Philip Shaibu, the recently impeached Deputy Governor of Edo State, has vowed to fight what he calls an “injustice”, after he was impeached by the state House House of Assembly.
In a video released via X on Monday, Shaibu condemned the Edo State House of Assembly’s decision to remove him from office and appoint a 38-year-old politician, Omobayo Godwins, as his replacement.
Shaibu maintains his impeachment is illegal and politically motivated.
He also denounced the impeachment in strong terms, stating it was not just an attack on his person but the democratic principle.
According to him, the Assembly’s action is a dangerous attempt at dictatorship and a threat to the foundation of democracy.
Read Also: Few hours after Shaibu’s impeachment, Obaseki swears in Godwins as dep gov
He also stated that the impeachment was motivated by his ambition to contest the state Governorship election and called on well-meaning Nigerians to unite and fight the injustices thrown at him.
Shaibu said, “We will fight this injustice with every strength in us for the sake of Edo State and the future of Democracy”.
“I denounce in the strongest terms the illegal impeachment by the Edo State House of Assembly. This is not just an attack on me as an individual but on our very democratic principles.
“It is a threat to the foundation of our democracy. Let it be clear that this impeachment came because of my ambition to contest the 2023 Edo State Governorship election under the Peoples Democratic Party PDP.
“An ambition that is a legal right to all citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It is a sad reality that those in power seem to silence opposition through illegitimate means. I have dedicated my love to serving the good people of Edo State with integrity and honesty”.
Olukoyede Tasks NACOED Students on Corruption, National Development
The Executive Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has called on Nigeria students to shun computer- related frauds and other criminal tendencies and imbibe desirable attitudes necessary for national development.
He gave the charge on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 in a lecture entitled, “Impact of Cybercrime on Nigeria Economy: Tertiary Education in Perspective” delivered during the matriculation ceremony and orientation programme for Degree and NCE students for 2023/2024 academic session of the Nigerian, Army College of Education, NACOED, Sobi, Ilorin.
The EFCC boss, who spoke through the Head of Public Affairs Department of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC, Ayodele Babatunde expressed worry over the alarming rate of students’ involvement in cybercrime and other social vices, pointed out that the country could only realise its full potentials when youths imbibe the culture of excellence and shun all forms of criminalities.
He acknowledged that Nigerian youths are blessed with great potential, and challenged them to deploy them into good uses. He added that cybercrime should not be seen as a way of life, noting that “ostentatious and flamboyant lifestyle without corresponding hard work is perilous.”
“It is very unfortunate that young people these days have chosen to follow the fast lane, forgetting that speeding in the wrong direction leads to problems. Imagine young people , including teenagers going into cybercrimes and even rituals. I want to encourage you not to be discouraged. Always remember that evil can never win over good and that every action has a reward”, Olukoyede said.
Speaking on the impact of cybercrime, the EFCC Chair said that a society where cybercrime and corruption is allowed to thrive, would among other things suffer underdevelopment, poor education, public and private dysfunctionality, poor infrastructural development and security crisis which included but not limited to banditry, kidnapping, killing for rituals, cultism and terrorism financing.
Enumerating some of the efforts of the EFCC in tackling cybercrime among the youths, Olukoyede said that the Commission recently convoked a meeting of heads of tertiary institutions and faith-based organisations in Abuja to deliberate on ways to curb the menace of cybercrime on campuses. He added that resolutions at the meeting had already started yielding results.
He urged the students to take advantage of the EFCC’s Integrity Clubs and Zero Tolerance Club in our secondary and tertiary institutions to enlist as anti-corruption foot soldiers of the Commission.
The anti-graft czar, while congratulating the matriculants, enjoined them to be above board in character and learning and be good ambassadors of their home, school and country at large. He also urged members of the public to always secure their phone and devices by using strong passwords and avoid sharing personal details and sensitive information such as PIN, BVN or card details with people on social media in order not to fall victim to hackers.
In his closing remarks, the Provost of the NACOED, Major General Umar Babangida commended the EFCC for the presentation which he described as “rich and resourceful”, pledging the readiness of the College to collaborate with the EFCC in its efforts to rid the country’s campuses of cybercrime. He also promised to work closely with the EFCC to ensure the establishment of the Zero Tolerance Club in the college and ensure its functionality.
Omobayo Godwins has been sworn in as the deputy governor of Edo State following the impeachment of Philip Shaibu.
Shaibu was investigated by a panel headed by Justice S.A Omonuwa (retd.) which concluded its sitting on Friday and submitted the report to the State Assembly.
The assembly considered the report on Monday and went ahead to impeach Shaibu, who shunned the panel arguing that the case was in an Abuja court.
The governor quickly nominated Godwins whose nomination was approved by the State Assembly leading to his swearing-in by Justice Daniel Iyobosa Okungbowa, the Chief Judge of Edo State.
The New Edo State Deputy Governor
The new deputy governor had contested under the umbrella of the Labour Party for the Federal House of Representatives seat for Akoko-Edo Federal Constituency during the 2023 elections.
However, the National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Benin affirmed the election of Peter Akpatason of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the constituency.
Godwins, who had challenged Akpatason’s victory through a petition, saw his petition dismissed by a three-man panel based on incompetence and lack of merit.
The tribunal held that the petitioner failed woefully to prove that the third respondent, namely the Independent National Electoral Commission, unlawfully declared Akpatason the winner of the election.
Governor Godwin Obaseki Speaks During Swearing In
Speaking during the swearing-in, Obaseki said the state house assembly played its constitutional role by carrying out checks and balances.
He hailed the choice of Godwins as his deputy.
BREAKING: Omobayo Godwins Sworn In As Edo State Deputy Governor is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
A fraudster who organised the Black Lives Matter protests and used £70k of donations to fund her lifestyle has been ordered to pay back just £1.
Xahra Saleem, 23, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison after admitting to spending over £44k on ‘lifestyle’ expenses including £5,800 on Ubers, as well as beauty treatments, clothes, takeaway deliveries, and mobile phones.
But with Saleem having spent all of the stolen money, police have had to obtain the order with a nominal £1 sum, which then allows that amount to increase if or whenever she has the money in the future.
The funds were intended to go towards Changing Your Mindset, a Bristol St Pauls-based youth group, but were never received.
Bristol Crown Court heard previously that Saleem received an initial payment of £30,653. This came after a total of 588 individual donations had been made from around the world to the GoFundMe page, totalling £32,344.
But in the proceeds of crime act hearing, a court heard on Friday, April 5 that Saleem was now penniless, and would only have to pay back only £1 despite benefiting by an estimated £70k.
Speaking after the hearing, DC Anthony Davis, officer in the case, said: ‘Xahra Saleem admitted to defrauding a charity of a significant sum of money and received a custodial sentence for it last year.
‘She made the conscious decision to take the money for herself, when it should have gone to young people in east Bristol.
‘Blameless individuals who supported the charity were left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of this serious fraud.
‘They were put in an incredibly difficult position of trying to answer questions about Saleem’s offending when they had done nothing wrong and were left devastated by what occurred.
‘In total it has been calculated Saleem benefitted to the value of approximately £70,000. Nobody should profit from criminality and that’s why we have taken proactive action under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
‘Saleem was instructed at Bristol Crown Court today (Friday 5 April) to pay a nominal amount following due consideration of her available assets.
‘Should she obtain assets in the future, we would have the opportunity to seek a re-confiscation order through the courts via Section 22 of the Proceeds of Crime Act.’
Avon and Somerset Police investigated a GoFundMe page called ‘BristBLM’ initially set up for the demonstration on June 7 2020 after the donation money disappeared.
Prosecuting, during the case, Alistair Haggerty told the court it was not clear whether she intended to spend the money raised, or ‘succumbed to temptation,’
He added: ‘These were not big purchases. There was some money spent on shopping and bills, a new iPhone and iMac, but it was mainly on hair, beauty, clothes, Amazon purchases, taxis, and takeaways.
Saleem, of Romford, Essex, initially entered not guilty pleas to two charges of fraud. The second charge related to a separate online fundraising page set up in the days following the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in June 2020, called ‘Bristol Protesters Legal Fees’.
This was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service.
But sentencing her judge Michael Longman told her she had ‘abused her position’ as director of Changing Your Mindset.
He told her: ‘As an organiser of the Black Lives Matter march in Bristol, you gave yourself a high public profile which you used to raise money to help young people in St Pauls – an immensely worthwhile cause.
‘That money you then used for your benefit not theirs – funding a lifestyle which you could not normally afford.’
He said the donations massively exceeded expectations and the defendant ‘took advantage’ of the situation.
He added: ‘I take into account the funds raised plainly exceeded all expectations to a substantial degree, and attempts were made to set up a business account.
‘I accept that you did not set out to defraud initially, but took advantage..’
Judge Longman said the fraud was conducted over an ‘extended period of time’ and included a large amount of victims.
‘There was abuse of trust,’ he added.
But he said he reduced the length of sentence that he would have given as there was mitigation – including her age and immaturity at the time.
He added: ‘There is remorse. I have no doubt you have remorse now looking back at that period of time.’
In a statement released after the hearing, Jay Daley and Deneisha Royal from the youth group Changing Your Mindset said they continued to feel let down.
They said: ‘It doesn’t feel that justice has been fully served as we are unlikely to get back the money from her. It feels like we are being punished.
It saddens me that a member of our community could do this to us because they knew and understood the goal we set out to achieve in order to positively change our community.
‘For me, the group was a safe place. A refuge that I could relax without concern for my safety.
‘For some members it was an opportunity to cook a meal, collect donations, and receive support for mental health as well as learn about new things such as employment opportunities.
‘If we were to get the money back we would go on the trip and members of the group would reestablish the group and make changes to the community and use time on the trip to plan for this.’
The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja on Monday adjourned the ruling on the bail application filed by the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
SaharaReporters had reported how Emefiele arrived at the court for his arraignment earlier on Monday morning over alleged abuse of office.
Emefiele was arraigned along with his co-defendant, Henry Isioma Omole, on 26 counts before Justice Rahman Oshodi.
The former governor of the apex bank pleaded not guilty to the charges against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Oshodi ordered Emefiele to be put in EFCC custody.
Regarding Omole, the judge ordered that he should remain in the Ikoyi Correctional Facility pending the determination of his bail application.
They are to be remanded till April 11 for the ruling on the bail application and commencement of trial.
The charge marked ID/23787c/2024 and dated April 3, 2024, was filed by Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).
EFCC alleged that Emefiele “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary act, to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $2,136,391,737.33 without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.”
EFCC further alleged that Emefiele, between 2020 and 2021, in Lagos, “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary, act to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $291,945,785.59, without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians”.
The detained executive of cryptocurrency firm, Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan, on Monday, pleaded not guilty to the money laundering charges preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Gambaryan was arraigned by the EFCC on charges of laundering $35,400,000 before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja in the absence of Nadeem Anjarwalla who had escaped from custody and fled the country.
The cryptocurrency giant was also arraigned alongside Gambaryan on a five-count charge by the EFCC but when the charges were read to the accused, Gambaryan pleaded not guilty while a plea of not guilty was also entered for the company by it’s legal representatives.
However, Justice Nwite, while delivering judgement, ordered that the Binance executive should be remanded in Kuje prison pending hearing of his bail application on April 18, while the matter has been adjourned to May 2 for commencement of trial
The duo of Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were on February 28, arrested and detained by the EFCC on the orders of the Nigerian authorities.
But Anjarwalla, an Executive Director with the firm, was to escape from the custody of the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), which prompted the Nigerian government to enter into an arrangement with the International Police for his arrest and extradition back to the country. This is yet to be effected.
The embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has pleaded not guilty to alleged abuse of office and allocation of billions of United States dollars.
Emefiele was arraigned at the Ikeja State High Court in Lagos on Monday, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Emefiele, alongside his co-defendant, one Henry Isioma Omole, were arraigned on 26 counts before Justice Rahman Oshodi.
The charge, marked ID/23787c/2024 and dated April 3, 2024. was filed by Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) on behalf of EFCC.
In the charge, EFCC alleged that Emefiele “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary act, to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $2,136,391,737.33 without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.”
The commission also alleged that Emefiele, between 2020 and 2021, in Lagos, “Directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary, act to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $291,945,785.59, without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians”
EFCC further alleged that the former apex bank governor in 2021, in Lagos, “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary act, to wit: special allocation of foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $1,769,254,793.16, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.”
However, appearing before the court, Emefiele asked to be granted bail on self-recognizance pending the hearing and determination of his case.
“Emefiele has been granted bail by Justice Muazu and has been attending his trial at the FCT High Court. Since that bail was granted, he has never missed his hearing dates and the prosecution is almost rounding up its case. The defendant has always religiously presented himself in court to answer the allegations against him,” counsel, Lebi Lawal said.
“Last week Thursday, the EFCC called him to say that two charges have been filed against him and he has presented himself again in court today to answer to the charge against him. He is not a flight risk”.
ABUSE OF OFFICE: Emefiele Pleads Not Guilty At Lagos Court is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
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A woman who had kept a child in a cot cage and was caught trying to sell the same baby for £1million among other child neglect convictions has been found dead in her home.
Officers who visited Claire Boyle’s home on Thursday, April 4, at 7am in Ochiltree, East Ayrshire, found her body.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 7am on Thursday, April 4, 2024, police were called to a property in the Main Street area of Ochiltree, following the sudden death of a woman. There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances and a report was submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
The woman in her late 30s had a long list of previous convictions for child neglect.
In February 2021, Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard she neglected a four-year-old child so badly doctors feared he had blood cancer or a blood clotting disorder.
The child was only discovered after he escaped through a six-inch gap between the frame and pane and dropped four feet to the ground, the child, who was covered in bruises.
The child was only wearing pyjamas and was found wandering the street in the rain. After police were contacted they went to the home Ms Boyle shared with her partner, Timothy Johnstone, who was 23 years her senior. When they arrived at the property in Newmilns, East Ayrshire, the investigating officers found a two-year-old child being kept in a home-made cage. The base of a cot had been removed and secured to the top with belts from dressing gowns, meaning a child could not escape once inside.
After a lengthy trial, both Ms Boyle and Mr Johnstone, 60, who denied child neglect were found guilty. However, the pair were spared jail and Ms Boyle was ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
Despite her two child neglect cases and being spared jail Ms Boyle was allowed to look after the kids.
In 2014, at Ayr Sheriff Court, she was given a Community Payback Order for being found comatose on a couch, through drink or drugs, with a distressed baby at her feet.
At the same court, also in 2014, she was given another Community Payback Order after being caught trying to sell the same baby for £1million on Ayr High Street. She also shook the boy, shouted at him, and abandoned him in a “damp and draughty” close in the seaside town.
Boyle, who was originally from Dumfries and Galloway, also had a number of live court cases. With two cases heard at Ayr Sheriff Court in February this year, Ms Boyle was due in the dock again at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court in June over two further prosecutions.
Ms Boyle also went unpunished in 2023 after attacking a police officer and breaching bail conditions. Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard she kicked a female officer and tried to head butt her while being arrested for failing to sign in at a police station.
Whilst she could have been jailed for upto 18 months for such offences, Ms Boyle was placed on a Community Payback Order and told she would be supervised by social workers for 18 months.
Ms Boyle claimed that she couldn’t attend signing on at the police station because she was fleeing her home after her partner in crime turned on her. Defence solicitor Brian Holliman said she had to move to escape Mr Johnstone after they were spared jail for child neglect.
Mr Holliman told the court: “She was fleeing an abusive relationship. She left that relationship in October [2022]. On several occasions she was reported as a missing or vulnerable person by her partner, Mr Johnstone. She is located by police officers and can behave badly towards them.”
He said she drank to excess to cope and had been drunk when officers arrived at the property in Galston, East Ayrshire, on April 17 last year to arrest her. She shouted “no, no no” as the officers tried to detain her where she resisted arrest, and threw a head butt. They restrained her and she lashed out, kicking one of them on the stomach.
Her bail conditions required her to sign in at a police station but she failed to do so on March 31 last year, leading to officers going to her then-home in April to arrest her.
A year later, in April 2024, she was found dead in her home.
