Former Inspector-General of Police, Mr Tafa Balogun, was buried in his country home of Ila-Orangun, Osun, on Saturday.
Balogun was appointed Nigeria’s 21st Inspector-General of Police on March 6, 2002. He left the office in 2005.
He passed on in Lagos on Thursday, four days to his 75th birthday.
The funeral prayer was observed in accordance with Islamic rites at the Ila-Orangun Central Eid Praying Ground.
Chief Imam of Ila-Orangun, Dr Abdulhammed Salahudeen, presided over the burial prayers where he preached the need for humans to discharge good deeds as death is inevitable.
Former Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, who spoke with newsmen at the side-line of the burial, described Balogun as one of the greatest gentle police officers Nigeria has ever produced.
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Arase described the departed IG-P as a mentor and a father who impacted a lot of police officers intellectually.
“He was an operational icon, intellectual to the core; a cerebral officer. Even in death he remains my mentor and benefactor.
“He was like a big father when it comes to policing difficult issues. You can always go to him for advice and we will miss him for that,’’ Arase lamented.
NAN reports that the Commissioner of Police in Osun, Mr Olawale Olokode represented the current Inspector-General of Police, Mr Usman Alkali Baba at the burial.
Mr Ismail Omipidan, Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Gboyega Oyetola of Osun, and the Osun Finance Commissioner, Bola Oyebamiji, both represented the state government at the funeral heavily attended by police personnel. (NAN)
Court Grants Access Bank Power to Take-Over Sonny Odogwu Estate over N26bn Debt
Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court, Lagos today upheld the N26 billion debt claim by Access Bank PlC against the estate of the late Ide Ahaba of Asaba, Chief Sonny Odogwu.
Osiagor upheld the bank’s claim after dismissing the preliminary objection filed by the estate of the late Chief Sonny Odogwu challenging the claim of the bank adding that a consent judgement had earlier been entered in which parties to the debt agreed on the payment of N12 billion as full and final payment.
The defendants in the preliminary objection added that having taking benefit of the consent judgement, the plaintiff can’t turn around and ask the court to set aside same.
However, Access Bank it it’s claim before the court said the said judgement was floored in that it was delivered by a court that lacked jurisdiction to entertain it at the time it was entered as consent judgement.
The bank through it’s counsel, Kemi Balogun, SAN said the matter having been placed at the bossom of the Court of Appeal , the lower court which entered the consent judgement as the judgement of the court is Functus Officio ( lacked jurisdiction) and that the only court that has the power to adjudicate on such matter at that level is the appellate court.
Justice Osiagor while dismissing the objection of the defendants nullified the consent judgement entered by Justice Rilwan Aikawa which sanctioned the consent judgement on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction to grant such order as it is functus officio of the matter as at the time he granted the order.
The judge then affirmed the earlier judgement of justice Saliu Saidu which ordered the defendants to pay it’s outstanding indebtedness of N26 billion.
Justice Osiagor however ruled that the payment must be less all amount earleir paid to the judgement creditor
The court also award a cost of N200,000 against the defendants’.
It would be recalled that Access Bank Plc and the late Ide Ahaba of Asaba, Chief Sonny Odogwu, entered into a N26 billion loan agreement when he was alive. The late businessman wanted to use the facility to build luxury apartments to be known as Le Meridien Grand Towers in highbrow Ikoyi, Lagos.
In line with global best practices, the bank demanded for collateral security.
Thus Odogwu mortgaged prime properties in Lagos, Abuja, Dubai, and Los Angeles to Access Bank in return for the facility. After the death of the businessman, the mortgaged properties eventually become a subject of litigation
Trouble started when the estate of the late Chief Odogwu, reacted angrily to a move by Access Bank to take over the uncompleted property due to the non performance of the loan.
The defendants’ went to town with a statement that the property was not part of the consent agreement reached by both parties, and registered as a judgment of Federal High Court, Lagos. The release signed by the estate lawyer, Chief Anthony Idigbe SAN was published by various media platforms on Tuesday.
Reacting to the statement, Access Bank said that the Ikoyi property was not the only one that fell within the purview of the November 3, 2015 Federal High Court judgment that ordered the bank to take over the properties used it as collateral in lieu of the N26 billion loan facility.
Other properties include Berendo Property located in Los Angeles, State of California, United States of America, Unit No: FN428, The Fairmont Palm Residence (North), Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Asokoro Shopping weMall, Abuja, 1 Happy Home Street, Kirikiri, Lagos, properties located at Kingsway and Lawrence Roads, Ikoyi Lagos.
Access bank also stated that it is is the successor in title to Diamond Bank Plc following its merger with Diamond Bank Plc.2
The crux of the matter was that former Diamond Bank PlC granted facilities to the Judgment Debtors for the construction of a property to be known as Le Meridien Grand Towers located and lying at 31-35 Ikoyi Crescent, Lagos and registered as No. 17 at page 17 in volume 100 at the Federal Lands Registry, Ikoyi, Lagos. The property is mortgaged to the bank as collateral for the facilities.
However, litigation that ensued over the inability of company, Robert Dyson & Diket Limited to liquidate the facility, Access Bank secured a Judgment in the sum of N26,229,943,035.22 consequent upon a Federal High Court judgment in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1633/2014 delivered on 3rd November 2015 against Robert Dyson & Diket Limited & 2 Ors (the Judgment Debtors) in relation to the Project Finance for development of a seven-star hotel and residences (“the Project”).
Following the Judgment, Robert Dyson entered an Appeal against the said judgment and a motion staying the execution of same in APPEAL NO: CA/L/1151/2015 – ROBERT DYSON & DIKET LIMITED & 2 ORS. V. DIAMOND BANK PLC & 3 ORS.
The Judgment Debtors also filed a Counter-Claim against the Access Bank in the State High Court: SUIT NO: LD/1666CMW/2016 – LEADWAY CAPITAL & TRUSTS LIMITED V. DIAMOND BANK PLC & 2 ORS.
Senegalese President Macky Sall’s coalition has lost its absolute majority in parliament but finished first by a narrow margin in parliamentary polls, provisional results showed on Thursday.
It is the first time since the historically stable West African country’s independence in 1960 that the ruling party’s camp has lost that majority and will have to rely on other forces in parliament to pass legislation.
The president’s coalition, which includes his party Alliance for the Republic (APR) and other parties, won 82 seats of the National Assembly’s 165, the national vote-counting commission said, down from the 125 it won in 2017.
This is in confirmation of the prophecy of Nigerian prophet, Primate Elijah Ayodele who had foretold the outcome of the election long before it was held.
In a prophetic statement released on 4th of July, 2022, the man of God made it known that the president of Senegal will not have a majority in the parliamentary election if he doesn’t change his tactics. He further noted that the outcome of the parliamentary election will cause a crisis for him.
These were his words
‘’In Senegal, there will be efforts to ensure the President doesn’t get a majority in the parliamentary election coming up in July. If the president doesn’t change his tactics now, he will not have a majority and it will cause crisis for him.” (https://theeagleonline.com.ng/primate-ayodele-reveals-outcome-of-presidential-polls-in-three-countries/)
Just as he foretold, the president, despite forming a coalition failed to secure an absolute majority in the parliamentary election and of course, this will lead to a crisis for him in the presidential election.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo has accused the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of being unrealistic with their demands.
He stated on Friday that the government can’t borrow money to pay the striking members of ASUU amidst cash shortages when other sectors of the economy also need attention.
According to Keyamo, ASUU should be begged to shelf their strike so the members can return to work, students can resume studies and the nation’s public universities can be re-opened.
Naija News reports he made the call on during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
In his words, “Should we go and borrow to pay N1.2 trillion yearly?
“You cannot allow one sector of the economy to hold you by the jugular and then blackmail you to go and borrow N1.2 trillion for overheads when our total income would be about N6.1 trillion. And you have roads to build, health centres to build, other sectors to take care of.”
The Minister said all concerned persons should appeal to ASUU to in the spirit of national interest, reconsider their stand.
“Like the President said the other time, those who know them, appeal to their sense of patriotism,” he said.
They Are Not The Only One In Nigeria
“Let them go back to classes. They are not the only one in Nigeria. They are not the only ones feeding from the federal purse. The nation cannot grind to a halt because we want to take care of the demands of ASUU.”
Naija News reports ASUU has been on strike since February 14, 2022, and has vowed not to resume until the federal government meets their demands.
Some of their demands include improved welfare for lecturers, revitalisation fund for public universities, implementation of the 2009 agreement, and dropping the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State on Friday submitted a petition at the Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo to challenge the outcome of the July 16 governorship election, which produced Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor-elect of the state.
It was gathered that Oyetola was accompanied by his wife, Kafayat, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman in the state, Prince Gboyega Famodun, and some members of the state executive council.
According to reports, the Governor and the party submitted documents challenging 749 polling units across ten local government areas of the state for various electoral malpractice, especially overvoting.
Oyetola, through the petition, claimed that the Osun gubernatorial election was fraught with certain irregularities, adding that Senator Adeleke was not qualified to have contested the election in the first place, having allegedly submitted a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Speaking to The PUNCH, counsel to Oyetola, Kunle Adegoke (SAN), listed 13 grounds on which premises Adeleke should be disqualified.
Adegoke said, “We have nothing less than 50 lawyers, including 10 SANs that we cannot list all of them, so we have listed about 20 lawyers in the petition. We have 13 reliefs. What we are contesting is that the election is fraught with certain irregularities by which the person declared winner ought not to have been declared, and the petitioner, Alhaji Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola ought to have been declared the winner on the ground that Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke was not qualified to have contested the election in the first place, having submitted a forged certificate to INEC.
“The second is that the election in 749 polling units was fraught with irregularities, and the election in those units ought to have been nullified. All the polling units mentioned are in 10 Local Governments out of 30.
“So, if the election in those units is nullified and the votes are canceled, then Alhaji Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola will have comfortable requirements of the constitution to be declared winner of the election.”
On his part, the Chairman, Media Management Team of Osun PDP, Prince Diran Odeyemi, dismissed the petition of the APC.
He said: “It is so unfortunate that APC did not believe in the spirit of sportsmanship. We would have expected them to congratulate Adeleke. Many of them, who are championing the cause of tribunal, lost in their polling units and their wards.
“We wonder what they want to take to the Tribunal now. We are not afraid or losing sleep, Oyetola can’t win. We will meet them at the tribunal. Regarding the allegation of forged certificate, there is nothing like that. They are only looking for an avenue to come back to government through the backdoor. PDP is thorough political party that look at all the certificates presented by the candidates.”
Our attention has been drawn to the news reports online with the conflicting claims that FirstBank branch or/head office has been sealed.
Please be informed that the referenced story is a misrepresentation of the facts and misleading. Neither our branch nor head office was sealed. On the 4th of August, 2022, there was an unlawful enforcement at the Bank’s Coomassie House Branch of a garnishee order issued by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja which order the Bank is still challenging in court.
While the Bank has taken appropriate legal steps to deal with the situation, we wish to reassure our customers of unhindered banking services and unique customer experience in all our branches and through our numerous alternative channels.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has grilled the Head of Asset Recovery and Management Unit, Ministry of Justice, Ladidi Mohammed, over allegations of fraud.
Naija News understands that the EFCC had detained and questioned Mohammed, who is a close ally of the Attorney-general and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, for days over allegations of fraudulent sale of recovered assets running into billions.
Mohammed, who was granted administrative bail on Thursday, was back at the anti-graft commission on Friday for further questioning.
Sources told The Cable that Mohammed had told operatives of the EFCC that she acted under ministerial instructions in disposing of some assets which were forfeited to the federal government by persons undergoing corruption trials, but she could not tender any documented evidence to back her claims.
It was gathered that the Commission is investigating dubious transactions involving Nigerian assets that Mohammed is accused of selling off under suspicious circumstances.
Malami had reportedly secretly granted a company and its attorneys a multibillion-naira assets recovery contract.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, have agreed to set up a joint consultation committee to iron out issues.
Naija News reports that this was the outcome of their first face-to-face meeting held on Thursday at the private residence of Professor Jerry Gana, a member of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT).
A source disclosed that Atiku and Wike agreed to set up a joint consultation committee of equal persons to address the issues.
According to the source, this should be done between now and next week, after which they are expected to brief the various organs of the party.
“This is the first step towards the setting up of our Presidential Campaign Council.
“Very, very soon, all these challenges will be behind us, and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, will know their time in office is up for good,” the source told Vanguard.
However, a source in Wike’s camp disclosed that loyalists of the Rivers State Governor have all agreed to remain in the PDP, stating that their interests will be best served in the main opposition party.
“Our principal is yet to brief me. But I know whatever decision he takes, he will reach out to us, and we will collectively decide the way forward.
“We all agreed at our meeting that our collective political interests will be better served in the PDP.
“The party belongs to all of us what transpired before and after our primary is behind us now,” the source said.
Naija News reports that Atiku and Wike had fallen out after the PDP presidential candidate selected Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate.
Following Atiku’s decision, Wike and his loyalists have reportedly demanded the resignation of the PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, accusing him of bias during the party’s presidential primary.
A former Inspector-General General of Police (IGP), Tafa Balogun, was on Thursday confirmed dead at a hospital in Lagos.
Family sources confirmed the death of Balogun at a hospital located in Lekki, Lagos, on Thursday night.
Tafa Balogun is infamous for his corruption trial and his conviction.
Here are important things you should know about the late Balogun:
1) He was born on August 8, 1947 at Ila-Orangun in Osun State.
2) He was at a time, the Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to former Inspector-General of Police, Muhammadu Gambo.
3) He was a member of cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Course 3
4) He was also a Deputy Commission of Police Edo State, the pioneer Commissioner of Police in Delta State. He was also CP in Rivers and Abia states.
5) He was a fellow of the premier highest military institution in Nigeria, the National War College
6) He was named the 21st Inspector-General of Police on March 6, 2002
7) On April 4, 2005, Balogun was arraigned at the Federal High Court, Abuja for stealing and laundering of over $100 million in his three years as Inspector General of Police from the Police treasury.
8) He collapsed on his seat on June 29, 2005, at the Abuja High Court.
9) After pleading guilty to eight of the 56 count-charges directly affecting him, he was convicted and sentenced to six months in each of the charges, which ran concurrently.
10) He was released on February 9, 2006 after serving his sentence.
Genesis Global Ikeja Unusual August Praise Set for Sunday 7th
Come Sunday 7th of August 2022 has been set aside for Genesis Global to present ‘Unusual Praise’ which will hold at Ikeja Center.
According to the world famous prophet of God, Israel Oladele Ogundipe known as ‘Genesis’ when speaking with his media aide Oluwaseun Fabiyi, says the Unsual Praise would no longer be as usual because it would surely take another dimension as every inherited curses shall be broken with this intention of showing gratitude and appreciation to God Almighty ‘This Sunday’s special praise will take another realms of praising God extremely and it will be viewed live on every social media as top Nigerian celebrities and great anointed men of God will be in attendance as God’s name shall be manifested.
Some of the Top popular Nigeria Gospel artistes who will be there to showcase their talents giving quality worship and praises to God includes Testimony Jaga and Sir Judah from USA as the Unsual Praise memorable evening service which is targeted to come up between 4pm till 8pm at plot 6 Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi opposite Chicken Republic Ikeja, Lagos.
Prophet Israel therefore stand on behalf of the Church, Genesis Global worldwide as he beseech everyone to put on the garment of praise and their dancing shoes because there will be showers of blessing upon everybody who will be attending this special Unsual Praise
It’s going to be a convergence of top gospel singers and popular celebrities as one of their own, Segun 02, Church Choir, Sir Judah, Testimony Jaga will be staging a live show come 7th August. This is to offer worship and praises to the Lord which is tagged ‘Unsual Praise’ says the man of God.
Barely few days to the much anticipated and much talked about Unsual Praise, all Genesis Global worshipers are already given Unsual testimonies especially those in the evangelism department, and this to show and proved to as many who would be attending will definitely meet the powerful hand of God in a miraculous way.
The Unsual Praise thanksgiving will begin with the anointed man of God, prophet Israel Genesis who will be serenading his congregants with music performance to show appreciation to God for keeping him alive following his overcoming all odds/afflictions that would have jeopardised/cut short God’s glory and his ministry.
“It’s the only way of thanking God for His guidance and protection over me, family and the entire Genesis Global family He said.
Oluwaseun Fabiyi media aide
