AFR Business

Zenith Bank’s compliance officer, Femi Remigus, on Tuesday, tendered exhibits against Ali Bello, the chief of staff of Governor Usman Ododo, in the alleged N3 billion money laundering trial.

Mr Remigus tendered the exhibits while being led in evidence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division.

The banker was the sixth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Mr Bello, a nephew to ex-Governor Yahaya Bello.

The EFCC had, on February 8, 2023, arraigned Mr Bello, Abba Daudu, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege, Iyada Sadat and Rashida Bello (at large) on 18-count of criminal misappropriation and money laundering of N3,081,804,654.00.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to all the counts when they were read to them.

When the matter was called on Tuesday, Mr Oyedepo informed the court that the matter was slated for trial continuation.

While being led in evidence, Mr Remigus explained how millions of naira were deposited into Komfort Koncept Company’s bank account from the bank account names of different LGAs in Kogi on different dates in 2018.

The witness said that on specific dates, money was simultaneously transferred from the account, at different times, into some of the defendants’ bank accounts, especially that of Mr Daudu’s.

“On October 4, 2018, there were nine credits or inflows into the account of Komfort Koncept Company,” he said.

He told the court that N18,629,944 came from Ibaji LGA of Kogi. He said N20,887,537 came from Adavi LGA, and N17,496,929 came from Kogi LGA.

The prosecution witness also said N18,460,565 came from Kabba LGA, while N17 million came from Ankpa LGA.

“Yagba West Local Government credited N18,234,063, while Ofu Local Government credited N21,363,633,” the witness added.

When asked how much was in the Komfort Koncept’s bank account before the inflows, Mr Remigus said, “N7,275.”

According to him, on the date of the inflows, there was a transfer of N105 million to Mr Daudu and others.

Earlier in the proceedings, the EFCC’s witness identified associated bank documents, including statements of account, account opening packages, and certificates of identification for accounts of Komfort Koncept, Messrs Yakubu, Daudu, and others.

Mr Oyedepo, therefore, applied to tender the documents as exhibits, but the defence legal team, including Nureni Jimoh, objected to the admissibility of the documents and reserved objections for the final written address stage.

Justice Egwuatu subsequently admitted the exhibits in evidence, noting that the court would determine the probative value of the exhibits during the judgment.

The judge consequently adjourned the matter until May 5, May 19, May 20 and May 21 to continue the trial.

EFCC is also prosecuting Mr Bello in another case before Justice James Omotosho.

(NAN)

Ghanaian police have denied reports that billionaire Benedict Peters was arrested in Accra, confirming the incident involved a peaceful property dispute over lift access and not a criminal matter.
AITEO founder and CEO Benedict Peters
Ghanaian police authorities have denied reports circulating on social media alleging that Nigerian billionaire and Aiteo Group founder, Benedict Peters, was arrested in Accra earlier this week.

A senior police official in Accra, speaking on condition of anonymity, clarified that the businessman was neither arrested nor detained during a minor dispute involving his residential apartment complex. According to the source, the incident was a routine traffic matter, not a criminal investigation.

“There was no arrest. Mr Peters was not detained at any point. Our officers were simply called in to address a brief obstruction on a private road within the premises,” the officer said in reports carried by several Ghana-based websites.

The misunderstanding stemmed from an ongoing disagreement between Mr Peters and the developers of his residential property. The businessman, who owns a private lift connected to his home, is said to have been repeatedly denied access to the facility—a situation he described as unjust and unacceptable.

In protest, Mr Peters temporarily parked four of his vehicles on an internal road within the complex for approximately two to three hours. Eyewitnesses said the act was peaceful, with Mr Peters accompanied only by his unarmed private security personnel.

Contrary to viral reports, there was no blockade of a public road, no convoy of 20 Toyota Land Cruisers, and no mobilisation of over 100 armed guards. Eyewitnesses confirmed the protest was calm, and the only uniformed presence at the scene came after the developers reportedly contacted national security officials.

Mr Peters fully cooperated with the officers upon their arrival. Police emphasised that their involvement was limited to facilitating the clearing of the temporary obstruction near a construction site within the complex.

Observers believe the presence of uniformed personnel at the high-end complex may have fuelled speculation of an arrest. However, those familiar with the matter have since debunked the claims.

Mr Peters, who has since resumed his regular activities, expressed appreciation to the Ghanaian police for their professionalism and swift resolution of the misunderstanding. He also expressed hope that the issue of lift access within the residential complex would be settled amicably in the coming days.

The Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) have signed a 175 million dollars Programme for Country Partnership (PCP).

While signing of the agreement on Wednesday in Abuja, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu, said that the programme was to accelerate Nigeria’s industrial development and economic transformation.

According to Bagudu, the initiative aligns with the government’s Agenda 2050, the National Development Plan, and the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

“Through this partnership, we aim to enhance Nigeria’s industrial capacity, drive technological innovation, and promote sustainable growth.

“The total budget earmarked for the PCP 2024-2028 amounts to 174.585 million dollars with a clear funding strategy.

“The government of Nigeria has committed a counterpart contribution of 14.3 per cent amounting to 24.965 million dollars while UNIDO will mobilise the remaining 85.7 per cent, totaling 149.19 million dollars,” he said.

Bagudu said that while Nigeria’s absorptive investment capacity ran into hundreds of billions of dollars, the PCP would catalyse private sector participation and broaden access to capital.

“Of course, the absorptive capacity of our economy is in hundreds of billions of dollars. But nevertheless, this cooperation will help catalyse our ability to absorb that investment and broaden the areas.

“This is particularly for the private sector that is well represented here, to take advantage of this and broaden access to capital internationally.

“The financial framework demonstrates government’s dedication to driving industrialisation while leveraging on international partnership to maximise impact,” he said.

According to the minister, the programme will strengthen industrial growth, create jobs and drive economic transformation. He said that it would also support President the Federal Government’s bold economic reforms, which had repositioned Nigeria as a competitive economy.

He highlighted key economic reforms undertaken by the government, including the removal of oil subsidies, introduction of rule-based foreign exchange system, and inauguration of a consumer credit programme. “For a country of over 200 million people, consumer credit is essential to driving demand for locally manufactured goods.

“This will ensure that manufacturers, both small and big, can focus on efficiency rather than market absorption challenges,” he said. Bagudu also emphasised Nigeria’s energy transition efforts, noting that the country is prioritising Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as cost-effective alternatives to petrol and diesel.

“We are committed to reducing industrial production costs through cheaper and more reliable energy sources.

“Our transition to CNG and LNG will make Nigeria’s manufacturing sector more competitive,” he stated. The President of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), Francis Meshioye, said that PCP was a tool for implementation of the industrial component of the country’s national development plan.

According to Meshioye, over 1000 staff of manufacturing companies are experts operating within industrial zones and benefiting from the capacity-building component of the project.

He said that the organised private sector and manufactures would support by giving the needed resources to allow proper domestication of the methodologies.

“I will like to assure you of our readiness to respond positively and support you in the implementation of the key pillars of the programme,” he said.

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to ensuring that Nigeria’s oil, gas and mining revenues are managed for the benefit of all citizens.

NEITI said it would deepen beneficial ownership disclosures, strengthen revenue tracking and contract transparency, and ensure full implementation of extractive sector governance reforms.

Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, NEITI’s executive secretary, said while briefing journalists in Abuja on the progress made in advancing transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s extractive sector.

In the bid to enhance beneficial ownership transparency, Mr Orji said NEITI remained committed to exposing hidden ownership structures to combat corruption.

“We improved the scope, quality, and timeliness of NEITI’s industry reports, expanding our reporting focus to include beneficial ownership, contract transparency, and environmental impacts.

“Reconstitution of the NEITI NSWG, ensuring high-level leadership, making it the only federal board chaired by the secretary to the government of the federation,’’ he said.

Mr Orji mentioned the establishment of the NEITI Data Centre Project, a strategic initiative designed to centralise and automate extractive sector data, ensuring open access to industry information and systematic disclosures in line with the EITI 2023 standards.

He said the inter-ministerial task team responsible for implementing NEITI’s report recommendations was reconstituted in May 2024 after seven years of inaction.

Mr Orji disclosed that the membership was upgraded to director-level representation, strengthening decision-making and policy implementation capacity.

(NAN)

Lagos Governor Sanwo-Olu asks residents to plan their commute

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has advised Lagosians residing outside Victoria Island to avoid areas that are affected by the intractable gridlock caused by the closure of the Independence Bridge for repairs.

Residents should reevaluate their travel plans for the coming weeks, Sanwo-Olu told reporters Thursday, following the Independence Bridge (which is headed to Marina) was closed for repairs and now resulting in heavy traffic on the city’s main roads.

The federal government had announced that the bridge would be closed for essential maintenance and rehabilitation works until the end of May 2025.

The governor urged residents to “think out of the box,” suggesting that those who don’t need to be on the island should avoid unnecessary travel.

“If you don’t have a business to do in Victoria Island in the next two to three weeks, conduct your business via social media, telephone, online meetings and plan ahead so that if you don’t need to come and visit somebody here, please, you don’t have to come,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Sanwo-Olu also advised residents to adjust travel times to ease congestion, saying, “If you don’t have a meeting that needs your physical presence, think out of the box. If you don’t need to come out at 7 o’clock, wait till 10 o’clock, let the people that need to come out at 7 and 10 o’clock come out, you defer your time, two, three hours.”

Sanwo-Olu also compared the situation to the movement restrictions seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and said his appeal was for motorists to be able to plan their journey time and also consider other alternatives to allow ease of traffic.

He also disclosed that the state government was also thinking about building a counterflow to act as an alternate route.

“We’re also thinking of another alternative. Can we do a counterflow from here? We’re looking at that but it also needs a lot of excavation; we’re going to break a lot of things, and we don’t know if that also will be fully effective but we’ll consider that in the next one or two days and see the effect of counterflow, using all of the traffic information that we currently have.”

To address the current traffic crisis, Sanwo-Olu assured Lagosians that the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) would be increasing its presence on the affected routes.

“We’re calling them from other parts of the city so that they can make a presence here. And like what we did in November and December, they’ll work till very late at night.”