Interest on loot recovered from ex-IG, Alams hits N1.9bn –EFCC....Read it All On Tafia World

Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Sunday said as of March 2015, it had realised N1,956,007,974 as interest on the loot recovered from convicted former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun; the late former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, and other prominent Nigerians.

The EFCC further revealed that between March, 2012 and March, 2013, it generated N185m rent from the forfeited properties of a former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, Mr. Erastus Akingbola; a convicted ex-Governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion; a former Plateau State Governor, Senator Joshua Dariye; and nine others.

The EFCC said this in a write-up titled, ‘What EFCC did with recovered loot’, which was published on its official website.

The commission explained it received permission from the then President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to spend N183m out of the interest generated on the recovered funds  when it had financial constraints.

The commission gave the breakdown while reacting to a petition written against its former Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, who is the subject of a Senate inquiry.

In a petition by a security consultant, George Uboh, Lamorde was, among other things, accused of diverting the proceeds of Balogun’s forfeitures between 2008 and 2013 at an interest of 12 per cent per annum, amounting to N2,154,625,556.37.

In its response, however, the anti-graft agency said the recovered funds were deposited in some interest-yielding accounts on the instruction of the courts.

The EFCC said, “The placement of forfeited money in interest-yielding accounts is not an entirely new idea. The court, in various rulings, ordered some funds to be placed in interest yielding accounts.  Rather than warehousing forfeited funds in current accounts for a long period, the commission lodged such funds, including those of Tafa Balogun, in interest yielding accounts.

“The interest element is always in line with CBN Cash Reserve Ratio and not fixed. Not a single kobo is taken out by the commission under this initiative. It is interesting to note that under this initiative, as of March 2015, the sum of N696,590,765.36 was generated as interest on recovered funds with Access Bank Plc.

“Another sum of N522,807,543.83 presently stands as interest generated from recovered funds with Ecobank Plc, while the subsidy recoveries with Enterprise Bank Plc has yielded the sum of N736,609,666.62.

“All the money is intact and is held on behalf of the Federal Government until all encumbrances to their release are cleared.”

The EFCC, however, admitted that it withdrew over N183m from the interest in Access Bank to run its affairs after taking permission from Jonathan, the then President.

The anti-graft agency added, “Sometime in 2011, the EFCC was facing budgetary constraints with adverse consequences for its operations. Consequently, the commission approached (former) President Goodluck Jonathan through the Attorney General of the Federation and received presidential approval to utilise interest, which accrued on recovered funds amounting to N183,124,185.94.

“It was on the basis of the approval received by the commission to utilise the accrued interest that the above instrument, Ref. EFCC/ACCESS/PS/01/01, dated January 9, 2012, was raised.”

The anti-graft agency also denied allegations that Lamorde manipulated the forfeitures and recoveries to the tune of N3.7bn from Alamieyeseigha for two years before formally documenting the transaction

The EFCC said the money realised from the disposal of Alamieyeseigha’s properties was remitted to the commission’s account by Real Estate Derivatives Limited on July 24, 2008 while the last payment from the sale of the ex-governor’s assets in Nigeria was received in March, 2009.

“On July 9, 2009, the total sum of N3,128,230,294.83, realised from the assets, was remitted to the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Finance in favour of Bayelsa State,” it added.

The agency said it was still in possession of N157,708,387.64 from the loot recovered from Alamieyseigha.

It said it would remit the money to the Federal Government’s account soon.

It stated, “The balance of N157,708,387.64 with the commission comprises the sum of  N97,708.387.64 forfeited by Pesal Nigeria Limited, which was remitted to the commission by Diamond Bank on June 12, 2015, and the sum of N60m discovered through routine account reconciliation in 2014.

“This balance will be remitted at the end of the ongoing audit of the commission’s exhibits and recoveries by a reputable international audit firm. Regarding the offshore assets of DSP Alamieyeseigha, the repatriation of the forfeited foreign assets was handled by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, not the EFCC.”

The anti-graft agency dismissed allegations that Lamorde, while serving as the Director of Operations in September, 2008, diverted several cheques and drafts valued at N1,678,345,000.

According to the commission, looters, who return money through cheques and drafts, usually make deposits into Federal Government’s accounts in the Central Bank of Nigeria, which the EFCC has no access to.

Why I starved, chained my son – Pastor Francis....Read it All on Tafia World

 

Why I starved, chained my son – Pastor Francis

 

–might be charged with attempted murder

Afeez Hanafi

Francis Taiwo, a Celestial Church of Christ pastor who starved and kept his nine-year-old son in chains for months, has been arrested.

The 40-year-old pastor was apprehended by the police from the Onipanu division on Sunday at his church – CCC, Key of Joy Parish – in Ajibawo, Atan, in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Police sources told PUNCH Metro that Francis might be charged with attempted murder, among other offences, after the completion of investigation.

“The pastor may be charged with attempted murder. His action was capable of killing the boy,” one of the sources said.

Our correspondent had reported that Francis chained his son, Korede, to the altar in the church for more than a month and starved him until he went into a coma in an attempt to cast out the supposed spirit that made the boy to steal.

Korede was, however, rescued on Friday during a joint operation by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the police, after receiving a tip-off from residents of the area.

Korede’s stepmother, Kehinde, had also been arrested for allegedly aiding the cruelty meted out to the boy.

Korede, who said he aspired to be a doctor, had blamed his father for his stealing habit.

“It is true that I stole a pot of soup and a bowl of eba in our house. I also stole in the neighbourhood. My father’s inability to give money to my stepmother for the upkeep of the family caused it. When I was chained, my father and stepmother fed me twice a day. Some days, I was not given any food. I want to go back to school because I want to be a doctor in the future. I do not want to go back to my father’s house,” Korede had said.

Francis, a father of five who hails from Benin Republic, confessed to the act in his statement to the police, adding that Korede’s mother was late.

He said, “I was ordained a pastor in the CCC in 2012. I had divorced two wives, including Korede’s mother, Maria; she is late now. She had four children for me – two boys and two girls – before she divorced me in 2007 after she gave birth to Korede. I chained Korede because he is possessed. An evil spirit makes him to steal. He needs deliverance. His siblings are not living with me.”

A resident, who identified himself only as Elijah, said Francis had been warned on several occasions against unleashing violence on the victim.

He said, “His father has been chaining him for the past six months. He would chain him for hours and release him. His grouse is that Korede steals and runs away from home and he thinks a spirit is controlling the child. He once took him to a river in chains for deliverance.”

The Ogun State police spokesperson, SP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the case had been transferred to the child labour unit of the command for investigation.

“The case has been transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the command for necessary investigation and actions as directed by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of zone 2, AIG Abdulmajid Ali,” he said.

I abandoned school for robbery – Suspect....Read it All on Tafia World

I abandoned school for robbery – Suspect

 

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni

Olaleye Aluko and Adewale Ogungbemi

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a suspected robber, Ifeanyi Okorie, who said he started robbing after he finished his primary school education.

PUNCH Metro learnt that 22-year-old Okorie allegedly left Enugu State to rob at the Ladipo Market in the Mushin area when he was arrested.

It was gathered that two other accomplices, Ejike Francis and Oboho Nuel, were arrested with Okorie.

Our correspondent learnt that operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, recovered a pump-action rifle, a locally-made pistol and 13 unexpended cartridges from the suspects.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, Okorie said after he left primary school, he decided not to further his education and to become a robber.

He said, “I abandoned schooling after my primary school education. I am based in Enugu State. I was arrested in Lagos State. I was caught in Ladipo Market in the Mushin area. The owner of the pump-action rifle is our gang leader. His name is Ebuka Mbajide.

“We had gone to the Mushin area to loot some shops when the police arrested us. They did not switch on the headlight of their patrol vehicle, so we did not notice them.”

A police source told one of our correspondents that the police were looking for three fleeing members of the gang.

He said, “The robbery suspects were transferred to SARS from the Olosan division. Most of them were based in Enugu State and came to Lagos for the robbery operation. They were six in the gang, but three of them have been arrested, while three persons escaped.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the suspects, said investigation was ongoing into the matter.

WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO OF JOEL E DE EU BASED ARTIST ALL ON TAFIA WORLD.

 

JED RECORDS PRESENT'S ENOTIE JED OSAMUDIAME A.K.A JOEL D E HAIL FROM EDO STATE NIGERIA JOE D E IS A PROFESSIONAL MUSIC PRODUCER,SONGWRITER /AUDIO ENGINEER WHO HAVE BEEN PRODUCING HITS SONGS FOR NAIJA HOME BASE AND EU BASE ARTIST. CURRENTLY WORKING AS A PRODUCER AT JONETEZAS RECORDING STUDIO IN ITALY

 

 

 

 

“Nigerian Europe based artiste Mikeys says I will like to date Yemi Alade” read it on Tafia world.

Exclusive: “I will like to date Yemi Alade” – Nigerian Europe based artiste Mikeys

By Jhayke Adesanya

Mikeys is a versatile artiste based in Europe, he has proven his music to be one of the best Nigerian music in Europe where he is based. In this exclusive interview with Jhayke Adesanya of JAC he reveals more about himself
Can you tell us your name in full?
My names are Olayiwola Michael
You are a Nigerian but base in Europe?
Yeah
I’m a Lagos born producer based in Europe
Okay, that brings me to the question, how long have you been living in Europe?
I’ve been living in Europe for 6 years
So basically it’s been how many years since you started music professionally?
3 years, my mom was a chorister; I always go to choir rehearsals and all read more......

Nigeria must be restructured, says Ekweremadu

 

The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu

John Ameh, Abuja

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said on Tuesday that Nigeria must embrace restructuring as the surest solutions to its current economic challenges.

He argued that to succeed, the country must abandon its “feeding bottle federalism “ for true fiscal federalism.

The deputy Senate President also disagreed with the views expressed in certain quarters that all the country needed was good governance and not restructuring.

He spoke at the Second Annual Conference of the Young Parliamentarians Forum, which took place at the National Assembly in Abuja.

The theme was “Political /Economic Inclusion and Participation of Young People in Nigeria.”

He noted that the age-long culture of federating states running to the centre to ask for money monthly while resources wasted in their backyards would at best give temporary succour, but that the problem would continue.

 Ekweremadu added, “I disagree with those who say that Nigeria does not necessarily need restructuring, but good governance that will eliminate corruption.

“The truth is that it is difficult to tame corruption where the federating units virtually run on free federal allocations that some people see as national cake, not their own sweat.

“Conversely, the people will be more vigilant and ready to hold their leaders accountable when the federating units begin to live largely on internally generated revenues and their sweat.

“However, restructuring should be on incremental basis to ease the country into a more prosperous future.”

 He urged the nation’s youths to take active part in the affairs of their political parties.

Ekweremadu added, “We need to reinvigorate the youth arm of our political parties as in the days of the First Republic and pre-independence era when vibrant youth movements and arms of the political parties thrived and served as platforms for political apprenticeship for aspiring political leaders.

 “Unfortunately, there is little we can do about meaningful youth economic inclusion and employment until we restructure our behemoth federalism.

“I still hold the view that this feeding bottle federalism, this act of robbing Peter to pay Paul, which we have gradually enthroned as state policy since the fall of the First Republic, remains cause of our economic quandary.”

A member of the House of Representatives and National Chairman, Young Parliamentarians Forum of Nigeria, Mr. Nnanna Igbokwe, called for more economic empowerment for youths.

He stated that this should precede the clamour to reduce the eligibility age of young people to participate in politics.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House,  Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has stated that the country had little choice but to diversify its economy from dependence on oil revenue.

Dogara was speaking at the Chattered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria Abuja Tax Week on the Dilemma of Improving Tax Revenue in Tough Economic Times.

The Speaker told his audience how the House initiated a sectoral debate by ministers on the state of the economy to underscore the importance of diversifying the economy of the country.

Dogara also assured the session that administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was working hard to re-engineer Nigeria’s economic development.

He explained, “Midway into fiscal year 2016, the challenges of meeting yearning expectations is still as daunting as ever but the government is as resolute as it remains dedicated to bringing succour to the plight of the average Nigerian…

“To do this, the government deliberately tinkered with the federal budget in order to ensure that it delivers a 70:30 recurrent to capital spending per total budget expenditure in order to boost capital formation in the economy.

“We realise that capital project financing is vital to providing new infrastructure that would help build the badly needed capital formation for our economy to grow. We need to do even better in the 2017 budget and afterwards.”

On taxation, he said the news in most of the states was not cheering, except Lagos.”

He added, “Our tax buoyancy does not leave us with any much to cheer as well at -3.21 in 2015 from its previous levels of -0.08 for year 2014. Combined contribution of the states to tax revenue stood at 15.43 per cent of total tax revenue with Federal tax revenue making up 84.57 per cent for year 2015.

 “This was only a 2.38 percentage point increase in States’ Internally Generated Revenue. Among the states, Ebonyi State tops states with average annualised growth rate in Internally Generated Revenue  of 98.59 per cent, while Kwara State is lowest with 0.77 per cent.

“On the basis of IGR per states’ population, Lagos understandably tops the chart with N22, 954.65 per capita, while Zamfara is lowest with N 652.15 per capita as at 2015.

“This means that Lagos is more able to serve its people 35.2 times with tax revenue over its Zamfara counterpart.”

Timi Dakolo stole my song – Majek Fashek

 

Majek

No matter how incoherent some people may feel veteran artiste, Majek Fashek is, nobody could take away his sound state of mind and the bitterness he felt when he claimed in a chat with Saturday Beats recently how Timi Dakolo, the R&B singer, “stole” his evergreen hit song, Send Down the Rain.

Timi, in 2013, had done a remix of the song but Fashek said Timi never took permission from him before doing the song.

In an exclusive chat with Satuday Beats, the reggae singer said Timi Dakolo capitalised on his state of health and remade his song without taking permission from him.

He said, “He broke the rules of copyright. He is a thief because in music business, he must take permission before he works on someone’s song. That is why we have COSON. I did not give anyone the right to do anything with my song. I have a management team I work with headed by Omenka Uzoma.  Dakolo never bothered to look for me before stealing my song. He has infringed on the laws of copyright and he is not an original artiste. It is only people like Tuface, Wizkid, Olamide that are original.

“I felt bad when I learnt that he worked on my song without my consent. He did not even give me credit. He is a very bad artiste and he took advantage of the circumstance that I was facing during that time. The song is not a normal song; it is a spiritual hit song. Timi Dakolo does not know how I suffered to get that song. I fasted for seven days before I got that song. I partook in three days ‘white’ fasting  before the song came to me.  Timi Dakolo did not go through that. I did not fight him because I do not have time. Let God judge us.” Also commenting on the situation, Majek Fashek’s music business consultant, Omenka Uzoma, said they would soon begin to fish out all those who have been exploiting Majek Fashek.

In a telephone conversation with Timi Dakolo to get his side of the story, the young lad was quick to cut short the conversation even before our correspondent could explain reasons for calling.

 “I am not in the country. There is no allegation levelled against me. Go ahead and write a better story. I am not in Nigeria,” he said before he rudely ended the call

EFCC detains Abia REC over Diezani poll bribe

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke

Eniola Akinkuotu and Ramon Oladimeji

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has detained the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Abia State, Mr. Sylvester Ezeani, for his alleged role in the N23bn ($115m) that was disbursed by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, during the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.

According to the EFCC, the suspect allegedly received N20m out of N241m while he was the REC in Cross River State during the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections.

An EFCC operative told one of our correspondents on Tuesday that the REC had failed to explain what the N20m was meant for and had thus been detained.

He said, “The REC was on Tuesday interrogated by operatives of the EFCC in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in connection with an alleged N20m electoral scam.

“While serving in Cross River State, he was alleged to have collected the sum of N20m out of the entire N241,000,000, which was released to Cross River State from the controversial $115m lodged in a bank by Diezani.

“Ezeani, who has now been redeployed to Abia State, was quizzed over his involvement in the scam. He is still in custody.”

The commission also quizzed the lawmaker representing Oron Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom State, Nse Ekpenyong, for his alleged involvement in a certificate forgery scam.

According to the anti-graft agency, Ekpenyong ran into trouble when a non-governmental organisation petitioned the EFCC, alleging that he committed perjury and financial crimes by submitting a forged National Diploma/statement of result of the Abia State Polytechnic to the Independent National Electoral Commission in the build-up to the 2015 National Assembly election.

The petitioner also alleged that Ekpenyong fraudulently obtained salaries, allowances and other financial benefits through his contrived certificate.

A detective at the commission added, “Investigations by the EFCC showed that Ekpenyong did not attend the polytechnic as alleged by the petitioner and the ND did not emanate from the institution.

“Further investigations are ongoing on the case. Ekpenyong has been released on bail.”

Meanwhile, a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Fred Agbaje, says the concern expressed by President Muhammadu Buhari over delay in the trial of corruption cases is a serious indictment on the judiciary.

Agbaje, who said this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents on Tuesday, pointed out that it was up to the judiciary to redeem itself and change the negative perception.

The lawyer was reacting to the President’s call on the judiciary to support his anti-graft war by ensuring that criminal cases in court were not delayed but expeditiously concluded.

Buhari reportedly spoke at the opening ceremony of an ‘‘International Workshop on the Judiciary and Fight against Corruption.’’

The two-day event was jointly organised by the National Judicial Institute and the Prof. Itse Sagay-led Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption with the theme, ‘The Roles of Judges in the Fight Against Corruption.”

The President was quoted to have called on the judiciary to put its house in order, tackle corruption in the judiciary, be impartial and politically-neutral, remove causes of delay in adjudication of cases and stop tolerating the dilatory tactics of defence lawyers that prolonged high-profile corruption cases.

Speaking on Tuesday against the background of Buhari’s comment, Agbaje said, “It is a serious indictment to say the courts are the ones encouraging delay tactics to frustrate the hearing of corruption cases. It is a serious indictment on the judiciary. It is now for the judiciary to redeem itself.”

Agbaje, however, said the executive, through the anti-corruption agencies and the police, should also share in the blame.

But a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Godwin Obla, frowned on a situation where the President would blame the judiciary for the delay in corruption cases, adding that the delays were caused by some procedural challenges in the country’s laws.

Obla stated, “The President is less than two years in the saddle and I do not think that his opinion as to whether time is wasted or time is not wasted reflects the true position of the law. The truth of the matter is that there are procedural challenges in our laws and some of us have repeatedly spoken about it.

“The fact that someone is facing trial does not mean that we will abridge their right to actually defend themselves. They have the right to defend themselves; and at times in the course of doing so, they rely on unorthodox techniques of delaying trial, but it is within their right and it is within the confines of the law.

“Mr. President cannot indict the judiciary. Just as he is complaining that it is actually taking long for criminal cases to be decided, Nigerians are also saying that it is taking too long for the promises that he made to be fulfilled. It is not a one-way traffic.

“The law does not work in the way it works in the military. This is a democracy. The courts have tried, they’ve brought out certain practice directions, they are making certain levels of progress but it is not overnight.

“If we want to make substantial progress, we must invest in practical amendment to our procedural rule of the court.”

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, had, in his speech at the Abuja event, promised that the judiciary would no longer dismiss cases of corruption against high-profile persons without trial.