of everyone, Echocho was made a third witness against his fellow culprits despite palpably indicting evidences not minding that as the bank’s treasurer the responsibility of portfolio (liquidity, capital efficiency/adequacy and yield) management, trading/hedging, asset liability management and funds transfer pricing were all his; ironically, it was on all these premises that the bank was liquidated. Clearly. it was a high-level conspiracy and scheme abetted by the sleight hand of the relevant authorities. Subsequently, Echocho was never seen in court again while Farida Waziri’s Economic and financial Crimes commission played ‘the blind eye’ with spurious claims that Jibrin was nowhere to be found.

It is rather unfortunate, Nigerians play to the gallery of victims of bad leadership, wherein they are either conscious or indeliberate accomplices. Jibrin Isah courtesy of the position he occupied in the defunct AfriBank played the lead role in insolvency, illiquidity and mismanagement of the institution leading to its unavoidable collapse. But how he bought justice over reducing Waziri’s EFCC to a mocking reference left much to be desired. The U.S global watch was the first to react to the anti-graft agency’s loss of credibility and huge dent on Nigeria’s fight against corruption. And though, Waziri was later dismissed, the EFCC has existed at the whims and caprices of corrupt public and private corporate officials as the case of Afribank enunciates.

For a better understanding of Isah’s alleged shady deals in AfriBank, the petition written by an Abuja based Lawyer, Barrister Kayode Ajulo to the EFCC on the 30th of May 2012 is a veritable reference material:

“PETITION ON BEHALF OF MR. GBOLAHAN PETERS AND AHMED IBRAHIM AGAINST FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF AFRIBANK, ALHAJI JUBRIN ISAH OF CONSPIRACY, FINANCIAL MALPRACTICES & ECONOMIC CRIMES. REQUEST FOR PROSECUTION OF ALHAJI JUBRIN ISAH

We write as Solicitors to Mr. Gbolahan Peters and Alhaji Ahmed O. Ibrahim of Forum for Zero Tolerance to Financial Crimes, Abuja (hereafter referred to as your Petitioners) and wish to draw your attention to the criminal indictment against Mr. Jubrin Isah the erstwhile Executive Director of Afribank Nigeria Plc and the seemingly conspiracy by your Commission under the leadership of your predecessor to bringing him to justice.

Mr. Jubrin Isah, (herein after referred to as the Suspect) was the Executive Director of Afribank Nigeria Plc, who was disengaged through the dissolution of Executive Management team of some Banks in August, 2009, over financial malpractices and mismanagement of the Afribank Nigeria Plc.

Sequel to the dissolution, the Suspect was arrested and severally investigated subsequently upon which he was indicted and first arraigned with Sebastian Adigwe, Osa Osunde, Isa Zailani, Chinedu Onyia, Henry Arogundade, Falcon Securities Ltd, and Peter Ololo before the Federal High Court, Lagos with Charge No. FHC/L/294/09.

Moreover, in the Amended Charges filed of 13th April, 2010, the 33 amended count charges against the Suspect and others revealed that the Suspect and others mismanaged and thereby committed a financial crimes to the total tune of over 60 Billion contrary the Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act Cap. F2 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and the Investments & Securities Act.

The Suspect and his co-accused were also arraigned before the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja in May 2011 with Charge No. 10/160C/2011 However, to the consternation of your Petitioners and in what can only be depicted as a scheme and official conspiracy, all the charges against the Suspect were dropped while the prosecution team turned him to prosecution witness without any justification.

We wish to note that your Petitioners’ apprehension is not unfounded as the followings justified their fear:

During the Suspect’s initial criminal trial at Federal High Court, Lagos, in 2009, the Suspect, though was charged as co-accused was never brought before the court but was busy campaigning to become Peoples Democratic Party flag bearer in Kogi State, while your Commission under the leadership of your predecessor, Mrs. Farida Waziri maintained that the Suspect is nowhere to be found.
The Suspect by the summary of the charges, facts and circumstances of his indictment was not only the Executive Director of AfriBank Nigeria Plc, but by his admission in his statement made to your Commission, was in charge of Investment Banking, covering Treasury, Financial Institution, Federal Public Sector, Private Banking, E-Solution and Corporate Support, thereby making him to played the leading role in the offences charged.

Instances abound in the trial where other accused have queried your Commission’s decision to make the Suspect, your witness instead a co-accused considering the enormity of his indictments.

All the transactions of the Banking and Financial malpractices which formed the indictments of the Suspect and others were well documented of which his indicted as the principal accused person and thereby made him being turned to prosecution witness defective.
The absence of the principal accused person in the trial as co-accused would spell doom for the prosecution of the charge.

Against this background, our extant brief is to ask you to use your good offices to review the decision of your predecessors, and ensure that the Suspect is brought to book for his liabilities in the financial malpractices and economic crimes.

You are no doubt aware that it is now an established fact within and outside the shore of Nigeria that the bane of Nigeria under-development is as a result of economic crimes in public and private sectors.

This fact is very compelling that it lead to the establishment of your Commission to effectively tackle and curb the trend. No doubt, you are also aware that your Commission’s glooming public perception in fighting the economic crimes is not unconnected with your Commission’s wittingly and/or unwittingly insincerity and seemingly lack of will to prosecute those who have been apparently indicted like in the case of the suspect.

Your Petitioners cannot therefore allow this obvious inequality without it been addressed and it is in the circumstance of the foregoing that your petitioners in consideration of Section 24 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and other enabling laws in Nigeria request your quick review of the indictments and prosecution of Alhaji Jubrin Isah for the purpose of bringing him to book for financial malpractices and economic crimes perpetrated while serving as Executive Director of Afribank Nigeria Plc.

TAKE NOTICE that if by 7th June, 2012 no practical steps and demonstration of good faith to bring Alhaji Jubrin Isah to book is taken, we shall without further notice, set in motion, machinery of justice to compel you to do same.

It is our firm confidence that by your Commission’s claims that no one is above the law, you will not hesitate to investigate the above allegation and bring the culprit to book.

Thanks for your mutual belief in the supremacy of the rule of law. Accept, please, the firm assurances of our highest regards.

Yours truly,

Pp: KAYODE AJULO & CO. CASTLE OF LAW.

A. BABAH, ESQ. Ag. Head of Chambers
Omolola AWOLOLA, ESQ. Counsel

c.c.:
1. President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, Abuja;

Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation, Abuja;

Secretary to the Government of Federation, Abuja.”

It has been thirteen years since Jibrin Isah and his accomplices allegedly destroyed one of Nigeria’s finest financial institutions and thirteen years since the criminal trial of those who superintended the collapse of the bank. But as is the case with some of Nigeria’s criminal trials, the issue of Afribank has seemingly gathered dust in the shelves of the EFCC and the Nigerian judiciary while some of the shareholders and depositors of the banks who are lucky to be alive watch-on while those responsible enjoy the loot, occasionally brazenly.

https://themomentng.com/2023/02/06/how-kogi-east-apc-senatorial-candidate-jibrin-isah-others-allegedly-ruined-afribank/

Troubled financial institution Sterling Bank Plc have been sanction by officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) after discovering N6 million of the new naira notes hoarded by the bank.

This was uncover in Ado Ekiti branch on Bank Road, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.

In a trending video on social media, a man who identified himself as Oluwole Owoeye, a deputy director of CBN, while monitoring the distribution of the new naira notes in the state, was seen questioning the bank officials as to why they have not uploaded the funds into their Automated Teller Machines, (ATMs), despite having six of the machines in place.

The CBN director also announced a fine of N1 million for each day the fund was in the bank’s custody.

The CBN official said, “I am currently at Sterling Bank, on Bank Road as part of the new naira notes monitoring compliance with the guidelines by CBN. They have N6 million, which they collected from the bank for almost two weeks, they have not disbursed any. They said they are yet to configure their ATMs, I do not know why that and I have brought attention to the penalty clause of N1 million per day, because they have five ATMs here, they have no reason for keeping this money.

“The zonal service manager, Tunde Onipede promised that by 10:00am latest tomorrow (Monday), because I told him by latest 10:00 am I’ll be here and I want to see the machine dispensing this money.

“What is the name again? Olumide Owolabi (Service Manager, Ado) & Motunrayo Babayele. My name is Oluwole Owoeye and I am a deputy director of CBN.”

It will be recalled that some politicians have accused the governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, of trying to sabotage the circulation of the new notes for political reasons, but the CBN, in turn accused commercial banks of sabotaging its efforts to make the new naira notes available to customers.

The deputy director, banking supervision department, CBN Lagos, Kayode Makinde, while addressing journalists in Abeokuta, Ogun State last week Tuesday, had told the public to blame the commercial banks over the scarcity of the new notes, saying the apex bank had done its part.

According to the CBN senior staffer: “This is the third week of ensuring strict implementation of our directive as regards the issuance of new notes. We have banks, agents and super agents circulate new notes in the economy. The experience has been mixed, we saw some trying to hoard new notes, we compelled them to upload into ATM terminals, and others had poor cash management.

“From our experience, CBN should not be blamed but commercial banks for scarcity. We caught some of them, with new notes in their vault, and we compelled them to upload them to their machines. We told them that instead of trying to ration, upload the ones they have and contact your central cash management unit which has direct access to CBN for more.

“We came across instances of sabotage on the part of operators, we will take the case up and they will be dealt with appropriately.

“We came across one of them that couldn’t account for almost four million naira of new notes and appropriate sanction will be placed on them.”

https://themomentng.com/2023/02/05/new-naira-notes-cbn-slams-sterling-bank-parades-officials-over-sabotage/

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), has arrested an official of Stanbic IBTC Bank in Abuja for alleged sabotage.

The ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, said the development was in continuation of ICPC’s clampdown on elements frustrating efforts in making the redesigned Naira notes available to members of the public.

The bank official, who is the branch service head of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Deidei Branch in Abuja, was taken into custody for her deliberate refusal to upload cash into the branch’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) even when the cash was available and people were queuing at the ATM points.

The statement reads: “When the ICPC monitoring team stormed the bank at about 1:30pm on Friday to ensure compliance, and demanded explanation as to why all the ATMs were not dispensing cash, the team was informed by the branch’s head of operations that the bank just got delivery of the cash.

“However, facts available to the ICPC operatives indicated that the branch took delivery of the cash earlier around 11:58am and either willfully or maliciously refused to feed the ATMs with the cash.

“Against this backdrop, the ICPC team compelled the bank to load the ATMs with the redesigned Naira notes and ensured that they were all dispensing before arresting the culprit.

“The ICPC said investigations were still ongoing and the Commission will take appropriate actions as soon they are concluded.

“Similarly, seven Point of Sale (PoS) operators as well as a security guard were arrested during an ongoing exercise in Osun State for charging exorbitant commissions for cash.

“Investigations, however, revealed that they got the money from Filling Stations that collect new notes from fuel buyers, but they then resell the cash to the public at exorbitant rates.

“The arrested persons were helping the anti-graft commission with information to assist investigations and bust other syndicates involved in the hoarding and sales of the redesigned Naira notes,” the anti-graft agency said.

https://themomentng.com/2023/02/03/new-naira-stanbic-ibtc-bank-manager-arrested-by-icpc-over-sabotage/