IBORI: REPS HALT DISBURSEMENT OF £4.2M REPATRIATED FUND – SUN PG.26, NATION PG.27, DAILY TRUST PG.7, THISDAY PG.1&8

The House of Representatives, yesterday, charged the government to halt the appropriation and disbursement of £4.2 million

recovered by the British government from former Delta State governor, James Ibori. The House also requested the Ministry of Finance and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, to furnish it with all particulars relating to the recovered money. It also directed its Committees on Finance, Justice, Loans and Treaties to investigate the issue and report back within two weeks.

USING IBORI LOOT FOR LAGOS-IBADAN EXPRESSWAY, ABUJA-KANO RAIL LINE – UNJUST-SAGAY

The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. ItseSagay (SAN), has advised the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to use the loot to fund projects in Delta State. Sagay said this during an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday.The PACAC chairman said using the latest £4.2m (N2.2bn) tranche of the Ibori loot to fund the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Abuja-Kano railway, would be unjust since such projects would have no direct impact on the lives of the people of Delta.

N1.4BN SUBSIDY FRAUD: EFCC CHAIRMAN, BAWA TESTIFIES AGAINST OIL FIRM – PUNCH PG.25, SUN PG.5, NATION PG.27, DAILY TRUST PG.8, THISDAY PG.6

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, on Wednesday testified before the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja in an alleged N1.4bn subsidy fraud suit against an oil company, Nadabo Energy. The EFCC had accused Abubakar Peters and his company, Nadabo Energy, of allegedly using forged documents to obtain N1, 464,961,978.24 from the Federal Government as an oil subsidy after allegedly inflating the quantity of premium motor spirit purportedly supplied to 14,000M.

APPEAL COURT ORDERS EX-MINISTER, OTHERS’ RETRIAL OVER ALLEGED N450M FRAUD – PUNCH PG.25, THISDAY PG.52

he Court of Appeal in Gombe State has ordered the case involving a former Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Abdu Bulama and four others be reassigned to another Federal High Court for retrial. The former minister was arraigned by the Maiduguri Zonal Office of the EFCC, on Friday, May 29, 2018, before Justice Isa Dashen, of the Federal High Court, Damaturu, Yobe State on a seven-count that bordered on money laundering to the tune of N450m.

EFCC ASKS COURT TO AMEND CHARGES AGAINST EX-NNPC GMD – PUNCH PG.25, THISDAY PG.53

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has asked a Federal High Court Abuja to amend the criminal charge filed against a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Andrew Yakubu. Yakubu was arraigned before Justice Ahmed Mohammed on March 16, 2017 on a six-count of fraud having admitted owning over $9.8m cash found in a house which also belongs to him in Kaduna State.

FG SHIELDING AMAECHI FROM PROSECUTION FOR CORRUPTION —WIKE – PUNCH PG.26, NATION PG.28

The Governor of Rivers State, NyesomWike, has said the Federal Government led by the All Progressives Congress is shielding his predecessor, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, from being prosecuted for corruption. Wike said the Federal Government’s action is appalling despite the Minister’s “inability to account for $308 million from the sales of the state-owned power plant and other critical assets when he was the Governor of Rivers State.”

I DIDN’T DEFRAUD FG –BUHARI’S DAUGHTER – THISDAY PG.53

One of the daughters of the President, Zahra Buhari-Indimi, has said she did not swindle the Federal Government of Nigeria of N51bn, N2.5bn, or any amount. The President’s daughter stated this in a letter dated March 8, 2021. The letter was signed by her lawyer, Nasiru Aliyu (SAN), and addressed to online news platform, Sahara Reporters. In the letter, Buhari’s daughter accused Sahara Reporters of “injurious defamation” in a story published on March 5, 2021 titled, ‘How APC Chieftain, Danu, Custom Boss Defrauded Nigerian Government of N51bn, and Wired N2.5bn to Buhari’s Daughter’.