The Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has formally distanced itself from the views expressed by the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, over the purchase of new jets for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.

The group insisted that the safety and security of the nation’s leaders must be treated as a paramount issue.

Speaking via a statement released on Tuesday amid the ongoing controversy, Secretary-General Okechukwu Isiguzoro asserted that Obi’s opinion does reflect the collective stance of the Igbo Nation as embodied by Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

Isiguzoro highlighted that the current Presidential fleet, acquired over two decades ago during the Obasanjo administration, poses significant security risks and could hinder the President and Vice President in performing essential duties.

The statement said, “While we acknowledge Mr. Obi’s concerns about Nigeria’s economic challenges and the necessity to tackle pressing issues like insecurity, poverty, and hunger, Ohanaeze Ndigbo firmly believes that the safety and security of our nation’s leaders must take precedence.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo wholeheartedly supports the Federal Government’s decision to procure new Presidential jets to ensure the safety of President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima.

“The organization recognized Obi’s genuine concerns for the Nigerian populace and his aspirations for economic improvement, urging him to collaborate with President Tinubu to provide constructive input and support for policies aimed at alleviating the hardships faced by citizens.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo remains committed to fostering unity, progress, and the well-being of all Nigerians. We firmly believe that through cooperation, we can work towards a brighter future for our nation.” 

A veteran Yoruba film actor, Lere Paimo, has appealed to governors from the South-West region of the country to control the activities of herders in the region, as farmers could no longer access their ancestral farms due to insecurity.

Paimo, who is widely recognized as Eda Onile Ola, said the people are suffering, and there is much hunger in the land because peasant farmers are unable to carry out their usual farming due to fear of destruction by herders.

The renowned actor expressed his belief that with proper security, infrastructure, and encouragement for agriculturalists, the South-West region could provide for its population and the whole country.

In an interview held on Tuesday in Lagos, Lere Paimo shared his insights on how to address the current socio-economic challenges, inflation, and food shortage issues facing the nation.

He suggested that the governors of South-West states need to work together and implement strategies to curb the activities of violent herders to guarantee food availability in the area.

Furthermore, he emphasized that by ensuring security, improving infrastructure, and offering support to farmers, the South-West could sustainably feed its citizens and the entire nation.

The veteran said: “Let every South-West governor control the activities of herders, who always clash with farmers. This has sent many away from their ancestral farms, and the attendant hunger is staring us in the face.

“The herders have brought a lot of losses to many farmers by making their cattle to feed on farms while some farmers have also lost their lives in the process. Many have left their farms over this.

“This is very bad. Each governor has the authority and power in their various states to ensure that herders are tamed for people to have the confidence to go back to farm without fear of any loss.

“People are suffering and hungry because many people have deserted farms because of security. If we want food security like before, we need to do something in that direction.

“Let each governor in the region take it as a personal responsibility to ensure stiff penalties for any herder who leads his flock to feed on people’s farms.”

Lere Paimo advocated ranches for herders as part of efforts to turnaround the current food crisis in the country.

He added: “We must take actions now to ensure security in the region, especially for farmers to enhance food security.

“South-West has enough arable land to growth its food and also feed the entire nation.

“The herder-farmer clashes is creating a lot of fears for the farmers in the region and our leaders must take urgent action before it will be too late.”

He mentioned that because raising cattle is a personal venture for individuals or collectives, it’s important for the government to step in and protect farmers from any negative impacts.

He argued that it’s the responsibility of the government to allocate a designated area for herders to graze their livestock within every state or municipality.

The Abuja Federal High Court has denied granting bail to the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.

In his ruling, Justice Emeka Nwite held that Kyari’s bail is at the discretion of the court in line with section 161 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

The judge ruled that Kyari had not shown any evidence to warrant the court granting him bail. 

On May 22, the judge had granted the former boss of the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, temporary two-week bail to bury his mother.

However, the two weeks were extended by a week upon an application filed by Mr. Kyari for an extension of the bail.

On June 1, Kyari perfected the bail conditions and was released the same day.

At today’s proceedings, Justice Emeka Nwite refused to extend his earlier order but granted accelerated hearing in the case.

Kyari was detained following his arrest on February 14, 2022, by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for alleged involvement with an international drug cartel.

He, along with four members of the Police Intelligence Response Team—Sunday Ubia, Bawa James, Simon Agirigba, and John Nuhu—was arraigned on March 7, 2022.

Two suspected drug traffickers, Chibunna Umeibe and Emeka Ezenwanne, who were arrested at Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, were also charged.

While Kyari and the IRT members pleaded not guilty, Umeibe and Ezenwanne pleaded guilty and were convicted.

Documentation has exposed how the $6,230,000 in cash, allegedly taken from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on February 8, 2023, was divided.

A special presidential investigative team, headed by Jim Obaze, which examined the tenure of former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, claimed that the $6.2 million was taken from the central bank’s vault under the pretense of paying election observers.

In court documents obtained by The Nation, investigators described the theft as an insider job, allegedly orchestrated primarily by CBN officials in collusion with two outsiders, identified as Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar.

According to the documents, investigators alleged that Odoh Eric Ocheme, a personal assistant to Emefiele during his tenure as CBN Governor, received $3,730,000 from the funds, while the remaining $2,500,000 was divided among three other individuals.

Ocheme allegedly claimed that he needed to settle other interests within the central bank, which is why he received the majority share.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has charged Emefiele with complicity in the theft in a 20-count amended indictment filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), charges to which he has pleaded not guilty.

However, during a hearing in the case, a Deputy Director and Head of the Service Delivery Division of the CBN, Michael Onyeka Ogbu, confirmed the cash withdrawal from the apex bank’s Abuja branch, where he was in charge.

Testifying in the case on February 12, Ogbu stated that he authorized the payment after being convinced that it was approved by the relevant authorities.

Ogbu recalled that on February 8, 2023, there was a payment request addressed to the Abuja Branch Controller, a position he held at the time.

He said: “On that day the request for the payment of $6,230,000 was received in my office by my Office Assistant, who brought it to my attention.

“When I received the document, I found that it is from Banking Services Department.

“The Director, Banking Services signed the memo, and the content of the memo contained an instruction for the Branch Controller to pay the sum of $6,230,000 to a staff of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation , with the identity and the name of the person mentioned.

“The memo said the payment was for international election observers and that we should debit an account – Naira Forex Account – with the naira equivalent of $6,230,000.

“The memo also said that the money will be refunded in the second quarter of 2023 by the Federal Ministry of Finance. It went on to say ‘find attached the approval of the governor of the CBN for the payment.’

“The attachment had the approval of the governor of the CBN. It also had the approval of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the request letter from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.”

Ogbu stated that after reviewing the documents and finding them satisfactory, he forwarded them to the Head of Business Services Unit for processing and payment.

On whether the money was eventually released, Ogbu said: “Payment was eventually made. The $6,230,000 was paid on the 8th of February 2023. The payment was in cash.”

According to court documents, it was revealed that certain beneficiaries invested their portion of the loot, valued at around ₦1.4 billion, in real estate, of which a portion has been reclaimed.

An affidavit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja by a Deputy Superintendent of Police provided details of the investigators’ findings and the progress made so far in connection with an extradition charge against Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar, and Odoh Eric Ocheme.

Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar, and Ocheme are reportedly at large and believed to have fled the country, prompting extradition proceedings against them before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police said: “We commenced investigation into the case and obtained copies of the withdrawal slip as well as the accompanying documents, Central Bank of Nigeria memos, dated 07/02/2023 and 31/01/2023 respectively, staff identity card of one Jibril Abubakar, letter dated 2/01/2023 purportedly written by Muhammadu Buhari to Boss Mustapha and letter dated 20/01/2023 purportedly written by Boss Mustapha to Mr Godwin Emafiele, which the Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja Branch relied on in making the payment.

“Investigation at the office of the President as well as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in the Stale House revealed that the letters purportedly written by Muhammadu Buhari and for Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha did not emanate from the offices respectively, while Jibril Abubakar, whose identity card was used to cash the money in question is not a staff of the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“We watched the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footages of the 08/02/2023 being the day the money in question was cashed, and the payee (Jibril Abubakar) could not be identified by the staff of either the CBN or that of the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, where he falsely represented himself to be working.

“A further study of the Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) footage revealed that a staff of the Abuja Branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, identified as Abdulmajeed Muhammad received the impostor (Jibril Abubakar) at the gate of the bank when he arrived on the fateful date: 08/02/2023.

“Abdulmajeed Muhammad was consequently arrested and in his statement made on 15/12/2023, he admitted helping the impostor into the Abuja Branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, but claimed that he did that innocently, the impostor having been referred to him by Bashirudeen Maishanu; a Senior Staff of the CBN.

“Abdulmajeed Muhammad further revealed that prior to 08/02/2023 when the impostor came to cash the money in question, he (Abdulmajeed Muhammad) had been invited by Bashirudeen Maishanu to explain the procedure of public officials making cash withdrawal from the CBN as those persons claimed to be officials from the office of the SGF and that the then president had approved certain fund for official assignment.

“We visited Kuje Correctional Centre, where we interviewed Godwin Emefiele, who purportedly approved the memos authorising the payment, as then CBN and he denied seeing, talk less of approving such memos.

“We also arrested some concerned staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who denied any involvement in the crime, before we finally arrested Bashirudeen Maishanu, who corroborated the account of Abdulmajeed Muhammad and further confessed to have been involved in the crime which, according to him was perpetrated by himself and the first to third defendants/respondents – Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar and Odoh Eric Ocheme.

“Bashiru Maishanu further confessed that himself, the first and second defendants/respondents (Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar) shared the sum of $2,500,000.00 from the stolen money, while the third defendant/respondent (Odoh Eric Ocheme), being a fellow staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria, kept the balance of $3,730,000.00 claiming that he had other interests to settle in the CBN.

“Bashirudeen Maishanu further confessed that both himself, and the first and second defendants/respondents jointly invested the United States dollars equivalent of the sum of ₦1, 440,000,000.00 into real estate business of Afrolyk Global Ltd.

“The Managing Director of the said Afrolyk Ltd, Aminu Lawal has been arrested and he confirmed the investment by Bashirudeen Maishanu, Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar, and already refunded the sum of $200 000 00 to the Special Investigator’s team as part of the money he (Aminu Lawal) received as part of the purported investment.

“Cash of about $400,000 00 has also been voluntarily returned by Bashiru Maishanu from part of his remaining share of the money in question.

“The money (the $6,230,000) was received in cash from the Central Bank at Nigeria and also shared in the same cash by the defendants/respondents and others, making it difficult to trace the monies without arresting the defendants/respondents.

“It was later revealed that the third defendant – Odoh Eric Ocheme – was the Personal Assistant to Godwin Emefiele as the CBN governor while the first and second defendants (Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar) are businessmen and associates of Bashirudeen Maishanu.”