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JUST IN: EFCC Arrests BDC Operators In Abuja; Recovers Over $6 Million

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EFCC has arrested a currency speculator in Abuja and also recovered over $6 million from BDC operators.

 

It was gathered that the arrest was made known by the Commission on its official Twitter handle on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. The alleged currency speculator whose picture was released by the EFCC is also known as Mustapha Naira.

 

 

The commission noted that the arrest was made as part of their effort to sanitise the foreign exchange market, and all shades of economic sabotage.

 

 

The EFCC’s statement: According to the EFCC, Mustapha was arrested on Saturday in the Wuse area of Abuja.

 

“As part of its ongoing operation to sanitise the foreign exchange market and rid it of speculators and all shades of economic saboteurs, the EFCC has arrested one Mustapha Muhammed alias Muaspaha Naira.

 

“He was picked up by operatives of the commission on Saturday, November 12, 2022, at Wuse Zone 4, the hub of parallel market operations in the Federal Capital Territory.

 

“The suspect has made a useful statement while the investigation continues.”

In a related development, News One Nigeria reports that the EFCC said that some Bureau De Change operators who were recently arrested in Lagos, Abuja, and other parts of Nigeria were in possession of over $6 million.

 

The EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who made this known while speaking on the Nigerian Television Authority’s (NTA) said that the arrests were part of efforts of the anti-graft agency to sanitise the foreign exchange sector.

 

Speaking on “Sanitizing Ungoverned Operators in the Forex Sector” Bawa who was represented by the Commission’s Director of Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol, said that the EFCC’s arrest of BDC operators and currency speculators in the parallel market was not indiscriminate but a product of intelligence.

 

The EFCC Chairman said that “At EFCC, we work with intelligence and with other stakeholders; and when we talk of illegal forex operators you cannot just invite people on the street even though sometimes you could, but generally you do not have a choice but to make an arrest.”

 

 

“Some were arrested with excess of $6 Million (Six Million United States Dollars), others with $2 Million (Two Million United States Dollars) and we know that these huge sums were not meant to be used in buying goods but stolen monies being laundered out of the country.”

 

 

The EFCC Chairman noted that the commission did not only recover some of the monies but secured their forfeiture to the Nigerian government while the culprits were prosecuted.

 

 

Bawa also emphasized the need for active inter-agency and stakeholder’s collaboration, pointing out that many of the over 6,000 registered BDCs do not belong to the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria and therefore out of the orbit of regulators.

 

The EFCC Chairman said that “The CBN guidelines are clear regarding returns by BDCs, but how many of them do this.”

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NDLEA Seizes Lipsticks Stuffed With Drugs At Lagos Airport [VIDEO]

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Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have uncovered another batch of female lipsticks containing illegal drugs at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, revealed this in a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) page on Sunday.

He also urged Nigerians, particularly women, to be extremely vigilant when purchasing or accepting beauty products, especially from unfamiliar sellers or dubious online platforms.

The statement read, Ladies beware! It does appear like female lipstick is becoming attractive as an instrument for concealment and trafficking now with yet another consignment of factory fitted female lipsticks stuffed with illicit substances intercepted at MMIA barely a week after @ndlea_nigeria officers uncovered a similar cargo at a courier company in Lagos.

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JUST IN: Former President Buhari Dies In London Clinic

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Former Nigerian leader, Muhammadu Buhari, passed away on Sunday.

His longtime media aide, Garba Shehu, confirmed the news in a brief statement issued on Sunday afternoon, stating that the former president died at a clinic in London.

Shehu’s message, distributed to the media, read:
“INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAIHIRRAJIUUN. The family of the former president has announced the passing on of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, this afternoon in a clinic in London. May Allah accept him in Aljannatul Firdaus, Amin.”

The statement concluded with the date: July 13, 2025.

Although the cause of death was not disclosed, Buhari, who held office from 2015 to 2023, had frequently sought medical care in the United Kingdom during and after his time as president.

Buhari, a retired Major General in the Nigerian Army, first led Nigeria as a military head of state from 1983 to 1985. Decades later, he was elected president through a democratic process. He made history as the first opposition candidate to unseat a sitting president in Nigeria.

Funeral plans have not yet been made public.

 

More to come…

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No Effective Governance Without Full Local Government Autonomy — Femi Gbajabiamila

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The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has stated that governance at the local government level cannot be effective without complete autonomy.

He made the remark while addressing journalists after voting in the Lagos State local government elections in Surulere on Saturday.

When asked about the progress of implementing the LG autonomy ruling by the Supreme Court one year after it was delivered, Gbajabiamila described the process as ongoing and said it would be completed with time.

Gbajabiamila said, “The ruling was welcome by everybody. It’s the execution of that ruling and the implementation of that ruling that we are still trying to dot the Is and cross the Ts.

“I believe in a matter of time, we will realise full autonomy. There cannot be effective governance without full autonomy. That’s what we are working toward.”

In July 2024, the Supreme Court granted autonomy to all 774 local government areas across the country following a case filed by the federal government through the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation. However, the ruling is yet to be fully implemented.

Following the judgement, the Senate urged state and local governments to immediately adhere to the court’s directive, especially regarding local government accounts and direct fund disbursements.

The Senate also moved to amend relevant sections of the Constitution to ensure full local government autonomy nationwide.

The announcement was made by Deputy Senate President Senator Jibrin Barau, after lawmakers emerged from a closed-door session where they discussed alleged efforts by some state governments to bypass the Supreme Court’s ruling on July 11.

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