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EFCC Files Fresh Charges Against Elumelu, Others
Justice Salisu Garba of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Maitama, Abuja, has adjourned till December 15, taking of pleas in the 229 amended charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the suspended chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Ransome Owan and six commissioners of the agency.
The commissioners are Mallam Abdurahman Ado, Professor Onwuamaeze Iloeje, Dr. Abdurazaq Alimi, Mr. Mohammed Bunu, Mr. Abimbola Odubiyi and Dr. Grace Eyoma.
Counsel to the EFCC, Godwin Obla, said the amended charges were as a result of fresh evidence available to the commission.
But when the matter came up on Thursday, counsel to the fourth accused person, Mr. O. Owa, argued that his client could not take his plea because he was only served the amended charges that morning.
“We were served the amended charge this morning, and when there is a dispute as to issue of service, it cannot be resolved by conflicting words of counsel, it must be resolved by production of proof of service,” Owa told the court.
After listening to the submission of both the prosecuting and defence counsels on the matter, Justice Garba adjourned the case to December 15, to enable the 5th accused person study the amended charge before taking his plea.
Dr. Owan and the six commissioners were first arraigned by the EFCC on April 22, 2009, before the FCT High Court, Abuja, on a 196-count charge. The accused persons are alleged to have committed an offence contrary to sections 97, 315,122, 309, 123, 289 of the Criminal Procedure Code, all bordering on criminal conspiracy, dishonest conversion of public funds, criminal appropriation, theft and disobedience to law.
They were said to have allegedly converted billions of naira belonging to NERC for personal use.
The accused persons were later granted bail in the sum of N100 million each, two sureties for each of the accused persons with like sum; the two sureties must be prominent Nigerians with properties in either Maitama, Garki, Asokoro or Wuse, all in Abuja.
The accused persons were also barred from travelling and are to report to the EFCC head office first and last Mondays of every month.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday, preferred a fresh 130-count charge against a member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Godwin Elumelu; a Senator, Nicholas Ugbane and seven others at the FCT High Court, Abuja, for defrauding the government to the tune of over N5.2 billion in the Rural Electrification Agency project.
The nine accused persons have also been separated in the fresh charges.
The three lawmakers are jointly facing a 62-count charge, while the other six accused are jointly facing a 68-count charge.
The three lawmakers are: Mr. Godwin Elumelu, House of Representatives committee Chairman on Power, Mr. Nicholas Yahaya Ugbane, Senate Committee Chairman on Power and Mr. Jibo Mohammed.
The other accused are Mr. Samuel Ibi Gekpe, Mr. Abdullahi Aliyu, Simon Kirdi Nanle, Mr. Lawrence Kayode Orekoya, Abdulsamad Garba Jahun and Mr. Kayode Oyedeji.
Count three and four, being charges against the lawmakers, state that while the duo of Ugbane and Elumelu were serving as the committee chairmen on Power in the Senate and the House respectively in 2008, alongside Mr. Jibo Mohammed, who is Elumelu’s deputy, they conspired among themselves to the commission of offences, to wit: criminal breach of trust by public servants in the purported award of Grid Extension and Solar Electrification contracts from the Amended Budget 2008 of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), and, thereby, committed an offence punishable under section 97(1) of the penal Code Act Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, Abuja, 1990.
In one of the charges preferred against the other six of the nine accused persons, Mr. Samuel Ibi Gekpe, Mr. Abdullahi Aliyu, Simon Kirdi Nanle, Mr. Lawrence Kayode Orekoya, Abdulsamad Garba Jahun and Mr Kayode Oyedeji, all senior officials of Rural Electrification Agency, they were alleged to have, some time, in December 2008.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.