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Recovered $43.4m: Court Orders Ikoyi Flat Forteiture
The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the temporary forfeiture of Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, where the Sums of $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 were discovered stashed in iron cabinets and “Ghana-must-go” bags, last April.
Justice Saliu Sadu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, yesterday, ordered the temporary forfeiture of Flat 7B Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, where the sums of $43, 449, 947, £27,800 and N23, 218 belonging to the National Intelligence Agency were found last April, to the Federal Government.
The EFCC had earlier named the wife of the sacked Director General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mrs. Folashade Oke, as the owner of the flat.
The EFCC said it found out that Mrs. Oke made cash payment of $1.658million for the purchase of the flat between August 25 and September 3, 2015.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had discovered the sums of $43, 449, 947, £27,800 and N23, 218 kept in iron cabinets and jute bags, otherwise known as ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags, in the apartment on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. The money had since been permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
Justice Sadu gave the forfeiture order on the flat following an ex parte application filed by the counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo. Oyedepo had, on May 5, 2017, revealed that the wife of a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayo Oke, Folashade, owns the apartment.
She was said to have made cash payment of $1.658m for the flat between August 25 and September 3, 2015 in the name of a company, Chobe Ventures Limited. She and her son, Ayodele Oke Jnr., were said to be directors in the company. Oke was also said to have made the cash payment in tranches of $700,000, $650,000 and $353,700 to a Bureau de Change operator, Sulah Petroleum and Gas Limited, who later converted the money to N360, 000,000 and subsequently paid it to Fine and Country Limited for the purchase of the property.
In his ruling on the application today, Justice Sadu directed the EFCC to publish the forfeiture order within 14 days in any of the national dailies as notice to Chobe Ventures, its directors or any interested persons to appear before the court to show cause why the property should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
The case was adjourned to November 30, 2017. Meanwhile, barely two weeks after the former National Intelligence Agency Director General, Amb. Ayodele Oke, was sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari, a Federal High Court has ordered the forfeiture of the $43 million, $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 found in his wife’s Ikoyi apartment in April this year, to the federal government.
This happened as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, said that there was enormous reward for whistleblowers in the country and pleaded with more Nigerians to blow the lid in stolen public funds and property and get the promised benefits attached to the gesture.
It also emerged that the unnamed young Nigerian, who led the security agents to unravel the huge cash in the Ikoyi home, is being counselled by the EFCC on how he could possibly use the hundreds of millions of Naira accruing to him as a percentage of the amount recovered through his intelligence to the security agents.
The EFCC had taken its prayers to the FHC in Lagos, asking it to permanently confiscate the huge cash to the federal government since it was obvious to the agency that the money was from the proceeds of corruption. In responding to the EFCC prayers, Muslim Hassan ordered the forfeiture of the amount to the government.
Hassan said, “I am in complete agreement with the submission of the learned counsel for the applicant (EFCC) that the property sought to be attached are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and that by every standard this huge sum of money is not expected to be kept without going through a designated financial institution.
“More so, nobody has shown cause why the said sum should not be forfeited to the federal government of Nigeria. Having regard to the foregoing, I have no other option than to grant this application as prayed” Apparently excited about the seizure, the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, yesterday, called on Nigerians who want a positive change in the country to take advantage of the whistle blowing policy announced by the government early this year and expose more looters and earn money in the process.
Magu, who made the plea at the ongoing 7th Session of the Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption holding in Vienna, Austria said aside from contributing to the eradication of corruption, potential whistleblowers also stand of benefitting from the illicit acquisition by the looters.
According to him, the young man who blew the whistle on the $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 recovered on April 7, 2017 by the EFCC in an apartment located at 16, Osborne Road, Ikoyi is already a millionaire by virtue of the percentage he is officially entitled to.
Magu said, “We are currently working on the young man because this is just a man who has not seen one million naira of his own before.
So he is under counselling on how to make good use of the money and also the security implication. We don’t want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is national pride”, he said. “So we encourage more whistle blowers to come forward with genuine information that will lead to recoveries from looters of public treasuries. That is part of the ways we can put an end to the looting madness in the public sector. “When they know that they have no place to keep the loot, as all eyes are on them, they will find looting of public treasuries unattractive “.
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.