Former Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko
Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja
A former Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko, has returned N1,040,000, 000 to the Federal Government, The PUNCH has learnt.
Dikko, who served as the head of customs between August, 2009 and August, 2015, became the subject of an EFCC investigation last year when the commission established that about N40bn was diverted from the coffers of the NCS under his watch.
The funds were allegedly drawn from proceeds of the seven per cent cost of collection and one per cent comprehensive import supervision scheme.
He was subsequently arrested by the EFCC in June this year but was released due to his poor health.
Dikko’s mansion located at 1 Audu Ogbeh Street, Jabi, Abuja… on Wednesday
However, a reliable source within the EFCC told our correspondent that the suspect had been returning money to the government.
The source added, “So far, Dikko has returned over N1bn. He returned N1bn and then N4m. He is still expected to return more money.”
The EFCC had, earlier in the year, seized a mansion belonging to Dikko located at 1 Audu Ogbeh Street, Jabi, Abuja.
According to the EFCC, the mansion is worth at least N2bn.
Our correspondent, who visited the property, observed the inscription, ‘EFCC, Keep Off!’ painted all over the fence.
A source in the commission said, “The EFCC Act Section 71 (b) gives us the power to commence investigations into the property of any person if it appears to the EFCC that the person’s lifestyle and extent of properties are not justified by law.
“Section 28 says concerning those arrested under the Act, the commission will immediately trace and attach all the assets and seizures of such a person which have been acquired.
“Section 29 permits the assets of a person arrested under Section 28 to be seized by the state.
“Dikko was a customs officer and served for about 30 years. He has to explain where he got the money to buy a mansion of N2bn.”
The ex-Customs CG is also believed to own properties in Dubai and in Katsina, his home state.
The first week of next month as been named as a tentative date for the start of the new league season ROYAL NEWS has gathered.
The Executive Secretary, NPFL Club Owners, Mr. Alloy Chukwuemeka, disclosed this on Wednesday at an interactive session with newsmen in Osogbo the capital of Osun State, during the monthly Sport Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) stakeholders forum, tagged “SWAN Platform”.
According to the Executive Secretary, the NPFL Club Owners have received a proposal from the League Management Company that the league start by first week of December, explaining that the proposal would be considered at the Annual General Meeting of the Club Owners.
Chukwuemeka, who is also the General Manager, Abubakar Bukola Saraki Football Club, Ilorin, Kwara. State, commended the LMC for turning the league around saying it is now attractive with many firms lobbying to be part of it.
“The LMC as turn around the league in Nigeria. The league is now attractive, and there are eight firms lobbying to be part of LMC. The LMC has set a standard and that was why lots of firms want to be part of the Nigeria Professional Football League.”
The football administrator while answering questions on moving football and sports generally forward in the state, insisted that a return to the grassroots through school sports was the only way to fish out exceptional talents.
He revealed that the Kwara Football Academy gives ABS FC ten of its best players every season through a partnership that exists between the two clubs.
The ABS FC Director of Football also recommended community ownership of football clubs as practiced in other climes based on what he learnt from the LMC organised LaLiga Tour in Spain earlier in the year.
He said, “immediately I came back from Spain, I went to my village (Ehime mbano) and I met with my Local Government Chairman and we formed Mbano United. I bought jerseys and balls for the team, because in Spain their clubs are built on there culture. Football community ownership is very important.”
On the controversy trailing the final NNL match between ABS FC and Gateway FC, Chukwuemeka countered claims that there few security men at the stadium, maintaining that there were about seventy-eight policemen at the stadium that day.
He condemned the action of the Ogun state commissioner of sports who ordered Gateway FC players not to play the match, stressing that it contravenes the rules guiding the game and operations of the NNL.
He expressed the belief that the NFF would put in everything to ensure that the Super Eagles qualify for the World Cup. He said not qualifying for Nations Cup back-to-back was still painful and apllauded the efforts and impact of Super Eagles coach, Genart Rohr.
Chukwuemeka who is also a National Officer of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria however commended Osun SWAN for the Monthly Stakeholders Forum and promised to take the programme to other states across the federation.
The Chairman, All Progressives Congress Governors’ Forum, Mr. Rochas Okorocha, has expressed worry over the cold war among the executive arm of government, the National Assembly and the ruling party.
Okorocha, who is also the Governor of Imo State, said this when he visited the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday.
Okorocha, who said his visit to the Senate was belated, added that, “Nonetheless, it is never late to make amend where possible.”
A statement by the Office of the Senate President quoted Okorocha as telling Saraki that he was visiting in his capacity as the Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum.
He said, “This is the very first time I am coming to your office and I am here because I am concerned. I am here because I am a stakeholder. I am here as the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum – your friends and colleagues in the struggle.
“Mr. Senate President, leaders of this great Senate, you may recall a few years ago that we were all in the trenches, in battle, asking for change in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I recall vividly the role most of you played in that very struggle. We became a government when no one gave us a chance to be so. And shortly, Nigerians believed in us and entrusted us with the responsibility of leading this nation.
“But one year and several months after, we have not been able to manage this God-given victory very well and it is very worrisome, Mr. Senate President. That Nigerians expect so much from us but we seem to be in crisis with ourselves; not crisis made by the opposition parties but crisis created by ourselves for ourselves and which has kept us in total difficult position that we are not making the headway we need to make as a party.
“One wonders then what went wrong. Where did we get it wrong? And after these troubles and after the much hope we have given to Nigerians, we still cannot work together as a party, as a family. And I notice particularly that there is so much bitterness in the system – from the party, from the legislature, from the executive, from the governors – and it seems to me like there is no more platform for us to chant those old songs, which we used to sing in the days of struggle for change. One wonders, was this what we were asking for or was this the change we were asking for? I think Nigerians expect so much from us and at the end of it all.
“Nigerians will not ask us, how many of each other we have been able to destroy or how many we have been able to bring down. But they will ask us how many plates of food have we put on the table of the common man who elected us. So, I am here, Mr. President of the Senate, to call for unity among us and our party. And to sheathe our sword in whatever form anger has got to us.
“We noticed and we know that we are a party in majority at the National Assembly and we are a party with majority in the number of governors, state Houses of Assembly, but we notice there is no cordial relationship among the governors, the executive and the legislature.
“And let me reemphasise that in all these arms of government, it is only the legislature and the executive that are the elected members, not the judiciary. And Nigerians will hold us responsible as the executive and legislative arms of government. So, we must act quickly to ensure that peace reigns among us. I have discussed with the party – that was my first point of call – to seek what we must do to forge a way forward.
“Today, I am before you, the Senate President, and I ask you to use your wisdom to bring peace into our party. We need to enjoy that very vibrancy for which the National Assembly has been known for.”
In his response, Saraki told Okorocha that he had raised vital issues that the National Assembly caucus of the APC would look into, while assuring the governor that the Senate would work together to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians that voted the APC into power.
The Senate President stated that the crisis in the party was surmountable, adding that the doors of National Assembly was open to the party, stressing that it remained a surprise that the leadership of the APC had not deemed it fit in the last 16 months to visit and meet with their members in the National Assembly.
Okorocha, who also met with the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Wednesday night.stated that the party needed “re-branding.”
Okorocha spoke at the National Assembly after he emerged from a meeting with Dogara around 6.50pm.
“I am saying that our party will be re-branded to what we know it should look like,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yussuff; Majority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila; the Deputy Leader; Mr. Buba Jibril; the Deputy Minority Whip, Mr. Pally Iriase, and other principal officers and some members of the House, attended the meeting.
Speaking further, the governor added that he had been on a fence-mending mission, talking to various interest groups in the APC on the need for them to bury their differences.
Eight new private universities have been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
At its meeting on Wednesday, the Council endorsed three-year provisional licences for private universities on the recommendations of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
This brings to 151 the total number of universities in Nigeria, with 61 of them owned by individuals, religious organisations and foundations.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwuka, listed the new universities and their promoters as Anchor University, located in Ayobo, Lagos state, promoted by Deeper Christian Life Ministry; Arthur Jarvis University, Akpabuyo, Cross River State, promoted by Clitter House Nigeria Limited; Clifford University, Owerrinta, Abia State, promoted by Seventh Day Adventist Church and Coal City University, Enugu, promoted by African Thinkers Community of Inquiry College of Education, Enugu.
Others are Crown-Hill University, Eiyenkorin, Kwara State, promoted by Modern Morgy and Sons Limited; Dominican University, Ibadan, promoted by Order of Preachers, Nigerian Dominican Community; Kola Daisi University, Ibadan, promoted by Kola Daisi Foundation, and Legacy University, Okija, promoted by The Good Idea Education Foundation.
Anwuka explained that the eight universities will be mentored by existing universities close to their locations, which are University of Lagos, University of Calabar, University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia, University of Nigeria (UNN), University of Ilorin, University of Ibadan, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, respectively.
The mentor universities are to oversee and guide the new universities in terms of academic culture and administration for three years, within which period they must have learnt the art of university governance and academic details.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed further explained that the mentoring universities would among other issues, ensure correct recruitment in the Governing Council, academic and administrative principal officers, development of human and material resources, modulate students’ examination, and guarantee quality assurances.
Royal News recently published a story about a female Banker, Oluchi Tochukwu (nee Mbonu) that allegedly contracted Assassins to kill her husband, a friend of the accused woman, Nicole Chioma Ugochukwu, over the weekend, took a trip to Ogun state Police station in Eleweran Abeokuta, Ogun state where Oluchi is being held in custody.
This her update ;
Oluchi got married to Mr. Tochukwu Onyeabushi on the 11th of January 2014. Shortly after the wedding, she became a victim of Domestic Violence.(Also unknown to her he was previously married before and the 1st wife left after 6mths due to DV) Tochukwu turned her to a punching bag. This continued even during her pregnancy. On the 18th of April 2014, whilst beating her up he pushed her down the staircases with her pregnancy of about 30 weeks 2days, she went to faith city hospital VI and was admitted (I will furnish the hospital report). On the 28th of April 2014, she gave birth to a baby girl at about 7mths,the baby had to be incubated because she came out preterm.
Oluchi was discharged and only comes around to breastfeed her daughter. With the stitches of the CS operation she underwent, Tochukwu still beats her even in the presence of her Mother who came for Omugwo and his own Mother!!!!.
Tochukwu on the 6th and 13th of May 2016 reported her at the customary court Maroko for custody of their daughter of about one year plus, the President of the customary court explained to him that he cannot be awarded custody because of the tender age of the child.(I will attach the customary court summons).
Before now, on the 12th of Jan 2016,while in the office, he packed her belongings, her daughter and the nanny to her office and told her that he is fed up of her and that he was no longer interested in the marriage, he personally went to the Nigerian law School campus VI and chartered a taxi who took Oluchi back to her father’s house…… Since that day till now, Oluchi has been in her parent’s house. Oluchi had to make a report against Tochukwu at the Maroko Police Station for work place harassment and intimidation as he will work boldly into her office and in the presence of bank staff and customers scream at her “I will deal with you, you are a slut, I will beat you black and blue” etc. The police called him and he wrote and undertaking never to do so, but unfortunately it continued. (Will also include the letter to the police).
On the 5th of May, Oluchi petitioned him at the social welfare unit, Ilasan lekki Lagos, as his threats were becoming unbearable and he threatened to take away her child from her, he was invited on the 10th of May 2016 and was told that the child was still too tender to be awarded to him…The child was just 2 years and one month old then.. He didn’t listen to the family assessor and walked out of the meeting angrily.
Sometimes in late September 2016, Oluchi was served with a motion filed by Tochukwu on the 30th of August 2016 seeking custody of the child on the ground that he is the biological father and Oluchi is an irresponsible mother. The motion was to be heard on the 26th of August 2016. Oluchi quickly filed her own counter Affidavit which was filed on the 17th of October 2016. Surprisingly on the 25th of October at about 11.30pm, she was arrested and taken to Abeokuta just some hours before the matter came up in court, and guess what his lawyer was in court but thank God that the court didn’t sit.
On the Night that Tochukwu was robbed, I was reliably informed by Oluchi’s father that his phone rang about 10pmish and when he picked the call, he was told that his son in law was rushed to the hospital and was robbed, the same call came to Oluchi’s phone, that Tochukwu was robbed and was seriously injured. Who called them? Why hasn’t the police investigated who called both of them that night? They initially refused to go all the way from AYOBO to lekki at about past 11pm in the night. Oluchi made calls to friend of Tochukwu she knew that lived near him to help our, pending when she will get to lekki.
She even took two days off work to nurse him back to health and he still had the temerity to come to her father’s house with policemen and arrested her. That is the height of wickedness. How come she was arrested and her pictures shown all over the Internet without proper investigation carried out?
The Nigerian Police must learn to investigate properly and the Nigerian Press must learn to do their own investigation before printing out their stories. As a matter of fact Oluchi has never slept in Tochukwu’s house since January this year, so how come she showed them where to hide the cutlasses and matchets? His car was to be taken to her brother in Onitsha. Oluchi has only one brother who passed on about 4 years ago. Bikonu which brother?
Evidence suggests it was a wicked setup. Today 02 November 2016 marks the 8th day a likely innocent lady and mother has been unjustly locked up in an Abeokuta police detention cell for a crime committed in Lekki, Lagos. Where is the Justice?
Alcohol consumption caused more than 700,000 new cancer cases and around 366,000 cancer deaths in 2012, mainly in rich countries, according to data reported Wednesday to the World Cancer Congress in Paris.
Comparing the cancer risk of people who drink, to that of people who do not, researchers calculated that alcohol was responsible for an estimated five percent of all new cancer cases, and 4.5 percent of deaths per year.
“A large part of the population is unaware that cancer can be caused by alcohol,” study co-author Kevin Shield of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, told AFP of the preliminary report, not yet published.
Alcohol was most strongly linked to new breast cancer diagnoses — more than one in four of all alcohol-attributable cancer cases, the researchers found, followed by colorectal cancer at 23 percent.
For breast cancer, particularly, it was clear that “the risk increases with the dose” of alcohol, said Shield.
Measuring alcohol’s contribution to cancer deaths, the researchers found it was most strongly linked to oesophagus cancer fatalities, followed by colorectal cancer.
The IARC, the cancer agency of the World Health Organisation, lists alcohol as a “group 1 carcinogen”, which means it is considered cancer-causing, though Shield said the mechanism was “not exactly known”.
Globally, the burden was highest in north America, Australia and Europe, particularly eastern Europe, but this was slowly changing as people in developing nations start imbibing more, the researchers said.
The Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Tunde Fowler, has said that the organisation received more than 700,000 applications from the recent job advert it placed.
Fowler made this known on Wednesday in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petition.
The FIRS boss’ appearance at the lower chamber followed a petition from some applicants, who claimed to have been excluded from the employment processes.
The Service had invited applications for various positions in series of adverts placed in some national dailies.
Fowler said that out of the 700,000 applicants more than 2,000 had first class degrees in various disciplines and were qualified to be engage by the Service.
He said that FIRS would recruit only 500 people, adding that the exercise was designed to increase manpower for tax revenue collection and expand the country’s revenue base.
He assured that the organisation would ensure fairness and due process in the recruitment process.
He said, “We have secured waiver and endorsement from the Federal Character Commission in order to ensure that the right thing is done.”
In his remarks, Chairman of the house committee, Mr. Nkem Abonta, directed Fowler to submit to the committee the service’s nominal roll to assist it in arriving at a decision. (NAN
An Ilorin Area Court yesterday dissolved 2 year-old marriage between Hassanat Bashiru and Mumin Bashiru for the wife refusal to use purdah.
The Plaintiff, a residence of Emir’s road Ilorin, had prayed the court to dissolve her marriage to her husband because she cannot agree to her husband’s wish that she should always be in purdah by totally covering her eyes and body with black cloth.
She said that their marriage was contacted in 2014 and had produced two children, Hauwa, 1, and Ayisat, 4 months, ROYAL NEWS learnt.
According to her, “My lord, I want an end to this marriage because my husband didn’t tell me this before I married him. This is not in our agreement; I cannot be covering all my body with black cloth including my eyes.”
It was however gathered that the defendant did not object to the prayer of his wife, saying that if she didn’t agree to use purdah is free to go.
He urged the court to grant the divorce request as well as award him the custody of the children.
The Presiding Judge, Mr. Abdulquadri Ibrahim dissolved the marriage and issue a certificate of divorce for the plaintiff as well as award the wife the custody of the children.
No fewer than four persons were on Wednesday gruesomely murdered in renewed bloody clashes between rival cult members in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.
ROYAL NEWS gathered the resurgence of cultists’ clashes was said to have first occurred on Monday night in Gaa-Akanbi area of the metropolis, when some suspected rival cult members killed murdered a boy of about 20 years old.
According to sources, the incidence spread to Ipata Market and Kankatu areas of the metropolis on Tuesday, where two persons were killed bysuspected cultists.
The two incidences was said to have happened around 4pm and 9pm on Tuesday when a boy of about 18 years old was said to have been killed at Kankatu area at a place close to Amule-bridge.
A source claimed that members of the state police evacuated the corpse and dumped it in an undisclosed hospital morgue in the town.
Another person in his 30s who was preparing to go to his place of work was attacked on Wednesday and was allegedly hacked down by men suspected to be cult members in Odoota area of the metropolis who struck between 10 and 11am.
When contacted, the spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi confirmed the incident.
He confirmed the incident at Gaa-Akanbi, adding that he was yet to get information regarding the other incidents in the metropolis.
He promised to call the DPOs of the areas in question for confirmation.
“I can confirm to you the Gaa-Akanbi incident was as a result of rival cult clashes”, he said.
Economic and social activities of residents of Kwara and Oyo states were on Wednesday grounded following the outright collapse of Moro bridge, along llorin-lgbeti highway linking the two states.
The Member representing Owode-Onire constituency at the state House of assembly where the collapsed bridge is located, Abdullahi Taiwo informed the House of the collapsed bridge during Wednesday plenary.
Taiwo who was speaking under matter of urgent public importance said the collapsed bridge had made transportation of farm produce to llorin, the state capital impossible.
He stressed the need for urgent construction of the bridge in view of its importance for transportation of Food items and Passengers from Oyo state and neighbouring republic of Benin.
Members who contributed to the debate including the House Leader stressed the significance of the collapsed bridge constructed with corrugated iron several years ago.
The Deputy Speaker, Mathew Okedare who presided over Wednesday plenary while reading the resolution of the House directed its Committee on Energy, Works and Transport to lias with the Federal Ministry of of Works on the construction of the collapsed bridge.
The House called on the kwara Government to put a palative measure in place before the reconstruction by the Federal Government.
Reacting to the issue of the collapsed bridge while speaking with ROYAL NEWS in llorin on Wednesday, the Federal Controller of Works in Kwara State , Mr Omotayo Awosanya said the Federal has advertised the construction of both the Moro and Ohan bridges.
He said Work will soon commence on the two bridges which had already been captured at the 2016 budget.
