Author: Samuel Akpenpuun

An Ikeja Special Offences Court yesterday heard how former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele transferred millions of naira to his wife, Magaret. An assistant bank manager, Mrs Ifeoma Ogbonnaya, told Justice Rahman Oshodi that millions of naira was also moved in several tranches into several companies’ accounts. Emefiele is standing trial over abuse of office and alleged $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion fraud before the court while in office. The former apex bank boss is facing trial before three courts in Lagos and Abuja. His co-defendant is Henry Omoile. In a separate corruption case, the High Court…

The Peoples Democratic Party has approached the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, to appeal the Federal High Court judgment that invalidated the primaries that produced Asue Ighodalo as its gubernatorial candidate in the forthcoming 2024 governorship election in Edo State. The appellant (PDP), in an appeal hinged on 25 grounds, asked the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the lower court delivered on July 4, 2024. Recall that Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had declared the PDP primary election held on February 22 in Edo State as invalid. Justice Ekwo held that the PDP…

Lionel Messi was on target as world champions Argentina turned on the style to beat Canada 2-0 on Tuesday and reach the Copa America final where they will look for a third straight major title. The defending Copa champions will face the winners of Wednesday’s semi-final between Uruguay and Colombia in what will be a highly anticipated final in Miami on Sunday. The 15-times Copa champions produced their best display of the tournament in front of a capacity crowd at the 82,500 MetLife Stadium and as in their 2022 World Cup triumph they look to be peaking at the perfect…

President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Festus Osifo said labour and the Federal Government were in talks before the bill on a new national minimum wage was forwarded to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu. Osifo confirmed that labour has had meetings with the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and other government officials to ensure that the new minimum wage would “cater to the needs of the poorest of the poor.” He spoke at the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) Women Commission maiden Annual…

The Senate has said that the N22.4bn allocated to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the 2024 budget was inadequate given the importance of the commission to the nation’s prosperity. It also called for improved budgetary provision for the Commission. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Osita Izunaso made this known on Tuesday when the Director-General of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, appeared before the committee to defend the commission’s 2024 budget. He expressed sadness that the budget was too small to enable the commission to carry out its statutory functions. Senator Izunaso said, “The SEC is regulating…

The House of Representatives’ Joint Committee on the arbitrary increase in the price of cement, on Tuesday, threatened to arrest the management of Dangote Cement if it fails to appear at its next hearing. Recall that the legislative chamber had on May 7, 2024, issued a 14-day ultimatum to cement manufacturers to appear before its joint committee and make their submissions on the arbitrary increment of cement prices in Nigeria. The Chairman, House Committee on Solid Minerals, Jonathan Gbefwi, gave the summon at a public hearing to investigate the arbitrary increase in the price of cement in Nigeria by cement…

Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Osun has urged the management of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to avoid debt traps for students in the operation of the scheme. Adeleke said this when the NELFUND management, led by its Managing Director, Mr Akintunde Sawyer, paid a courtesy visit to his office, on Tuesday, in Osogbo. The governor said that the management of the loans board should take a cue from other countries operating it to avoid a pitfall. “I must, however, call our attention to a lesson we must learn as a nation from the operation of the loans board. “As…

The House Committee on FCT Area Councils and Ancillary Matters has asked the FCT minister of state and the Six area councils Chairmen to appear before the Committee on Tuesday 16th July. The Committee also threatened to withhold appropriation to the Ministry and the six area councils. The resolution followed the refusal of the Chairmen of Area Councils to appear before the House Committee on FCT Area Councils and Ancillary Matters. Members of the committee were furious about the absence and called on the government to withhold state allocations by running a Transition Implementation Committee (TIC). The House also urged…

The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu has said that the Kudenda Power Project in Kaduna would be completed before the first quarter of next year, and an additional 215 megawatts of power would be added to the national grid. He said the Kaduna power plant project at Kudenda was awarded in 2010- that is 13 years ago, but the project was stalled due to legal issues. The Minister spoke to journalists in Kaduna on Tuesday at the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KedCo) after an inspection tour of the Kudenda project. Adelabu who assured of the government’s determination to finally…

Justice Kehinde Ogundare of the Lagos Federal High Court, Ikoyi has ordered the final forfeiture of $16.5 million and N127 million which were fraudulently diverted from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to the federal government of Nigeria. Justice Ogundare finally forfeited the monies, while granting an application for such orders, which was filed and moved by an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) lawyer, Sulaiman I. Sulaiman, today. The monies, according to the EFCC, were said to be proceeds of unlawful activities. The judge had on May 23, 2024, ordered the interim forfeiture of the monies, while…