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FG, Firms To Build $60bn High-Speed Rail In Nigeria

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The Federal Government, De-Sadal Nigeria Limited, and China Liancai Petroleum Investment Holdings Limited are set to begin work on a $60bn gas and 4,000-kilometre high-speed rail project in Nigeria.

The announcement came after the consortium presented proof of funds to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, in the presence of the Ministers of Transportation, Sa’idu Alkali, and State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, among others, in Abuja on Tuesday.

Chief Executive Officer of De-Sadal Nigeria Limited, Samuel Uko, speaking on behalf of the consortium, said the first phase of the project would link four major cities in Nigeria — Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt.

“Today, with our partners, I have just presented the official approval form for the project. The fund is coming from the Asian Development Investment Bank. And it is to cover the first phase of the project that cuts across four major cities in Nigeria.

The rail line is from Lagos to Abuja, to Kano, and from Abuja to Port Harcourt. So this is a very great work that the government have done. The federal government of Nigeria, through the ICRC, approved the outline business case. And the next step now was for us to submit the approval form to the government, which we have just done. So I believe in the shortest possible time, Nigeria will start enjoying a high-speed rail in Nigeria.”

On funding, he noted that $60bn had been approved for the entire project.

“Today, $60 billion approval fund has just been submitted to the government through our financial and technical partners. The first phase of the project is $55 billion. So the fund is ready, and the country is ready to move forward with this project,” he said.

Regarding the timeline, Uko stated, “Well, the 1,600 kilometres that covers the four major cities of the country will take us 36 months to build. But we won’t wait until the 36th month. For instance, from Lagos to Lokoja, we will cut across about six states. But when we get to the second, third state, the people from the first two states will start enjoying the speed train.”

He added that the project also includes gas development to meet the power requirements of the rail network. “The raw material for power is gas. So we have to develop the gas aspect to be able to access more gas to power the high-speed rail project,” he explained.

The SGF said the proof of funds would be verified.

“We want to establish the real amount of money that is available. We don’t doubt them, but that is the normal procedure that the government takes when huge sums of money are involved in such transactions.

This is a country that is business friendly especially under the administration of President Bola Tinubu,” he said.

Minister of Transportation, Sa’idu Alkali, explained that the project fits with the ministry’s goal of providing safe, secure, and affordable transportation.

He said, “We have submitted the outline business case to ICRC. They have approved it. This is a step towards preparing the full business case to be submitted to ICRC before we take it to the Federal Executive Council.”

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, assured the investors of sufficient gas supply.

“It has been proven that we have 210 trillion cubic feet of gas that need to be tapped. In the deep sea, we have over 600 trillion cubic feet. So I can assure the investors they will not be lacking in terms of gas,” he said.

BIG STORY

37-Year-Old American Nicholas Giroux Jailed For Life Over Murder Of Nigerian boxer Olugbemi

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A 37-year-old man, Nicholas Giroux, has been sentenced to life imprisonment plus an additional 20 years for killing Nigerian-American boxer, Isaiah Olugbemi, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

According to the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, Giroux received the sentence on Friday from Judge Richard Trunnell after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a violent crime. The prison terms will run consecutively.

Olugbemi, 27, a father and highly regarded amateur boxer, was shot several times by Giroux on June 17, 2024, along Meadowmist Way in Odenton. He later died from his injuries at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Surveillance video revealed Giroux approaching Olugbemi, firing multiple rounds until he collapsed, and then discharging three more shots before fleeing. Police later recovered 9mm casings from the crime scene.

Investigators noted that Giroux had previously confronted Olugbemi and a neighbour at a cookout about two weeks earlier, where he displayed a firearm, though he did not fire it at that time.

Following the shooting, Giroux confessed during interrogation and directed authorities to the location of the gun he used.

Describing the murder, State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess called it “cruel and senseless,” stressing that the victim had a bright future in boxing.

“Mr. Olugbemi was a father and a rising star in amateur boxing. The callousness and lack of remorse on the part of this Defendant is really disturbing. He deserves this sentence. And to the family and friends of Mr. Olugbemi, I hope that today provides some sense of justice for this terrible ordeal,” Leitess said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas, with homicide detectives from the Anne Arundel County Police Department leading the investigation.

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40-Year-Old US-Based Nigerian Daniel Chima Risks 20-Year Jail Term Over ‘$405,000 Romance Scam’

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Daniel Chima Inweregbu, a 40-year-old Nigerian, has pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in the United States, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

US prosecutors said Inweregbu conspired to commit mail and wire fraud, while also using a false identity to carry out a romance scam that ran from July 2017 to December 2018.

The scheme, which cost victims over $405,000, involved Inweregbu and his partners contacting Americans through email and messaging platforms. They pretended to be “Larry Pham,” built online romantic relationships, and then tricked victims into sending money to bank accounts they controlled.

Once received, the funds were laundered through intermediaries to conceal their source, ownership, and movement, the DOJ added.

According to court filings:

  • Count 1 carries up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
  • Count 12 also carries up to 20 years in prison, with a fine of up to $500,000.
  • He must also pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee for each count.

Sentencing has been fixed for December 4, 2025, before Judge Brown.

This is not Inweregbu’s first conviction. In December 2020, a Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced him to 18 months in prison (with an option of a ₦300,000 fine) for a similar romance scam. He was also ordered to refund $15,000 to the US Consulate.

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Most Trump Tariffs Are Illegal, US Court Rules

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A US appeals court has ruled that most of former President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are unconstitutional.

Back in April, Trump announced global tariffs on all imports into the United States, including a 14% levy on Nigerian goods. Since then, he has alternated between rolling back some measures and intensifying others.

Trump had argued that the tariffs were legally justified under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which empowers the president to act against “unusual and extraordinary” threats.

But in a 7–4 ruling, the Washington appeals court disagreed, holding that Trump exceeded his authority. The judges noted that the IEEPA “neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the president’s power to impose tariffs.”

However, the panel stopped short of cancelling the tariffs outright, leaving room for a potential appeal before the US Supreme Court.

Reacting on Truth Social, Trump insisted his tariffs remain intact:
“ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT!”

“If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong,” he wrote.

The former president also expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would eventually uphold his tariff policies.

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