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Tag: EFCC

  • NFIU not under, siege, says EFCC

    NFIU not under, siege, says EFCC

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday said the the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) is not under siege.

    Also, the new Acting Director of the NFIU, Mr. Francis Usani, yesterday said he assumed office without hiccups.

    The EFCC spoke in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren.

    The statement said: “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been drawn to a publication by Johnson Ayorinde alleging that the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) is under siege.

    “The commission wishes to implore the public to disregard the publication, which is intended to create confusion in the wake of the redeployment of the former Acting Director, Ms Juliet Ibekaku, an assistant director in the commission.

    “There is no unusual presence of armed security on its premises beyond what is necessary to secure its facilities and staff.

    “In addition, the commission is not denying anyone access to the organisation.”

  • Lagos East should produce next governor, says Ikuforiji

    Lagos East should produce next governor, says Ikuforiji

    Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforijihas said that the Lagos East Senatorial District should produce the governor in 2015.

    He said, having produced the three Speakers, who brought honour to the state and party six times, the district is qualified to produce the next governor.

    Ikuforiji observed that there are competent men and women in the district, who can succeed Governor Babatunde Fashola, urging the people to intensify their agitation for power shift.

    The Speaker also reflected on his trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying that he will triumph over the predicament. He said: “EFCC or not, it is vanity. They will reap vanity. You know me; I will always speak my mind. Because of that, I incur the wrath of some people. God always deliver me and he will continue to deliver me”.

    The Speaker, who is believed to be eyeing the governorship, spoke at the meeting of the Lagos East All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders held at the Somolu Local Government Secretariat last weekend. He however, clarified that he had no specific candidate in mind, stressing that he only echoed the patriotic views of the stakeholders.

    Ikuforiji said: “In this coming dispensation, Lagos East Senatorial District must produce the next APC governor. All our leaders should approve the proposal. I had a dream. The dream is that our leader will support the East District for the slot”.

    The Speaker’s remark has generated much interest and controversy among the APC chieftains. Ikuforiji, the Epe-born politician, has canvassed for power shift from the Central to the East District at a time he is representing Ikeja, West District, in the House of Assembly.

    A chieftain of the APC from the West, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, said: “The legislator has found it difficult to champion power shift to the West, where he resides and currently benefits from. How would he want the people of Ikeja and the West to feel? Since he belongs to two districts, he should have allowed others to lead the agitation”.

    Since the Second Republic, power shift has not shaped governorship selection in Lagos. The three districts were only designed for senatorial elections. Although some politicians have canvassed a rotational principle, based on the five divisions-Lagos, Ikeja, Badagry, Epe, and Ikorodu, the political parties have never considered it. Lagos State has become one indivisible zone, based on the deep interactions among the indigenes and settlers.

    The first civilian governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, son of the Oluwo of Lagos, with an ancestral root in Omu-Aran, Kwara State, came from the Central District. For ethnic balancing, the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) leader, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo put forward Alhaji Rafiu Jafojo, an Awori, with an ancestral root in Ile-Ife, Osun State, as the running mate. He came from the West. The Lagos Central-born governor lived in Ilupeju, Lagos West.

    In the Third Republic, Sir Michael Otedola of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) was elected governor. He hails from Epe, East Central. Those who wanted to serve as the governor at that time, including Chief Dapo Sarunmi, the late Prof. Femi Agbalajobi and Chief Yomi Edu, also came from Epe. But the two parties-the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and NRC-did not zone it to Epe or East District. In fact, when Sarunmi and Agabalajobi were banned from the race by the military, the Jakande group in the SDP drafted Prince Abiodun Ogunleye from Ikorodu to the race.

    In 1999, when the Afenifere/Alliance for Democracy (AD) leaders endorsed Senator Bola Tinubu for the governorship, they did not bother about whether he is from the West or Central District. Merit was the watchword. The Tinubu family is from the Central, but Senator Tinubu started politics in Ikeja-Agege axis. His successor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), is from the Central, but his origin did not play any role in his emergence as the Action Congress (AC) flag bearer.

    Observers point out that Lagos is a cosmopolitan setting that has thrown up many actors, who are not indigenes of the state. One of the Speakers from the East, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, is from Ijebuland, Ogun State. A handful of state and federal legislators from the district are also not indigenes. There are interactions by marriage. In 2007, when the Ikorodu Division agitated for power shift, a Mushin, West District politician, Senator Ganiyu Solomon, showed up at the rally in Ikorodu, claiming that her paternal grandmother hailed from the division.

    Ikuforiji however, maintained that the agitation for zoning, rotation or power shift is legitimate, urging the people of the East not to relent in their efforts.

    He stressed: “Since 1999, Lagos East has produced the Speakers. The Lagos State House of Assembly has been the best in Nigeria. That means that Lagos East is full of materials. We have capable men and women in the East. The Legislature is the most difficult arm of government. It has been headed by people from the East. It is the turn of the East to produce the governor of Lagos State and it will be so”.

     

     

     

  • EFCC arraigns banker for alleged N10m fraud

    An official of Access Bank Plc, Chika Tony Odigbo, was yesterday arraigned before an Abuja High Court at Apo, for allegedly defrauding the bank’s customer of about N10 million.

    Odigbo was arrigned before Justice D. Z. Senchi on a one-count charge of obtaining money under false pretence, brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja, EFCC’s spokesman Wilson Uwujaren said the accused, a former employee of Intercontinental Homes Limited recieved N10 million from a customer, Ademola Oluwayemi, to open a fixed deposit account, which the accused allegedly told the customer was a criteria for buying a house from the bank.

    Ochigbo was said to have converted the money to his use.

    The transaction, EFCC said, took place in 2012.

    The charge reads: “That you Chika Tony Odigbo, on or about June 15, 2012, at Abuja in the Abuja Judicial Division of the High court of the Federal Capital Territory, being entrusted with N10 million by Mr. Ademola Oluwayemi of Shop 16, Omega Centre, Wuse 11, Abuja, to open a fixed deposit account for him with the Intercontinental Homes Limited did dishonestly convert to your own use the said sum and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 312 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 2004.”

     

  • Estate agent jailed 15 years for N29.8m fraud

    An estate agent, Michael Kayode Olabameji, 42 years, was yesterday sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for defrauding about 100 prospective tenants of N29.8 million.

    Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Ikeja High found Olabameji guilty of the 99-count charge of obtaining money by false pretences preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Onigbanjo sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment on each count.

    The sentence is to run concurrently beginning from February 1, 2010, when he was remanded in prison.

    The EFCC told the court that Olabameji defrauded the prospective tenants between January and July 2008.

    The EFCC prosecutor, Mrs Olubunmi Bosede, said the convict collected tenancy and agreement fees for a 16-apartment building located at No. 2, Amuda St., Kirikiri, Lagos.

    In his judgment, Justice Onigbanjo said the convict had inflicted untold hardship on the victims and deprived them of their hard-earned money.

    “It is immaterial that he had the mind to refund the money to the victims as he had claimed in his confessional statement to the EFCC.

    “The convict will be sentenced adequately to deter others,” he added.

    He said the property used by the convict to perpetuate the fraud was actually owned by another person who had leased it to him from 2010 to 2025.

    Onigbanjo said the property should, henceforth be managed by the EFCC till the expiration of the lease while proceeds from the rent should be paid to the victims as restitution.

     

  • ‘How Kebbi official ‘looted’ N1.3b’

    ‘How Kebbi official ‘looted’ N1.3b’

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday released details of how the Kebbi State Accountant-General, Mohammed Arzika Dakingari (Dan Atto), looted N1.3 billion.

    The commission said Dakingari siphoned the funds by awarding contracts to his private firm, Beal Construction Nigeria Limited.

    Dakingari was arrested last Friday in Kano and brought to Abuja for questioning.

    A statement by EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity said the N1.3 billion was mismanaged between May last year and this September.

    It said: “Dakingari, who is in EFCC detention facility in Abuja, allegedly used a company that is owned by him, Beal Construction Nigeria Limited, to award contracts to himself.

    “Dakingari’s stake in Beal Construction is contrary to civil service regulation, which forbids serving officers from owning businesses. Investigators from the anti-graft agency stumbled on evidence that showed Dakingari runs Beal Construction with his sons and brothers.

    “Findings at the Corporate Affairs Commission show that his three sons, Mohammed Bashir Mohammed; Anwal Sadat and Nasir Mohammed, with two of his brothers, Abdullahi Mohammed and Habibu Mohammed are directors of the company.

    “The company operates two accounts at Ecobank and Unity Bank, with Dakingari and Yusuf Musa, managing director, as signatories.”

    The EFCC added that the N1.3 billion was mismanaged between May last year and this September.

    The statement said: “Dakingari was discovered to operate with two signatures, one in his official capacity as state accountant-general and the other as owner of Beal Construction.

    “Analysis of the accounts showed a total credit of N1.3 billion between May last year and this September, with most of the receipts coming from the Office of the Accountant-General and the Kebbi State Ministry of Finance.

    “Some of the contracts executed for the state for which Beal Construction received payments include the supply of furniture to 66 secondary schools in Kebbi State at N987million; the connection of water and drainage system at Kebbi Central Mosque at N110 million and the building and partitioning of Mohammed Maira Secondary School for N247 million.

    “Sources close to the investigations said Dakingari and his accomplices would be arraigned in court soon.”

  • Youths condemn Lamido’s sons’ arrest

    Youths condemn Lamido’s sons’ arrest

    Hundreds of youths yesterday marched on the streets of Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, to protest the arrest of Governor Sule Lamido’s sons.

    The protesters, under the aegis of the National Volunteers for Sule Lamido (NVFS), marched on the city and House of Assembly where they were received by the Speaker, Adamu Ahmed Sarawa.

    The group’s leader, Musa Gambo Guri, condemned the arrest and detention of Lamido’s sons by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and called for their release.

    Guri expressed their support for the governor and hailed his socio-economic performance in the state.

    He said: “The Lamido-led administration is the most transparent and accountable in the country. It is only Governor Lamido, who has achieved over 90 percent budget implementation in all his six years in office.

    “President Goodluck Jonathan witnessed these improvements when he visited the state to inaugurate projects and laid foundation of some others.”

    The group called on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman Bamanga Tukur to resign. It urged the Presidency to stop harassing and intimidating the Group of Seven Governors (G7).

    The Speaker assured the protesters that their message would be presented to the Assembly for deliberation.

    Sarawa said: “As you know the Assembly is not a one-man show, so your complaint would be presented to all the members during plenary.

    “The PDP is one family in this state and we will remain united under the able leadership of Governor Sule Lamido.”

     

  • Amaechi raises the alarm over ‘missing $5billion Excess Crude fund’

    Amaechi raises the alarm over ‘missing $5billion Excess Crude fund’

    • Governors Forum demands transparency in NNPC finances

    •Jonathan shuns meeting with state chief executives

    • Okonjo-Iweala accused of stopping $200m ADB loan for Rivers

    Who and what could have made $5billion disappear from the nation’s Excess Crude Account (ECA)?

    This was the challenge the Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Rotimi Amaechi, threw at the anti-graft agencies yesterday in Sokoto.

    He spoke while declaring the second annual retreat of the state chief executives open.

    The River State governor said the Excess Crude Account stood at $9billion last January only to shrink to only $4billion today.

    “That account belongs to Federal, States and Local Governments. Today it is $4billion. We don’t know who took $5billion,” he said.

    President Goodluck Jonathan, who was billed to deliver the key note address at the retreat, was absent.

    He did not send any representative.

    Also absent were members of the Jang -led faction of the forum, which enjoys the backing of the Presidency.

    Amaechi said it was convenient for the anti-graft agencies to look the other way now on the matter because of the apparent involvement of the Federal Government whereas the same agencies, according to him, would have waded in if any of the state or local governments were involved in a similar financial irregularity.

    He said the agencies are being used for political vendetta against opponents of the federal authorities.

    His words: “Today the EFCC is either in Jigawa or in Kano because they disagree with the President. What about NNPC? What about the Ministry of Niger Delta and the Ministry of Works?

    “The whole governors put together we receive 26 per cent from the revenue of the Federation. The Federal Government gets 52 per cent. And with that 52 per cent, nobody goes after the Federal Government to say ‘how did you spend it’?

    “And then you go after those who got 26 per cent. Even if you recover all the 26 per cent, what have you benefitted from it as against those who have stolen 52 per cent?”

    He asked the followership to begin to demand accountability from the leadership otherwise entrenching democracy in the country would remain a mirage.

    Lamenting the lack of effective leadership in the country, he said: “”The only thing that fascinates me is the definition of legacy projects. Because if I were to be the President, I would want to leave a legacy of free and fair elections.

    “But nobody in government or outside government sees that as a legacy. Those are the intangibles that can make for good governance. Nobody believes that governance is not the structures that have broken down.

    “Nobody knows that Nigeria is as chaotic as it is because there are no organizations; we have no rules. What I mean is not laws by the National Assembly – the standard by which you measure the expectation of the people you govern.

    “There is a friend of mine who went to see the Inspector General of Police and then he got there and saw a DIG and then the DIG said ‘you are also here, are you not Governor Amaechi’s friend who is against our government?’

    “This means from day one, the police is on the other side. And the police is the Nigeria police. It is not PDP police.”

    He also spoke on his ordeals in the hands of the Federal Government arising from his disagreement with the Presidency.

    He accused the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala of refusing to approve a $200million loan meant to provide water for the people of Rivers State because of his disagreement with the President.

    He said that other agents/agencies of the Federal Government have stalled development in his state for the same reason.

    The governor said: “The African Development Bank (ADB) met with the Rivers State Government. We agreed on the loan and they signed off every document. All the requirements have been met to give us $200million as loan for water in River State.

    “We travelled and concluded every arrangement but the Minister of Finance, who by international standard is recognised in the world, has refused to sign off for us to provide water for Rivers people.

    “Meanwhile, I ,the Governor, I drink bottled water paid for by Rivers people and then she has refused to sign off for the money to be released so that we can give our people water because Governor Amaechi is against the President.

    “So it is like two women quarrelling and keeping malice with you. So they are keeping malice with me now and my people should die because I disagreed with the President.”

    Amaechi said Nigeria is facing lot of challenges, which can only be addressed if the leaders make conscious efforts to do the right thing.

    The Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto, Dr Matthew Kukah, in his presentation entitled: “Good governance and the imperative for managing and leaving a sustainable legacy” charged the governors to leave legacies for which they will be remembered by the people.

    He decried a situation where governors receive awards from everywhere without concrete development in their states.

    On the role of education in good governance, the clergyman said the nation cannot move forward without ensuring that every child is given quality education.

    Kuka said: “It is impossible for us to move in any direction at all without seriously, honestly and sincerely committing ourselves to the fact that we have a commitment that no single child in Nigeria be left behind in terms of education.

    “I’m hearing from the Ministry of Education, all kinds of agencies, the Universal Basic Education that there are hundreds of billions of Naira locked up.

    “States cannot access the money simply because they have not been able to come up with counterpart funding.

    “The truth is that we have not made up our mind about education because I don’t know whether we are not running contrary by having a school where the children attending the Almajiri schools are already stigmatised.

    “How many really serious members of the Nigerian elite will send their children to these schools? And am I going to graduate one day with a PhD from Almajiri school and I want to be a professor in this country?

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who spoke on the “Role of states in deepening democracy and good governance in Nigeria” lamented that the military terminated the country’s parliamentary system of government that was suitable for Nigeria and replaced it with the presidential system which in essence is a unitary system of government.

    Tambuwal faulted the unwieldy powers vested on the Federal Government by the Constitution which “has also made it possible for the Federal Government to control the police making it almost impossible for states to have a significant role to play in crime prevention and law enforcement.

    “When you see the way things are going in Nigeria, you come to the conclusion that it is not possible for us to practise presidential system of government the way it is done in the United States from where we copied our federation.

    “Another manifestation of the unitary system is the concentration of resource allocation on the federal government leaving states as if they were beggars.”

    He added that the State Assemblies have failed the people by not being able to exercise due oversight on the state executives.

    In a communiqué at the end of the retreat, the NGF insisted on transparency in the operations of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and urged Nigerians to stop being docile in the face of monumental impunity in the country.

    The governors stressed the need for “intangible aspects of good governance anchored on a framework of ethics, values and political morality to drive development and leave a durable legacy of democratic governance.”

  • Money laundering: EFCC arrests Lamido’s sons

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested two sons of the Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido for alleged laundering of about N10billion.

    The sons, Mustapha and Aminu Lamido were brought to Abuja at about 9am on Friday.

    They were being interrogated as at press time.

    But there were fears last night that the arrest of the two sons was linked to the ongoing crackdown on G-7 governors

    According to a top source, who spoke in confidence, the suspects were picked up in Dutse, Jigawa State following alleged diversion of state funds into their accounts.

    It was gathered that the ongoing investigation of the alleged mismanagement of the N10billion led to the invasion of Jigawa by the EFCC operatives.

    Although the governor was linked to the laundering of the said funds, the EFCC could not arrest him because he enjoys constitutional immunity.

    The source said: “You will recall that we had earlier secured the conviction of Aminu for laundering $40,000. This incident made the EFCC to take more interest in the financial affairs of Jigawa State.

    “Following tips-off, we stepped up investigation into the financial transactions leading to this fresh discovery of alleged mismanagement of N10billion.

    “We are looking into how part of these state funds got into the accounts of the governor’s sons.

    “We are investigating the allegation that the suspects had been fronting for their father by laundering state funds.

    “All the accounts of the sons and their fathers are being scrutinized by our investigating team.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “The two sons were brought to Abuja at about 9am on Friday. Their interrogation is still in progress.

    “It is too early to talk of their admission to bail now because they had been making only statement.”

    Contacted, the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said: “We have arrested the sons of the governor, they are being interrogated.”

     

  • Alleged fraud: Polish woman remanded in EFCC custody

    Justice Abubakar Umar of a Federal Capital Territory High Court on Thursday ordered that a Polish woman, Mrs. Dora Gilmaska be remanded in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission custody till November 26.

    The judge gave the order after he withdrew the bail granted Gilmaska because she failed on two occasions to appear in court for her trial.

    “I remember that on September 26 the EFCC applied for the bench warrant because the accused could not be located. I issued a bench warrant for her arrest,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the judge saying on Thursday.

    The judge then ordered the accused counsel to file a written application, stating reasons why the court should admit her to bail again.

    “The accused is hereby remanded in EFCC custody pending hearing of the application by the accused counsel,’’ Umar said, and adjourned the case to November 26 for hearing.

    Earlier, the accused counsel, Mr. Justin Okoli, who is holding the brief of his principal counsel, Mr. Selekowei Larry (SAN), apologized for Larry’s absence.

    The EFCC is prosecuting Gilmaska, the Executive Officer of Icon Media and Marketing Agency Limited, for allegedly forging and issuing a dud cheque of N 9 million to one Tayo Olugbemi in 2012.

     

     

  • Estate agent charged with N30.7m fraud

    Estate agent charged with N30.7m fraud

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arraigned an estate agent, Peters Nwogu, before a Lagos High Court, Ikeja for allegedly defrauding some would be tenants of N30.7 million.

    Nwogu was arraigned before Justice Kudirat Jose.

    The defendant is facing a 20-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretences and issuance of dud cheque.

    He was charged with two of his companies, Diplomatic Service Consulting Limited (DSCL) and the Christian Business Defence Fellowship.

    EFCC counsel Mr Francis Usani alleged that Nwogu, between February 2007 and January 2010, collected money from different individuals and companies under the pretext of helping them get houses in Lagos.

    The EFCC said Nwogu promised to lease the victims the buildings located at No. 4, Kingsley Emu St., Lekki Phase I, Lagos and No. 35, Joel Ogunaike St., Ikeja, respectively.

    Some of these he allegedly swindled are Messrs Emmanuel Dimgba, Kayode Komolafe, Tochukwu Orakwe, Alumaco Plc, JMG Nigeria Limited and Nuramal and Sons Nigeria Limited.

    Usani accused Nwogu of issuing a December 7, 2009 Oceanic Bank Cheque for N48 million payable to one Dr F.A. Ajayi from the account of DSCL.

    The prosecutor said the cheque was dishonoured when it was presented because there were insufficient funds in the defendant’s account.

    Usani said the offence contravened Section 1(3) and 8 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006 and is punishable under the same section.

    The offence, he added, also contravened and is punishable under Section 1 (1) of the Dishonoured Cheques (Offences) Act, Cap D11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    When the charges were read, Nwogu pleaded not guilty.

    Justice Jose ordered the defendant to be remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Prison custody pending the hearing and determination of his bail application on November 19, 2013.