News
DSS Nabs, Hands Over Okupe To EFCC …Commission Frees Ex-Obi’s DG …Promises To Remove Him From Watch List
The Department of State Services (DSS) has handed over the immediate past Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Doyin Okupe, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
DSS operatives arrested Okupe, yesterday morning at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, while on his way to London, United Kingdom.
The former presidential spokesman was billed to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic.
Spokesman for the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, confirmed the handing over of Okupe to the EFCC.
“Doyin Okupe was intercepted by DSS at Terminal 1 of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos this morning at the instance of the EFCC. He has long been handed over to the commission which requested the action,” Afunanya said.
One of Okupe’s lawyers, Tolu Babaleye, in a Facebook post said: “The reason according to the source is that he was asked to produce evidence that the Federal High Court, Abuja, has freed him from the case in which he was convicted and paid a fine to the knowledge of the whole world and was allowed to go home.
“When will this harassment stop? Who is after Okupe? As of today, the man has no case to answer; I hereby demand that the DSS should release my client immediately as this is a violation of his freedom of movement, right to liberty and dignity as a human person. This is unfair as the man’s health is fast failing.”
Okupe quit as director general of Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council after he was convicted by the court.
However, the immediate past Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Doyin Okupe, has left the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Okupe described the arrest as an error.
The former presidential aide in a tweet after his release, yesterday, stated that senior officers of the EFCC had apologised to him over the arrest.
He wrote: “I was arrested and detained at the MM international airport, Lagos this morning January 12 on my way to UK for medicals… I have just left the EFCC office where senior officers in Lagos, and Abuja apologised to me for the error. OCCUPATIONAL Hazard abi?”
Meanwhile, the embattled former Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Dr.Doyin Okupe, would be removed from the watch list, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has said.
This comes on the heels of his arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS), at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, yesterday.
According to reports, Okupe had been on the EFCC watchlist for about six years since 2016.
“Okupe is one of the individuals, groups or organisations that required close surveillance for legal reasons.
“In his case, he has been on our watch list since 2016,” an EFCC source is quoted to have said.
Speaking on Okupe’s arrest by the DSS and his subsequent transfer to the EFFC, the anti-graft agency’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said the EFCC would take immediate action to remove the former presidential aide from its watch list.
Uwujaren said, “Concerning the interception of DoyinOkupe, the DSS, today, January 12, informed the commission of the interception of Okupe, former presidential adviser, at the MurtalaMuhammed International Airport in Lagos.
“The service acted on a watch list request issued on July 18, 2016, over six years before his recent conviction on money laundering charges by the Federal High Court, Abuja.
“The commission was in the process of formally lifting the watch list before his interception, and will expedite action in this regard.”
The DSS cited its cooperation with the EFCC as the reason for Okupe’s re-arrest earlier yesterday.
Recall that Okupe was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for breaching the Money Laundering Act.
According to the EFCC that engineered the arrest, Okupe was charged to court for receiving N702million in illegal payment from public funds meant to procure arms to fight insurgency in 2019.
He was convicted of the offence by the Federal High Court.
One of the charges read, “That you, Dr DoyinOkupe, being the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan from July 2012 to May 2015 and being the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, and a signatory to the bank account of Abrahams Telecoms Limited, on or October 3, 2014, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, directly took possession or control of the sum of N35million.
“Transferred to the account of Abrahams Telecoms Ltd from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria, purporting to be for special services when you reasonably ought to have known that the said fund formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity.”
Justice Ojukwu, in a judgement, held that Okupe, also the former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on media to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan was found guilty of contravening Sections 16(1)&(2) of the Money Laundering Act, for accepting cash payments without going through a financial institution, in excess of the threshold allowed under the Act.
News
I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
News
RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
-
Sports5 days ago
Nigerian Athletes Serving Doping Bans
-
Niger Delta5 days ago
NDLEA Intercepts 584.171kg Hard Drugs In Bayelsa … Arrests 559 Suspects
-
News5 days ago
Tinubu Never Stopped 5-year Visa For U S. Citizens – Presidency ?
-
Business5 days ago
Food Security: NDDC Pays Counterpart Fund For LIFE-ND Project
-
Business5 days ago
Industry Leaders Defend Local Content, … Rally Behind NCDMB
-
News5 days ago
KENPOLY Appoints Abalubu As Ag. Registrar
-
Niger Delta5 days ago
Ex-IYC President Lampoons Atiku’s Presidential Ambition … Declares It Negative Impact On N’Delta
-
News5 days ago
UN Warns Floods May Unleash Toxic Chemicals, Pose Risk To Elderly, Ecosystems