THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) aroused the rage of Nigerians this week when it revealed in its periodic newsletter called “EFCC Alert” (which it shared with news organizations on Monday) that it had recovered up to 30 billion naira of the money allegedly stolen by suspended Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation minister Betta Edu.

The rage wasn’t directed at the EFCC, of course. It was directed at Betta Edu for the deficiency of morality it must take for her to steal that much money in just six months of being a minister. The rage also comes from people’s extrapolation of how much unconscionable theft of our public wealth must be going on in this administration undetected. What sort of moral climate conduces to such stratospheric pillaging of the public till without a tinge of compunction or fear of consequences?

Just when Nigerians were roiling in the storm of EFCC’s revelations, Edu’s lawyers denied them and threatened to sue the BBC for publishing them, even though scores of news outlets also published the same story.

Her lawyers allege that the story about the recovery of N30 billion from her and the investigation of 50 banks connected to her, which we read inseverallegacy and digital-native news outlets, was repurposed from the BBC.

Well, that’s not accurate. As I indicated earlier, EFCC’s bulletin, called the “EFCC Alert,” is the source of the story, and it was shared with multiple news organizations, including the BBC.

If the information about the extortionate amount of money allegedly recovered from Edu is false, the blame for this should go to the EFCC, not the BBC—or, for that matter, any news site.

In order to write this column, I searched for the EFCC Alert to see what exactly it contains. I would have reached the same conclusions about Betta Edu as the BBC and other news organizations did if I were still in the news business.

Here’s the original, verbatim wording from the “EFCC Alert” that informed the BBC story:

“Update on Betta Edu investigation. We have laws and regulations guiding our investigations. Nigerians will also know that they are already on suspension, and this is based on the investigations we have done, and President Bola Tinubu has proved to Nigerians that he is ready to fight corruption.

“Moreover, concerning this particular case, we have recovered over N30 billion, which is already in the coffers of the Federal Government.

“It takes time to conclude investigations; we started this matter less than six weeks ago. Some cases take years to investigate. There are so many angles to it, and we need to follow through with some of the discoveries that we have seen. Nigerians should give us time on this matter; we have professionals on this case, and they need to do things right. There are so many leads here and there.

“As it is now, we are investigating over 50 bank accounts that we have traced money into. That is no child’s play. That’s a big deal. Then you ask about my staff strength.

“And again, we have thousands of other cases that we are working on. Nigerians have seen the impact of what we have done so far, by way of some people being placed on suspension and by way of the recoveries that we have made. You have seen that the programme itself has been suspended. We are exploring so many discoveries that we have stumbled upon in our investigation.

“If it is about seeing people in jail, well, let them wait. Everything has a process to follow. So Nigerians should wait and give us the benefit of the doubt.”

It’s entirely possible that the EFCC meant that in the past six weeks, it has recovered 30 billion naira from multiple corruption cases of which Betta Edu’s is one. There are many clues to that in the “alert.”Perhapsthe EFCC chairman has challenges with articulate, elegant, and clear communication in the English language.

However, in the absence of any countervailing facts, it’s reasonable to assume that the EFCC Alert meant that 30 billion naira was recovered from Betta Edu and that more than 50 bank accounts belonging to her are being investigated.

After all, the title of the bulletin is “Update on Betta Edu.” It also talks of “suspension” (and Edu is the only public official we know of that is on suspension on account of corruption), although it uses the pronoun “they” to refer to the subject of suspension, implying that it could be more than one person.

Nonetheless, in referencing the recovery of 30 billion naira, the EFCC Alert talks about “this particular case”; it doesn’t say“these particular cases.”So, it’s wholly within the bounds of reason to conclude that “this particular case” refers to the title of the news bulletin: “Update on Betta Edu investigation.”

I hope the EFCC will clarify this issue for us—and, of course, be more careful in its public communication in future.

But it doesn’t really matter if Betta stole 30 billion naira in six months and salted away money in 50 bank accounts. The truth is that the ministry she supervised is a cesspool of some of the most fetid and audacious corruption that Nigeria has ever seen since the restoration of civilian rule in 1999.

Right from its inception, it was conceived as the hotbed of graft, as the featherbed of in-your-face venality. Its origins are traceable to the Muhammadu Buhar regime’s National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which was conceived to putatively contain poverty and deprivation in Nigeria.

NSIP had within it such programs as the N-Power Programme, the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme, and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), which is made up of the MarketMoni, FarmerMoni, and TraderMoni schemes.

Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo headed NSIP. But the Buhari cabal later realized that NSIP was a prolificcash cow that lined several pockets and missed its supposed targets. I was one of the earliest people approached to expose what the cabal was convinced was humongous corruption in the NSIP that ran into tens of billions of naira—complete with what seems like fool-proof documentary evidence.

As I said at the time, I refused to be used to amplify the internal discord of the common oppressors of the Nigerian people. When Osinbajo was using TraderMoni to induce poor people to vote for Buhari, the cabal had no problem. They only discovered his “corruption” after the fact.

So, they reached out to other fringe sources and figures to give publicity to the corruption in NSIP, which caused Osinbajo to threaten to sue a whole bunch of people. They achieved their aim of calling attention to the rot in NSIP, which justified taking it away from the vice president’s office and constituting it as a separate ministry.

Thus, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development was born. The Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration renamed it as the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

Because it was conceived in corruption, born in more corruption, and nourished in even more corruption, it can’t be anything but corrupt. It has become the posterchild for bizarre, eye-watering, consequence-free corruption.

Recall that on April 10, 2020, Maryam Uwais, then Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, told Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily program that she couldn’t account for the billions that she and the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs putatively gave to weak, poor, and vulnerable Nigerians to ease the hurt of the coronavirus pandemic because, “Those who benefit from the conditional cash transfer of the Federal Government as palliative to cushion the effects of the lockdown caused by the deadly Coronavirus don’t want to be addressed as poor people. That is why we can’t publish their names.”

For her part, Sadiya Umar Farouq, Uwais’ superior, turned heads when she said she expended billions to feed schoolkids who weren’t in school because of COVI-19. Betta Edu was merely walking a well-trodden path in the ministry.

If Tinubu wants to be taken seriously, he should not only outright terminate Edu’s appointment as a minister, but he should also scrap the entire ministry she heads. That ministry has no reason to exist.

The conversation about an Inland Port facility in Onitsha, Anambra State is not New. And it came up last week at a private gathering. Many will recall that the ‘port’ was formally commissioned by late Dr Alex Ekwueme, Vice President to late Alhaji Shehu Shagari. It never really functioned in real terms. It is still the pet dream of many and all issues pertaining to it are presumably being discussed on the platforms feasibility, economic common sense and basic marine science and knowledge of regional ecology.of plain and verifiable aquascience.

We submit here that the project is a desirable one. It is also feasible from the angle of provision of port infrastructure. It has, in addition, been routinely declared desirable from the standpoint of those who are quick to point to the volume of container traffic from Lagos to Onitsha and other parts of the South East. But isn’t it possible that this is already beginning to look like a White Elephant Project that would be counted as a major investment in the South East, if successfully executed? Just asking.

What needs to be re-evaluated, perhaps, fully is its feasibility from the angle of security of goods and route; as well as its viability from the angle of the simple required maritime ecosystem. For some people, the mere fact that it was conceived to ease trade, reduce the cost of imported goods in South East markets, create jobs and generally enable the South East and environs realize their full economic potential makes it an eternally important economic infrastructure.

Papers have been written on it over the years, with Environmental impact assessments (EIAs), cross references with nations that had to devise means of raising water levels when needed; and a near-consensus among experts on the economic benefits.  

One of the major overlooked, and largely unacknowledged, problem is the probability of not ever really getting enough water for the primary business of a port. You need water for a river port and the Onitsha end of the river Niger does not have enough. Dredging is a good idea, but it will give you a bigger ditch and wipe out the means of livelihood of water dependent local economies.

The confirmed practice elsewhere, of “gating” and later discharging the water to secure enough depth, is usually on the cards whenever this matter is on the table. All things considered, the challenges that come to mind regarding the proposed Onitsha River Port are: (1) How the river dams along the Niger, Benue and their many tributaries have reduced available water at onitsha by over 68%; (2) Possibly unrealistic projections about the prospects of the project; (3) The credibility of some of the existing Environmental Impact Assessment (AIE) reports, especially against the background of climate change and other environmental factors; (4) Direct politicization of the economic value of a river port in Onitsha, as against Port Harcourt and Calabar.

We must also consider the following; (1) the game plans of individuals who wish to upgrade their relevance by fighting to secure vital “federal project for Ndigbo”, while sometimes knowing that it will either not work or that it will not bring the alleged benefits, and, also; (2) The questionable security along the inland waterways, especially with active militants, Egbesu Boys, and freelance oil bunkerers, creek-dependent mischief makers and others. Will the vessels really make their way through the creeks, while vehicles on our roads in broad daylight and even trains are unsafe?

Some of the discussions about Onitsha Port actually remind one of discussions about electricity supply a few years ago. The Federal Government was then building massive gas turbines for electricity supply. Everyone was talking about the mega watts that would be added to the national grid after the power-generating turbines were completed. But no provisions were made for gas. The then minister confessed at a private forum that there was also no “gas plan” and that much of our gas was already mortgaged to foreign customers. When he was pointedly asked: “So if the turbines are ready now, as we speak, they won`t contribute a single megawatt to national power supply, because no arrangements have been made for gas”? The shocking answer was “Yes”!

So those who are looking forward to a vibrant port in Onitsha should think of a “water plan”. The dams built across the rivers Niger and Benue, and their tributaries, over the years have reduced the overall water volume. There are now tiny islands, and unprecedented siltation, at the Onitsha end of the river. While the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources is serious about irrigation and dry season agriculture, it must remember that the long stretch of the Niger across Kebbi State, itself a veritable food basket unknown to many, takes more that its fair share of the needed water.

We may digress a bit here, to urge the Ministry of Environment to work more closely with the Agriculture ministry and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), because of the current global response to the devastating impact of dams on people and the environment within the past 60 years. It is a fact of our collective experience, across all continents, that dams have altered ecosystems, ruined food chains and obliterated local economies for hundreds of thousands of kilometres of waterways all over the world.

The confluence of some cold rivers with warmer ones have been permanently altered worldwide, while some flowing waters have been made to stagnate and create saturated water that wiped out fresh water aquatic life. Some rivers are now fragments of their former selves and others have dried up completely, as can be seen when you drive from Enugu, through Anyigba, to Abuja.

It is on record, for instance, that massive fish populations were killed on the Snake River, Idaho, in the US by dam construction; leading to the decimation of salmon species, among others. An Idaho State Senator, Frank Church, who originally supported dam building later rose in defense of natural waterways and spoke against dams. It was the same Frank Church who, after he saw the damage to the environment, eventually wrote the Wild and Scientific Rivers Act, passed in 1968.

No one can deny historic significance of the Suez Canal and its economic value to this day, but the general global concern today about the fate of streams, rivers and other natural waterways comes from the realization that long-term damage is being done to ecosystems, following the unsustainable violation of natural habitats by damming. The negative impacts on the global food web and even the climate are staring us in the face everywhere.

Available global evidence shows that one of the main reasons freshwater fish numbers have declined all over the world, leading to a loss of 80% of fresh water wild life since 1970, is the damming of rivers. Let us recall the verdict of the World Commission on Dams, in 2000: that dams had displaced between 40 – 80 million people, making it the single human activity with the greatest capacity to create Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Even in the US, the initial excitement that greeted the epidemic of dam building in the 1940s and 1950s was followed by fierce and bitter battles between environmentalists and dam builders. The issue at the time was that dams blocked and impounded the waters of some of the most important rivers of the American west.

It was already established, years back, that over 22,000 kilometers of free-flowing rivers in the US are protected by Frank Church`s Act.

But our waterways are available for all comers. The fate of communities displaced by dams all over Nigeria today is rarely a topical issue. What does NIWA really do today? How many people still take a ride on sections of the River Benue that were once used for water transportation? Who drank up the water and created empty water channels and dry rivers with massive bridges between Lokoja and Anyigba, and all over Nigeria? I am certainly not the one!

Let those who, threatening to build a river port in Onitsha remember that there is also a scaling up of plans to build more dams across waterways that discharge into the Niger trough. Let them also not forget that this is happening years after the US came upfront on a campaign to “decommission” many dams. Recorded successes in this regard, with measurable positive environmental impact, include removal of the dam on the Elwha river in Washington State. One year after the last dam was removed in 2014, the Chinook species of fish, which had not been seen there for more than 100 years reappeared.

More than 4,000 Chinook spawners were counted above the former dam site. It is also in the US that people are taking proactive steps to reclaim their lives, by removing dams that interfered with their ecosystems and way of life. The Mohawks, in New York State, recently removed the Hogansburg dam on the St. Regis River, thus becoming the first US sub social group to remove a federal dam. This action of the Mohawks opened up nearly 700 kilometres of stream, liberated the natural habitat of migratory fish and restored many local economies.

After the last dam was removed from the River Elwha, for instance, river fish populations flourished. In a world where Brazil’s environmental agency has suspended the licensing process for the Sao Luiz Tapajos dam, the second largest hydroelectric dam in the country, we have no official attitude on dams. In a world where the World Bank recently suspended financial support for the Inga 3 dam on the River Congo, and where Chile`s largest power generator, Endesa, stopped six hydropower projects, we have no position on dams. Even the Chinese have stopped their plans to construct a series of dams across the country`s last free-flowing rivers, the Nujiang. The Peruvian authorities also suspended the construction of several dams across the Marañón River at about the same time that Geute Conservation Sur, an organization dedicated to the defense of ecosystems with high conservation value, is providing legal analysis to develop a new law for river protection in Chile.

The concern about water and free waterways is such that the world is focusing on transboundary cooperation between nations for conscious and deliberate management of the ecosystem and water volume throughout the length of major rivers. Are we doing the same in our country? The conflict between China and Thailand over development on the Lancang/Mekong River says a lot about what is going on all over the world in connection with waterways today. To think that the government of New Zealand has gone so far as to “recognize” the Whanganui river by giving it the same constitutional rights as a person? This was done as a way of showing that free-flowing rivers have great impact on food security, water access, biodiversity conservation and propagation of the overall global ecology.

In sum, and bringing the matter back home, let us think of think feasibility, viability and advisability of the port; as we think of dams, the environment, the disappearance of river-dependent local economies and the collapse or conspicuous shrinking of fish markets in various parts of the country.

The judicial decision ousted sixteen members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who previously occupied these seats.

In an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Speaker Dewan addressed the controversy surrounding the partial swearing-in, which took place last week and has sparked significant backlash from the APC.

According to Dewan, the decision to exclude seven APC members from the swearing-in ceremony was due to incomplete procedural requirements on their part.

“The seven members are yet to complete the necessary procedures needed before they could be sworn in,” Dewan stated, emphasizing that the decision was not politically motivated but was strictly procedural.

He said, “Sometime in November, there was a pronouncement in the court that 16 of my members have been removed by the Court of Appeal. A pronouncement in the court is different from the procedures in the House.

“I wasn’t in the court, I heard it on air that 16 members have been removed. There is no communication to me from the INEC or the CTC of the judgement for me to be sure that truly those members have been removed or anything.

“And I was waiting for that proper thing to be done, what did I get? Sometime in January, a lawyer, one S.O Obende or so, wrote a letter to my office attached with 16 certificates of return of members and I replied back that Obende is not a member of my Assembly. If the court has declared members elect the members know the normal procedure to follow.

“The right thing to be done was for INEC to write to me as the Speaker directing me that based on this judgement, attaching the communication with the CTC of the judgement, that based on this judgement, we have been directed to withdraw the certificate of return from this honourable to these honourables. Therefore, we are directing you as the electoral umpire to recognise this person as your member, that was never done.”

The Speaker added, “Sometimes two weeks ago, I was told by those responsible for documentation in the House of Assembly that 9 members have submitted their certificates of return and have met all the requirements, and I said okay.

“So, I don’t know if the CTC copies of the other members are not ready. So, what was presented to me was what I recognised and I swore them in.”

Dewan maintained that only the presentation of the certificates of return and the CTC copies of the judgements by the remaining members would give him the authority to inaugurate them as members of the House of Assembly.

On the accusation by some members of the APC that he contemn a court order, Dewan challenged those accusing him, to sue him for contempt.

He also denied that his action was politically motivated, insisting that he was only ensuring that due process was followed.

[NaijaNews]

The burst of sounds like those of submachine guns spitting pellets of death rattled the neighbourhood of Gbagir community in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State with a deafening intensity.

It was the latest in the growing supremacy battle between “Full Fire” and “Chain” as well as other militia gangs on the border between Zaki Biam (Benue) and Wukari (Taraba) states that broke out on March 5.

Terrified by the gunshots, which brought back awful memories of the late Terwase Akwaza (Gana) era, scores of innocent residents, mostly vulnerable women, children and the elderly, ran for their dear lives, many of them getting severely injured in the process.

By the last count, over 40 lives, including those of a family of seven, were lost in the bloodbath, which also saw several houses torched.

Although most of the victims were members of the rival militia groups, 12 innocent farmers within the community were gunned down in the crossfire, while 30 other villagers were reportedly injured. 

Findings revealed that the deadly clash at Gbagir was a reprisal triggered after a militia leader in Ukum Local Government of Benue State allegedly kidnapped his counterpart from Chinkai community in Wukari Local Government of Taraba State.

The victim, called Alhaji Ghana, who was abducted with his family members, was said to be known for banditry and kidnapping.

A N100 million ransom demand was made, but it was gathered that N5 million was later paid to secure his freedom.

However, after collecting the money, the militia kingpin from Ukum was said to have killed the hostages, a development that sparked outrage among the deceased’s gang members, who quickly mobilised for a reprisal. 

The power tussle

Curiously, Daily Trust Saturday gathered that following the killing of the hostages from Taraba, a ‘power hungry’ militia gang leader in Ukum Local Government of Benue State conspired and joined forces with the enemies on a reprisal mission to eliminate the rival gang in his community.

The essence, according to findings, was to enable him become the head of the militia in Ukum.

 Earlier in January this year, no fewer than 9 people were killed during a rival local militia attack at some villages in Mbatyula and Mbayongo council wards in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State.

During the three days of bloody mayhem, which was also linked to a power tussle, several houses were reportedly burned down by the factional militia groups.

A resident of Katsina-Ala who recalled the incident said, “It was a coordinated series of attacks that were carried out in some parts of Mbatyula council ward by armed men suspected to be rival militia groups from Mbayongo ward.

“On the fateful day, the armed men stormed Atumbe, a settlement in Mbatyula ward, setting houses ablaze and carting away some properties. They later moved to Kur Hile, another settlement in Mbatyula, where some houses were also burnt.

The same thing happened at Anyom community in Mbatyula ward on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, where seven people were killed and several houses burned to ashes.

Zamzam Francis, the caretaker chairman of Katsina-Ala Local Government, had reportedly confirmed the incident and was quoted as saying that it was between the rival militia gangs.

Elsewhere in March this year, another incident occurred along the Wukari-Takum road in Taraba State, where some armed militia from the Ukum axis of Benue State allegedly attacked some locals who were travelling for an annual Christian crusade in Takum.

“They ambushed our people on the way from Wukari for the crusade. In the process, they killed three victims and snatched their car while four others were wounded and hospitalised at the Wukari General Hospital,” said a youth leader in Wukari.

The source, who did not want his identity revealed for security reasons said: “The perpetrators were bandits from the Sankera axis of Benue State who take pleasure in kidnapping to raise funds and satisfy their bloodthirsty appetite. They have been doing this to us during this kind of festival period every year. We have been patient and told our boys not to retaliate. But if they continue, we will be forced to fight back.”

How Benue’s militia started, festered

Findings by Daily Trust Saturday revealed that the enduring bloodbath by armed gangs on the border between Benue and Taraba states preceded the 2001 alleged abduction and killing of 19 soldiers by Tiv militia youths. This followed a series of attacks and counterattacks by Tiv and Jukun groups within Taraba, as well as the areas around the border between the two states.

The soldiers, according to government authorities, were on a mission to restore peace in the area affected by the longstanding conflict between the warring groups when they were abducted by some armed group in Vaase, Benue State on October 10. The discovery of their mutilated bodies two days later, on October 12, in the premises of a primary school in the town of Zaki-Biam, led to a deadly reprisal by the military in Zaki-Biam and other locations.

Following the Zaki-Biam massacre, remnants of the Tiv militia youths were said to have gone wild, even as they became vulnerable tools in the hands of politicians, particularly from the Sankera geopolitical axis comprising Katsina-Ala, Ukum and Logo local government areas.

“Militia activities in Benue’s Sankera assumed a new dimension when politicians began to leverage on remnants of the Tiv militia youths in the aftermath of the Zaki-Biam incident in 2001 to form their political gangs,” said a prominent politician from Katsina-Ala.

The source, who did not want to be identified for security reasons said: “All the major political stalwarts from that area began to create and arm their militia youths, who were used during the 2019 and successive elections.”

The emergence of ‘Gana Boys’

Towards the first tenure of former Governor Gabriel Suswam, a group of youths was unveiled at an event in Katsina-Ala. The group, which was primarily like a local vigilante charged with the mandate of protecting the Sankera geo-political axis against external aggression, was headed by the late Benue militia kingpin, Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as Gana.

Although they were said to have started operating in line with their original mandate, Gana and his boys soon began to veer off into alleged criminal activities, such as armed robbery, banditry and cattle rustling.

Several attempts by the state government to stop the group became very difficult because, as a source puts it: “The boys had found a lucrative business.”

Gana was largely believed to be at the centre of the crisis between Benue and Taraba border communities, leading to the killing of scores of victims and destruction of property worth billions of naira on both sides. He was also believed to be the brain behind most kidnappings in Taraba and Benue states, including his Tiv kinsmen who suffered untold consequences of his actions.

“The involvement of Operation Zenda and other security outfits to contain Gana and his boys yielded little or no results as they shifted base into the hinterland, from where they planned and executed periodic attacks and abductions,” a security source told Daily Trust Saturday.  

Ortom’s ‘carrot’ amnesty

When former Governor Samuel Ortom came in as Suswam’s successor, he introduced the amnesty programme to end the Gana phenomenon.

In 2015, the amnesty was first introduced, with Gana as the greatest beneficiary. On the last day of the programme, he reportedly turned in no fewer than 84 assorted firearms and thousands of ammunition and was not only granted pardon, the state government equally made him a revenue consultant as part of his rehabilitation.

But not soon after the programme, an incident occurred that cast a major setback on the whole process. Sources said he reneged after it was alleged that he sponsored the assassination of the then senior special assistant to the governor on security, Mr Denen Igbana.

“Back in the trenches, Gana placed special levies on farmers, traders and prominent people in his domain, and failure to pay meant death. He fought supremacy gang wars with his former allies, who visited carnages on several communities in Katsina-Ala and Ukum local government areas.

“This state of affairs prompted prominent indigenes of the geopolitical axis, including political, religious and traditional leaders to request for another amnesty programme, especially since the military had failed to nab him,” a community leader who sought identity protection said.

On Friday, September 4, 2020, Ortom, while on a tour of the Sankera axis, accepted the request of the leaders. He gave an ultimatum to those who wanted to embrace the second amnesty to surrender their weapons by September 8.

Before the visit, major stakeholders from the Sankera area had persuaded those with illegal weapons in their custody to surrender them.

That was how Gana found himself in the second amnesty programme.

Security sources said that in the company of religious leaders, he left his hideout and presented himself at the Emmanuel Akume Atongo Stadium in Katsina-Ala in full public glare to embrace the programme. The State Security Council was holding a meeting at the new Banquet Hall of the Government House, Makurdi, where the programme was to be formalised.

Selected traditional rulers, prominent indigenes and security personnel took off with Gana and other political chieftains from the stadium to go and present them to the Council in Makurdi.

Before he left his domain, Gana was said to have beckoned on leaders of his foot soldiers and told them that he suspected foul play and that if he eventually failed to return, they should continue from where he stopped. On their way to Makurdi, the military intercepted the convoy at Masaje, close to Yandev in Gboko Local Government Area and he was killed.

Gana’s vacuum and succession battle

Findings revealed that things began to fall apart within the hierarchy of Gana’s terrorist empire following his death. Ghana was believed to have maintained a stable network of foot soldiers from Benue and Taraba states due to his firm leadership control. Apart from armed robbery, kidnapping and other criminal exploits, he was also said to have leveraged on his political benefactors to maintain and sustain his gang financially.

However, this was no longer the case after his death as financial difficulty and a fierce battle over succession ensued among his foot soldiers and the new commanders.

“There was no more effective central control as all the units from the Sankera axis and beyond began to break away and fight for autonomy. Unlike Gana, who used to get funding from politicians, the new commanders were no longer getting financial support.

“Some of them resorted to going to Fulani herders in places like Kwande and Guma to collect money, with promises of allowing them freely graze on lands within their communities. The herders are claiming that the lands were sold to them, leading to the escalation of herders’ attacks,” a source from Kwande told Daily Trust Saturday.

Used, dumped by politicians

Daily Trust Saturday gathered that a major factor in the escalation of militia activities in the Sankera geopolitical axis of Benue State is the feeling of being used and dumped by politicians from the area.

Towards the end of Ortom’s tenure, politicians seeking elective positions from the area were said to have worked with the militia groups with promises for them, including amnesty.

Apart from providing physical protection for the politicians during electioneering campaigns, some of the militia groups were said to have even contributed financially towards the election of the politicians from the area.

During his electioneering campaign, the current Benue State governor, The Reverend Fr. Hycinth Alia, was also said to have promised to introduce a comprehensive amnesty programme for repentant bandits.

While unveiling his manifesto, christened, ‘Strategic Development Plan for a Greater Benue,’ he reportedly promised that upon winning election, he would, among others, “establish Permanent Integrated Forward Operation Bases for security men at all the flashpoints where there have been cases of armed attacks and displacement of people.

A don at the Political Science Department of the Benue State University attributed the escalation of militia activities in the state to failed promises by politicians, whom he said used and dumped the armed militia at will.

“After elections, the politicians who used these bad boys reneged on their promises, especially on amnesty. You don’t expect people armed with weapons to sit down and watch these politicians in their comfort zones while they wallow in penury,” said the don, who did not want his name in print.

Governor Alia still open to amnesty –Media aide

Responding to a question on the promise made during his electioneering campaign to grant amnesty to repentant militants, Governor Alia’s media aide told Daily Trust Saturday that the promised olive branch is still available to anyone willing to abandon criminality, rehabilitate their lives for the growth and development of their families, communities and Benue State in general.

The governor’s Technical Advisor on Media, Publicity and Strategic Communication, Solomon Iorpev, said his principal’s doors were open to everyone seeking productive and progressive change to step forward and join him to build a stronger and better Benue. 

“There are great and legitimate opportunities made available by the state in the programmes being implemented by the governor, and we are hopeful they would take advantage of them for their own good and the betterment of the state.

“Do not forget that his natural calling is priesthood, which entails rehabilitating people and prompting them to live good and meaningful lives, live peacefully with one another and be their brothers’ keepers.

“So rehabilitating Benue citizens who consciously or unconsciously have fallen into criminality is not farfetched for him,” Iorpev said.

On measures taken so far in tackling security challenges in the state, especially militia attacks and herders-farmers crises, he said the governor was passionate about the welfare of his people and working round the clock to provide security for them.

“He has engaged in comprehensive stakeholders dialogue to curb the insecurity situation in the state, the reason I believe we have some relative peace today.

“Security agents are being deployed constantly to unstable areas to stop escalation in crisis-prone areas, and in most cases, nip them in the bud.

“He has also inaugurated security outfits across the state to respond to crisis situations where they may arise. We have mining marshals, agro rangers etc.

“Though most of the insecurity situations pre-date this administration, that has not deterred him from handling it head-on as security agents are working round the clock to secure lives and property in the state,” the governor’s aide said.

allegedly attacked some locals who were travelling for an annual Christian crusade in Takum.

“They ambushed our people on the way from Wukari for the crusade. In the process, they killed three victims and snatched their car while four others were wounded and hospitalised at the Wukari General Hospital,” said a youth leader in Wukari.

The source, who did not want his identity revealed for security reasons said: “The perpetrators were bandits from the Sankera axis of Benue State who take pleasure in kidnapping to raise funds and satisfy their bloodthirsty appetite. They have been doing this to us during this kind of festival period every year. We have been patient and told our boys not to retaliate. But if they continue, we will be forced to fight back.”

[DailyTrust]

The Channels Television reporter, Joshua Rogers, who was abducted in Rivers State has regained his freedom.

Rogers was kidnapped on Thursday night at about 9 pm after he was reportedly trailed to his residence.

His attackers reportedly accosted him at gunpoint, whisking him away in his car.

DAILY POST reported that the hoodlums contacted his wife, demanding N30 million as ransom.

Few hours after the incident, the kidnap of Rogers took over the media space, with different groups calling for his unconditional release.

It is not clear if any ransom was paid for his release.

He was sighted at the residence of his elder brother with other family members and friends singing praises unto God.

The Rivers State Police Command is yet to make an official statement on the incident.

[DailyPost]

The Yoruba have a unique culture that singles them out as a methodical race. The place of lfa divinity as one of the pivots on which their culture rotates is undeniable. Little wonder the lfa divination was added by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to its list of ‘masterpieces of oral and intangible heritage of humanity’ in 2005.

Ifa holds such a significant place in the lives of the Yoruba that they feel duty bound to consult it when they need to take important decisions about their lives, including the choice of an Oba.

From time immemorial the lfa oracle is consulted before an individual is chosen among the plethora of candidates to become the traditional ruler of a community. Today, however, the beat has changed and so also the dance step. State governors have usurped the place of lfa priests as they now appoint Obas by fiat except in few communities like Ibadan, Oyo State where there is an entrenched succession plan.

The consequence is the crisis that is usually foisted on communities upon the death of an Oba. So much so that there are many communities in Yorubaland today with two traditional rulers reigning at the same time.

Origin of lfa divination in Yoruba land

Ifa, according to history, was a transferred religion or belief that came into the famous Oyo Empire during the reign of Alaafin Onigbogi. Rev. Samuel Johnson, in his book “The History of the Yorubas”, identified five Alaafins he labelled “historical kings”. They include Oganju; Kori; Oluaso the one known as Osarewa s’akin (the handsome but valiant king); Onigbogi and Ofinran.

Johnson explained that Ifa came from an Ota woman named Arugba-Ifa, who was Alaafin Oluaso’s Queen and mother of Alaafin Onigbogi. Arugba-Ifa, a very superstitious woman, was said to have left Oyo for her hometown, Ota. But on hearing that her son had succeeded his father, she returned to Oyo and introduced Ifa as a religion.

The account stated that Oyo people initially rejected the ‘strange’ religion, but one Oba from a vassal town called Ado accepted her and her religion. When the Nupe people attacked Oyo and made a mess of the city, the people had to look for Arugba-Ifa and Ifa was established as a religion in Oyo, with Alado, the Oba of Ado, as the first priest.

Thus Ifa became the religion of Oyo people and by extension the entire Yoruba race. Such that before any major decision is taken in the land, the Ẹlẹri-ipin (the one who witnessed destiny) is consulted, and its pronouncements adhered to. In the days of yore, no Oba was crowned except he was picked by Ifa.

Oluwo’s confirmation

The change in trend was recently confirmed by the Oluwo of Iwo land, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, whose dressing, utterances and general comportment have raised concerns within and outside his kingdom as to whether Ifa was consulted before his choice. 

Oba Akanbi confirmed in a recent interview that lfa was not consulted before he was made Oba. Rather, he assumed the throne through his romance with the powers that be in the state.

Oba Akanbi said: “Tell me one king that Ifa picked in Yoruba land. The person picked by the governor is the one God has ordained to be the king. There is no Oba in Yoruba land that would say Ifa picked him.

“It is after the governor picks you that you become a king. Ifa does not have any power over the governor.”

The Oluwo insisted that the days of Ifa’s intervention in the choice of Obas were long gone and even challenged his interlocutors to name an Oba who is a product of Ifa divination.

Essentially, Oba Akanbi declared that governors have taken the place of Ifa in the appointment of Obas in Yorubaland because their word in the matter is law, and not even Ifa can object the moment a governor approves a candidate as Oba.

Hear him: “You may be a prince and have the money, if you have the approval of Ifa and refuse to appease the governors, you have lost.

“In the time past, Ifa priests wielded the kind of power that governors wield today. They had the power of life and death. They enthroned kings and dethroned kings.

“Where an Oba combines the power of the king and the knowledge of Babalawo (herbalist), they become dictators. That is why Babalawos are not made kings in Yorubaland till date.”

Governors as lfa priests

In the last days of his tenure as the governor of Osun State, former Governor Gboyega Oyetola chose the Akirun of Ikirun against protests from the people. Reports said the kingmakers were lured to the government house where they were hoodwinked into ratifying government’s choice, Prince Yinusa Akadiri of the Oba-Ara ruling house, as the Akirun. What followed was a massive protest that set the community on fire.

The same Oyetola administration in the state installed Prince Gboyega Famodun as the Owa of Igbajo only for Governor Ademola Adeleke to come in and send Famodun packing and installed Prince Ademola Makinde as the new of Owa; , a situation that created tension in the ancient town.

In the same vein, the Aare of lre, Oba Ademola Ponle, who was installed as the king many years after the stool remained vacant, was also sent packing by Governor Adeleke who eventually installed Prince Muritala Oyelakin from the Oyekun ruling house as the new Oba of lre town.

Needless to say that bickering, animosity and chaos became the order for days. Although the government had its way, it is obvious that the peace that exists in the aforementioned communities is that of the graveyard.

Similar situations prevail in Oyo State where the governor, Seyi Makinde, had to engineer an amendment to the chieftaincy law which gave him the power to decide who mounts any traditional stool in the state.

Lately, there has been a cold war between the governor and the Oyomesi in Oyo town. According to sources, the governor has refused to assent to the candidate presented by the Oyomesi, the traditional kingmakers of the town, on the excuse that the processes were marred by corruption.

The foregoing prompted the Oyomesi to file a case against the governor. The suit HOY/38/2023 was filed by five kingmakers who asked the Oyo State High Court in Oyo to restrain the governor and his agents “from aborting the process for the selection/appointment of the candidate for filling the vacant stool of Alaafin of Oyo duly conducted by the kingmakers of Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy.”

The claimants in the suit are the Bashorun of Oyo, High Chief Yusuf Layinka; Lagunna of Oyo, High Chief Wakeel Oyedepo; Akinniku of Oyo, High Chief Amusa Yusuf; Areago Bashorun, Chief Wahab Oyetunji; and the Alapo of Oyo, Chief Gbadebo Mufutau. They also listed the Oyo State Attorney-General and the state’s Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs as defendants in the suit.

The kingmakers said they had at a meeting on September 30 unanimously selected a prince, Lukuman Gbadegesin, to fill the stool of Alaafin of Oyo, which had become vacant since April last year when the 45th Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, died.

They are praying the court to restrain Governor Makinde and his agents from nullifying the choice of Mr. Gbadegesin and “approving or recognising any other candidate” as the next Alaafin “after a duly conducted process for the filling of the vacant stool of Alaafin of Oyo in accordance with the native law, custom and Chieftaincy Declaration of Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy.”

The kingmakers also want the court to restrain the governor and the other defendants from removing them as Oyo kingmakers or “dissolving the Oyomesi in Council or appointing or selecting warrant chiefs to conduct or start a fresh process for the filling of the vacant stool of Alaafin of Oyo.”

They want the court to restrain the defendants from “harassing, disturbing, preventing or stopping the claimants from carrying on their traditional functions and responsibilities as kingmakers of Alaafin of Oyo Chieftaincy.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had grilled some of the Oyo kingmakers on October 18 over allegations of bribery in relation to the selection of the next Alaafin.

A petitioner had alleged that the kingmakers collected bribes running into millions of naira to facilitate the selection of Prince Gbadegesin.

This was also the case in Ogbomoso, as there has been a series of litigations going on since the selection of Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye as the new Soun of Ogbomoso.

The stool of the Soun became vacant with the death of long-reigning Oba Jimoh Oyewumi on 12 December, 2021 at the age of 95 years. Prince Oyewunmi was on the throne for 48 years.

But the appointment of Mr. Olaoye, a former pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, by Governor Seyi Makinde has triggered a legal tussle. One of the contestants for the Soun throne, Muhammed Kabir Olaoye, a prince, was dissatisfied with the selection process that led to Mr Olaoye’s eventual ascendancy to the stool.

The chairman of the Screening Committee for the Laoye ruling house in Ogbomoso, Abdulwahab Laoye, had earlier disowned Mr Olaoye, saying the family had not selected anybody to fill the vacant stool.

However, the Oyo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Olusegun Olayiwola, insisted that Mr Olaoye’s appointment followed the statutory processes.

The Oyo State High Court at Ogbomoso had on 25 October set aside Governor Makinde’s appointment of Mr Olaoye as the new Soun of Ogbomoso. A stay of execution of the judgment was later granted by the judge, K.A. Adedokun, paving the way for Mr Olaoye’s inauguration as Soun of Ogbomoso by Governor Makinde on 20th December last year.

The appellants are S.O. Otolorin, chairperson, kingmakers of Soun Chieftaincy; Salawu Ajadi, Jagun of Ogbomosoland; Tijani Abioye, Bara of Ogbomosoland; David Adeniran Ojo, Kolaba of Ogbomosoland; Yusuf Kasali Oladipupo, Abese of Ogbomoso kingmaker; and Mr Olaoye, the new Soun.

The appellants listed Muhammed Kabir Olaoye, Governor Makinde, Oyo State Attorney-General, Oyo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Ogbomoso North Local Government, the Traditional Council of Ogbomoso North, and Amos Olawole Olaoye, as respondents in the appeal.

In the notice of appeal dated 30 November and filed at the Court of Appeal in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the appellants faulted the decision of the State High Court voiding Mr Olaoye’s appointment as the new Sọun of Ogbomoso.

Accuracy of lfa predictions

It is obvious and significant that where lfa is consulted before the choice of an Ọba but the powers that be decide to do their own bidden, the consequences are always unpalatable.

Before he became the Olọwọ of Ọwọ in Ondo State in 1941, Ifa had predicted that Ọba Ọlateru Ọlagbegi ll, would become the king and there would be crisis that would lead to his banishment, but he would return as the Ọba of the town and all his enemies would be put to shame. After 25 years on the throne, Ọba Ọlagbegi in was deposed and banished from Ọwọ in 1966 and another Olọwọ, in the person of Ọba  Adekola Ogunoye ll became the king.

Twenty-five years later, Ọba Ọlateru Ọlagbegi II was reinstated as the Ọlọwọ and reigned for another five years before he joined his ancestors in October 1998. While in exile, the revered monarch maintained his dignity and those responsible for his dethronement were at the forefront of the agitation for his reinstatement 25 years later, as predicted by Ifa.

In the same vein, in August 1967, a crisis erupted in the ancient town of Arigidi Akoko in Ondo State and Ọba Muhamadu Ọlanipekun, the Sarki of Arigidi, was forced to go into exile. At the peak of the crisis, Ọlanipekun wanted to confront his enemies but his wife reminded him of what lfa predicted when he was going to be installed as king that okiki ọdẹ a fi fila perin kii ju ọjọ mẹta lọ (all the tribulations will soon become history). He therefore opted for peace and went into exile.

As it later turned out, all the efforts made by his detractors to install a new Sarki outside Olanipekun’s lineage failed until 41 years later in 2008 when an Olanipekun prince, Oba Yisa Olanipekun, was installed as Sarki of Arigidi Akoko, thus confirming the accuracy and sanctity of Ifa.

Political influence versus lfa’s sanctity

There is no gainsaying the fact that political influence has overridden Ifa in the choice of Obas in Yoruba land these days; a situation many see as eroding the race’s cultural value.

Speaking to The Nation on the issue, the Araba of Osogbo land and renowned Ifa priest, Chief Yẹmi Elẹbuibon, noted that the abandonment of the value and traditional norms regarding the choice of an Oba through Ifa divination by the kingmakers has turned them into objects of ridicule.

Elebuibọn pointed out that the position of an Oba is so critical to Yoruba culture and values that they were referred to as the eye of the gods and were thus accorded the utmost respect. He, however, lamented that the way some of Obas are fraternising with politicians has robbed them of their respect to the extent that the governor now chooses whoever he wants as the Oba of a town.

He recalled with regrets that Obas’ fraternity with the political class once warranted a former head of state to command traditional rulers to stand up and greet him at a public function; a situation he described as an insult to the traditional institution and erosion of the dignity and sanctity of royal fathers.

The lfa priest advised those who want to be kings to get ready to uphold tradition and our cultural values if they want to be king, not looking for politicians to give them what they don’t deserve.

On his part, Chief Niyi Akintọla, SAN put the blame at the feet of traditional rulers who fraternise with politicians and encourage governors to mess up with them.

He said: “If an Oba respects himself, nobody will erode him. When Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi was alive, could any governor look at his face? Could any governor cross his path? Those who did it in the past paid for it.

“Can anybody cross the Awujale’s path? An Oba should be a man of impeccable character with aura and dignity. He respects himself and you don’t just see him everywhere.”

Akintola added: “When an Oba reduces himself to ‘Mr Available’ and turns himself into a beggar, going to governor’s office, how do you think he will command respect?

“Obas have turned themselves into puns in the hands of governors. If they respect themselves, nobody will dare mess them up.”

He argued that a situation where dollars are flying here and there because somebody wants to be a king, he will get the type of insults that are being heaped on traditional stools.

“We should allow tradition to take its course. Every town has its own tradition that is peculiar to it; we should allow it to work. But when we are tampering with the tradition, that is when we run into trouble.” he said.

Speaking to The Nation in the same vein, a renowned lawyer, Chief Ọlalekan Ojo (SAN) noted that there is nothing bad in using lfa to choose an Oba as long as it conforms with the people’s tradition.

He explained that “every system is subject to abuse, but l still prefer the traditional way through Ifa. Picking an Oba via political ladder is not too good. If a governor chooses a king because of politics, when another one comes he may look for a way of installing his own too. That is very unfortunate and not good for the system at all.”

If culture is very sacrosanct, journalist and lawyer, Chief Fassy Yusuf said, it should be adhered to, especially if the people come together and say this is what they want.

He explained that the issue of lfa may not apply to all cultures, noting that if there is manipulation of lfa, “then you can fall back to democratic norms or the constitutional law.

“Don’t forget that the lbadan system is a peculiar one. The chieftaincy law of any state is supreme.

“Take for instance Ijebu. There are four ruling houses with a rotational system. The kingmaker will pick if it is their turn. Whether their choice is subjective or otherwise, it will be put forward as the king.

“There is a procedure to be followed, and if a governor says otherwise his decision will be challenged in the court. There must be due process.”

Speaking on the kinship crisis in lkirun, the son of the soil and celebrated author of popular textbooks on O’ level Economics and Government, Dr. O. A Lawal, argued that politics has replaced traditional way of succession in the ancient city.

Lawal argued that politicians have destroyed the system to the extent that tradition has been relegated to the background.

“The people of lkirun town know how to install their king. Some politicians cannot just come from nowhere to impose a king on us. It will never work,” he said.

[TheNation]

The Federal Government has traced fleeing Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, to Kenya, following his escape from custody in Nigeria.

Following the development, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the International Criminal Police, the Nigeria Police Force and the Kenyan Police Service have deepened talks to quicken Anjarwalla’s extradition.

Sources in the Presidency who are on top of the case told Saturday PUNCH that Anjarwalla, whose cover has now been blown, went into hiding immediately after he landed in Kenya.

The source revealed, “We have found him. We know where he is. He is in Kenya, and we’re working with the authorities to bring him back to Nigeria.”

Another source also close to the matter, corroborated the first source’s statement.

The source noted, “All hands are on the deck. The government and all the security agencies are working hard in conjunction with the Kenyan authorities and INTERPOL, to ensure his return to Nigeria to face the charges brought against him.”

Meanwhile, the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, had in the March edition of the agency’s bulletin titled, “EFCC Alert,” which was released last week, confirmed that the commission was working in conjunction with the International Criminal Police Organisation, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the governments of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and Kenya to extradite Anjarwalla.

Olukoyede noted, “The takeover of the prosecution of Binance chiefs by the commission is no less a strong message in the direction of EFCC’s resolve to hedge in distortions and disruptions in the country’s forex market.

“Tax evasion, currency speculation and money laundering to the tune of $35.4m  are at the foundation of the commission’s five-count charges against Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the company’s chief executives.

“While Gambaryan is currently in the commission’s net, the process of extraditing the fleeing Anjarwalla is revving in full swing.

“Involved in partnership with the EFCC to nick Anjarwalla in flight are the International Criminal Police Organisation, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, the governments of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and Kenya as the clock winds down to his arraignment in absentia alongside the company and Gambaryan.”

Saturday PUNCH had earlier reported that the Federal Government had commenced the extradition process of Anjarwalla back to Nigeria, over alleged $35,400,000 money laundering.

“Mr Anjarwalla’s extradition process has begun. The FG is working as did with INTERPOL to extradite the fugitive to Nigeria. He’s a fugitive that escaped from lawful custody, and his other partner is still in custody and would be arraigned on Thursday alongside their company, Binance,” a source had noted.

Another source revealed, “It is true that the FG has commenced the process of extraditing Binance’ Anjarwalla to bring him back to Nigeria to answer to his money laundering case in court, among others. The arraignment of Binance and Gambaryan in court on Thursday would also aid Anjarwalla’s extradition.”

Meanwhile, a top security source, working on the matter, confirmed to our correspondent that the soldiers detailed to monitor Anjarwalla were being grilled by special investigators drawn from the military, Department of State Services, Police, EFCC, and the National Intelligence Agency.

“The soldiers detailed to monitor Anjarwalla have been detained as you know, and they’re still being grilled by special investigators drawn from various security and intelligence agencies and services- the military, DSS, NIA, and the police, all hands are on deck, as it is a matter of national security,” the source stated.

 The EFCC had on Thursday, April 4, arraigned Binance Holdings Limited and two of its senior executives, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla (now at large) on money laundering allegations.

The EFCC, which has now fully taken over the case from the Office of the National Security Adviser, has also detained Mr Gambaryan and has obtained a court warrant to arrest and extradite Mr Anjarwalla.

Confirming the development to our correspondent on Friday, impeccable sources noted that Mr Anjarwalla would be arraigned in absentia alongside Binance and Mr Gambaryan who’s now in EFCC custody.

“The detained Binance executive, Gambaryan is now in custody of the EFCC. The NSA has handed over the matter to the EFCC for investigation and prosecution. The commission has charged Binance, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla to court for $35,400,000 money laundering, and they’ll be arraigned in court on Thursday, April 4, 2024.” a source noted.

Another source revealed, “The EFCC is now partnering with the International Criminal Police Organisation, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Kenyan government, to effect the arrest and extradition of Mr Anjarwalla, the fugitive who fled from lawful custody in Nigeria.”

The court documents exclusively obtained by Saturday PUNCH revealed that the charges were filed on Thursday, March 28, 2024, before the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja division.

The charges read, “That you, Binance Holdings Limited (aka Binance) Tigran Gambaryan, and Nadeem Anjarwalla (now at large), between January 2023 and January 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court carried on specialised business of other financial institution without valid licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 57 (1) and (2) of the Banks and Other Financial, Institutions Act, 2020 and punishable under section 57(5) of the same Act.

“Count two, that you, Binance Holdings Limited (aka Binance) Tigran Gambaryan, and Nadeem Anjarwalla (now at large), between January 2022 and January 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court engaged in business of other financial institution (other than insurance, stock broking and pension fund management) without valid licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 58(5) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020.

“Count three, that you, Binance Holdings Limited (aka Binance) between January 2022 and January 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court not being an authorized dealer in Nigeria’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market used your virtual asset services platform to unlawfully negotiate foreign exchange rates in Nigeria and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 29(1) (c) of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring And Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.

“Count four, that you, Binance Holdings Limited (aka Binance), Tigran Gambaryan, Nadeem Anjarwalla (now at large), and other persons at large between January 2023 and January 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired amongst yourselves to conceal the origin of the proceeds of your unlawful activities and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 21 (a) and punishable under section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

“Count five, that you, Binance Holdings Limited (“aka Binance”) Tigran Gambaryan, and Nadeem Anjarwalla between January 2023 and December 2023 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court concealed the origin of a cumulative sum of $35,400,000 generated as revenue by Binance in Nigeria knowing that the funds constituted proceeds of unlawful activity and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and prohibition) Act, 2022.”

Also on March 22, the Nigerian government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja and slammed another four-count charge on Binance Holdings Limited, Anjarwalla, and Gambaryan, accusing them of offering services to subscribers on their platform while failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to pay all relevant taxes administered by the service.

And in so doing, they committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 8 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as Amended).

The defendants were also accused of offering taxable services to subscribers on their trading platform while failing to issue invoices to those subscribers to determine and pay their value-added taxes and, in so doing, committed an offence contrary to and punishable under S.29 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as amended).

Count three of the charges accused the three defendants of offering services to subscribers on their Binance trading platform for the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies and the remittance and transfer of those assets while failing to deduct the necessary Value Added Taxes arising from their operations and thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 40 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Establishment Act 2007 (as amended).

 The last count of the charges wants the defendants punished for allegedly aiding and abetting subscribers on their Binance trading platform to unlawfully refuse to pay taxes or neglect to pay those taxes and, in so doing, committing an offence contrary to and punishable under the provisions of S.94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended).

FG crackdown

The Nigerian government had, in the past three months, been cracking down on suspected money launderers and terrorism financiers, some of whom it alleged were using the Binance platform for criminal activities

The Nigerian government said over $21.6bn was traded by Nigerians whose identities were concealed by Binance.

The government also claimed its investigations revealed that unscrupulous elements were using Binance for money laundering, terrorist financing, currency speculation, and market manipulation, distorting the Nigerian economy and weakening the naira against other currencies.

The detention of Binance officials in Nigeria began months after the crypto exchange platform pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4.3bn to settle criminal money laundering charges levied by the United States Department of Justice.

Binance Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, pleaded guilty and agreed to resign.

His criminal trial has been postponed to April 30, 2024, by a United States court.

[Punch]

Following the announcement of the planned release of a new National Identification Number in the country by the Federal Government last week, the National Identity Management Çommission, NIMC has provided further clarifications on the proposed ID.

In a statement released and signed by Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke on Friday, the Commission said the new National ID Card is coming as a single, convenient, and General multipurpose card (GMPC), eliminating the need for multiple cards.

The single card with GMPC is said to have multiple use cases. as: Payments/Financial, Government intervention/services, travel, etc.

The card, according to the National Identity Management Commission is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System to deliver the payment and financial use cases.

“The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS.

Applicants for the card will have to request with their NIN through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks

” The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards.

“The card can be picked up by holders at the designated centre or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants'” the statement said.

[Vanguard]

Nigeria is struggling to find buyers for its crude oil due to a shortfall in demand from Europe, Bloomberg is reporting.

According to a report on Friday, strikes in the French refining sector and seasonal maintenance at plants in other parts of Europe reduced the country’s sales.

About 20 to 25 shipments of Nigerian crude for April loading are still seeking buyers, according to four traders specialising in the West African market.

The traders said it is a considerably weaker position than normal for this time of the month — when trade should be moving on to May’s barrels — and the prices the shipments can fetch are plummeting.

Each cargo is said to be about a million barrels of crude.

According to the report, France, one of Nigeria’s biggest buyers, purchased an average of 110,000 barrels a day from the African country over the past year.

However, the publication said a nationwide dispute in France, over pension reforms, according to Wood MacKenzie, has plunged crude imports — thereby shrinking the European country’s demand for Nigerian oil this month.

Also, over 80 percent of France’s 1.1 million barrels-a-day processing capacity has been suspended or is in the process of being shut down due to the industrial action, data compiled by the publication showed. 

In addition to the strike’s impact, traders said other plants in Europe are also purchasing less crude because of seasonal maintenance.

“Capacity is offline at some typical destinations for Nigerian crude such as Spain’s San Roque refinery and Italy’s Sarroch plant. Facilities that have halted capacity for work also include Shell Plc’s Pernis refinery near Rotterdam, Europe’s biggest plant,” Bloomberg said.

Also, the report said Mediterranean refiners can choose to skip Nigerian supply in favour of “cheap North African barrels that ship more quickly to the region, or they can process some of the large volumes of US West Texas Intermediate crude that have been arriving in Europe in recent months”.

“Long-haul buyers like Indian Oil Corp. and Indonesia’s Pertamina have been taking more discounted Russian volumes this year, easing their need for Nigerian supply,” the report said.

The publication said another reason for the unsold glut has been Nigeria’s resumption of crude production — which was halted in recent months by theft and technical issues — such as the Bonny Light stream.

[TheCable]

It would be good if we all realise the truth that nobody is going to build our country for us. As of now, the country needs to be built, brick and mortar, little by little. It is a good sign that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has set up an Economic Team that looks quite formidable. No longer would the crucial business of the economy, the most important aspect of building our country, be left only in the hands of politicians. Looking at the team makes one to have the confidence that the government is serious about its self-imposed assignment of making tomorrow better than yesterday. The new team includes such giant private-sector players like Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Amina Maina, Funke Okpeke, Segun Agbaje and Rasheed Sarumi.

The effect has started showing. In Nigeria, whatever goes up does not come down, except you-know-what. But the naira exchange rate to the dollar and other international currencies is going down. We also hope that the price of petroleum and allied products would also stabilise. That is the opportunity and promise that Dangote Refineries, Lagos, has offered our country. In the months ahead, we would be able to grasp the full implication of Nigeria having the largest and most modern petroleum complex in the world.

The Dangote Refinery is sitting on 180 acres of land at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos State. It is going to be producing diesel, aviation fuel, petrol and other petroleum products. It has the capacity to process about 650,000 barrels of oil per day. When fully operational, it is expected to provide direct and indirect employment to 135,000 people in Lagos State. The refinery has cost almost 20 billion American dollars.

Already, even before the refineries start firing in all cylinders, its competitors in Europe and other theatres are jittery. Several refineries in Europe, which for some decades have been exporting petroleum products to Nigeria, are going to face a hard time. First, the Nigerian market would no longer be available for them. Second, Dangote petroleum products may also be ready to give them a good fight in the European market. This would be the first time an African company would directly threaten European companies in the theatre of Europe. There is no doubt that the months ahead would be very interesting.

However, it is not yet time for chest-beating for Nigeria. The old establishment is quite influential in the power loop of Nigeria and may pull one or two stings to make things happen here. The Dangote Group is already feeling the heat where it hurts most. For many weeks it could not buy crude oil to refine. Without crude oil, the refinery is not more than a tourist attraction. To start its operation, the Dangote refinery had been on queue with other competitors to get crude from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company plc. The NNPC has the monopoly to sell Nigeria’s crude. To get a share of the market, you have to be in the good book of the power-that-be. That is a delicate dance which the Dangote Group is learning in a hurry.
Of course, economic independence, which is more difficult and protracted than political independence, is not going to come on a platter of gold. In a recent newspaper interview, Professor Ehiedu Iweriebor of the Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies, Hunter College of The City University of New York, defines Dangote Refinery and its related projects as the “Freedom Projects,” because of its expected impact on the Nigerian economy. “The plant would reduce Nigeria’s import dependency, its vulnerability to external pressure and also empower the country to begin to generate its own prosperity through the production and export of value-added goods rather than raw materials export,” says Iweriebor. “It means that Dangote refinery can supply refined oil to Nigeria and to parts of Africa. It will detach these regions from the dependency on Western suppliers for expensive and critical fuel supply.”

What should we expect from those whose refineries are going to shut down while the Dangote Refinery is revving into life? It would be naïve for us to expect them to do nothing. Oil is the life of the industrial societies of Europe and the Americas. In the aftermath of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Arab oil producing countries started the oil embargo against the West which gave birth to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The United States and its allies threatened to take military action if the stalemate was not resolve. In the end, many Arab countries had to back down. Today, the United States has a very large military base in Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam, and many other countries in the Middle-East. In the wake of the Israeli-Hamas conflict, there are thousands of American troops and sailors sent to the Middle-East.

Economic consideration has been a proper pretence for war. Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq believed that the tiny kingdom of Kuwait was sabotaging his country’s interest by refusing to cooperate with Iraq at OPEC meetings on the issue of oil production quota. He also accused Kuwait of slant drilling that allowed Kuwaiti oil drilling to have access to Iraqi oil. Then he decided to invade Kuwait and the job was accomplished within 72 hours. The Western world could not imagine Saddam to be in charge of the oil fields of Iraq and Kuwait at the same time. The result was the ultimatum issued to Saddam: withdraw or face war. In 1990, Saddam faced war instead and the consequences are still with us till today. By the time of the second Iraq War in 2003, Saddam was driven out of his luxurious presidential palace and was made to have a date with the hangman.

Nigeria had faced the same kind of crisis with international oil politics. On the eve of the Nigerian Civil War, the Western World was in a dilemma about which side to support. Most of the active oil fields were in the newly proclaimed Republic of Biafra under the leadership of Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. The Federal Government, under the leadership of General Yakubu Gowon, was in charge of a larger territory, mostly without oil. Gowon realised that crucial to the war efforts was the control of the oil fields. One night, Colonel Benjamin Adekunle led a flotilla of naval ships that took his troops to the rebel held island of Bonny. Thy arrived there around 5 a.m. and took the Biafran troops by surprise. After a firefight of more than one hour, Adekunle landed on Bonny, captured the oil fields and changed the tide of the war. The victorious troops formed the core of the new Third Marine Commando Division and its leader took the sobriquet, the Black Scorpion.
This time around in 2024, firefight would not solve the problem. The challenge of a Nigerian company sending European firms out of the market in Africa and Europe is not going to be taken with folded arms. The Tinubu Economic Team needs to draw up contingency plans for this eventuality. We have seen what is happening on the international air routes with the new muscles of Air Peace, the largest and most capable Nigerian Air Carrier. Suddenly, the foreign airlines who have resulted into a price-war, struggling to disrupt the emerging leadership of Air peace on the international routes. The dogfight in the sky promises to be interesting and messy.

The lesson is that we are capable of building our country. It is wrong for us to expect others to help us do the job even when we wrongly believe we can pay. The Soviet Union under Josef Stalin, helped Mao Zedong to power in the Chinese Civil War which ended with the victory of the communists on October 1, 1949. However, when the relationship between China and the USSR deteriorated, Soviet engineers removed the rail-tracks they had already laid across China in order to disrupt the Chinese economic programme. China responded with the campaign for self-reliance and built its own rail system, its cars, its air-craft and its aircraft carrier. Chinese built China. Let us build ours.