An investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has exposed an alleged deal that after receiving N250 million, Dr. Donald Wokoma, a Special Assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, allegedly failed to execute some contracts awarded to his firms in 2018. Economic Confidential reports that the EFCC Investigator made the disclosure while testifying before the Justice Isa Ayo Salami Presidential Investigative Panel on Thursday. The Economic Confidential gathered that Wokoma was a signatory to the bank accounts of the companies when he was Special Assistant to the Vice President on the National Economic Council (NEC). The Justice Ayo Salami…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
By Michael Joseph and Toluwani Bamigboje Rape has a history that almost equalled the history of man’s creation. It is on record that the first recorded incidence of rape in the Bible was also in the Book of Genesis. Indeed biblically, rape was a constant feature among men and at a point it was taken as a thing of shame, not on the victim but on the family of the person raped. Culturally, it is an offence which stands on the same pedestal with the offence of murder, since a suspect accused of rape is expected to go into hiding…
By Tina George, Minna The Speaker of the Niger state House of Assembly, Abdullahi Bawa has joined the league of supporters for six months paid maternity leave for nursing mothers in the state. The Speaker stated this during a 2-day review meeting on allocation, releases and utilization of nutrition budget, with key stakeholders from the Legislature and Nutrition Line Ministries, organized by the Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, CS-SUNN. Partiipants at the 2-day review meeting on nutrition budget According to him, the paid maternity leave would encourage mothers to get involved in exclusive breastfeeding as the current 3-month…
The Registrar of National Examination Council, NECO, Prof. Godswill Obioma has lauded the existing partnership between the Council and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC. Obioma said this when he visited the Commandant General of the Corps, Abdullahi Muhammadu on Thursday. According to him, the visit had further strengthened the ties between the two organisations, especially in providing security for the candidates and the officials of NECO during examination period. The Registrar said he was at the NSCDC headquarters “to foster a robust relationship with the NSCDC and to familiarize with the Corps in order to promote existing…
The Port Harcourt zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, secured the conviction of two Lebanese, Chamseddine Waell Mohammed and Dina Jihad Khali, who both pleaded guilty to separate one count charge of money laundering preferred against them by the Commission. According to a statement by the Spokesperson of the Commission, Dele Oyewale made available to Ashenewsonline, the offences run contrary to Section 2 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (as amended) and punishable under Section 2 (5) of the same Act. It added that both defendants were sentenced to two years imprisonment…
Brazil says it has approved Johnson & Johnson’s experimental vaccine against the new coronavirus for the final stage of clinical trials This makes the fourth vaccine to receive widespread testing in the hard-hit country. AFP reports that US pharmaceutical company’s subsidiary, Janssen will test the vaccine on 7,000 volunteers across seven states in Brazil, part of a group of up to 60,000 worldwide, health regulator Anvisa said in a statement. It said the test would be a randomized, controlled, double-blind Phase 3 trial, or large-scale testing on humans — the last step before regulatory approval. “Another vaccine study has been…
Germany says it recorded 1,707 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number since late April this year. AFP reports that the latest increase takes the total number of infections in the country to 228,621 since the beginning of the pandemic and a total death toll to 9,253. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the public health agency that compiles the COVID-19 number in Germany, has put the seven-day cumulative COVID-19 incidence rate at 9.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. On August 12, it stood at 7.0, AFP further reports. “This development is very concerning and increasing in dynamic. A further worsening of the…
The Economic Community of West Africa States’, ECOWAS, Authority of Heads of State and Government, is currently holding an Extraordinary Session, to discuss the military coup in Mali. The virtual session, which is being attended by President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders of the ECOWAS counties, was convened following the military overthrow of government by rebel troops in that country on Tuesday. Ashenewsonline earlier reported that Colonel Goita had declared himself as head of the junta. The rebel forces Tuesday afternoon, arrested President Ibrahim Keita of Mali and his Prime Minister, Boubou Cisse to a military base on the outskirts…
The Inspector general of Police, IGP, Muhammad Adamu has revealed that there is international connection to banditry in the Northern region of Nigeria. The IGP, who spoke at a town-hall meeting on peace and security, in Zuru local government in Kebbi on Wednesday emphasised that there is several element of foreign nationals in bandit activities in the region. According to him, investigation reveals that most of the bandits in the country were foreigners and members of the Islamic State of West Africa, ISWAP. “We have realised that most of the banditry has an international dimension. The bandits come from outside…
By Tina George, Minna The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has shut seven petrol stations in Niger for using faulty pumps metering in dispensing fuel to unsuspecting customers. Assistant Director Department of Weight and Measures, Ibrahim Isa told Ashenewsonline on Thursday in Minna that owners of the stations would be prosecuted for the offence. According to him, the inspected stations were located in Minna, Chanchaga, Bosso, Bida, Suleja and Gurara local government areas. “Those shut down include: Pinnacle filling Station, Minna road Suleja; Mhammmed Lalo filling station, Izom; Halidu Gegu filling station, Suleja and NIPCO Round about, Suleja. Others are…