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Serving North-Central Governor Withdrew N60bn Cash In Six Years —- EFCC Chairman

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A serving Nigerian Governor has allegedly withdrawn N60 billion from his state’s purse in about six years.

This was made known by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa.

The disclosure was contained in the latest edition of the anti-graft agency’s in-house magazine: “EFCC Alert.”

In the interview, conducted by TVC, Bawa revealed that the Governor involved is from the North Central geopolitical zone.

He said: “Very soon, Nigerians are going to see some of the things that we are doing. I can tell you for free that the new Department of Intelligence that we have created is working wonders. They have come up with a lot of intelligence.

“In one of them, a governor in a North-Central state within the last six years (one individual) has withdrawn over N60 billion in cash.

“We are looking at all of that, and I assure you that at the end of all of our investigations, Nigerians are going to be briefed of what we are doing behind the scene on cybercrime, politically-exposed persons, as well as engaging government agencies to ensure that we have better processes and procedures on how to do government business.

“We are not setting out to be engaging with people on the pages of newspapers or press conferences. We are working hard trying to see what we can do behind the scenes (to eradicate corruption).”

Bawa also disclosed that contrary to the widely-held opinion that alleged corruption cases against former governors are marooned, they, according to him, are being actively pursued and investigation reports would be out soon.

He said: “I can assure you that we are working [on them]. We don’t want to talk about matters that are under investigation. Yes, we invited a former governor (Lucky Igbinedion) for interrogation. He was with us for two days and he has been released; the investigation is ongoing, but we are being careful and cautious, so we won’t be accused of engaging in a media trial.”

Starting with those who served between 1999 and 2007, more than 50 former and serving governors are believed to be under alleged corruption investigation.

Five former governors have since been convicted, with higher courts overturning the sentencing of two, former Abia governor, Orji Kalu and Bala Ngilari, who briefly ran Adamawa State.

The commission is pursuing fresh judicial approval to re-prosecute Kalu.

Two former governors are currently serving jail terms: former Plateau State Governor and serving Senator, Joshua Dariye, and his Taraba State counterpart, former Governor Jolly Nyame.

On the celebrated conviction of the former boss of the federally-controlled Pension Scheme, Abdulrasheed Maina, and his son, Faisal, the anti-graft agency leadership says its focus is now on banks, deemed complicit in the saga.

Bawa said: “We are going to implement the pronouncement [of the Court] to the letter. The banks are complicit and there are some issues raised there and we are looking at that already. Anything that has to do with judgement of the Court has to be complied with in total. And so, the banks are involved, so we are going to go after them as well.

“We are very happy that we secured the conviction. And of course the restitution to the government. We still have another case that is ongoing. We also have civil forfeiture cases on some of these properties. So if you look at the big picture, I think we are good to go.

“The issue of pension fraud is something that is mind-boggling and we are looking at that. We recently held a sensitization programme titled: ‘Eradication of Pension Fraud in Nigeria.’ So we are working to ensure that we have sanity within the system.”

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Naira Depreciates Because I Was Out Of The Country — Odumeje

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The Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention and Deliverance Ministry’s Prophet Chukwuemeka Ohanemere, popularly known as Odumeje, declared that he had returned to Nigeria in an effort to halt the dollar’s appreciation relative to the Nigerian Naira.

Odumeje, in a video recorded at the airport while returning from London, boasted: “This is Indaboski Bahose. The war and the battle. A man full of power and activities. The only man who tells you, “I will bring down a dollar,” and he gets it done. When I left the country, dollar began to rise; now, I am back, I will continue where I stopped.”

In a video recording of one of his church programmes a few weeks ago, the self-acclaimed prophet had claimed that the exchange rate of dollar to naira came down because of one of his powers, which he dubbed ‘Abidoshaker.’

His claims came on the heels of the Nigerian currency’s significant gains after exchanging at N1,920 per dollar.

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Two Brothers In Police Net For Alleged Gang-Rape In Ogun

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Olamijuwon Noibi and Lukman Olatunbosun, two brothers, have been taken into custody by the Ogun State Police Command on charges of gang rape at Oke Eri, Atan Ijebu Area, Ogun.

A trustworthy law enforcement source, on Thursday, revealed that Noibi had tricked Aminat Yakub into coming to his flat, where he then allegedly sexually abused her while plotting with Olatunbosun, his younger sibling.

Yakub was allegedly invited by Noibi to visit his mother on Saturday, but when she got to his residence, she didn’t get to see her.

After making her consume an alcoholic beverage called “Bullet,” he allegedly physically attacked her before raping her.

According to The Punch, Noibi was also coerced his younger brother, Olatunbosun, with a knife so he could join him in the act, and filmed both of them while they were having sex.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Ogun Police Command, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident and said that the suspects had been arrested and would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for a discreet investigation.

“On the 24/4/2024, at about 13:00hrs, one Aminat Yakub ‘F’, Aged 21 years, of Main Estate Oke Eri Area, came to the station and reported that on the 21/4/2024, at about 12:30hrs, she went to the house of one Olamijuwon Noibi ‘M’ at Oke Eri on invitation to come and greet his mother. When she got there, she discovered that his mother was not at home.

“Juwon forcefully pushed her into his room, then forced her to drink Black Bullet and forcefully had sex with her twice after a serious beating. He later invited his younger brother, Lukman, to come and have sex with her but when his younger brother refused, he took a knife threatening to kill both of them. In the end, his younger brother ended up having sex with her after a serious beating and equally took a video of them.

“Upon the receipt of the complaint, the team of patrol led by Asp Ayoola Alidu at the station and went to the scene of incident. The two alleged suspect was arrested one Olamijuwon Noibi, ‘M’, Age 27 Yrs and one Lukman Olatunbosun, ‘M’, Age 20 yrs,” a police statement.

The PPRO noted that both brothers confessed to the alleged crime, and the victim was taken to the General Hospital Ijebu-Ode for examination, saying that the suspects would soon be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for “discreet investigation and further development will be communicated.”

Earlier report had it that the operatives of the Rivers State Police Command had arrested a 30-year-old man identified as Jeffrey for allegedly defiling the teenage daughter of his landlady in an estate in Abuloma, Port Harcourt Local government Area of the state.

It was learnt that the suspect, who had a tailoring shop at the estate, lured the 13-year-old girl to his business place one evening under the guise of showing her clothes.

But Jeffrey ended up locking the shop, overpowered the girl, and allegedly had his way with her.

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Lagos Government Pays N1.5bn WASSCE Fees For 58,000 Students

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58,000 pupils will be registered for the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination this year, with the state government spending N1.5 billion, according to Tolani Alli-Balogun, Commissioner of the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.

In announcing the ministry’s efforts to mark the first year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office, the commissioner made this statement on Thursday.

On May 29, 2023, Sanwo-Olu took the oath of office for a second term as governor, vowing in his inauguration speech to disappoint the people of Lagos.

The commissioner, who spoke at the state secretariat, said, “The administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has never defaulted on the payment of WASCCE fees of all public school SS3 students in the four years of Governor Sanwo-Olus’s first term in office. The state government paid over N4.2bn between 2020 and 2023 to keep our promise of full payment of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination fees.

“In the current school year (2024), the governor has approved the sum of N1,571,076,000 as registration fees and other cost for 58,188 SS3 students writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.”

Last year, the West African Examination Council, which conducts WASSCE, noted that it had concluded plans to begin computer-based examinations in 2024.

It released the results of the first-ever CBT exam, 2024–First Series, in March this year.

The analysis of candidates’ performance showed that out of the 8,139 candidates that sat the examination, 3,424 candidates representing 42.07 percent obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics).

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