Ex-Beauty Queen, Hubby Bag 10 Years Jail Term For Fraud In US

Former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Sandra Petgrave and her husband, Chiedu Chukwuka will be spending additionally, a 10 years jail term for their involvement in a serious crime in the US. And as if that's not enough, the couple will have to pay back a whopping $5m dollars which was believe to be in their care.

Sandra Petgrave who won the 1992 edition of the MBGN and her husband, Chiedu Chukwuka, have six children – four girls and twin boys. They were arrested, tried, and are sentenced for fraud and are to pay millions of dollars in fines. She will spend 18 months in prison, while her husband’s sentence will be much longer – nine years.

This isn’t the first time the couple has been on the wrong side of the law. On August 2 2009, the ex-queen was charged with battery against her husband and spent two days in jail before being released on bail.

Chiedu “George” Chukwuka has been sentenced in connection with his lead role in a mortgage fraud ring that spanned five years and caused millions in losses. Chukwuka, along with his co-defendants and other co-conspirators, engaged in a massive property-flipping scheme resulting in over $5.8 million in actual losses to financial institutions between 2006 and 2011.

“At the height of the recent mortgage-fraud crisis, this property-flipping scheme caused scores of homes to fall into foreclosure, costing financial institutions millions of dollars in losses,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn.

“The sentencing of Mr. Chukwuka brings to a close a lengthy investigation and prosecution of a criminal enterprise that targeted the banking industry through their prolific mortgage fraud schemes. Mr. Chukwuka, considered by law enforcement and prosecution to be head of this enterprise, caused extensive damage with high loss amounts to those victim banks involved. The FBI is pleased with the role it played in bringing about this sentencing to federal prison of Mr. Chukwuka as well as the previous sentencings of his co-defendants in this matter,” said J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.

According to U.S. Horn, the charges and other information presented in court: Chukwuka, along with his co-defendants and co-conspirators, recruited straw buyers to purchase homes at a discounted price, typically a bank-owned or distressed property. The group then recruited a second straw buyer to purchase the same home at a dramatically inflated price. In turn, Chukwuka, his co-defendants and co-conspirators applied for an acquisition loan for the second straw buyer, supporting the loan application with false income, fake employment, and fraudulent net worth data.

The group profited from their scheme by pocketing the acquisition loan proceeds paid by the victim bank to the straw seller (who was the straw purchaser in the first transaction). The amount of profit was the difference between the price paid by the straw purchaser in the first transaction and the price paid by the straw purchaser in the second transaction, less transaction costs. Since none of the straw purchasers made any significant loan payments, the targeted properties usually went into foreclosure, resulting in over $5.8 million in actual losses to financial institutions between 2006 and 2011.

Chiedu “George” Chukwuka, 47, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. to serve nine years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,868,243.80. Chukwuka was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on August 10, 2015, after he pleaded guilty.

The following five defendants also pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme, and were previously sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. as follows:

• Shelly Gee, a/k/a Shelly Baker, 48, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced on November 10, 2015, to one year, six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,243,909.99. Gee was convicted after pleading guilty on June 17, 2015.
• Sandra Petgrave, 43, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced on December 4, 2015, to one year, six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,051,970.77. Petgrave was convicted after pleading guilty on August 18, 2015.
• Kennedy Simmonds, 54, of Snellville, Georgia, was sentenced on December 17, 2015, to three years, ten months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,868,243.80. Simmonds was convicted after pleading guilty on July 6, 2015.
• Marcelle Welch, 37, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced on December 17, 2015, to two years, three months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,554,189.25. Welch was convicted after pleading guilty on July 29, 2015.
• Leah Freeman, 43, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced on December 17, 2015, to two years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,828.532.94. Freeman was convicted after pleading guilty on June 19, 2015.

In a related case, Chinedum Oli, 42, of Snellville, Georgia, was sentenced on February 19, 2013, by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Marvin H. Shoob to five years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,373,281.63. Oli was convicted after pleading guilty on October 9, 2012.

These cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Jamie L. Mickelson and Steven D. Grimberg prosecuted the cases.

This announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

Keyamo Warns Police IG Against Arresting Lamorde, Former EFCC Boss

Human rights activist and Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo has sounded a warning note on the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase to desist from any attempt to arrest the former EFCC helmsman, Ibrahhim Lamorde who's being summoned to appear before a Senate committee to clear his name over a petition against him.

Below is the long letter that contains Keyamo's prayers and warnings to the Inspector General of Police and the Senate Committee.

It has been brought to our attention through several publications in both the online and mainstream media that the Nigerian Senate has directed its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”), to issue a Warrant of Arrest against our client, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, for failing to appear before it. We respectfully urge the Inspector General of Police and other law enforcement agencies to disregard any such Warrant of Arrest (if issued) and resist the invitation to drag themselves into this illegal scheme. To set the records straight, the antecedents of this matter are briefly reproduced hereunder. 

Pursuant to a petition written by one George Uboh against our client, the Senate referred the petition to the Committee for investigation. In the course of the investigation, the Committee wrote a letter of invitation to our client as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), inviting him to a meeting with the Committee on 5^th November, 2015. Owing to prior engagements, our client could not attend that meeting and this was duly communicated to the Committee. However, on the 9^th of November, 2015, our client was relieved of his duties as the Chairman of the EFCC and he handed over all obligations, duties and responsibilities pertaining to his office to Ibrahim Mustapha Magu, who was appointed Acting Chairman.

Despite the fact that our client had handed over to the Acting Chairman, another letter of invitation was sent to him on 11^th November, 2015 inviting him for a meeting with the Committee on 17^th November, 2015. Our client could not honour that invitation as he was out of the country on his 3-month terminal leave. However, on the said 11^th November, 2015, we appeared before the Committee to represent our client and raised objections to the conduct of the investigations by the Committee on two grounds. 

First, the Constitution stipulates that the Committee can compel the attendance of a witness by issuing a proper SUMMONS and not an INVITATION LETTER. In the circumstances, it was contended that our client had not been summoned at all. In addition, section 88 of the 1999 Constitution stipulates that only a person presently occupying a public office can be investigated by the Senate in relation to that office and since at the time of this invitation, our client had vacated the office, he could no longer be made the subject of any investigation by the Senate. We contended that, however, any Nigerian can be summoned by the Senate as a WITNESS in any matter. Despite these cogent objections, the Committee denied us audience and threatened to have our client arrested.

As a law abiding citizen, our client instructed us to institute an action at the Federal High Court seeking an interpretation of the powers of the Senate with respect to investigations. In compliance with our client’s instructions, we instituted the said suit with number FHC/ABJ/CS/934/15 on 19^th November, 2015 at the Federal High Court and it was assigned to Honourable Justice G.O. Kolawole sitting at Federal High Court 8, Abuja. Both the Senate and the Committee were served with the Originating Summons and a Motion seeking an Interlocutory Injunction restraining the Senate from continuing with their investigations pending the determination of the suit. The processes were served on them on 20^th November, 2015, but since then, they have refused, ignored and failed to file any process in defence of the suit.  

The suit came up before Justice G.O. Kolawole for hearing on the 9^thDecember, 2015 and 10^th February, 2016 and on both occasions, hearing Notices were served on the Senate and the Committee but on both occasions, they were absent and unrepresented by legal practitioners. At the proceedings of 10^th February, 2016, the application for Interlocutory injunction was heard but in its wisdom, the Honourable court decided to give both the Senate and the Senate Committee another chance to come and answer to our client’s suit and the suit was subsequently adjourned till 14^th March, 2016 for the Senate to respond to our client’s case.

As a law-abiding Police Force, you are aware that one of the Pillars of our democracy is the respect for the Rule of Law. By extension, this implies that when matters are pending before a court of law, all parties are expected to maintain status quo pending the determination of the matter. In any event, the Senate Standing Rules are clear to the effect that matters pending before a court of law should not be deliberated upon or discussed on the floor of the Senate or any of its Committees.This is the reason why our client’s case is clearly different from the case of other citizens against whom Warrants of Arrest have been issued by competent courts of law. Whilst there is no restriction on the powers of a court of law to issue a Warrant of Arrest against anybody who fails to honour its Summons, the Senate’s own rules forbid it to do anything in respect of matters that are pending in a court of law.

The conducts of the Senate and the Committee amount to legislative rascality as they seek to usurp the powers of the judiciary and to undermine its authority.  We most respectfully urge the Nigeria Police Force to await the outcome of the matter pending in court before deciding one way or the other about the enforcement of the said Warrant of Arrest, if eventually issued.

If the court decides otherwise against our position, our client is prepared to appear before the Senate or any of its Committees.

We issue this statement on behalf of and on the instruction of our client,Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde.

Thank you.

  

FESTUS KEYAMO, ESQ.

Video! Facebook Boss, Mark Zuckerberg ''Marked For Death'' By ISIS Men

The dreaded Islamic State militants' group has made death threats to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a new video which shows their photos riddled with digitally added bullet holes, mocking the social media websites’ attempts to block terrorists' contents from their platforms.

In the 25-minute video, ISIS claims they are fighting back against efforts by the social media giants to wipe their platforms of accounts promoting terrorism.

The video includes a direct threat to the tech entrepreneurs, branding them allies of the American “Crusader government”.

Pictures of Zuckerberg and Dorsey can be seen being blasted with a hail of bullets in the amateur footage which emerged.

The video, titled “Flames of the Supporters” and released by a group calling themselves “the sons of the Caliphate army”, ends with a direct threat to the two men, The Sun reported. A slide toward the end of the video reads, in English: “To Mark and Jack, founders of Twitter and Facebook and to their Crusader government. You announce daily that you suspended many of our accounts and to you we say: is that all you can do? you are not in our league. If you close one account we will take 10 in return and soon your names will be erased after we delete you (sic) sites, #Sons_Caliphate_Army”. 

In a separate slide, they also claim to have hacked more than 10,000 Facebook accounts, 150 Facebook groups, and more than 5,000 Twitter accounts. Two scholars who track ISIS activity online confirmed that the video was posted to multiple ISIS forums, including some of the social media platforms.

ISIS and related terrorist groups have targeted Dorsey at least twice in the past year. A group of self-identified ISIS supporters threatened the Twitter founder and CEO in March of 2015 for closing hundreds of their social media accounts. In its threat, the group claimed that Dorsey and his company started a “war” against the Islamic State, and that the “necks” of Twitter employees have “become an official target to ISIS soldiers and supporters.” Twitter seems to have only stepped up its efforts to wipe ISIS off its platform since then. 

A few weeks ago, the company announced it had suspended more than 125,000 accounts for threatening or supporting terrorist acts over the past several months. Twitter also said it has grown its team that looks into reports of terror activity on its network. Zuckerberg reiterated his stance and Facebook’s policy on helping to fight terrorism online.

A Facebook spokeswoman did not immediately respond to request for comment on this week’s threat. A Twitter spokesman reiterated the company’s policy and progress on suspending accounts that promote terrorism or any violent threat. 

Watch the video below:

Naval Officials Rescue Hijacked Oil Tanker In A Gun Duel With Pirates

The Nigerian Navy recently displayed gallantry as it overpowered some dare devil hijackers over a serious gun battle to rescue a Saudi Arabian oil tanker with its crew believed to have been taken over since February 11^th, 2016.

This was the dramatic moment that the Nigerian Navy showed six men who they say hijacked a Saudi Arabian oil tanker off Ivory Coast.

Bare-chested and handcuffed, the men were paraded in front of local and international media as the Nigerian naval officers described how they stormed the ship on Saturday and arrested the pirates off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe, West Africa.

Officers engaged in a gun battle with the pirates on board, killing one of them, the Nigerian navy said. His body was later seen being carried from the ship on Monday at the Lagos naval base.

The Saudi Arabian tanker, Maximus, was taken on February 11 with at least 18 crew, including 10 Indian sailors. Two of the crew are still missing after they were taken hostage by two pirates who escaped in another vessel. The hostages are believed to be from India and Pakistan.

The suspected hijackers, all Nigerians, were named as Captain Mike Ugborama, Ayo Joshua, Marcus Adesoji, Adeyemi Paul, Oluwafemi Samuel, and Collins Friday.

Among the haul recovered from the ship were AK47s, magazines, bullets, different currencies, satellite phones and even protection charms from local traditional medicine men.

Rear Admiral Henry Babalola told CNN the ship, chartered by a South Korean company, was carrying 4.700 metric tons of diesel, which the pirates hoped to sell on the black market. They had also renamed the vessel MT-ELVIS-5 to try to avoid detection.

The Indian defense attache, Capt. Gautam Marwaha, was at the scene to welcome the rescued crew. He told CNN no ransom demand had been received yet for the missing crew members.

However he hailed the operation a "success," adding "as we say in the Navy: 'Bravo, Zulu to the Nigerians.'"

Source: CNN

Blood Money! EX-Minister, Others Lavish N676m Recruitment Proceeds On Properties

Moro

Nwobia

The lid has finally blown open how the proceeds of the N676.6 million collected in 2014 from Immigration Service job seekers which led to the deaths of many young and innocent Nigerians leaving scores critically injured was sqaundered on choice properties and other worldly accomplishments by the wicked erstwhile minister and his cohorts.

This office gathered reliably that, strict investigations of the men of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have revealed that, the cash was splashed on choice property and former Interior Minister, Abba Moro and four others are to stand trial for allegedly collecting fraudulently N676.6million from 676,675 job seekers.

According to findings, the antigraft agency discovered that, a whopping N202,500,000 was spent on buying a choice property on No. 1, Lahn Crescent, Maitama, Abuja and N120, 100,000 was lavished to renovate another mansion at No.2, Sigure Close, Off Monrovia Street, Wuse II Abuja.

The commission said the recruitment firm, Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited and  Mahmood Ahmadu converted N101, 200,000 to US dollars for personal use. Nineteen applicants died and scores got injured in stampede in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Minna in March 2014 during the ill-fated Immigration recruitment exercise.

The EFCC made the startling revelations in the 11 charges preferred against Moro and four other accused persons yesterday at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The others are a former Permanent Secretary, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia, F. O. Alayebami, Mahmood Ahmadu and Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd. Ahmadu, who is described as being central to the scandal, is said to be on the run.

According to an EFCC source, “the charges have been served on all the accused persons in preparation for their arraignment in court. “We are waiting the court to give us a date for their arraignment but they are in our custody,” he said, pleading not to be named because he is not permitted to talk to the media.

All the accused persons, including Moro, will face trial for Advance Fee Fraud (otherwise known as 419), violation of Public Procurement Act No. 65 of 2007, misconduct, contrary to Section 22(5) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission Act 2000 and offence contrary to Section 15(2) (d) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition) Act 2011.

The charges are as follow:

“That you Abba Moro, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia, F.O Alayebami , Mahmood Ahmadu (at large) and Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd on or about the 17th of March 2013 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud conspired to induce a total number of 676,675 Nigerian job applicants seeking employment with Nigerian Immigration Service to deliver property to wit: cumulative sum of N676,675,000 which sum represents the sum of N1,000 per applicant under the false pretence that the money represents payment for their online recruitment exercise into Nigerian Immigration Service and which pretence you knew was false, contrary to Section 8 and 1(1) (b) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences

Act, No. 14 of 2006

“That you Abba Moro, Anastasia Daniel Nwobia,  F.O Alayebami , Mahmood Ahmadu ( at large) and Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd on or about the 17th of March 2013 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud conspired to induce a total number of 676,675 Nigerian job applicants seeking employment with Nigerian Immigration Service to deliver property to wit: cumulative sum of N676,675,000 which sum represents the sum of N1,000 per applicant under the false pretence that that you have followed the necessary procedure and that the money represents epayment for their online recruitment exercise into Nigerian Immigration Service and which pretence and you knew was false, contrary to Section 8 and 1(1) (b) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No. 14 of 2006.

“That you Abba Moro, Anastasia Daniel Nwobia, and  F.O Alayebami on or about the 30th of April 2013 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did award contract for the provision of online enlistment and recruitment services to Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited without advertising the contract contrary to Section 45 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007.

“That you Abba Moro, Anastasia Daniel Nwobia, and  F.O Alayebami on or about the 30th of April 2013 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did award contract for the provision of online enlistment and recruitment services to Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited without Needs Assessment and Procurement Plan, contract contrary to Section 16(1) (b) and Section 18 of the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58 of the same Act.

“That you Abba Moro, Anastasia Daniel Nwobia, and  F.O Alayebami on or about the 30th of April 2013 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did award contract for the provision of online enlistment and recruitment services to Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited to develop recruitment portal through selective tendering process by inviting four(4) firms without seeking approval of the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) contrary to sections 40, 42 and 43 of the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58 of the same Act.

“That you Abba Moro, Anastasia Daniel Nwobia, and  F.O Alayebami on or about the 30th of April 2013 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did award contract for the provision of online enlistment and recruitment services to Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited and signed by unregistered Drexel Tech Global Nigeria Limited when you knew that Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited was not responsive to mandatory prequalification contrary to sections 50(5) and 51  of the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58 of the same Act.

“That you Abba Moro, Anastasia Daniel Nwobia, and  F.O Alayebami on or about the 30th of April 2013 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court  did award contract for the provision of online enlistment and recruitment services to Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited and signed by unregistered Drexel Tech Global Nigeria Limited when you knew that there was no budgetary provision for the exercise in the 2014 Federal  Capital Budget and transferring responsibility to fund the project to applicants through mandatory payment of N1,000 without approval of the Board, contrary to Section 22(5) of the Independent Corrupt Practices Act 2000.

“That you  Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited and Mahmood Ahmadu(At large) on or about the 17th of March 2015 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court converted the sum of N202,500,000 part of the N676,675,000 obtained from 676,675 Nigerian job applicants seeking employment with Nigerian Immigration Service to buy property No. 1, Lahn Crescent Maitama, Abuja with the aim of disguising the illicit origin of the said sum, knowing same to be proceeds of illegal activity and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2) (d) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.

“That you  Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited and Mahmood Ahmadu(At large) on or about the 17th of March 2015 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court converted the sum of N120, 100,000 being part of the N676,675,000 obtained from 676,675 Nigerian job applicants seeking employment with Nigerian Immigration Service to upgrade property No.2 Sigure Close, Off Monrovia Street, Wuse II Abuja  with the aim of disguising the illicit origin of the said sum knowing same to be proceeds of illegal activity and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2) (d) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.

“That you  Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited and Mahmood Ahmadu(At large) on or about the 17th of March 2015 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court converted the sum of N101,  200,000 being part of the N676,675,000 obtained from 676,675 Nigerian job applicants seeking employment with Nigerian Immigration Service to United States dollars for your personal use knowing same to be proceeds of illegal activity and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2) (d) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act. “

Renowned Economist, Waheed Olagunju Finally Gets Bank Of Industry's Baton

The elevation of Mr. Waheed Olagunju, the erstwhile Executive Director, Small and Medium Enterprises of Nigeria's Bank of Industry (BOI) to the position of Acting Managing Direction/Chief Executive Officer in the aftermath of the sacking of several Heads of parastatals and government agencies that saw the exit of Mr. Rasheed Adejare Olaoluwa from the Bank as its CEO has been hailed by many who described it as an informed choice on the part of the President.

In a banking career that spans over two decades, Mr. Olagunju has consistently demonstrated an uncommon capacity and capability in successfully taking on higher responsibilities assigned to him. Mr. Olagunju’s versatility is exhibited in the various positions he has occupied since he joined Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB), the precursor institution to BOI in 1990 as a Senior Manager and rose to the position of Executive Director (Business Development) in 2012. He acted as MD/CEO of Bank of Industry between 11th April and 16th May 2014 before he was reassigned the Executive Director (Small and Medium Enterprises). Prior to Mr. Olagunju’s appointment as member of the Board of Directors of BOI in 2012, he served as the Company Secretary of the Bank for 15 years (1997-2012) and concurrently as General Manager, Strategic Planning and Corporate Communications between 2007 and 2012. He was one of the architect and drivers of BOI’s outstanding turnaround and transformation into one of Africa’s best Development Finance Institution (DFI). Mr. Waheed Olagunju was actively involved with the reconstruction of NIDB into BOI (2000-2001) and the consolidation of the mandates of NIDB, the Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry (NBCI) and the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) into that of BOI and worked closely with the Federal Ministry of Industry and Messrs. KPMG, the consultancy firm that was engaged to handle the exercise. This is not inclusive of the fact that in the early years of BOI, Mr. Olagunju coordinated the diagnostic study of the Bank that was undertaken between 2004 and 2005 by the Swedish Consultants (Messrs. Swedish Development Advisers) who were appointed by the African Development Bank. He equally played a pivotal role in the implementation of their recommendations that formed a vital input into BOI’s paradigm shift that triggered the bank’s rapid transformation in 2006. He has all along been a strong member of BOI’s Senior Management Team and later its Board of Directors that has been driving the bank’s highly impressive performance.
Before embarking on his banking career, Mr. Waheed Olahunju had a distinguished broadcast career at the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) between July 1981 and July 1990 (inclusive of NYSC); a highly resourceful professional, he rose to the position of Controller of News and Head of the Economic Desk before he joined the NIDB in August 1990. The positive impact witnessed by his previous stint as Acting MD/CEO of BOI has remained a point of reference in the bank despite the brief time he had.
Happily married with children, Mr. Olagunju bagged his Bachelors and Master’s Degree from the University of Lagos in 1991 and 1994 respectfully as well as a Professional Certificate in Investment Appraisal and risk analysis from the Queens university, Canada,in 2013.

Multichoice Bows To Pressure, Slashes Pay TV Tarriff By 50%...Now N6,000

MULTICHOICE Nigeria, owners of DStv, yesterday announced a slash in the prices of its bouquets as well as introduction of two new sport channels.
The new channels – Super Sport 11 (DStv Channel 231) and Super Sport 12 (DStv Channel 232) – will be dedicated to showcasing the English Premier League (EPL), the Spanish La Liga and Euro 2016.
They will be available on the DStv Compact Bouquet.
The DSTV Compact Bouquet was revamped in July 2015 to include over 95 world class channels at a monthly subscription of N6,000.
MultiChoice’s Managing Director Mr. John Ugbe, who announced the offer yesterday, said due to the country’s economic challenges, the company decided to slash prices to enable more Nigerians enjoy quality entertainment at no extra cost.

“One of MultiChoice’s key priorities is to put our subscribers’ needs at the heart of everything we do and since these have been tough economic times for everyone, we realised that our subscribers could use some good news. We are excited that we can now deliver the best football action in the world to our Compact subscribers while ensuring that this development doesn’t negatively impact them financially,” he said.
Ugbe said Compact subscribers would be able to follow football from the EPL, La Liga and Euro 2016, which will show from SS11 from June with additional six matches on SS12.
The firm also announced a massive price slash in the prices of its premium decoders, the Zapper and Explora.
“The Explora, dish kit with one month Compact subscription initially sold at N71,000, has been reduced by more than 50 per cent to N30,000. The DStv Zapper decoder, dish kit plus 1 month Compact subscription will now be sold at N12,500 as against the previous price of N18,500. This offer, which is valid while stocks last further reiterates MultiChoice’s commitment to provide Nigerians with quality entertainment they can afford,” Ugbe said.
Also speaking at the event, the company’s General Manager, Marketing, Martin Mabutho, said with the introduction of two new channels on Compact Bouquets, more Nigerians would have more entertainment value for their money.

“Instead of going to the viewing centre to watch these matches, you can now do so in the comfort of your house at no extra cost. This is to show that our customers are at the heart of our business.”
Also yesterday, the firm pledged to comply with the order of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) to compensate and provide toll-free lines to DStv subscribers.
A statement issued yesterday in Abuja by Ugbe said the cable company would respect the council’s directive.
He said: “We wish to assure subscribers of our commitment to continue to cooperate fully with the CPC on the order of council. “We will endeavour by all means to meet the order and deadlines where possible.”Ugbe added that the company would ensure compliance with the order as it was in its best interest.
“Unlike free-to-air operators, pay television businesses are dependent on subscriptions.
“If we lose subscribers, it will negatively impact on our revenue and ultimately the sustainability of our business.
“It is therefore in our best interest to ensure that customer complaints are attended to and all efforts made to resolve queries in the interests of the subscriber,” he said.

He expressed satisfaction with the professional manner the CPC handled the matter and pledged the company’s commitment to customers-driven service delivery.
The CPC recently investigated and confirmed allegations of violations of consumer rights leveled against MultiChoice Nigeria in the delivery of its services.
Consequently, it ordered the firm to, among other things, provide toll-free lines to its subscribers, release free-to-air channels even when subscription expires and compensate consumers across board for lost viewing time.
On non-availability of popular channels in certain bouquets, the CPC ordered the firm to within 90 days, ensure reasonably equitable spread of popular sports and other channels.
It also directed Multichoice to within 180 days, adopt a technology that supports suspension of service when subscribers are unable to enjoy their service on account of being away for sometime.
The CPC added that such request for suspension of service could be done between seven to 14 days and not more than twice in a year with a 72-hour notice to MultiChoice.

CL Fallout! Furious Wenger Lambasts Beaten Arsenal As Naive

The Frenchman compared his side's 2-0 defeat to Barcelona to the loss they suffered at the Emirates Stadium against Monaco last season at the same stage of the competition

Arsene Wenger accused his Arsenal players of naivety after they fell to a 2-0 defeat toBarcelona on Tuesday and suggested they had failed to learn from past mistakes.
Lionel Messi struck twice in the second half for the defending champions to secure a significant advantage going into the second leg at Camp Nou in a month's time.
Arsenal had chances of their own to take the lead at the Emirates Stadium, however, and Wenger was left to rue the way his side were subsequently caught on the break.
"We were naive," he told BT Sport. "Similar to Monaco [in last season's last 16], when it looked like we could win this game we gave it away.

"That [second goal] makes it realistically very difficult, if not impossible [to come back]. We have to go there and fight. 
"It is difficult because I thought in the last 20 minutes there would be room to score. We had the chances but didn’t score.
"They are lethal. One thing we couldn’t afford to give them was counter attacks because they are very dangerous. That’s exactly what we did. We pushed too far in their half and got caught. That’s down to their quality as well.
"It’s too easy to blame I think you have to respect the effort the players put in. What is frustrating is that it looked like they might tire. 

"I knew in the last 20 minutes we would have a chance to win the game if we don’t make any mistakes and that’s the frustration of the night."

Jonathan's Aide, Doyin Okupe In Trouble Over N3b ''Cyber Hacking'' Contracts

Two companies linked to Doyin Okupe, a former media aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, got at least N1.6 billion off the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, in three shady cyber security contracts, a media online investigations have shown.

One of the contracts had instructions to hunt down unfriendly media websites with Distributed Denial of Service attacks.

It was a project conceived to shut down online media platforms perceived as friendly to Buhari or critical of Jonathan ahead of the 2015 election.

The other was a contract to intercept all optic fibre cables landing in Nigeria. The third was a passive mass and target GSM interception that had the ability to decrypt ciphers and operate undetected.

Okupe, a former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to Jonathan, has so far evaded scrutiny in the ongoing arms contracting scandal where the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, is charged for allegedly mismanaging funds meant for the fight against Boko Haram in Nigeria’s Northeast region.

The government believes Dasuki’s actions led to the death of thousands of Nigerians and hundreds of Nigerian troops in the hands of Boko Haram fighters.

The contracts awarded Okupe’s close allies reinforce claims that the former NSA merely doled out cash and contracts to cronies and political associates and violated procurement regulations in the process.

In the three contracts investigated by online, the NSA office did not prioritize efficiency or due process and value for money in the awarding process. Rather, there was a pattern of hurried release of cash. In one instance, full contract sums were paid before delivery of products – and insiders claim product was never delivered.

In the three contracts, the NSA paid more than double the actual amounts of items purchased and relied on single source when it could have opened up the contract to competitive bidding.

Hunting the opposition

On June 13, 2014, in the heat of the 2015 presidential elections campaigns, Romix Technologies Ltd, registered as an offshore and anonymous company in Cyprus, received N398 million – two million US dollars – payment from the Office of the National Security Adviser in Nigeria.

That was a part payment for a cyber-hooliganism contract that would later cost Nigeria $2.6 million.

The sum was wired to Romix Technologies Ltd’s bank account account held with Luemi Private Bank in Zurich, Switzerland in June 2014.

The contract for which Romix Technologies was paid N398 million was merely explained as “supply and installation of cyber intelligence system software at the office of the National Security Adviser.”

The specific software was not stated. But investigations revealed that the true nature of the contract was to acquire tools to carry out Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on websites believed to be critical of Jonathan, ahead of the elections.

The actual purchase was a DDoS service called “The Systems” offered by Packets Technologies AD, an Israeli company operating out of Bulgaria.

Its job was simple – attack and bring down websites the NSA felt was not sympathetic to the administration of Goodluck Jonathan. This they did by flooding target website servers with malicious traffic with the aim of shutting out genuine visitors and working host servers till they break down.

Internet security experts estimate that the amount the NSA paid for these hacking services was at least 250 percent higher than the actual market value.

This contract, investigators suspect, might be Okupe’s link to the largesse, now known as Dasukigate.

How Doyin Okupe relates with Romix Technologies ltd

Romix Technologies in Cyprus has its ownership anonymized – a practice allowed in Cyprus and few other countries that enable ‘investors’ set up and run shell companies.

The company shares its first name and financial ties with Romix Soilfix Nigeria Ltd, owned by Okupe and Ilan Salman, an Israeli who has worked in Nigeria for close to 20 years.

Okupe denies any links with the company, “Romix Technologies is a duplicity of name,” Okupe told online platform. “I have nothing to do with it.”

Romix Technologies Ltd is a shell and anonymous company in Cyprus – which means it can allow its true owners remain anonymous to the public.

Investigations traced several financial transactions between the company and its Nigerian version, Soilfix Nigeria Ltd as far back as 2012 when Okupe was still an active member of the board at Romix in Nigeria.

Our investigations also traced financial transactions between Romix in Cyprus and Salman, the Israeli who partnered Okupe to found Romix Soilfix in Nigeria, back in 2004.

Okupe claimed Salman left Romix in Nigeria several years ago and may have set up the shell company in Cyprus but investigations showed otherwise. Salman still sat on the board of Romix in Nigeria and owned 40 percent of the company’s shares as at first week of January, this year.

Monies paid to Romix Technologies Ltd were a loss to Nigerians. No tax was remitted to the Nigerian government in this transaction.

Salman defended the non-payment of taxes, arguing that it was part of the contract term. “This was an offshore contract,” he said. “Our solution was in (US)dollars, no tax. ”Salman claims the Nigerian government owes him $600, 000 on this project.

An accounting official at the NSA office, Yazidu Ibrahim, had earlier testified that “in the last five years, for all the companies that were paid, VAT and Withholding Tax were never paid for any contract.”

Master Surveillance

Salman runs a second company called Mi Marathon with another Israeli, Maoz Steinhauer. In the run up to the 2015 elections, Mi Marathon, grabbed two juicy contracts from the Nigerian government through the former NSA, Dasuki.

The largest contract was one called Fiber Optic Landing Solution worth N712.2 million ($3,580,000.00). This contract was meant to create a backdoor access to all fibre optic cables landing in Nigeria for the office of the National Security Adviser.

Insiders explained this contract has ‘simply plug into all the optic fiber cables linking Nigeria so that the NSA can have direct access and inspect all packets entering or leaving Nigeria’. “Mass surveillance from the source.”

Papers for this contract were signed in January 2014. Ibikunle Daramola, a Group Captain, who was secretary to the former NSA signed agreements on January 17, 2014 but the contract was not completed, insiders said. Salman blamed this on the NSA.

The third was a N335.1 million (USD1.6 million) contract to supply a stealth and intrusive GSM mass surveillance called Engage GI2 Tactical Solution developed by Verint.

M.I. Smart Solutions, a subsidiary of MI Marathon, sent in the proposal to supply this device in April 2014. By July, the NSA had approved and payments were made to another company in the Mi Marathon network, Mimarathon Resources Limited.

Interestingly, rather than approve the contracts before payments were made, the former NSA directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to pay Mi Marathon, in United States Dollars, on July 11 while approval for the contract was documented 10 days later.

The former NSA did not prioritize service delivery and cost effectiveness while awarding this contract.

The NSA awarded these contracts on single proposals, a manipulation of the procurement process allowed during natural disasters or emergencies or when procuring services rendered by only one provider.

In transactional documents between the NSA and Mi Marathon, the NSA ordered for two units of the Engage GI2 Tactical Solution at the cost of $841,000 per device. In the end, only one GI2 IMSI Catcher was supplied at the cost of $329,800.

In this deal alone, Mi Marathon made a profit of over $511,200 thousand. Salman argued his prices were very competitive.

As at the time the NSA doled out cash for these surveillance devices, the country had little need for them. The NSA had many other systems like the Elbit’s Wise Technology acquired few years before. Pegasus and many other mass surveillance solutions.

Salman denied he got these contract to help siphon monies to Okupe. He explained that the reasons only him got these three juicy contracts from the NSA in one year was because he is a great marketer.

The office of the National Security Adviser, currently headed by Babagana Monguno, declined to comment on these contracts. An FOI request sent to his office was simply ignored.

Ex-Minister, Deziani Forced To Come Home Over $2b Crude Oil Swap Deal

The House of Representatives has summoned a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to appear before it in continuation of the probe into how she extended contracts for crude oil worth $24 billion without valid agreements.
The House reached the conclusion to summon Alison-Madueke on Monday and a letter to that effect had been sent to her.
The letter was despatched hrough the office of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and she is to appear for grilling on March 2.
This development was confirmed on Monday by the Chairman of the House Ad hoc Committee on Crude Oil Swap, Hon. Zakari Mohammed.
Mohammed said: “Yes, she has been asked to come on March 2.
“The letter left the secretariat today, February 22.”
Alison-Madueke is at present in the United Kingdom where she is attending to her health.
She is down with cancer.
So also is she being probed by the Police in the United Kingdom over allegations of money laundering.
Her international passport is also said to be with the London Police.
The controversial crude oil swap deal was signed by the NNPC in 2011 with two firms, Duke Oil and Tranfigura. The contracts were executed between 2010 and 2014.
The NNPC was allocated 445,000 barrels of crude daily to refine for domestic consumption.
However, since the country’s refineries were not working then, the NNPC exchanged part of the crude for refined products.
It contracted Duke Oil and Tranfigura for this purpose. Duke Oil is a subsidiary of the NNPC, while Tranfigura is an offshore firm trading in Nigeria’s crude, but does not pay tax to the Federal Government.
Duke Oil and Tranfigura got the initial swap contracts in 2010 to last one year.
However, after the contracts expired in 2011, Alison-Madueke was said to have approved an extension of the contracts to run till 2014 but no valid agreements were signed with the firms.
The contract was also said to have gone beyond the approval limit of the former Minister.
Her approval limit had been put at N100 million.
Anything above that should have gone to the Federal Executive Council for approval.
The Mohammed-led committee had last week grilled three former GMDs of the NNPC.
Those grilled were Austin Oniwon, Andrew Yakubu and Joseph Dawha.
They all confirmed the crude oil swap contracts. They equally admitted it was executed without formal contracts.

High Court Judge In Trouble Over Alleged Corruption Intent

An anti-corruption coalition, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), has urged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to investigate Justice M. N. Yunusa of the Federal High Court, Lagos division, for abuse of powers.

In the petition made available to newsmen and signed by the coalition’s chairman, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, the CSNAC bemoaned the continuous, questionable manner by which the judge was granting orders of perpetual injunction to politically exposed persons and other accused persons from being arrested or prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to the coalition, the NJC should investigate the various arbitrary injunctions granted by Justice Yunusa, adding that the rulings of the High Court judge smark off suspicions since the Supreme Court has held in a plethora of cases that the grant of perpetual injunctions against law enforcement agencies is a violation of constitutional provisions.

Citing a plethora of cases where Justice Yunusa granted the petitioners perpetual injunctions preventing the EFCC from doing his statutory duties, the coalition said the order from the judge will undoubtedly serve as a leeway for unscrupulous and corrupt individuals to escape justice.
Notable among the cases cited by the CSNAC in its petition is Senator Stella Odua v. AG Federation, EFCC, ICPC and IGP with suit no. FHC/L/CS/1342/15; Dr. Martins Oluwafemi Thomas v. EFCC in suit no. FHC/L/CS/1445/15, among others.

The petition read, “The grant of the orders of mandatory and perpetual injunctions by Justice Yunusa against the EFCC is a grave departure from the established principles in the aforementioned cases, as laid down by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal which are binding on the Federal High Court, being a lower court.

“Honourable Justice Yunusa, by the granting of these orders, has stripped the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions of its constitutional powers as a law enforcement agency, as well its powers under the enabling law, the Economic and Financial Crimes (Establishment) Act, LFN 2004, a Federal Legislation. It is also a gross abuse of his powers as a judicial officer.

“These decisions, based on his Lordship’s refusal to abide by judicial precedents laid down by the apex court, will undoubtedly serve as a leeway for unscrupulous and corrupt individuals, who will stop at nothing to truncate their arrest, investigation and prosecution by the appropriate law enforcement agencies, to render our criminal law ineffective, as well as allowing corruption fester in the society.”

In the light of the above, “CSNAC therefore by this petition requesting that the council carries out its constitutional role by immediately summoning Honorable Justice M. N. Yunusa on this matter and thereby ensuring that sanity is restored in the exercise of powers by judicial officers.”

Malami...AGF

Suraju...Wants Justice Yunusa probed