The man of God will be celebrating his annual thanksgiving on February 14, 2022 at his Lagos church and the juju music legend has been billed to perform at the mind-blowing event.
It is no more news that the relationship that exists between King Sunny Ade and Primate Ayodele is beyond that of a musician and a prophet but companions who have a common interest to render service to humanity.
It would be recalled that many years ago, Sunny Ade gave a prophetic word to Primate Ayodele during a service that his church will have a large congregation of about 30,000 worshippers. This statement was made in 2000 when Primate Ayodele’s congregation was just about 500 worshippers.
After two decades of this prophetic statement by King Sunny Ade, the prophecy is finally seeing the light of the day as Primate Ayodele will be unveiling a 30,000-capacity church building on February 14, 2022 as part of the programme line-up for his annual thanksgiving.
Also, February 14 will feature the mother of all empowerments as usual. In previous years, Primate Ayodele has given cars, tricycles, scholarships, cash gifts, and relief materials to his church members, the needy, without regard to their religion.
A coalition of women groups from different parts of the country on Tuesday stormed venue of the All Progressive Congress (APC) National Women’s Conference in Abuja to demands actualization of an Osinbajo presidency in 2023.
The coalition, which includes market women, farmers, traders, artisans and professionals, all voiced demand for Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to become the APC presidential candidate in 2023 at the International Conference Centre.
The groups urged the party’s caretaker committee to ensure a properly organized national convention that would not be hijacked by money bags who had “participated in looting state or federal resources in the past.”
Osinbajo is yet to publicly admit any interest in the presidential race but he is believed to be interested in taking over from President Muhammadu Buhari.
Presidential aspirants within the APC who have declared their interest include Bola Tinubu, Orji Uzo Kalu and Governor Yahya Bello of Kogi States.
Hajia Rabi Dauda, leader of the Steering Committee of Women’s Coalition for Osinbajo, who spoke with reporters at the venue of the women conference in Abuja, said the women had assessed all aspirants across political parties and concluded that “Osinbajo is the best option for Nigerian women.”
She said, “We are rooting for Osinbajo, not because there are no other aspirants but because he is the most qualified and the one with the most easily predictable disposition towards development issues that are of utmost concern to women.
“Nigerian women trust Osinbajo more than any other presidential aspirant and he already has an idea of what the specific challenges of governance in present times really mean.
“ We believe that Osinbajo can consolidate upon whatever good foundation that Baba Buhari has laid and Nigerian women are much more optimistic about prospects for a better future under an Osinbajo presidency.
“At this APC National Women’s Conference and beyond here, we are urging all Nigerian women to actively mobilize support for Osinbajo in the interest of generations yet unborn because 2023 elections will leave very enduring impact on the fate of Nigeria.”
Speaking in a similar vein, Madam Scholastica Dominic who led a group of market women to join the women’s coalition for a peaceful rally at the event stated that it was a voluntary demonstration of support.
Madam Dominic said, “ Osinbajo is healthy, youth-friendly and women-friendly and he represents positive change.
“Besides, Osinbajo has demonstrated keen disposition towards seeing things from the perspective of market women and he can make things easy for us; indeed, we believe that he has great capacity to move Nigeria forward.”
Leading the Inter-Faith group within the coalition, Evangelist Ochoja said the women were confident in Osinbajo’s readiness for the job unlike other aspirants.
She said the women would not be swayed by money because they believed strongly in Osinbajo who she said had “demonstrated capacity to serve with empathy.”
Mike Ozekhome SAN has accused the federal government of deliberately amending charges against the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, for the purpose of frustrating the matter and keeping him in custody.
When the case was called up before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, prosecution Counsel, S.M. Labaran told Justice Binta Nyako that the federal government had a fresh amended 15 count charge against Kanu.
“My lord, this case is adjourned till today for trial and for the records, the prosecution is fully ready for the business of day.
“We have an amended charge which is dated on 14th January and filed on 17th containing 15 counts and pursuant to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act ,ACJA, we ask the court to substitute this charge with the one earlier filed on 20 October, 2021.
“We are asking that the court to direct the registrar to read the charge to the sole Defendant in this case for the purpose of taking his plea,” Labaran said.
But Mike Ozekhome SAN, who is newly engaged to defend Kanu, said it was wrong for the prosecution to give them the fresh charge on Monday, a day before his client appears in court.
He alleged that FG was using the concept of amendment to further elongate the trial.
He argued that the business of the day had to do with three subsisting applications; one, application for transfer, two, a motion for bail of the defendant, and three; a preliminary objection raised to the earlier (7 count) charge.
“Now, this amended charge was served on me yesterday, the client was here since 7am.
“With all respect Sir, that is not Justice, that is ambushing.
“This is the sixth amendment they are doing, and each time, they serve us the day before the hearing so as to frustrate the proceedings.
“The defendant is being told to plead to a charge he has not seen,” Ozekhome contended.
Ozekhome told Justice Binta Nyako that it was not possible for the defendant to take the plea today.
“They are the accusers and then, they are amending charges a day before the trial,” he added.
He urged the court to adjourn so that he could meet and exchange views with Kanu regarding the new charge.
On his part, Labaran confirmed that Kanu’s lawyer received the fresh charge on Monday but the judge replied that it was “bad enough”.
Labaran insisted that the defendant spoke with “his lawyer” before today’s proceedings.
However, he did not object to Ozekhome’s request to give him 24 hours to go through the new charges.
“We are prosecutors and we are not objecting that we should come back tomorrow,” he said.
Subsequently, Nyako adjourned the matter till tomorrow for plea.
Kanu’s Stay In DSS Custody
Ozekhome also argued that Kanu was in solitary confinement and has not been treated well by the DSS.
He said the Department of States Services has allegedly flouted court orders to give Kanu maximum comfort possible.
Nyako however maintained that there was no detention facility in the world that will allow anyone to go see the accused with phones, wristwatch, among other things.
“Detention facility is not a five star facility,” she said but Ozekhome replied that “such facility must be okay to keep the accused alive.”
Again, Nyako ordered the DSS to allow Kanu’s lawyer access him but under supervision.
How Loan Fraud has Become Norms in GTBank + How the Syndicate has been Operating
It is important to note that the unsettled crisis that has given Innoson Motors legal rights to foreclose some properties of the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) over issues that has to do with loan discrepancies is still a major issue in the supposedly top Nigerian bank.
Though GTBank had tried to use agents of the government to shut Innoson management up when the car manufacturing company raised questions about the wide difference noticed in the loan repayment process between them and the need for the bank to refund over-deducted payment from the company’s account.
The issue is now about accusations and counter-accusation until the Supreme Court decided that the GTBank indeed needed to refund the loan repayment scam which has risen from about N8.2 billion to a staggering N32 billion it currently stands.
It is important to note that the Innoson case which is still pending in the court is just an high profile case the loan scam syndicate in the bank has been operating unhindered even when some cases are brought to the notice of the management.
There has been so many issues of smaller loans mostly on dormant account that has gone unnoticed, example is the case of one Ola a customer of the bank whose dormant account was used to process loan without his knowledge.
According to Ola who spoke to us “I was using a salary account with GTBank years back, and since it is my salary account I normally utilizes the bank’s short-code to access loans whenever there’s a pressing need after which I will pay back from my salary.
‘I however stopped using the account in 2013 when I got employment into one of government parastatals and I am mandated to open a new salary account this happened about two months after paying my last loan facility with the GTBank. I later tried to access a loan facility from another bank last year (2021) with the intention of using this loan tied to my entitlement to start a personal business while waiting for my payment to come through, I was surprised when the new bank said I am owing GTBank.
‘Findings showed someone collected a loan on the account after more than a year since I last operated it using short-code, the funny aspect is that I did not get any sort notification from GTBank, no text message or emails to that effect, no calls to remind me of supposed loan, you won’t believe it that I opened a new current account with GTBank a couple of years back with the same name and the issues o this loan did not come up. This shows it is a perfect insider’s fraud scheme.’ Ola explained.
Investigations shows this is not a one off occurrence as many has also fallen into the schemes of these loan syndicate who targets dormant accounts for a loan they have no intention of paying back, it was gathered many owners of such account may not even ever know that a loan fraud has been perpetrated on their dormant account.
These undetected loan scam coupled with the GTBank’s disposition to Innoson Motors loan repayment issue more or less reinforce the believe that some of the staffs of the bank with the knowledge of the bank’s management may be cutting corners using likely forgotten account and may now be facing exposure due to the now enforced Bank Verification Number (BVN) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which has brought forth Global Standing Instruction (GSI) policy, that exposed the recent loan fraud.
It is therefore important for owners of dormant account in the bank to be on the lookout as the otherwise loan free account may have mysteriously been used to acquire loan by the loan fraud syndicate that has been working underground for a while in the bank, while the GSI in force will debit your active account of the unknown debt.
Female presidential candidate, Khadija Okunnu-Lamidi, has stated that she would run for the presidency in 2023 despite the respect she has for the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.
Okunnu-Lamidi while giving her reason said Nigerians clamour for a young person with a vibrancy to lead the country out of its challenges is her drive.
The aspirant stated this as she disclosed that she is “somehow related” to the former Governor of Lagos State.
Okunnu-Lamidi while speaking with BBC pidgin said, “He’s the national leader of the APC; he has contributed to national politics and I have great respect for him. But that doesn’t change the fact that Nigerians are looking for a young person with vibrancy. Nigerians are looking for a way out of poverty, they want 24 hours electricity supply, good health care and good roads which are what I’m here to provide.”
The presidential aspirant when asked if she has political experience, said, “Many people will say they have never heard of my name but I’ve been in politics for at least 20 years learning. Many people do declare their political ambition before they are ready, which is quite a problem. I’ve learnt the work and seen how others do it, which I don’t find satisfying, it gives me a stomach ache.
Okunnu-Lamidi when asked when she decided to contest for the presidency said, “It was shortly after the EndSARS protests in October 2020.”
She further stated that she reached out to young minds and the late singer, Sound Sultan, towards the goal of fielding some youths to contest for public office.
According to the aspirant, most of the youths she spoke with were sceptical about the idea.
She said, “At that point, it occurred to me that if I truly have the passion, I should be the one to step out and take the risk for us to have a better Nigeria.”
When asked how serious she is about her ambition, she said, “As you can see, my entrance into the race has not been a joke.”
Asked to speak about the political platform she’s running on, Okunnu-Lamidi said, “I don’t like to talk about the party because, for me, it doesn’t bring a solution. I’ve never seen any party talking about how to make life better for everybody, it’s just about their selfish interest.”
If you’re investing on a mega business project and First City Monument Bank (FCMB) is your banker, you would reasonably have a rethink after reading this exclusive piece. It is a story of how the bank and its desperate crooked senior staff almost ruined a foremost sports betting company in Nigeria.
It all started late in 2018 when the owner of the betting company (names withheld) gave the Allen Avenue, Ikeja branch of FCMB an instruction to buy dollars equivalent to N1billion for his domiciliary account with the bank. It is a standard practice for the bankers to ensure that the foreign currency (dollars) appears in the customer’s domiciliary account before debiting him of the naira equivalent, and the customer made no mistake by emphasizing on this when he instructed Mrs Uki, his account officer at the bank to make the deal.
But out of greed, the senior officers of FCMB were sourcing for cheap dollars in order to make huge profit, and in the process threw the ethics of their profession to the winds. Mrs Joanne Oyenike was Allen Branch Manager of the bank then. She would later be sacked as a result of the scam and drama that trailed the transaction.
Another key figure in the scam is Mr Adeoye Adeyemo, who was FCMB’s Head of Commercial Banking as at then. His department would later be disengaged for lack of results. It was the Allen Branch Manager, Mrs Oyenike and Adeyemo who led this shocking scam you’re about to read.
Note that when the Allen branch of the bank’s Customer Service Officer (CSO), Mr Gboyega Johnson and Customer Service Manager (CSM), Mr Julius Ugwu got the notification for the transaction, they refused to treat it because the dollars have not reflected on the customer’s account accordingly. They declined to debit the customer’s account of N1billion as a result.
However, some crooked senior staff of the bank thereby moved the customer’s instruction to Oba-Akran branch of FCMB, where the sum of N1billion was fraudulently deducted from customer’s account without the dollar equivalent credited to his domiciliary account.
Meanwhile, the Sports Betting Company MD was seriously ill. Perhaps, he anticipated to use the money for his treatment abroad, but was denied the privilege by the crooked FCMB senior staff. It was until 2019 when he returned from his medical trip abroad that he decided to write the bank officially, and trouble started.
The bankers said the dollars equivalent of the N1billion was hanging (it could not be traced till date), and the customer threatened to withdraw all his company’s accounts from FCMB – that was when the management of the bank started begging him and proposed compensating him with N500million.
In fact, a prominent Southwest monarch was also approached by FCMB’s management to help in appealing to the cheated customer because he is one of the bank’s biggest customers.
In the wake of the crisis which has trailed the February National Convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the Director General (DG) of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Salihu Lukman has resigned.
It was gathered that Lukman’s resignation followed Sunday night’s meeting of the APC Governors’ Forum where a few of the governors had demanded that he should be removed from office ‘for being too vocal’.
Many of the governors were said to have kicked against the demand saying the erstwhile PGF helmsman should be allowed to continue to speak in his personal capacity as a chieftain of the party.
Scores of residents have been feared killed in a midnight raid by terrorists known locally as bandits, in Kebbi State.
The bandits in their large numbers invaded Dan-Kade village in Unashi district under the Zuru chiefdom, killing an unspecified number of persons on Sunday night.
Residents have fled their homes as bandits have reportedly burnt many houses in the area.
A leader of a local Vigilante group in Zuru, Mani John, confirmed the attacks, according to Sahara Reporters.
The Kebbi State Police Command could not yet be reached for comments as of the time of publishing this report.
Bandits’ attacks have become a menace in Kebbi and almost every part of northern Nigeria.
Recall this newspaper reported at the weekend that bandits launched a brutal attack on the same Dankade village. It was learnt that the bandits operated unchallenged from 3pm to 7pm last Friday.
In recent times, northern Nigerian states like Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto, Niger and Kaduna have witnessed incessant attacks by terrorists. These lawbreakers have killed thousands of people, kidnapped hundreds and displaced thousands from their homes.
The Progressive Governors’ Forum, a platform for governors of the All Progressive Congress again failed to fix a date for the party’s national convention, which has been slated for February 2022, but insisted it remained the party’s month of national convention.
The governors failed to announce the exact date and venue for the convention even as it passed vote of confidence on Governor Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Committee.
Notwithstanding the fact that the job of fixing a date for the convention lies squarely with the party executive, it was expected that since some governors of the party are part of the caretaker committee and February had been chosen as the month, the governors will suggest a date which can be adopted by the party executive to end the crisis rocking the party.
Besides, by insisting on February, the party would be going against the electoral act if it goes ahead to hold its convention as it would be failing to notify the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as required by law.
The law says INEC must get a 21-day notification before any of such an event could be held.
However, rising from a meeting which started on Sunday, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and Kebbi State governor, Abubakar Bagudu, told journalists that, “The Progressive Governors met tonight to discuss numerous issues affecting the forum and member states and we acknowledged some of the achievements in the states and members of the forum as well as the President who visited Ogun and Borno states where he commissioned projects.
“We have had challenges in some states and we commiserated with them. We spoke about our unanimous appreciation for Mr President and especially the confidence he has in the forum.
“We also passed a vote of confidence in the National Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the party chaired by Governor Mai Mala Buni and assisted by two other governors including Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State and Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State; who have done an incredible job of running our party successfully, mobilising people into the party.”
The governor explained that the Forum discussed the February national convention stating that it has unanimously agreed that it holds in February; as opposed to speculations of an impending postponement
He said, “We discussed our coming convention which you may recall, I had cause to address the press when we visited Mr President in November. We expressed that both Mr President and the party have agreed that convention should take place in February.
“So we took inputs about the reviews and we noted all the misrepresentations in the press and sought to correct it.
“The Progressive Governors’ Forum is one united body as you can see evidently from the attendance. And our decision is unanimous. We are united behind Mr President and we thank him. And we are united behind the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee.”
Asked what date in February the convention will hold, he said, “Yes, February is still realistic. But we are just one group of stakeholders. Our party respects institutions. It is the appropriate organ of the party, the National Caretaker Committee that will announce a date.
“We have agreed and they will announce a date in February. The announcement comes from the party. It is a party decision. There are other stakeholders that they are consulting with and to show respect and institutional limits, we are not going to overstep our bounds.”
The meeting had in attendance all governors of the Forum except Aminu Masari of Katsina and Muhammad Yahaya of Gombe.
Those who attended were the Governors of Yobe, Mai Mala Buni; Borno, Babagana Zulum; Jigawa, Muhammad Abubakar; Ondo, Rotimi Akeredolu; Niger, Abubakar Bello; Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai; Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi; Kogi, Yahaya Bello and Ogun, Dapo Abiodun.
In attendance also were Zamfara, Bello Matawalle; Ebonyi, Dave Umahi; Osun, Gboyega Oyetola; Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Plateau, Simon Lalong; Imo, Hope Uzondinma; Nasarrawa, Abdullahi Sule and Cross River, Ben Ayade.
Others were Kwara, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje; and Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Nkem Okeke.
Armed bandits have demanded gallons of petrol and viju milk, amongst other items, to free kidnapped persons barely 12 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari directed the military to embark on a robust military operation to tackle the worsening security in Niger State.
The bandits had invaded another set of communities across Kontagora and Mashegu Local Government Areas on Sunday which left three persons dead and 28 others abducted, according to eyewitnesses.
“The gunmen came on about 18 motorcycles, there were three of them on each of the motorcycles, they were shooting anyhow making the villagers to scamper into the forest
“The unlucky ones were kidnapped but one person was killed,” the eyewitness said.
The Vice-Chairman of Kontagora local government Council Alhaji Aliyu Makiga confirmed the attack to newsmen saying “the gunmen came through the Tegina route in their large number”.
He said security agents attempted to foil the attack but met “stiff resistance from the well equipped gunmen”.
“They kidnapped a lot of people but some were set free when their motorcycles could not carry all of them and others are still with them.
“They (gunmen) are demanding for a ransom of seven 50 litres jerrican of petrol, Viju Milk and other drinks,” he said.
It was earlier reported how President Buhari on Sunday directed the military to respond robustly to the cases of killings and kidnappings in the state through use of force.
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