High Street

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has refused to explain its position to Nigerians a week after its governorship candidate in Kwara State, Rasak Atunwa, was exposed for forging the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate. The party’s national headquarters and its chapter in Kwara both continue to sidestep the scandal despite repeated attempts by PREMIUM TIMES to understand their position on whether Mr Atunwa would be passed to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the party’s governorship candidate. But PREMIUM TIMES has now learnt that Mr Atunwa has not been told to withdraw from the race or be dropped by the party, which has prompted him to intensify effort aimed at retaining his party ticket ahead of INEC submission deadline. The electoral body has scheduled November 2 as the deadline for all parties to submit names of governorship and presidential candidates. The deadline for submission of state assemblies and National Assembly candidates lap...

How The Erstwhile Brothers-in-Law Became Enemies Over Infidelity-based Allegations The marriage between billionaire oil magnate and philanthropist, Igho Charles Sanomi, and his wife, Eghonghon, has crashed. Eghonghon has moved out of her matrimonial home with the four children from the union, and has even filed for a divorce. Predictably, Sanomi, whose world revolves around his family, is distraught and devastated by this downward turn of event. Never would he, or even, Eghonghon, have thought that the love they had been nurturing from their college days, would come to such an abrupt end. Sources disclosed to The ELITES that the marriage between Sanomi and Eghonghon crashed as a result of myriad of problems, which was completely beyond the couple’s control. Somehow, the news of their crashed marriage was only known to just the couple’s families and close friends. Tragically too, the blame for the Sanomis’ crashed union, is being leveled on Akanimo Udofia, the billionaire busi...

Michael Adedeji, a member of the Ekiti state house of assembly, who was shot in the head by gunmen on Friday, is dead. Jackson Adebayo, publicity secretary of the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, confirmed this to TheCable on Monday. “The lawmaker died at the Federal Medical Center, Ido Ekiti, early this morning,” Adebayo told TheCable. He said the party would release a statement on the development later in the day. Adedeji, a member of the PDP, was attacked while traveling along Ikere-Akure road. The attack on Adedeji is the third on top politicians in the state in the last three months. In August, Bunmi Ojo, an associate of Segun Oni, a former governor of the state, was shot dead in Ado-Ekiti. Two weeks ago, Moses Adeoye, treasurer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, was killed at his residence. Source: Thecable

There is a scent about the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema’s wealth; it has a sweet tang attached to it, like the lure pollen nectar presents to the summer fly. Yes, Oscar is rich and every woman wants a piece of his filthy lucre. Every woman wishes to be Mrs. Onyeama; knowing it’s a sure way to bribe themselves through the inconveniences of life. He lives a charmed life; besides his socioeconomic clout, urban legend has it that, living or working within his radar obliges anyone to indescribable perks hence it is understandable that the crème of Nigeria’s high society women would fall over themselves to get a piece of Oscar. But the tall dude is not just interested in women! Why? To the consternation of friends and family, Oscar, a copiously blessed dude who celebrated his 50th birthday recently, has refused to get married. This is no doubt amazing given the fact that he is endowed with all the attributes that makes a woman swoon over a ma...

At least six persons including a police corporal were on Friday killed by gunmen in Gurbin Bore village, Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, the News Agency of Nigeria has reported. The state police spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu, said the community was attacked at about 10 pm by assailants numbering about 100. It was not immediately clear why the village was targeted. Zamfara, located in Nigeria’s north west, has been hit by several deadly attacks in the last one year by people described by authorities as “bandits”, who also steal livestock. The police spokesman said three people were severely wounded in Friday’s attack. “Eleven vehicles including a police vehicle, three motorcycles and five kiosks were set ablaze by the hoodlums,” he said. Mr Shehu said the “bandits” who were suspected to have come from Dumburum forest were engaged by a combined team of counterterrorism operatives, comprising police Mobile Force, and Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS)...

Lere Olayinka, media aide of Ayodele Fayose, former governor of Ekiti state, has explained why his principal is yet to be released from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) custody. Mojisola Olatoregun, a judge of a federal high court in Lagos, granted a N50 million bail to Fayose on Wednesday. Fayose was asked to provide a surety with landed property in Lagos. The guarantor is also required to have three-year tax clearance in Lagos. In a tweet on Friday, Olayinka said Fayose met all the bail conditions by 2pm on Friday and would be hopefully released on Monday. He said all the necessary documents required for Fayose’s bail had been verified. “On Governor Fayose bail, as at 2pm today, all necessary documents were filed before the court and verified. Hopefully, he should be out of custody by Monday. We thank Nigerians for their support.” Source: theCable

The crisis in the All Progressives Congress over its primaries may worsen in a matter of days as there are strong indications that the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, is set to defect to the Democratic Peoples Party. Investigations by SUNDAY PUNCH revealed that Amosun had already positioned his close allies and top government officials in the state in the DPP to contest against the candidates of the ruling party. Findings by our correspondents indicated that the officials and aides would be eventually unveiled as the candidates of the DPP in the guise of “consensus on or before December.” A reliable APC source, who claimed to be fully involved in the governor’s plans, informed SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday that the officials would move ahead of him before Amosun would eventually join them. The source added, “The plan is that he may not leave now, but he (Amosun) will leave. “He already has candidates for the three senatorial zones and nine House of Representatives seats ...

This is a trying period for financial institution Diamond Bank societynow.ng learned. The bank is currently contending with dark speculation as its chairman and three directors resigned in a swoop. The bank announced the development in a notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange Commission and signed by company secretary Uzoma Uja. The statement provided ‘'official reasons'' for the resignation of Chairman of the board Oluseyi Blickerseth – who was appointed in July -  and the affected three directors. The statement to the NSE sited ‘'for varied personal reasons'' as the cause of the multiple resignations. The statement to the NSE signed by Uja reads "We wish to notify the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the public that the following Non-Executive Directors have resigned from the Board of Diamond Bank Plc with immediate effect: Mr. Oluseyi Bickersteth Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi Mrs. Juliet Anammah Mrs. Aisha Oyebode "The director...

Eyebrows are being raised in Kogi East Senatorial district following revelations that embattled Senator Atai Aidoko polled 712 votes to beat all other candidates at the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) primaries that never held. In what look s like akin to ‘results without examination,’ Aidoko is said to have polled 712 votes to beat his other aspirants in a contest that is at best a figment of the imagination of some compromised divisional party executives led by Sani Umoru (Divisional Chairman for Dekina), zonal exco (led by Alhaji Manman Pele) and a few other compromised Party members. “Call it impunity, bizarre, criminal, fraud or magic and you will be very correct but the revelation of a result for the PDP primaries Kogi-East Senatorial Primary election, which was scheduled to hold on 2nd October, 2018 but did not hold on account of resistance from stakeholders of the party, shows the desperation of Senator Aidoko to cling up to power,” one source who is conversant with the...

Nigerian suspected fraudster and CEO of Instanbul Entertainment, Otunba Cash, and his gang have been arrested during a sting operation in connection with a $1.4m e-mail scam in Turkey. Trouble started for him when the Danish police sent a letter to Turkish Police Department on 9 May 2018, via Interpol, that an unauthorized access was made to one GM Plast company’s e-mail address. And that the company paid monies into some accounts in Turkey. Investigation by Turkish Cybercrime Department led to the arrest of Turkish ED, ZI and N.M, whose companies were used as fonts. Further investigation then revealed that some Nigerians were the ones behind the scheme. Following the technical and physical follow-up, police conducted simultaneous operations in Istanbul on 18 October. Emanuel Aneke was eventually arrested in the luxury hotel he was staying with gang members O. Popoola, AA Oyemade, AT Fajolu and BO Balogun in Bağcılar. Aneke was said to have hacked the emails of th...

Lagos, NIGERIA – Union Bank recently held the first edition of its annual education fair, edu360 in Lagos, drawing stakeholders from across the education ecosystem including teachers, parents, school owners, investors, students and other key participants.  The event tagged “Investing in the Future”, took place at Harbour Point in Victoria Island and served as a platform for collaboration among the education sector stakeholders, with the goal of accelerating development and much needed investment in the sector. Speaking at the ceremony to mark the kick-off of the 2-day event, the Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank, Emeka Emuwa reiterated the Bank’s focus on education as a key driver of national development. He said; “Edu360 is positioned to be the leading education platform in Nigeria, facilitating collaboration among stakeholders within the sector. We firmly believe that the private sector, working closely with the government and other stakeholders, can play a critical r...

A Federal High Court, Lagos, has ordered that the accounts of a businessman, Jyde Adelakun Aremu Buraimoh, domiciled in Polaris Bank Limited, formerly Skye Bank Plc, be frozen for the period of 60 days, over alleged $4,920.5 million fraud. Also affected in the court order, is the businessman’s company’s accounts also domiciled with the bank. The EFCC had dragged both the businessman and his company, Top Energy Company Limited, before the court on alleged fraud in a suit marked FHC/L/CS/586/18. Justice N. Ayo-Emmanuel, who presided over the court gave the order while delivering ruling in an Ex-parte application filed before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The EFCC lawyer, Mr. George Chia-Yakua, on Monday, while moving the application for the freezing of the businessman’s accounts with Polaris Bank Limited, told the court that the order been sought for is to last till conclusion of his agency’s investigation of petitions receive...

The Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, has reacted to allegations that he was in cahoots with some governors of the All Progressives Congress to remove the party’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomole. While denying any involvement in any attempt to remove the former Edo State governor, Mr Akeredolu accused Mr Oshiomhole of exhibiting incompetence in the handling of the party’s recently concluded primaries across the country. In a statement by his Senior Special Adviser on Special Duties and Strategy, Doyin Odebowale, Mr Akeredolu said APC primaries exposed the incompetence of Mr Oshiomhole. He described the exercise as a “political charade” and a revelation of “a shocking proclivity towards banditry and impunity.” He asserted that recent events had justified his opposition to Mr Oshiomhole’s election as party chairman. A group of party members staged a protest at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja on Tuesday alleging that Mr Akeredolu and other “conservati...

The Federal High Court, Abuja, Wednesday adjourned till October 31, 2018 hearing in a suit filed by a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Kunle Rasheed Adegoke, seeking the cancellation of the July 20, 2018 primary election in the state. The plaintiff, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/ CS/804/2018, specifically asked the court for an order to nullify the APC primary election won by Gboyega Isiaka Oyetola, the current governor-elect in Osun State over alleged irregularities. At the resumed hearing, the Court was informed by the applicant’s counsel, Onoja, SAN that the Governor-elect, Gboyega Isiaka and his deputy governor-elect, Benedict Olugboyega Alabi filed an application yesterday to be joined as parties to the case, but curiously, it was observed that there was no copy of the application in the court’s file when the case was called. Onoja, SAN further informed the court and observed that the application by Oyetola and Alabi was not compet...

Immediate-past Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose has been granted bail. A Lagos Federal High Court granted the controversial politician bail in the sum of N50m. The bail was handed to the former governor this morning Wednesday October 24, 2018. Fayose is facing trial for N2.2billion fraud and money laundering. He was arrested by the operatives of Economic and Financial Crime Commission after the expiration of his tenure as governor of the South West state of Ekiti. He was briefly detained at the Abuja office of the anti-graft body before he was moved to Lagos for the commencement of his trial on Monday October 22, 2018. According to a report monitored on Punchng.com Justice Mojisola Olatoregun granted Fayose bail with two sureties in like sum. The Judge, however, ordered that the former governor be remanded in the prison custody pending the fulfilment of the bail condition.

The Chairman, Resort Group, Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN), has berated the Asset Management Corporation of Nigerian for publishing the names of his firms on its list of “delinquent debtors”. Babalakin contended that if AMCON removed N49bn, which his companies allegedly owed, from a judgment credit of N132bn, which he got against the Federal Government, he would still have to be paid N83bn by the government. Apart from this, he said he got another judgment credit of N100bn against the Federal Government in December 2015, which had yet to be paid. In a statement on Tuesday by his lawyer, Mr Wale Akoni (SAN), Babalakin described as libellous and irresponsible the listing and publication of his firms’ names among AMCON’s delinquent debtors. Akoni said, “On April 5, 2012, the Federal High Court, in FHC/ABJ/CS/50/2009 – Bi-Courtney Limited vs Attorney-General of the Federation –  ordered that whatever debt was outstanding to any federal agency by Bi-Courtney and companies related t...

According to a report monitored premiumtimesng.com The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) on Monday released the list of debtors it claimed have failed to negotiate successfully with the corporation. The list, which contains about 105 names, came months after the asset management company said it would need the support of other relevant agencies to ensure that obligors pay up their debts. The managing director and chief executive of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, had in July promised to publish the list of delinquent debtors and directors who have failed to reach or refused to reach settlement resolution with the corporation. Mr Kuru said after failed negotiations, AMCON would name, shame and embark on take-over of properties of delinquent debtors. Top on the list published by AMCON on Monday is Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited owned by Ifeanyi Ubah, with its current exposure put at N115 billion. It was followed by NICON Investments Limited owned by Jimoh Ibrahim,...

The third edition of the Delta State Principals’ Cup organized for all secondary schools in the state and sponsored by Zenith Bank Plc starts next week. According to the organisers, the preliminaries of the revived annual ‘catch-them-young’ initiative will kick-off on October 31. The competition which was been grounded for many years came back to life courtesy of  Zenith Bank and  will be competed for by over 1,200 private secondary schools and 446 public government secondary schools in the state. On November 1, the preliminaries will start in all the 25 Local Governments in the state with all registered schools competing for just a single slot in each LG. Commissioner for basic and Secondary Education in Delta State, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, is expected to play a supervisory role to ensure the smooth-running of the competition which is very dear the heart of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo, has assured that the c...

There is fresh news coming out of Kogi state. And it is all about youthful governor Yahaya Bello. Witnesses claim the Governor doused in different shades of issues challenging his competence has now adopted an unusual way of appreciating cheers on the streets societynow.ng learned. “Governor Bello stops his motorcade and throws wads of money at those who hail him” a source claimed. A source claimed he travelled to Kogi for some days and witnessed the spectacle. “I was in front of my house when his entourage passed by on the way from Abuja from what I gathered. He just stopped and threw wads of money at those waving at him and hailing. I got N3500 from the scramble” a source claimed. Societynow.ng gathered the cash throwing antic has become popular as many residents catch on to what it takes to make the Governor throw free cash at them. Insiders disclosed to societynow.ng that interestingly the cash throwing Governor is battling unpaid salaries and unpopularity over ...