Video - $700 million missing from Nigeria sovering wealth fund

A row has broken out among Nigerian officials over the whereabouts of 700 million dollars allegedly stolen from the country's sovereign wealth fund. Set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan's administration in 2012, the account was designed to hold excess revenue accrued when oil prices are high.

Related story: Former Nigeria Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi comments on audit that proves missing $18.5 billion

Video - Senate President of Nigeria Bukola Saraki on trial for corruption charges

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, pleaded “not guilty” on Tuesday to multiple charges of fraud brought against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau.

He was thereafter granted bail on self recognition.

He faces a 13-count charge bordering on corruption and alleged false declaration of assets.

Mr. Saraki arrived the tribunal Tuesday morning after failing to appear on Friday and Monday.

As the case opened, Mr. Saraki’s lawyers argued that the matter was not a criminal case, and challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal.

The prosecution opposed the argument. The tribunal ruled that the matter was criminal and directed Mr. Saraki to go ahead with his plea.

“I hold that the trial before the tribunal is purely criminal,” said the chairman of the tribunal.

On jurisdiction, the prosecution counsel argued that according to section 2 of the Administration of Justice Act, 2015, the matter could be heard alongside any preliminary objection regarding the tribunal’s jurisdiction.

The new law was signed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in March 2015, as part of a major reform of Nigeria’s criminal justice system.

The Act is expected to speed up corruption cases before the courts, by dealing with issues of preliminary objections, adjournments, and jurisdiction.

The law says such objections must be addressed by the courts concurrently with the corruption charge, unlike the past when interlocutory injunctions could go to the Supreme Court and return, before the main trial begins.

Asked to take his plea, Mr. Saraki said, “I believe that I am here as the Senate president to indicate my respect for the tribunal. I am puzzled why I am being compelled”.

He pleaded not guilty.

On the various assets he acquired, which the Code of Conduct Bureau said his earnings did not qualify him to acquire, Mr. Saraki said he got them through his investment in rice farming.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge concerning his failure to declare his assets when he was Kwara State governor.

He also denied making false declaration of assets.

He pleaded not guilty on the charge regarding his alleged use of foreign bank accounts while serving as a public officer in Nigeria.

Mr. Saraki arrived the tribunal premises at 9:32 a.m., accompanied by “about 50 senators and some members of the House of Representatives”, his spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, told PREMIUM TIMES.

Some of the senators in court, according to a PREMIUM TIMES reporter at the trial, are Theodore Orji, Sam Egwu, Ike Ekweremadu, Shaba Lafiaji, Aliyu Wamakko, Rafiu Ibrahim, Tayo Alasoadura, Hamma Misau, Samuel Anyanwu, Sabi Aliyu Abdullahi, among others.

This newspaper learnt that the Senate President and his supporters first converged on the National Assembly early on Tuesday morning from where they took off in a convoy of buses for the tribunal.

One of the senators, who asked not to be named, said he and his colleagues decided to provide cover for the senate president to prevent him from being arrested or humiliated by the police.

A supporter of the Senate President, now also inside the courtroom, told PREMIUM TIMES, “We are already seated. No shaking. The plan is to humiliate the man, not minding if they break the law or violate the procedure.

“We have nothing to fear. After Saraki has exercised his fundamental human rights in relevant courts, we are here to to show the lies contained in the charges.”

Mr. Saraki had on Monday released a statement, saying he was now ready to attend his trial, days after he battled frantically to use the courts to halt the trial.

The matter was adjourned to 21st, 22nd and 23rd October for hearing.

Premium Times

Video - Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari

It’s now been more than 100 days since Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as Nigerian president, and he’s already showed renewed vigour in the War against Boko Haram and clamped down on government corruption. But Africa’s biggest economy is still in a slump, and Buhari is yet to appoint a cabinet. So what exactly has been achieved under the APC? And has life been made better in Nigeria Under Buhari?

Video - Entrepreneur redefines garri productions and distribution in Nigeria

If you are from West Africa, chances are that you not only know Garri but you might have consumed it. Garri is a popuplar West African staple food made from cassava.

It's quite popular and widely consumed in Nigeria. It's sold virtually everywhere in the open market.

Three bomb blasts in Maiduguri, Nigeria leave 55 dead

At least 55 people have been killed by three bomb blasts in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, according to a local hospital official.

The bombs, detonated at about 7.20pm on Sunday evening, also injured 85 people, Tunde Sotanmi – the security chief of the State Specialist Hospital Maiduguri – said Monday.

Casualties may continue to rise, he said.

Nigerian army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman confirmed the attacks, though said details weren’t immediately clear.

The explosives were detonated at a mosque, a dining area and an computer center, according to Hassan Ibrahim, a local pro-government militia member in the city. “The attacks signify a high level of desperation on the part of the Boko Haram terrorists,” Usman said in a statement on Monday. “There is need for more vigilance, security consciousness and prompt reporting of suspicious persons or group of persons in their midst.”

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. Boko Haram militant leader Abubakar Shekau said in an unverified audio recording posted over the weekend that Nigerian authorities aren’t winning a six-year war against the insurgent group.

Nigeria’s military said at the weekend that it “captured” the villages of Jerre and Dipchari in northeast Borno State and rescued 62 people fleeing from Bitti and Pulka villages as it pushed “for the final defeat of the Boko Haram terrorists”.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to power in May, has ordered the armed forces to end the insurgency by mid-November.


Irish Times