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The trial of a Nigerian film maker, Olajide Kazeem, better known as Seun Egbede, for alleged serial frauds involving N39, 098,100, $90,000 and £12,550 was stalled on Wednesday due to the absence of the prosecuting counsel for the police, Mr. Innocent Anyigor.

The trial judge, Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, of the Federal High Court in Lagos, told Egbegbe and his co-defendants that the prosecutor had written to the court that he would be out of jurisdiction on an official duty.

The judge consequently adjourned the case till October 3, 2017, while she ordered the defendants, who had yet to perfect their bail conditions, to return to the prison custody.

Egbegbe is standing trial alongside Oyekan Ayomide, Lawal Kareem, Olalekan Yusuf and Muyideen Shoyombo.

The defendants were accused of swindling no fewer than 30 Bureau De Change operators in Lagos of various sums both in local and foreign currencies between 2015 and 2017.

The police alleged that the defendants defrauded the BDC operators mostly by falsely representing to the victims that they had foreign currencies to sell to or buy from the BDC operators.

The police alleged, for instance, that on February 2, 2017, Egbegbe and his co-defendants fraudulently obtained the sums of N2.45m and £,3,000 from one Alhaji Isa Adamu in Lagos under the guise that they wanted to sell the naira and buy the pounds.

Among the other victims of the alleged frauds by Egbede were Mohammed Sanni, who was allegedly defrauded of N2.46m on 2017 New Year day; Jubrila Ado, allegedly defrauded of N1.257m on September 9, 2016; Hassan Amodu, allegedly defrauded of N600,000 in January 2016; Sanni Hassan, defrauded off N1.43 and £2,750 in August 2015; Saidi Abdullahi, defrauded of N700,000 on April 18, 2016; Atairu Abdullahi, defrauded of N1m on June 23, 2016; and Abdullahi Babadisa, defrauded of N650,000 in January 2016.

The police prosecutor, Anyigor, told the court that Egbegbe and the others acted contrary to Section 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and were liable to be punished under Section 1(3) of the same.

But when the charges were read to them, they all pleaded not guilty.

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JUST IN: UAE Bans Transit Visas, Imposes Stricter Entry Rules For Nigerians

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The United Arab Emirates has implemented more stringent entry requirements for Nigerian travellers and has fully stopped accepting transit visa applications.

This was confirmed by travel agents on Tuesday.

As stated in the latest directives from Dubai immigration, Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 45 are now ineligible for tourist visas unless accompanied.

Applicants who are 45 years old or older must provide a personal six-month bank statement showing a minimum ending balance of $10,000 (or the equivalent in naira) each month.

Travel agents noted that this policy is expected to significantly decrease the number of Nigerians travelling to Dubai, a major hub for tourism and business.

The notification stated, “For Nigerian nationals, please bear in mind that an applicant aged 18 to 45 years travelling alone is not eligible for the TOURIST VISA CATEGORY.

“An applicant who is 45 years or above must provide a Single Nigerian personal bank statement for a period of the last six months, with each month’s end balance reflecting a minimum ending balance of USD 10,000 or its naira equivalent.

“Kindly note that the above points must be taken into consideration before sending your applications with other existing documents such as hotel reservation, data page, etc.”

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Dangote Refinery To End Crude Imports By December — Bloomberg Report

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The Dangote Petroleum Refinery plans to stop importing crude oil by December 2025, aiming to replace hundreds of thousands of barrels per day of imported crude with domestic supply.

A Bloomberg report quoted Devakumar Edwin, Vice President at Dangote Industries, who oversees the 650,000-barrel-per-day facility in Lagos, saying that contracts with foreign crude suppliers will expire, allowing the refinery to shift to sourcing feedstock locally.

Edwin stated that the refinery had previously imported crude from Brazil, Angola, Ghana, and Equatorial Guinea. However, he explained that “improved relations between the refinery, local oil traders and the government will result in a steady supply of Nigerian crude.”

The report noted that in June, the plant received about half of its crude from local producers, who will be able to supply more as their foreign commitments wind down.

Edwin said, “We expect some of the long-term contracts will expire. Personally, and as a company, we expect that before the end of the year, we can transition 100 per cent to local crude.”

Data compiled by Bloomberg revealed that in June, the refinery sourced 53 per cent of its crude from domestic producers and 47 per cent from the United States.

Edwin added that the plant is currently processing 550,000 barrels of crude per day.

According to cargo allocations seen by Bloomberg News, Dangote was scheduled to receive five cargoes from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in July, with the same amount set for August. Each cargo contains nearly one million barrels of crude.

Aliko Dangote constructed the $20 billion refinery to end the export of Nigerian crude for refining abroad and the subsequent importation of refined products.

The gradual ramp-up of the refinery has already enabled Nigeria to become a net exporter of petroleum products, despite initial challenges in securing adequate domestic crude to reach its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. This led to the refinery relying heavily on foreign crude.

Dangote recently stated that despite a naira-for-crude deal, the refinery had been largely dependent on crude from the United States.

The refinery expects a notable increase in local crude supply over the coming months.

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LG Polls: Speaker Obasa Charges Lagos West APC Candidates To Intensify Campaigns, Assures Of The Assembly’s Support

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  • As Lagos Railway Corporation and Ibile Energy Corporation bills scale second reading

 

Ahead of the local government elections holding Saturday, July 12, across the state, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa met with candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), from the Lagos State West Senatorial District at the assembly complex on Tuesday, charging them to knock on all doors and campaign vigorously until the very last day to ensure victory at the polls.

As a show of support, Speaker Obasa contributed generously to the candidates’ campaign purses and assured them of the Assembly’s unstinting support before and after the elections.

At the meeting, which was attended by all the APC chairmen, vice-chairmen, and councillorship candidates, Speaker Obasa urged the candidates not to rest on the party’s laurels but to maintain momentum and outreach efforts until the very last day of campaigning. “Engage with everyone in the community, regardless of their ethnic background or religion,” he implored, while harping on the necessity for candidates to actively supervise those assigned to manage their campaigns.

The Speaker also admonished the candidates to adopt a mindset centred on service to the people when they assume office, adding, “Your focus should be on serving your constituents with integrity and commitment, and you must have respect for democratic institutions and practices.”

Further, he proudly noted that Lagos remains unique among states in the country, as it grants local government chairmen a four-year tenure per term, allowing for more sustained governance and grassroots development.

The meeting concluded with a palpable sense of urgency and resolve among the APC candidates, as they prepare to take their campaigns to the grassroots, embodying the spirit of service and dedication imparted by Speaker Obasa.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Railway Corporation bill and the IBILE Energy Corporation Bill have scaled the second reading.

According to the Majority Leader, Hon. Noheem Babatunde Adams, who spoke during plenary later on Tuesday, the proposed ‘bill for a Law to establish the Lagos State Railway Corporation to improve Railway Transportation in Lagos State and for connected purposes’, seeks to provide efficient and reliable transportation services, and establish a Governing Board tasked with overseeing the corporation’s operations.

Hon. Adams, the member representing Eti Osa Constituency 1, said, “With South Africa leading in Africa with a 20,926 km railway network and Nigeria currently at 3,798 km, Lagos, as Africa’s second-largest city economy after Cairo, must take the lead in innovative rail transport solutions.” He added that the bill will set up a standard railway corporation comparable to any across the globe.

Similarly, the House also read for the second time, ‘A bill for a Law to establish the IBILE Energy Corporation’, which Hon. Sobur Oluwa, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Mineral Resources, described as a transformative one for the state’s energy landscape.
“If passed into Law, the corporation will attract innovation, investment, and reshape the energy sector of the State,” he said.

In his remarks, Speaker Obasa commended the essence of the bills and noted that when eventually passed into law, they will mark a significant advancement in the assembly’s efforts to modernize infrastructure and strengthen the state’s economy. He, thereafter, committed the two bills to the committees on Transportation and Energy and Mineral Resources with a mandate to submit their reports at the earliest possible time.

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