High Street

A former Majority Leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, will resume from suspension on Tuesday as the National Assembly reconvenes after its two-month annual recess. Ndume’s resumption was confirmed to The PUNCH on Sunday. Members of the Senate and House of Representatives had gone on holiday on July 27, 2017. A source in Ndume’s office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that the six-month suspension of the lawmaker, who is representing Borno South Senatorial District, had been completed. “The distinguished senator is currently in Maiduguri but will be in Abuja on Tuesday to return to his legislative duty,” the source said. The Senate had on March 29, 2017, suspended Ndume for six months for not “conducting due diligence” before filing a petition against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; and the lawmaker representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye. Less than one week after the Senate suspended Ndume, Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima; m...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has declared wanted, Jennifer Turnah, the wife of George Turnah, who is the godson to former President Goodluck Jonathan. The EFCC said in a statement said the 30-year-old suspect, who hails from Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA of Bayelsa State, allegedly helped her husband to launder over N1bn through some shell accounts. The commission said Jennifer was a signatory to many of the accounts and had continued to ignore invitations from the EFCC. The statement partly, “The public is hereby notified that Jennifer Timinipre Turnah whose photograph appears below, is wanted by the EFCC in a case of criminal conspiracy, money laundering and stealing to the tune of N1bn. “The suspect, who is the wife of George Turnah, a former special assistant to an ex-Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, is a signatory to some of the companies her husband allegedly used to launder monies meant for youth development. “Bank accounts of the shell comp...

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has suspended the Anambra State gubernatorial aspirant, Ifeanyi Ubah, for one month due to his criticism of party leaders over their handling of the party’s primaries in the state. The party has also referred his matter to a disciplinary committee. Equally, a PDP senator, Buruji Kashamu is also expected to appear before the panel for alleged anti-party activities. Mr. Ubah had alleged that the party’s primaries which produced Oseloka Obaze as its candidate for the upcoming poll was characterised by irregularities and that the party leadership had refused to address his complaints. He had vowed to continue with his aspiration until his complaints were fully addressed by the party. He also said he would approach the court to enforce his right after exhausting all the internal mechanisms of the party at seeking redress. He said he had contacted party leaders, the board of trustees, members and also appeared before the party’s primar...

The lawmaker representing Delta-North Senatorial District, Peter Nwaoboshi, who is a self-acclaimed ‘loyalist’ of convicted former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, has reportedly shunned several invitations from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. It was learnt that after the EFCC invited him, the commission was asked to invite the senator by writing through the Clerk of the National Assembly. “Despite following the process, the senator has refused to come to our office for interrogation,” a source at the EFCC said. Nwaoboshi, who has been linked to the misapplication of a N1.2bn bank loan, has also been accused of a N1.5bn contract scam involving the Delta State Government. A detective at the EFCC told one of  our correspondents that in 2014, the lawmaker, through his company, Bilderberg Enterprises Limited, received a contract of N1.5bn to supply brand new construction equipment to the Delta State Direct Labour Agency. However, the lawmaker alle...

Endorsement and recognition has again come the way of Jim Ovia, Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc. as he was on Tuesday night recognized as a leading entrepreneur in Africa by the African-American Institute (AAI). Ovia, in what is a reward for his business leadership and philanthropy, received the AAI 2017 Business Leader Award at a ceremony held on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York, the United States. He was recognized for impacting hugely on enterprise and human resource development on the continent. Ovia, founding Group Managing Director and CEO of Nigeria’s largest bank, was honoured along with President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana (National Achievement); Nicole Amarteifio, (Leadership in African Media and Arts); and Bozoma Saint-John, Chief Brand Officer, UBER (Innovation & Technology) as Africa’s best The  Africa-America Institute was set up in 1953 to help increase Africa’s human capacity for development through training an...

According to a report monitored on Saharareporters "The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday granted an order filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, declaring the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as “acts of terrorism and illegality.” The order also proscribed the existence of IPOB throughout Nigeria, with particular attention paid to the South-East and South-South regions. The approval of the AGF’s motion came after the Nigerian military backtracked and insisted that it had not declared IPOB a terrorist organization. Read the court documents obtained by SaharaReporters below:"

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have visited two mansions in Dubai allegedly belonging to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. The properties, located at E146 Emirates Hill and J5 Emirates Hill, are said to be worth 74,000,000 dirham (N7.1bn). Emirates Hill, which has been described as the Beverly Hills of the United Arab Emirates, is home to some of the richest men in the world including billionaire Chairman of the Stallion Group, Sunil Vaswani. Others, who are Diezani’s neighbours, include the immediate past Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif; a former President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari; and Robert Mugabe junior, the son of the President of Zimbabwe and one of Africa’s longest serving leaders, President, Robert Mugabe. A source within the EFCC told our correspondent that the anti-graft agency was already applying for the forfeiture of the properties through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federat...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission says it has seized14 properties located in “choice areas” of Abuja traced to the immediate past Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Bala Mohammed, and his son, Shamsuddeen. The EFCC stated this in a court application filed by one of its prosecutors, Mr. Ben Ikani. The application, filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on September 11, 2017,   sought the interim forfeiture of the properties. The anti-graft agency stated that although it had “recovered and seized” the properties, they could not be forfeited to the Federal Government without a court order. The EFCC stated that both Mohammed and his son “have denied ownership and connection” to the properties. But the commission maintained that “preliminary investigation has revealed that the properties listed on the schedule are unlawfully acquired through corrupt practices by the former minister and his son while in office as the Minister of the Federal Capital Te...

A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, dismissed the suit filed by the senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, challenging the validity of the process of recalling him by some his constituents. Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, in his judgment, ordered that the Independent National Electoral Commission “shall proceed with the signature verification exercise.” The judgment effectively terminated the earlier ex parte order made by another judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice John Tsoho, on July 6, 2017, directing parties to the suit to maintain the status quo. But Justice Dimgba, to whom the case was later re-assigned, ordered that INEC “shall proceed” with the recall process, subject to the service of the petition, the full list and signatures of persons in support of the recall process on Melaye. The suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/567/2017, was filed by Melaye, his party, the All Progressives Congress, and some registered voters in the senatorial district – Mrs. Iyabose Owolabi...

A grand plan is on. And if all goes as planned, former minister Musiliu Obanikoro may transform a Senator of the All Progressives Congress party from Lagos state. He will take over the seat of one of the supposed loyalists political leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not happy with. The victim is accused of quietly working against the “private” and “public” interests of the national leader of the APC. Obanikoro, the earmarked beneficiary though publicly claimed not to have defected to the APC is consistently seen in the company of the chieftains of the party in charge of Lagos State and the Federal Government. Koro, as he is fondly called, was elected a Senator on the platform of the Alliance For Democracy in 2003, he later defected to the People’s Democratic Party to the consternation of his political associates and backers – which includes Asiwaju Tinubu. He remained a passionate opposition of AD which transformed into Action Congress and later Action Congress of Ni...

Patience, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, has recovered her N2bn hotel which was sealed off by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in June, The PUNCH has learnt. In June, the EFCC placed the red inscriptions, ‘EFCC Under Investigation’ all over the hotel which is located near Setraco Construction Company, off the Mabushi Kado Expressway. However, when our correspondent visited the five-storey building recently, the EFCC inscriptions had been covered with patches of grey paint. When our correspondent knocked on the gate, three men who attended to him said they acted on the instruction of Mrs. Jonathan. When asked if they had the right to enter the building, one of them said, “Go and ask the EFCC if they had the right to put their sign all over the building in the first place. If you want more information, go and ask madam.” The spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said he did not know much about the seizure of the building and thus could not say if it...

Sponsor of the National Women Basketball League, Zenith Bank, on Thursday received the victorious AfroBasket champions, D’Tigress at the company’s headquarters in Lagos. The Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo, congratulated the players and officials for the remarkable feat recorded in Bamako, Mali. D’Tigress were glorious at the championship as they won all their matches including two against the defending champions and tournament favourites, Senegal. The first was a group match which they won 58-54 and the second was the final which ended 65-48. Amangbo stressed that the bank and indeed Nigerians were proud of the achievement of the team at the AfroBasket He said: “It was not only the win that was exciting but also the way you won. During the competition, we were following your progress with keen interest and it is heartwarming that you came back as champions. “We always support people who are committed just like you. Nigerians have made a mark ...