MARKETERS have blamed the fresh scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol on a supply challenge from the major oil supplier in the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited. The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, made this known on Monday on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief breakfast programme monitored by News Point Nigeria. The fresh fuel scarcity has grounded many economic activities in states across the Federation as Nigerians queue up at filling stations nationwide. While some motorists were lucky to get fuel at some…
Author: Farouk Abbas
Read More
ACCORDING to the most recent National Bureau of Statistics report, Lagos, Ondo, and Taraba recorded the highest Okada (motorcycle) fares in March. The data indicates substantial differences in transportation costs across various Nigerian states. In March 2024, the average fare for Okada rides per trip in Nigeria rose by 2.15% compared to the same period last year, with fares reaching N472.16, up from N462.21 in March 2023. This was contained in the most recent National Bureau of Statistics Transport Fare Watch report for March 2024, published on the agency’s website. However, fares in Lagos, Ondo, and Taraba states were notably…
GUNMEN have killed Alaba Excel. He was one of the coordinators of the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers Independent Council (LACO-FSIC) in Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State. LACO-FSIC in a Sunday statement by its State Information Director Kayode Fasua said Excel was killed in his Supare home on Saturday. “The Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers Independent Council (LACO-FSIC) on Sunday decried the gruesome murder of one of its ward coordinators in Akoko Southwest Local Government area of Ondo State, Mr. Alaba Abe Excel, with an appeal to the police authorities to protect its members against…
THE Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited over the “failure to account for and explain the whereabouts of the alleged missing USD$2.04 billion and N164 billion oil revenues.” According to SERAP, the suit followed the allegations documented in the recently published 2020 audited report by the Auditor General of the Federation that the NNPC failed to remit the money into the Federation Account, saying that the money may have been diverted. The Deputy Director of SERAP, Kolawole Oluwadare, disclosed this in a statement which was made available to…
CONSTITUTIONAL Lawyer, Ewa Okpo, has described the actions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the ongoing face-off with the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, as “trial by mischief”. In an interview on Arise TV’s morning show on Saturday, the legal practitioner specifically stated that it was wrong, in the first instance, for the EFCC to attempt to arrest the former Governor when it was aware of a subsisting restraining order, which had not been vacated as of the time of its action. He said the whole “drama” was centred around an abuse of court…
THE Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, appointed Mr. Michael Nzekwe as his Chief of Staff. He has also appointed Zonal Directors for each of the 14 Zonal Commands of the Commission as part of the restructuring of the EFCC. According to Olukayode, the ongoing restructuring is meant to reposition and strengthen the EFCC so that it can deliver optimally on its assigned mandate. The anti-graft agency’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, announced the new appointments and changes in a statement on Saturday. Nzekwe, who he described as a top-notch investigator, lawyer…
IMMEDIATE past Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has refuted the claim of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Ola Olukoyede that he withdrew the sum of $840,000 from state government coffers to pay for his children’s school fees. The clarification was contained in a statement by Yahaya Bello’s Media Office, made available to News Point Nigeria, Friday. According to the statement, Yahaya Bello’s children have attended the American International School, Abuja well before he became Governor and he has paid fees for his children as and when due and without fail. See full statement below: MEDIA OFFICE…
Summoned To Show Cause Why He Shouldn’t Be Committed To Prison A KOGI State High Court sitting in Lokoja has ordered the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, to appear in court on May 13, 2024, to show cause why an order of committal should not be made against him for allegedly disobeying court order. The EFCC boss is facing a contempt charge for carrying out “some acts upon which they (the EFCC) have been restrained” by the Court on February 9, 2024, pending the determination of the substantive Originating Motion. Justice I. A. Jamil, delivering…
CHIEFTAINS of the ruling All Progressives Congress have said that an unbiased assessment of the alleged media trial of the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission goings showcases grounds for strong suspicion of vendetta. The Stakeholders, who spoke at a press conference in Abuja on Friday said, while the public was being misled into the erroneous impression that the EFCC was trying to fight corruption, “it is actually just a pretense in furtherance of a personal vendetta on behalf of, and, at the behest of persons in government intent on the…
A COALITION of Civil Society Organisations has kicked against the increasing media trial of the immediate past Governor of Kogi State by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, saying the development is “grossly unprofessional and uncalled for.” The No Corruption Coalition, at a press conference on Thursday in Lagos, said it decided to add its voice to call for the respect of the rule of law, owing to the growing concern about the recent avoidable crisis between the Commission and the Governor. The acitivists said the outburst of the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, which revealed that no formal letter of…
THE money laundering trial of a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, could not proceed on Thursday owing to the absence of the trial judge, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos. Justice Aneke was said to be away on an official assignment, prompting the adjournment of the case to July 1 for the continuation of trial. Fayose is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for an alleged N6.9bn fraud and money laundering. He was first arraigned on Oct. 22, 2018, before Justice Mojisola Olatotegun, alongside his company, Spotless Investment Ltd, on an…
‘EFCC Boss Should Be Held In Contempt Of Court’ HUNDREDS of Civil Society Organisations took to the streets in Lagos on Wednesday to protest “the continued disrespect for the rule of law and undue harassment of a citizen of Nigeria” by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The activists condemned the fact that the EFCC chairman failed to provide any documentary evidence of an official invitation sent to former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, yet the Commission declared him wanted and had subjected him to “unprecedented and reckless media trials despite a subsisting Court order which protected him at…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, over an ongoing N8,069,176,864.00 money laundering probe. The indicted former Minister of Aviation arrived at the Federal Capital Territory Command of the EFCC at about 1:00 pm on Tuesday, this newspaper can confirm. Our correspondent, who was at the Wuse office of the EFCC, observed the embattled former minister’s arrival at the anti-graft agency’s Abuja office. Following his arrival at the command, Sirika is currently meeting with EFCC investigators to answer questions on alleged fraudulent contracts awarded by him to a company known as Engirios Nigeria…
IMMEDIATE past Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has refuted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) claim about inviting him for questioning immediately after his tenure, saying, ‘we challenge the EFCC to produce a copy of this invitation, including the delivery date and the recipient’s name/endorsement’. According to Bello’s media office, no formal invitation was ever sent to the former governor and they are confident the EFCC cannot produce any evidence to the contrary. See full statement below: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RE: ‘YAHAYA BELLO: EFCC NEVER DISOBEYED COURT ORDER’ EFCC LIED AGAIN Our attention has been drawn to a…
THE Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, on Monday, said the Federal Government is considering the adoption of 18 years as the entry age for admission into universities and other tertiary institutions of learning. The minister also accused underage students of being responsible for some of the problems being encountered in higher institutions. The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, described the proposition by the Federal Government as a welcome development. “We are in full support. It is the right thing. What the minister said is the correct thing,” ASUU President told our correspondent in…
HEARING on the appeal instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against an interim order of the Kogi State High Court restraining the Commission from arresting, detaining, harassing or prosecuting Yahaya Bello, pending the determination of the substantive originating motion for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights, suffered a setback on Monday, as the Court of Appeal failed to sit. The appropriateness of the siege on Bello’s residence by operatives of the Commission last Wednesday had elicited a heated debate across the country, particularly with the realisation that there had been a restraining order against such action, which…
THE Kenya Police Service has arrested fleeing Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, as the International Criminal Police Organisation moves to extradite him to Nigeria within the week. Government sources familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the matter confirmed the development to our correspondent on Sunday night. One of the sources said, “Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, has been arrested by the Kenya Police Service, and he would be extradited to Nigeria this week by INTERPOL.” Another source noted, “As we had said before that Anjarwalla would be extradited, he has…
THE Court of Appeal in Abuja will today (Monday) hear the appeal lodged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against the order of a Kogi State High Court which restrained the anti-graft agency from arresting the immediate-past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. The Kogi court, in a ruling on February 9, 2024, restrained the EFCC from “inviting, arresting, detaining, prosecuting” Bello pending the determination of a fundamental rights suit he filed before the court. The anti-graft agency approached the Federal High Court in Abuja last Wednesday to get an arrest warrant while the Federal High Court in Kogi…
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Yemi Cardoso says the apex bank’s FX reforms have made the naira the best-performing currency globally. Nigeria’s currency lost massively against major currencies in the past few months. But Cardoso who spoke on Saturday in a briefing on the sidelines of the just-ended World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC, United States, said the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are paying off. “April saw the naira emerge as the best-performing currency globally, supported by bullish sentiment from leading international investment institutions,” he said. “Our FX market is experiencing robust activities with turnover reaching levels…
IN a bid to salvage the dwindling performance of Kano Pillars Football Club in the ongoing Nigeria Premier Football League season, the Kano State Government has issued a three-game ultimatum to the team’s management and technical crew. The ultimatum, announced by the Acting Commissioner of Youths and Sports, Hon. Hamza Safiyanu Kachako, on Friday, underscores the urgency of the situation. “The recent string of disappointing results by Kano Pillars is of grave concern to the state government,” Kachako said. “We recognize the importance of Kano Pillars to the people of Kano State, and it’s imperative that decisive action be taken…