News

Court Sentences Maina’s Son To 14 Years Imprisonment

Published

3 years ago

October 8, 2021

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, convicted and sentenced the son of former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, Faisal, to 14 years imprisonment.
The court, in judgement that was delivered by trial Justice Okon Abang, found Faisal guilty on a three-count money laundering charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), preferred against him.
It held that the anti-graft agency successfully established that Faisal, operated a fictitious bank account with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), through which his father, Maina, laundered the sum of N58.1million.
The court noted that the said fund which was deposited into the account that was operated in the name of Alhaji Faisal Farm 2, was sequentially withdrawn by the Defendant and his father, between October, 2013 and June, 2019.
Justice Abang said he was satisfied that the EFCC proved all the essential ingredients of the charge, stressing that the Defendant reasonably ought to have known that inflows into the bank account formed proceeds of an unlawful act of corruption by his father.
While the court sentenced the Defendant to 5 years in count 1 and 3 of the charge, he was sentenced to 14 years on count 2 of the charge.
The court held that the charge would run concurrently, starting from yesterday.
The court ordered that the 21-year-old Faisal, who had since June 24, 2020, failed to appear for his trial, should be arrested anywhere he is found in Nigeria and remanded in any Correctional Service Center to serve his jail term immediately.
It further held that in the event that the Defendant traced to anywhere outside the country, the Federal Government, “shall legally or lawfully commence extradition proceeds to bring him into the country to serve the jail term”.
The court ordered that the company through which the fund was laundered, Alhaji Faisal Farm 2, be wound up, with funds in it forfeited to the government.
It will be recalled that the court had on November 24, 2020, issued a bench warrant for security agencies to arrest Faisal wherever he is found, shortly after his bail was revoked.
EFCC closed its case against him after it called three witnesses that testified in the matter.
It alleged that Maina’s son had sometimes between 2013 and 2019, received the sum of N58.11million, being proceeds of a corrupt act by his father.
He was also accused of failing to properly declare his assets before the EFCC.
Faisal had reportedly pulled a gun to challenge operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) that arrested his father at a hotel in Abuja on September 30, 2019.
The EFCC had ealier told the court that it got intelligence report that Faisal had escaped to the United States of America.

News

Dangote Stops Petrol Sale In Naira, Gives Condition For Resumption

Published

3 days ago

March 21, 2025

The Tide

Nigerians may experience an increase in the prices of premium energy products diesel and petrol as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery temporarily halts the sale of petroleum products in Naira.
“This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars,” the company said in a statement yesterday.
The $20billion refinery based in Lagos said the sales of its products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude it has received from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” the company explained.
The refinery said it remained committed to serving the Nigerian market and would resume the sale of its product to the local market in Naira as soon as it received crude cargoes from the NNPCL in Naira.
“As soon as we receive an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in Naira,” it said.
The announcement by the refinery comes amid its price war with the NNPCL.
As part of moves to reduce the strain on the US dollars, and guarantee price stability of petroleum products, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024, directed the NNPCL to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in naira and not in United States’ greenback.
In the beginning of March 2025, the NNPCL said its Naira-denominated crude sales agreement with the Dangote Refinery was structured for six months with March 2025 as the expiration date.
The state company, however, said that talks were on to replace the contract, and that over 48 million barrels of crude oil have been made available to Dangote Refinery since October 2024 under the Naira-denominated arrangement.
The NNPCL also said it had made over 84 million barrels of crude oil available to the private refinery since it commenced operations in 2023.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational for decades until 2024. The country was heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPCL being the major importer of the essential commodities.
Fuel queues are commonplace in the country. Prices of petrol more than quadrupled since the removal of subsidy in May 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, from around ¦ 200/litre to about ¦ 1,000/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.
Last December, the billionaire industrialist commenced operations at the facility situated in Lagos with 350,000 barrels a day. The refinery, which was initially bogged by regulatory battles, hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. The refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.

News

Aruna Displaces Assar As Africa’s Top-Ranked Star

Published

3 days ago

March 21, 2025

The Tide

Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has overtaken Egypt’s Omar Assar to become Africa’s highest-ranked player in the world, now sitting at 18th in the week 12 ranking released on Tuesday.
Aruna moved up from 19th place in week 11 to 18th in the latest ranking, while Assar dropped from 17th to 19th.
Denmark’s Jonathan Groth took over Assar’s 17th place, moving up from 18th.
Despite finishing as runner-up at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup, Aruna’s impressive performances at the WTT tournaments this year have boosted his ranking.
Aruna remains the only African male player to have reached the semi-finals of the WTT Contender Doha, repeating his 2023 feat earlier this year in January.
This achievement has propelled him ahead of Assar, who beat him to become the champion of the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup.
Aruna’s next tournament is the WTT Contender Chennai which serves off in India from March 23 to 20.
In the women’s singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda maintained her top spot in Africa, moving up one place to 26th in the week 12 ITTF ranking. Her compatriot, Dina Meshref, remained static at 33rd, holding her position as the second-best-ranked female player in Africa.
China’s Wang Chuqin retained his position as the second-best player globally, behind his compatriot Lin Shidong, who continues to hold the top spot. Japanese superstar Tomokazu Harimoto dethroned China’s Liang Jingkun as the third-best player in the world after his semifinal finish in Chongqing.
In the women’s ranking, the top five remained unchanged, with China’s Sun Yingsha holding onto her top spot after retaining her WTT Champions Chongqing title.

News

NSPRI Empowers Agri-preneurs For Independence, Postharvest Loss Reduction

Published

3 days ago

March 21, 2025

The Tide

The Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) has empowered agri-preneurs with skills to be self-independent and reduce post-harvest losses.

The two-day training was held recently at its Lagos Zonal office on Barikisu Iyede Street, Yaba, Lagos, and centered around post-harvest management, particularly focusing on how to add value to agricultural products such as grains, roots, and tubers.

With a hands-on approach making up a whopping 90 percent of the training, participants got their hands dirty, learning to create value-added products such as bean flour, ground rice, odourless fufu, poundo yam, and flavoured pap.

The training also delved into essential post-harvest management practices and highlighted the importance of packaging in enhancing the value of agricultural goods.

Rounding off the programme, participants were conducted round the NSPRI facility, where participants had the chance to discover even more post-harvest solutions beyond what was covered in the training.

The diverse group of attendees, representing various ages and genders, participated both in person and online.

In his closing remarks, the Executive Director of NSPRI, represented by the Zonal Coordinator, Dr. Shuaeeb Oyewole, expressed heartfelt thanks to the trainees.

He stressed that the skills and knowledge gained during the training could significantly help in reducing agricultural losses, creating job opportunities, and fighting poverty.

He also encouraged everyone to become advocates for post-harvest loss reduction in their communities.

Participants, including Mrs. Olayinka Immanuel, and Mrs. Olubunmi Afolabi, who joined virtually from the United States and Osogbo, Osun State, respectively, expressed gratitude for the training.

Mr. Christopher, a returning participant, commended the training for its focus on practical skills and expressed his eagerness for future sessions.

Everyone left with a commitment to use what they learned to tackle post-harvest losses head-on and to foster entrepreneurship, ultimately contributing to job creation and wealth generation in their communities.