EFCC

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has reacted to the ruling of the Federal High Court committing EFCC Chairman to prison for contempt of court.

The Federal High Court sitting at Abuja had ordered the arrest and detention of EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, on Tuesday.

In reaction to the development, EFCC Spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, in a press release on Tuesday, described the ruling as shocking. He argued that the the ruling casted aspersion on the person of their chairman

“This ruling is surprising as it creates a wrong impression of the person of the Executive Chairman of the EFCC as encouraging impunity. As far as the relationship between the EFCC and the judiciary is concerned, The Executive Chairman, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa has been an apostle of rule of law, due process, and close collaboration between the two institutions in justice administration ” He said.

The commission added that owing to error in the ruling, the commission will embark on a legal voyage to set aside the ruling of the court.

“Taking into cognizance the procedural lapse in the contempt proceedings the commission has initiated a process to set aside the entire contempt proceedings and committal of the Executive Chairman for contempt.” He added

By Muhammadu Sabi’u

One of the strongest opposition parties in Kano State, the New Nigerian People Party, has reacted to the alleged involvement in the looting of a huge amount of money by some three Nigerian governors.
 
Recall that the news alleging that three currently serving state governors are being watched for attempts to launder money by paying employees’ salaries under the table resurfaced a few days ago.
 
Reacting to the allegation, a Deputy Public Relations Officer of the NNPP in Kano State, Hon. Musa Nuhu Yankaba, hints that one of the governors in question is Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State.
 
In an interview with Premier Radio Kano, he said, “If he [Governor Ganduje] refuses to come out and clear himself, we, as natives of Kano State and members of an opposition party, will not accept that, and we will expose him, so as to tell the people of Kano all that is going on and for proper action to be taken.”
 
Despite all these, the anti-graft agency, the EFCC, did not reveal the identities of the three governors involved in the scandals.
 
However, the chairman of the EFCC noted in an interview that two of them were from the North, and the third was from the South of the nation.
 
He added that information at the agency’s disposal showed that the three governors had come up with strategies to inject the money into the system by paying their state employees’ wages on a table-payment basis.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) advised the general public to be more security conscious in protecting their personal and financial information. 

EFCC said fraudsters use peoples’ personal and financial information like ATM cards, PINs, BVN, NIN and mobile phones to steal money. 

Aliyu Yunusa, the Sokoto zonal head of the agency, made this disclosure while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday.

Yunusa spoke about the increase in ATM-related fraud in Sokoto and identified two major methods for perpetrating such fraud.

The first method, he said, was “ATM Swap which usually occurs when unsuspecting victims visit the ATM machine or POS terminals where the scammers lurk around looking for prospective victims that may require their help in using the ATM.

“The suspects usually offer to help the victims in operating the ATM and, in the process, swap the card with a dormant ATM card from the same bank.

“After swapping the victim’s card and memorizing his/her pin, the fraudster will simply shrug it off as a temporary network issue and return the already swapped card to the victim while he walks away with the victim’s ATM card.

“The same fraudster will visit another ATM stand at a later time to comfortably withdraw all the money in the victim’s account or transfer all the savings of the victim to another account,” he said

The second method, according to him, was “Mobile Phone Theft”.

“In this instance, the stolen mobile phone is usually sold to fraudsters who will, in turn, use Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, popularly known as USSD, to get your bank details from a simple code.

“It helps them know where your bank account is domiciled, but to the novice fraudster, he may try every bank’s USSD code until he becomes successful.

“Then use your banks USSID code. They will transfer the content of your account to another bank account, usually of a victim whose card and pin are in their possession,” he said.

Yunusa then advised individuals whose phones were stolen to rush to the nearest branch of their banks to block their accounts.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The suspended Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, was reportedly re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged N109.5 billion.

Idris was re-arraigned alongside three others identified as Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.

It was reported that Idris and the other accused were dragged before an FCT High Court, Maitama.

Recall that they were first arraigned on July 22 before a vacation judge, Justice Adeyemi Ajayi on a 13-count charge bordering on misappropriation to the tune of N109.5 billion.

The EFCC alleged that, Idris, between February and December 2021, accepted from Akindele, a gratification of N15. 1 billion.

The sum was said to have been a motive for accelerating the payment of 13 per cent derivation to the nine oil-producing states in the Federation, through the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

EFCC also explained to the court that N84. 3 billion from the federal government’s account was converted by the first and second defendants between Feb. and Nov. 2021.

The EFCC reiterated that the offence contravenes sections 155 and 315 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.

However, the suspended Accountant General and the other defendants pleaded not guilty.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has debunked the claims by a Nollywood actress, Halen Duru, that its personnel invaded her house on Saturday night.

EFCC has denied the claim Sunday on its official Instagram handle, describing the actress as a ‘mere publicity-seeking player, with a poorly-scripted claim’.

However, in viral bloodied video shared by the actress, Duru claimed that she was assaulted by men from the security agency.

Debunking the allegation, EFCC stated, “False and Misleading Video in Circulation on EFCC Operations. The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to an online video trending on Instagram, from the handle of a certain “@iamhelenaduru”, a self-styled actress, purporting, quite mischievously, an assault by operatives of the Commission.

“Checks by the Commission, however, flagged Helen Aduru, an upcoming actress, as a mere publicity-seeking player, with a poorly- scripted claim that has fallen flat in the face of unassailable facts available to the Commission.”

The agency further stated, “In her script, she was quick to include five names of officers she claimed came from the Cybercrime Section of the Enugu Command of the Commission. Characteristically, EFCC’s officers don’t wear name tags nor move around with bulldozer-shaped equipment to pull down security doors.

“Aduru claimed, rather strangely, that she was assisted by a little boy, to a Police Station at 3:44 am but met the station shut. It is important to note that Police Stations are not civil service ministries that “close” in the evening. Even more preposterous is the fact that she never went back, at daybreak, to lodge a complaint.

“More poignantly untenable is the fact that her purported assault of July 21, 2022, which has not been logged nearly two months later at the Police Station, is only being brought to public glare on September 2, 2022!! Such a scene could only stand in a typical Nollywood fiction series.

“Such claims by Aduru, like all other stranger-than-fiction, click-baiting, sympathy-seeking ploys, do not merit a response but for the need to avoid ‘silence is acquiescence’ stance of mischief makers. Deeper checks on the matter only showed that certain blackmailers could be bandying some known names in the Enugu Zonal Command to settle some scores.”

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged media houses in the country to stop promoting corrupt citizens. 

EFCC stated that the media sometimes portrayed the approach of the commission in fighting cybercrime as draconian.

Abdurasheed Bawa, the chairman of the anti-graft agency, disclosed this Wednesday in Abuja at the opening of a workshop on financial crime reporting organised for the journalists covering its activities.

Bawa stated that the reportage was perhaps borne out of a poor understanding of the anti-graft agency’s modus operandi.

He added, “I want to use this opportunity to further urge media practitioners to put the interest of our country at heart, particularly as it relates to a conscientious effort not to celebrate the corrupt in our midst.

“I urge you to expose them on the pages of your newspapers, screens of television or on your various online platforms.

“The war against corruption is a worthy fight for the soul of Nigeria and for the future generation; it should not be left to the EFCC alone,” he said.

The workshop was said to be one of the interventions by the commission to improve the capacity of the media to deliver on its constitutional mandate.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, is going to be arraigned before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Daily Reality gathered that the EFCC will arraign the former Accountant General Friday before Justice A.O. Adeyemi Ajayi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja.

However, Idris was said to have been arraigned alongside three others: Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.

Our reporters gathered that the accusations embodied a 14-count charge of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109, 485,572,691.9. 

One of the counts reads, “That you, Ahmed Idris, while being the Accountant General of the Federation and Godfrey Olusegun Akindele while being the Technical Assistant to the Accountant General of the Federation between February and November 2021, at Abuja in the Abuja Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, in such capacity, entrusted with a certain property, to wit: N84,390,000,000(Eighty-Four Billion, Three Hundred and Ninety Million Naira) committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property when you dishonestly received the said sum from the Federal Government of Nigeria through Godfrey Olusegun Akindele trading under the name and style of Olusegun Akindele & Co., and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 315 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.”

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Aisha Wakil, popularly known as Mama Boko Haram, has been convicted for fraud alongside two others.

The Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, disclosed this on their verified Facebook page on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

According to the EFCC, Wakil and her co-defendants, Tahiru Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyode, were standing trial on a two count charge of conspiracy and obtaining by false pretense to the tune of 71, 400, 000 (Seventy-One Million, Four Hundred Thousand Naira)

The judgement, which was delivered by Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, marks the end of the trial commenced in September, 2020.

“The Maiduguri Zonal Command of the EFCC on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 secured the conviction and sentencing of Aisha Alkali Wakil, (aka Mama Boko Haram) alongside Tahiru Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyode before Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri. The defendants were sentenced to five years imprisonment without option of fine,” the EFCC statement reads in part.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Armed thugs have assaulted and restrained officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State in the 2023 general elections, Siminialayi Fubara.

The incident that surprised many took place Tuesday at the Port Harcourt International Airport when Fubara, alongside other PDP chieftains, arrived at the airport from Abuja.

The Daily Reality gathered that Fubara jetted to Abuja to receive his certificate of return alongside some of the PDP chieftains. 

The thugs, who were believed to be his supporters, reportedly thwarted the EFCC officials from arresting him.

The EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that the operatives of the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the EFCC were restrained from arresting Fubara.

Uwujaren condemned the development, describing it as a blatant attempt to obstruct justice.

He, however, warned that the commission’s civility should not be taken for granted. 

The Daily Reality recalls that the EFCC had declared Fubara wanted over alleged N117 billion fraud.

By MMuhammad Sabiu

Rochas Okorocha, who is now in the custody of the anti-corruption agency, the EFCC, was denied bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday.

Mr Okorocha’s counsel, Ola Olanipekun, was instead directed to notify the anti-graft agency by Justice Inyang Ekwo.

According to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), Mr Olanipekun requested the court to give Mr Okorocha bail on liberal terms awaiting the hearing and resolution of an application on notice filed on May 25.

The ex-parte motion was filed on May 26 and was dated.

However, Justice Ekwo ruled that, because the case would be heard on Monday, it would be pointless to issue a bail order for the member.

The senior lawyer reportedly intimated that he had filed a motion on notice to have his client released on bail.

The judge, who set a hearing date of May 30 for the motions, told the counsel to notify the EFCC.

Following the EFCC’s allegation that it had been unable to serve Mr Okorocha despite multiple attempts, Mr Ekwo gave the anti-corruption commission May 30 as the last time the matter would be deferred, according to NAN.

After two adjournments for his arraignment, the court threatened to dismiss the case if the EFCC failed to present the senator on the next postponed date.