Akpabio : EFCC To Quiz Akwa Ibom, Bank Officials Over N108.1b Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has penciled down some staff of the Akwa Ibom State government for questioning over the alleged misappropriation of N108.1b by former governor Godswill Akpabio.

Also to be questioned are officials of the banks which Akpabio allegedly used for the unlawful deals.

The anti graft agency had on Saturday grilled ex-Governor Akpabio for several hours for the second day running over his alleged misuse of government funds while in office.

THE NATION reports that Akpabio arrived the Abuja Headquarters of the EFCC at about 11.45am and was still there after 7pm.

He was reportedly accompanied by his attorney, Mr Ricky Tarfa, SAN, and two other friends, Wole Arisekola and Segun Odubela.

An official of the EFCC told newsmen ;

“We are going to interrogate some officials of Akwa Ibom State Government and a few banks.

“Some of these officials were named in the petition by a lawyer-activist, Mr. Leo Ekpenyong.”

Ekpenyong had alleged in his petition that Akpabio fraudulently diverted state funds while serving as governor.

His words ;
“Between January –December 2014, it is on record that the trio of Godswill Akpabio and two others made illegal but substantial withdrawals of cash from a designated state government-owned account with Zenith Bank with account number: 1010375881 amounting to N22.1 billion.

“It is worthy of note that reasons for such ungodly cash withdrawals against financial regulations and due process laws range between sundry use and unjustifiable expenditures by Godswill Akpabio and his numerous surrogates and proxies.

“For example, a whopping N18 billion was withdrawn fraudulently from the state FAAC account with the United Bank for Africa in tranches of N10 million and above by Mr. Isobara in a surreptitious manner to conceal their dishonest intention.

“The cumulative aggregate of these monies stolen by Godswill Akpabio from the coffers of government as pocket money is the annual budget of some states in Nigeria put together.”

The Nation

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2015 Hajj Tragedy Deadliest Ever

According to figures collated by AFP from various governments across the globe on the number of their pilgrims killed in this year's Saudi Arabia Hajj stampede, the 2015 Hajj tragedy has become the deadliest in the history of the annual event.

With the death toll at 1748, the 2015 Hajj tragedy has surpassed the previous highest toll of 1426 recorded in the tunnel stampede of the 1990 Hajj.

See the breakdown of the death toll from the 2015 Hajj tragedy as collated by AFP from foreign governments.

- Iran: 464 dead

- Egypt: 177 dead

- Nigeria: 145 dead

- Indonesia: 129 dead

- India: 101 dead

- Pakistan: 87 dead

- Bangladesh: 79

- Cameroon: 76 dead

- Niger: 72 dead

- Senegal: 61 dead

- Mali: 60 dead

- Chad: 52 dead

- Benin: 34 dead

- Morocco: 36 dead

- Ethiopia: 31 dead

- Sudan: 30 dead

- Algeria: 28 dead

- Burkina Faso: 22 dead

- Ivory Coast: 14 dead

- Libya: 10 dead

- Somalia: 8 dead

- Tunisia: 7 dead

- Kenya: 6 dead

- Ghana: 5 dead

- Mauritius: 5 dead

- Tanzania: 4 dead

- Burundi: 1 dead

- Iraq: 1 dead

- Jordan: 1 dead

- Netherlands: 1 dead

- Oman: 1 dead.

Source: AFP

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Dance With Peter : Voting Begins Saturday

Voting is billed to start this Saturday to choose from the 30 finalists who made it to the academy in the Dance With Peter reality TV show sponsored by telecoms giant Globacom.

Contestants with the lowest scores in this week's episode of the show will be put up for eviction by the judges. Thereafter, the public will decide those to send packing.

Vanguard reports Globacom to have said that voting lines will open from 8.p.m. on Saturday and close at 12 midnight on Monday. Viewers who wish to vote should send the code number of the contestant they wish to vote for to 55518. Each SMS costs N50 in Nigeria and GHC50 for voters in Ghana.

Here are the stage names and codes of the 30 finalists as released by Globacom.

Prince (501), Manasseh (502), Da Octopus (503), Ambrose Tjark  (504),Fearless (505), Weezy (506), G-Xtreme (507), MOD (508), Snipes (509) and Bobby Blankson (510).

The others are Mali Hot Boy (511), Socrazykool (512), Tom-Tom (513), L’Dee (514), Ernest Smiley (515), Teejay (516), Captain Z (517), MX (518), Paulette (519), and Julius Fakta (520).

The rest of the contestants are Kelvin (521), Ricky (522), Amazing Amy (523), C-Fly (524), Yemi (525), Miracle (526), T-Rubber (527), Messiah (528), Neon (529) and Nekky (530).

Source : Vanguard

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Army Arrests 10 Boko Haram Militants In Jigawa

Ten persons suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists have been arrested at Birniwa, a Nigerian town bordering Niger Republic.

They were allegedly caught loading petroleum products into an articulated truck intended for their hideout.

The Commander, 3 Brigade Nigeria Army Command , Kano, Brigadier General Hassan Hamisu paraded the suspects at Birniwa, the headquarters of Birniwa Local Government Area of Jigawa State.

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Fall Down And Die, El-Rufai Tells Critics

“If you are not happy with appointments made, you can go and climb Kufena mountain,  fall and die."

That was the outburst from Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai yesterday when he was inundated with questions about appointments into his administration which critics described as lopsided.

The governor has been much criticised for appointing his family members and friends, among them, non indigenes of Kaduna State into juicy positions.

While fielding questions from stakeholders during the 4th town hall meeting with Kaduna Central, El-Rufai said that he could not give appointments to those who did not vote for him.

His words ;
“It was what you voted that you got, because we are aware that there are people who did not vote for us. In fact they worked against us.

“But now they claim to be APC members and loyal to the party. We know such people. And so there is no way they would expect anything from us."

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General Dismissed And Jailed For Losing Equipment To Boko Haram.

The Nigerian Army has dismissed and handed a six months jail term to Brigadier- General Enitan Ransome-Kuti for the loss of military equipment to Boko Haram during the January sack of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, M-NJTF Headquarters in Baga.

Ransome-Kuti was court marshaled for cowardly behaviour, loss of weapons to Boko Haram, and negligent performance of military duty under section 62b of the Armed Forces Act.

Following a no case submission by the defendant, the court dismissed the charge of cowardly behaviour. It ruled that the defendant was right to withdraw his troops in the face of the superior fire power of the insurgents. 

He was however convicted for the charges of loss of equipment and negligence of military duty.

For losing equipment to Boko Haram, the court jailed him for six months while the charge of negligence of duty earned him dismissal from the service.

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General Dismissed And Jailed For Losing Equipment To Boko Haram.

The Nigerian Army has dismissed and handed a six months jail term to Brigadier- General Enitan Ransome-Kuti for the loss of military equipment to Boko Haram during the January sack of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, M-NJTF Headquarters in Baga.

Ransome-Kuti was court marshaled for cowardly behaviour, loss of weapons to Boko Haram, and negligent performance of military duty under section 62b of the Armed Forces Act.

Following a no case submission by the defendant, the court dismissed the charge of cowardly behaviour. It ruled that the defendant was right to withdraw his troops in the face of the superior fire power of the insurgents. 

He was however convicted for the charges of loss of equipment and negligence of military duty.

For losing equipment to Boko Haram, the court jailed him for six months while the charge of negligence of duty earned him dismissal from the service.

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