THE FEDERAL High Court in Abuja on Thursday discharged and acquitted Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd., the Chairman of AA Oil Ltd., Aliyu Abubakar, and others of an alleged one-billion-dollar money laundering charge. Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgement, held that the EFCC had failed to prove the allegations against the eight defendants as required by law in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/268/2016 and filed in 2016. Justice Ekwo also held that the investigation by the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) had not been concluded before the charge was filed against the defendants. “Concerning the evidence of the IPO in this case,…
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OIL PRICES fell by about 2% on Thursday as potential US steps to ease restrictions on Russia’s “shadow fleet” tankers soothed price concerns, but attacks on ships in the Middle East and Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure limited the decline. Brent crude futures fell $2.28, or 2.2%, to $103.78 a barrel by 0729 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $1.34, or 1.4%, to $93.75, reversing gains from the previous session. Oil prices fell after a US official said on Wednesday that the US administration was considering easing sanctions on some of Russia’s unregulated tankers, a…
UKRAINE has resumed its attacks on Russian refineries with a strike at an installation in the Ryazan region, the regional governor said on Thursday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy voiced his anger at a “dangerous” withdrawal of US intelligence. Since US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement of an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, Kyiv had refrained from attacking Russian refineries, which the US leader had blamed for raising diesel prices on global markets. But Zelenskiy had voiced increasing frustration with Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which he said on Wednesday had left 600,000 people without…
CONTRARY to the recent directive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) urging registered voters to visit their registration areas to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), voters under Phase 3 of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise have been told that their cards are not yet ready for collection. The handwritten notice A handwritten notice pasted at the gate of the INEC Area Office in Karu Site, Abuja stated that only PVCs for Phase 1 and Phase 2, covering CVR conducted before 2026, were available for collection. The notice, which is unsigned, specifically stated: “ALL P.V.C. FOR PHASE 3…
THE CHAIRMAN of Sokoto State Zakat and Endowment Agency (SOZEA), Malam Lawal Maidoki, says Nigeria has no reason to remain poor, given its abundant natural resources, fertile land and human potential. Maidoki stated this on Thursday in Sokoto at the closing ceremony of a four-day training and capacity-building workshop on the Zero Out-of-School Children Model. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training focuses on the Alnizamo Model adapted from Indonesia’s Pondok Model for Islamic boarding schools. The chairman said the country needed to harness its resources efficiently and distribute its wealth equitably to address poverty. “Nigerians have no…
THE CIVIL Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) says the inclusion of leading members of opposition parties into the presidential campaign council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will endanger Nigeria’s multiparty democracy. CISLAC’s Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja. “CISLAC views the inclusion of FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike of the PDP; Gov. Charles Soludo of APGA; Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Accord into APC Presidential Campaign Council as a development with significant implications for the credibility, independence and future of Nigeria’s multiparty democracy. “Although political cooperation…
…Celebrates Mass In Hospital POPE Leo XIV’s recovery after lung surgery is progressing normally, with postoperative blood tests and a chest X-ray showing results within the expected range for the procedure, the Holy See Press Office said Wednesday. The Pope, who is recovering at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli University Hospital, has also begun walking around his room, undergone respiratory physiotherapy and resumed a normal diet, according to an update issued by his doctors. Rome’s Gemelli Hospital (AFP or licensors) The latest assessment provides a positive indication of the 70-year-old pontiff’s condition one day after surgeons successfully removed the lower lobe of…
BY IVO TAKOR FOR MILLIONS of Nigerians, retirement is no longer simply the end of working life. It is the beginning of a different struggle: stretching a limited and often inadequate income to cover food, accommodation, transport and increasingly expensive healthcare. After decades of contributing to the economy, many older citizens face the unsettling prospect of being unable to meet their most basic needs. This is the reality against which PenCom’s proposed Minimum Pension Guarantee must be examined. With further details expected in this month, the initiative has attracted attention as a potential safeguard against poverty in old age. Alongside…
THE LAGOS Mainland Local Government has presented sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to its nine councillors, attributing the funding to benefits from the removal of fuel subsidy in 2023. Mr Jubril Emilagba, chairman of the council said this on Wednesday at the handover ceremony of the SUVs in Lagos. The event also featured the flag-off of Phase 12 of the council’s food palliative programme, tagged ‘Ounje Èmí’, for artisans. The beneficiaries of the SUVs are the Council Leader, Mr Azeez Oloto, representing Ward A; Mrs Modupe Olowonishaye, Ward B; and Mr Ibrahim Animashaun, Ward C. Others are Mr Babatunde Otegbayo, Ward…
THE INTER-PARTY Advisory Council (IPAC) says the inclusion of opposition members in the ruling party’s presidential campaign council undermines opposition unity and weakens its ability to hold the government accountable. The National Publicity Secretary of the IPAC, Mr Martins Egbeola, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja. Egbeola spoke to NAN against the backdrop of the inclusion of Gov. Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra (APGA), Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Osun (Accord) and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike (PDP) in the APC presidential campaign council. He expressed concerns about political party discipline, ideological…