The review will entail exploration of the option of appeal and possible change of counsel in view of the Commission’s dissatisfaction with the handling of the case by Uket.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has initiated an investigation into the dismissal of charges against former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bello Adoke, in the Malabu Oil Fraud case.
This was stated in a press statement made available to SaharaReporters on Friday stating that the review would involve considering an option for an appeal on the subsisting ruling of Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja on the matter.
The statement reads: “A review of developments around the Malabu OPL 245 fraud case, including the dismissal of the charges against a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bello Adoke by a Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja and the conduct of the prosecuting counsel, Offem Uket.
“The review will entail exploration of the option of appeal and possible change of counsel in view of the Commission’s dissatisfaction with the handling of the case by Uket.
“Nevertheless, this intention has no nexus whatsoever to the spew of speculations imputing compromise by parties to the charge, currently making the rounds in some sections of the media.
“EFCC is not obliged to embrace such narratives as it neither accused any of the parties of any unsavoury conduct nor made any conclusive statements about any investigation on the matter.
“The public is enjoined to ignore effusions of mischief makers on the matter and await the next course of actions.”
The Nigerian domestic currency, the naira closed the week on a positive note against the American dollar at the official window for the fourth consecutive trading day in April 2024 to trade at ₦1,251.05/$1, data from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) has shown.
This represents a gain of N4.02 for the local currency when compared to the N1,255.07/$1 it traded the previous trading day.
The intra-day high was N1,281/$1 while the intra-day low was N1,220/$1 representing a lean spread of N61/$1.
Similarly, the naira maintained steady appreciation against the dollar at the parallel window to trade at N1,250/$1 representing a gain of N50 when compared to the N1,255/$1 it traded the previous day.
READ ALSO:Naira recovery against dollar continues, trades at ₦1255/$1
The British Pound however gained N10 to trade at N1,630\£1 as against the previous trading price of N1,620/£1 representing a loss of N10 for the local currency,
The Canadian dollar depreciated against the naira to trade at N1,100| CA$1 as against N1,150| CA$1 it traded the previous day representing a gain of N50 for the local currency.
The euro however closed flat against the Euro to trade at ₦1,330/€1 same as the previous closing price of ₦1,330/€1.
EFCC Denies Stopping Service of Charges on Binance Chief
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, wishes to react to a news report in a leading national newspaper entitled: “EFCC Stopped Service of Charges on Binance Chief, FIRS Alleges”. The report is untrue, misleading and removed from the facts before the court.
At no time did the court bailiff approach the EFCC to serve any of the Binance executives in its custody with a charge. At the last sitting of the court, counsel to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Moses Ideh, did not lodge such a complaint before the court. He only told the court that the Service was yet to serve the defendants.
The Commission, therefore, finds the news item preposterous and embarrassing. The public is enjoined to ignore it entirely.
In defence of the 241 per cent increase in electricity tariff, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has alleged that the cheap tariff empowered Nigerians to waste electricity.
Adebayo disclosed this during a ministerial briefing in Abuja on Friday.
Earlier, THE WHISTLER had reported that the federal government increased the electricity tariff for customers from N66 per kilowatt to N255.
This increase would affect customers in Band A, who consume 20 hours of supply daily.
In his defence of the tariff surge, Adelabu said, “A lot of people will come back from work and they want to have dinner or they want to play with their colleagues down the road, they switch on the AC for the room to be cooling before they come back.
“Some people will be going to work in the morning and their freezers are left on for days. When all their items are frozen. This is because they are not paying enough.
“We have all been overseas before, we know how conscious the power consumers are to consumption of electricity, this will enable us to manage consumption”.
Commenting on the electricity subsidy, the minister said it would have been insensitive for the Nigerian government to continue paying a 100 per cent electricity subsidy, yet consumers abuse power.
He noted that 85 per cent of electricity consumers will still get power subsidies, however, the N2.9trn electricity subsidy in 2024 is too much of a burden for Nigeria.
“It is because the government is sensitive that 100 per cent of the subsidy will be removed. That is why we start with gradually removing the subsidy for the selected customers,” he said.
Adelabu also assured that through the presidential power initiatives, electricity infrastructures would be enhanced and improved across the transmission and distribution sector.
‘Nigerians Waste Electricity, Don’t Switch Off Their ACs When Going To Work’- Power Minister Defends Tariff Hike is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Never pay for any CBT, test or assessment as part of any recruitment process. When in doubt, contact us
Job Description:
As a Human Resource Officer, you will play a pivotal role in supporting the HR department in various functions, including recruitment, employee relations, performance management, and HR administration. Your primary responsibilities will involve assisting with HR policies and procedures, maintaining employee records, and promoting a harmonious workplace culture.
Job Functions/Responsibilities
Assist with the recruitment process, including job posting, screening candidates, scheduling interviews, and conducting reference checks.
Coordinate new hire orientations and onboarding activities to ensure a seamless integration for new employees.
Maintain accurate and up-to-date employee records, including personal information, attendance, leave, and performance evaluations.
Assist in implementing HR policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with labor laws and regulations.
Provide support to employees on HR-related matters, including benefits, policies, and procedures.
Assist in resolving employee concerns and grievances in a timely and confidential manner.
Support performance management processes, including goal setting, performance reviews, and development planning.
Coordinate training and development initiatives to enhance employee skills and capabilities.
Prepare HR reports and data analysis to support decision-making and strategic planning.
Collaborate with other departments to ensure HR initiatives align with organizational goals and objectives.
Requirements/Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree (BSc) in Human Resource Management, Business Administration, or related field.
Minimum of 3 years of experience working in a similar role is required.
Professional Certification in HR would be an added advantage.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Excellent organizational and time management abilities.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion.
Proficiency in MS Office applications.
Must be ready to resume immediately.
Benefits:
Competitive salary and benefits package
Opportunities for professional development and growth
A former bank employee, Mike Ilishebo, 44, allegedly killed his 35-year-old wife, Valerie Franco, before taking his own life in Zambia.
The incident happened at Meanwood Ndeke Phase One area in Lusaka on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
Police Public Relations officer, Rae Hamoonga, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday, April 4, said that Mr. Ilishebo strangled Valerie with an electric power adapter cable and stabbed her in the stomach with a knife.
“Yesterday, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at approximately 16:05 hours, Chelston Police Station, through Ndeke-vorna Police Post, received a distressing report from Alice Mapulanga, 38, that Mr. Ilishebo has perpetrated a heinous act against his wife, Valerie, aged 35,” he said.
“Upon the arrival of Police Scenes of Crime officers at the scene, Ms. Franco’s lifeless body was discovered lying in the bedroom adjacent to the bed, with a knife embedded in her abdomen
“Meanwhile, Mr Ilishebo was found deceased in the sitting room, with a black substance coming from his mouth
“It’s alleged that Mr Ilishebo strangled Ms Franco using an electric power adapter cable and subsequently stabbed her in the stomach with a knife, before taking a poisonous substance, resulting in his own demise.”
Mr. Hamoonga stated that the incident is said to have occurred between 15:00 and 16:00 hours.
“The bodies were transported to the University Teaching Hospital mortuary for further examination.”
Hamoonga said the motive behind the incident appears to stem from long marital dispute between the couple who shared an eight-month-old child.
A low-income estate built by the Bayelsa state government has been allegedly hijacked by politicians and senior government officials in the state, findings have revealed.
An estate built by former governor Seriake Dickson called “Anyama Low Income Estate Phase 1” was hurriedly inaugurated by Dickson before he left office on February 12, 2020 without internal roads, toilet facilities, electricity, and security provisions amongst others.
The estate which comprises 42 units by 84 flats has since been abandoned by Governor Dóuye Diri’s administration since he took over from Dickson in 2020.
The findings were made during an investigative tour carried out by members of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel of the NUJ on Thursday as part of its social obligations.
The correspondents visited the estate along Yenagoa/Oporoma Road, Anyama in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state and Okaka Phase 2 Estate in the heart of Yenagoa, the state capital.
Findings indicate that the estate has been occupied by homeless people who found solace in the uncompleted buildings.
However, some of the occupants claimed to have rented the place from the government officials who allegedly manipulated the process for selfish reasons.
It was further learnt that government officials capitalised on the fact that the homeless who thronged the estate were occupying the area without official allocation and had been collecting rent from some of them.
Speaking to members of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel, Chief Daniel Oputu, a resident of Ayama Housing Estate said that he rented his apartment from one Clement Angalabiri.
“I am not one of those illegal occupants, I am the chairman of this estate but let’s say about 50 per cent of the occupants are illegal tenants because one man who calls himself the Community Liaison Officer illegally rented these houses to them.
“And some people said that he is from the Ministry of Housing. His name is John Amakiri,” Oputu said.
According to Oputu, over 95% of occupants in the estate do not have toilets.
“As I am here, I am trying to arrange a toilet for myself at the back of the flat. When I came here, I paid directly to the landlord and I discovered that there was no toilet and no staircase.
“When I complained to him, he said I should do it and I did everything including the wiring of the place but when the first payment of N100,000 expired, he said I should pay again which I refused and he gave me quit notice that made me relocate to this particular one.
“We made an inquiry and we were told that these houses are allocated to them by the government through the Ministry of Housing. For some of the apartments, two landlords are even laying claim to it. Some tenants don’t even know who is their landlord,” Oputu said.
According to him, the tenants are facing many problems in the estate regarding the lack of toilet facilities, electricity, water, and a poor road network amongst others.
“If you want to take a house here and you go to one John Amakiri at the Ministry of Housing, he will tell you to pay to him and he will come and allocate the place without you seeing your landlord for the next three years.
“This place is about 200 acres of land and these are the houses that they have built. These houses are not even completed. Legally you cannot even rent a house when the house is not completed but we are managing it.
“I have been here for three years and I am paying N200,000. Last year the government came and said that they wanted to do something, they came with caterpillars and other equipment, and in the end, nothing was done.
“We have about 42 blocks by 84 flats and almost all of them are occupied.
“I want the government to come and assist us by putting the toilet facilities, and connect lights to the estate. We don’t have water except for two or three boreholes that are privately owned. Every day, we spend nothing less than N500 on fetching water with labour. We lack security. Everybody is a security officer here in the night,” he said
Another resident, Mr Gentleman Siloko said, “Before the inauguration, there was no staircase, no toilet and no electrification which were supposed to be done but none. So if you pay you look for a source of light. Every landlord collects rent based on negotiation. But most of us rented two-bedroom flats for between N100,000 and N250,000,” Siloko said.
Another resident, Madam Preye Ebi said that houses in the estate are allocated to the “big men in the state”.
“Even the places that they have only dug foundation have been allocated to the big men,” she said.
At Okaka Housing Estate, Madam Joy Onbu said she came to the estate through one Philip who claimed that the brother known as Akpos was the contractor of the place.
She said, ” I came here through Philip and he didn’t collect any money from me. When I first came, I gave the person staying in my present apartment N70,000 and since that time I have not paid anything. I also gave Philip N20,000.
“I have been here for four years now and I am not paying anything because he is not disturbing anybody but now, he said that everybody will pay N100,000 because people are subletting the house to other people. We have a steady power supply but we put the toilets by ourselves.”
When contacted on the telephone on the pretext of seeking to rent a place at the Anyama Low Income Estate, Mr. John Amakiri agreed to give out a flat at the cost of N120,000 per annum.
Amakiri said the houses had been allocated to former commissioners, members of the House of Assembly and other top government officials.
He claimed to be acting on behalf of the Ministry of Housing in the state.
The Naira traded for N1,251.05 to a dollar at the official market on Friday.
Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), revealed that the Naira gained N4.02 in today’s trading.
This represents a 0.32 percent gain when compared to the previous day’s trading of N1,255.07 to a dollar.
However, the total daily turnover increased to $248.27 million on Friday up from $138.99 million recorded on Thursday.
Meanwhile, at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, the Naira traded for between N1,281 and N1,220 to a dollar.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC’s Football Team, EFCC FC, on Saturday, March 30, 2024, lifted the FCT F.A Cup after defeating Sporting Supreme FC in a very scintillating performance which ended 4-3.
The game which took place at the Bwari Township Stadium, Abuja before a large crowd of football lovers and cheerleaders saw the EFCC team defeat their opponent in a penalty shootout which ended 4-3 to lift the trophy after a breathtaking 2-2 draw of full game time.
In the course of the game, Sporting Supreme FC took the lead with the first goal at the 29th minute, further sustained with the second goal at the 74th minute of play time before the EFCC team fought from a 2- goal deficit with a brilliant comeback to level up the scores with the help of Abubakar Bature scoring a brace just 2 minutes to the final whistle.
The EFCC team, six time champions, had played 3 finals consecutively in the previous seasons to lift the title since its last win in 2021.
The team will proceed to represent FCT in the Confederation cup where it will log heads with other titans like Rangers Kano pillars, Lobi stars, Sunshine, Akwaibom United among others.
Anyone who watched FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike’s media parley on Tuesday, April 2 will not fail to see how unsettled the former governor of Rivers State was when speaking about his state. Developments in the state since he handed over power to Governor Siminalayi Fubara are making him anxious and he now appears to suffer what medical psychologists call “Adrenaline anxiety”.
This is a condition you suffer as a result of anxious thoughts or stress, and you’re left with a feeling of irritability. Someone in that condition can become irrational and feel danger when there’s none—like a wild cat caged!
Wike displayed these symptoms during his televised interview with select broadcasters on Tuesday. He hyperventilated and appeared to sweat while his hands trembled slightly. He was clearly an agitated man, desperate to make some sense and curry public favour as he did when he similarly took on the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, in the countdown to the 2023 presidential election.
But this time, he’s picking the wrong fights and the wrong targets. He’s fighting to impeach Governor Fubara of River State, a man he did everything to put in the Rivers State Government House. He is also fighting ex-Governor Peter Odili—the self-respecting, self-effacing political patriarch of Rivers State.
Wike has decided to fight himself by fighting to unseat Governor Fubara. Which normal person will fight himself? How do you win a fight against yourself? Wike is dancing naked at the village square and everyone is watching in consternation and concern. Wike is losing it!
Wike has declared Dr Odili an enemy because he tried to broker peace between him and Gov Fubara to save Rivers from exploding. Dr Odili did what an elder statesman should do by choosing to disagree with Wike that Gov Fubara should be impeached. For trying to bring two friends to an amicable settlement, Wike declared Dr Odili his enemy.
Peter Odili, former Governor of Rivers State
“As it is today, politically, we don’t have a good relationship. We don’t work together, there are some political differences.
“For me, we have finished with this stage. It does not mean that in the next stage, you will be in the same camp. No, he took a decision. I took a decision,” Wike revealed when asked about his relationship with Odili.
It’s obvious that he’s unhappy that Dr Odili is not backing his ill-conceived impeachment plot against Gov Fubara, and he showed it by publicly disclaiming Dr Odili on live television. He had nothing else to hold against a man who had lived a quiet and dignified life away from the limelight since his tenure as governor of Rivers State ended in 2007.
Wike is a political protege of Dr Odili and had hitherto maintained a father-son relationship with the revered statesman. During President Bola Tinubu’s visit to commission projects in Rivers State on May 3, 2023, Wike admitted the role of Dr Odili in his political rise while giving a speech as the host. While looking in the direction of Dr Odili, Wike said “Whatever we are today is by the grace of God and this man.”
But this is the same man he has now chosen to antagonise and berate for being a peacemaker. Wike suffers the infantile belief that anyone who doesn’t support his position on issues has betrayed him! His concept of betrayal is as twisted as his mind. Everyone who disagreed with him was a traitor in his rule book.
But no one has betrayed associates more than Wike. His first victim was Rotimi Amaechi, who was then Governor of Rivers State. Wike had served as his chief of staff in his first term. Amaechi nominated him for ministerial appointment in the Goodluck Jonathan government where he served first as Minister of State, Education before becoming the senior minister of the ministry.
But when Amaechi fell out with President Jonathan, Wike quickly switched camp because of his ambition to succeed Amaechi as governor of Rivers State- in contravention of an earlier agreement that the governorship would go to another zone.
Then in 2019, Atiku Abubakar became the next victim. He worked against him during the PDP presidential convention in Portharcourt in 2019. He then allegedly worked against the PDP at the general election. Wike also betrayed Uche Secondus, his fellow Rivers man and former PDP national chairman he helped install. He worked to ensure his removal when he couldn’t use him to further his agenda.
Wike almost single-handedly installed Iyorchia Ayu as Secondus’ replacement in 2021 when the former Senate President was elected national chairman of the PDP. But he was also the one who spearheaded a virulent campaign to bring down Ayu because of his ambition to run for president. Ayu was forced to step down from the position.
Wike openly campaigned against his party, the PDP, during the 2024 presidential election. He worked against his party and shamelessly claimed he was still a member of the party. What do you call the leader of a party in his state who openly supports another party in an election? Is that not the worst form of betrayal? Wike is a licensed traitor who doesn’t want to smell betrayal around him. It gives him seizures and makes him extremely fidgety!
What is Dr Odili’s offence? Of course, Wike told his interviewers that there was nothing. He said they just had some differences. But a former Commissioner for Water Resources in Rivers State, David Briggs, in a video posted on Facebook, said Wike is angry because Mr Odili refused to support the impeachment plot against Governor Fubara by Pro-Wike lawmakers.
L-R: Governor Siminalayi Fubari and FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike
He alleged that “Mr Wike planned to destabilise Rivers State by planning an impeachment of the present governor of the state and Felix Obuah (a former PDP chairperson in Rivers) to go and recruit Mr Odili to be part of that plan.
“Mr Obuah went to Mr Odili’s house in an attempt to recruit him to be part of it, but Mr Odili rejected it and said ‘You just came to tell me to be part of you, (and) not to mediate if there is any misunderstanding between the present governor and Mr Wike. Please, I will not be part of it. Rather, let me call Mr Wike’.
Dr Odili, according to Briggs, called Wike and begged him not to impeach Gov Fubara that he (Mr Wike) brought him. He said the FCT minister promised Dr Odili that he would see him by the weekend in Port Harcourt but he never did.
If Wike could so easily ignore an elder’s plea for peace, does it not show he is the problem? The FCT minister is acting like a man desperate for something, and anyone he perceives as standing in his way is an enemy. Wike is paranoid about the corridor of power. If he’s not helped, he will soon harm himself.
– Suleiman writes from Abuja
Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.
Help! Wike Is Frustrated is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
