Tag: Nigeria

Alleged £110,000 Fraud Lands Two Men Before Lagos Judge

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Two men accused of laundering proceeds from an alleged £110,000 and ₦500 million fraud scheme appeared before a Lagos High Court on Friday, as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission pressed ahead with prosecution. Ali Bala, also known as Barrister Ahmed, and Yusuf Umar Anka were arraigned before Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi in Ikeja on a ten count charge bordering on money laundering, stealing and retention of stolen property. One of the counts accuses the pair of conducting financial transactions in 2025 involving proceeds of unlawful activity in order to disguise the source of the stolen £110,000, an offence under the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges read against them. Prosecution counsel H.U. Kofarnaisa asked the court to fix a trial date and requested that the defendants be remanded in a correctional facility pending trial. Defence counsel informed the court of a pending bail application on behalf of the accused. Justice Ogunjobi adjourned the matter to September 8, 2026 for hearing of the bail application and ordered that both men remain in EFCC custody until then. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

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$2 Billion and Counting: FG Doubles Down on CNG Push to Cut Transport Costs

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The Federal Government has restated its commitment to reducing transportation costs for Nigerians by deepening adoption of Compressed Natural Gas as a cheaper, cleaner alternative to conventional fuels, with Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Gas, Ekperikpe Ekpo, disclosing that more than two billion dollars in private investment has been secured since the CNG Initiative launched in 2023. Ekpo said over 120,000 vehicles have been converted through more than 400 conversion centres nationwide, while over 90 CNG refuelling stations are now operational, with 7,700 technicians trained and over 10,000 jobs created under the programme. He said commuters, transporters and fleet operators are already recording significant savings on fuel costs, commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive for the establishment of 500 additional CNG refuelling stations, which will expand the national network to 1,000 stations. Ekpo urged more state governments to key into the programme, saying wider CNG adoption would further ease transportation costs and reduce the financial burden on ordinary Nigerians. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

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Distance Should Not Kill: FG Rolls Out Ambulances to Nigeria’s Hardest to Reach Communities

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The Federal Government has commenced nationwide distribution of Advanced Trauma Life Support ambulances and tricycle ambulances to strengthen emergency medical response and extend timely care to rural and hard to reach communities, flagged off at the National Trauma Centre, Riyom, Plateau State. Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachollom, said the intervention addresses transportation and last mile access challenges in areas where difficult terrain can delay lifesaving care, stressing that distance should not determine whether a life is saved, particularly in maternal emergencies, road crashes and other trauma cases. She explained the initiative forms part of a coordinated national emergency medical service anchored on the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System, which in Plateau State will complement the State Ambulance System, the Jos University Teaching Hospital emergency care pathway and the Rural Emergency Service and Maternal Transport initiative. Kachollom announced that Riyom General Hospital has been approved as an outpost of JUTH following collaboration with the Plateau State Government, urging beneficiaries to ensure proper deployment and maintenance of the emergency assets while calling on the state government to complement the investment through budgetary support. She also visited the Snakebite Treatment Centre in Zamko, a rural JUTH outpost, announcing a donation of antivenoms and disclosing plans to incorporate snakebite management into NEMSAS and the social health insurance scheme to ease the financial burden on affected families. Plateau State Deputy Governor Josephine Piyo, representing Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, commended the Federal Government for the intervention, while the JUTH Chief Medical Director reported that approximately 1,115 patients had been transported in Jos East and over 900 in Riyom under the emergency transport initiative. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

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Five Star Edo Queens Blast Past Burkina Faso Hosts to Reach WAFU-B Final

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Edo Queens FC produced a sensational display of attacking football on Wednesday, thrashing previously unbeaten hosts USFA of Burkina Faso 5-1 in Ouagadougou to book their place in the final of the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League WAFU-B qualifiers. The Nigerian champions dominated the semi-final from the first whistle, overwhelming the Burkinabè side with pace, precision and relentless attacking pressure. Doosuur Atume opened the scoring in the 17th minute before prolific forward Chioma Moses doubled the advantage in the 43rd minute, with captain Valentina Uroko adding a third just before the break to send Edo Queens into halftime with a commanding 3-0 lead. The Nigerian champions resumed in the same ruthless fashion, with Doshima Tarnum extending the lead a minute into the second half before Aminat Folorunsho made it 5-0 in the 62nd minute. USFA pulled one back in stoppage time, but the damage was already done, handing the hosts their first defeat of the competition and underlining Edo Queens’ credentials as one of the tournament’s most dangerous attacking sides. Uroko capped a memorable individual performance by winning the Player of the Match award, following an outstanding defensive display alongside her superb first half goal. Edo Queens reached the semi-final after finishing second in Group B, where they announced their arrival with a 7-0 demolition of AS Garde Nationale of Niger, followed by a 3-1 win over Côte d’Ivoire’s ASEC Mimosas, before suffering a 2-1 defeat to Ghanaian champions Ampem Darkoa Ladies in their final group fixture. Their emphatic 5-1 triumph over USFA now takes their campaign to another level as they continue their pursuit of WAFU-B glory and a place in the 2026 CAF Women’s Champions League final tournament. Edo Queens will face the winners of the other semi-final in the WAFU-B final on September 5, with continental qualification now within touching distance. By Edoko Wilson Edoko

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Moody’s Turns Positive on Nigeria, Citing Stronger Reserves and Easing Inflation

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Moody’s Ratings has revised Nigeria’s sovereign credit outlook from stable to positive while affirming the country’s long term foreign and local currency issuer ratings at B3, a move the Federal Ministry of Finance says reflects the tangible impact of government’s macroeconomic reforms over the past three years. The agency attributed the improved outlook to a markedly stronger external position, citing sizeable current account surpluses projected to widen to about 6.1 per cent of GDP in 2026, alongside rising foreign exchange reserves that have climbed to $53.30 billion as of August 26, 2026, according to Central Bank of Nigeria data. Moody’s also pointed to stronger than expected economic performance, with real GDP growth reaching 4 per cent in 2025 against earlier projections of about 3 per cent, and inflation easing to 15.4 per cent in July 2026 from 25.3 per cent a year earlier. The rating action follows FTSE Russell’s confirmation of Nigeria’s reclassification to Frontier Market status on August 27, 2026, and comes after S&P Global Ratings upgraded Nigeria to B from B minus in May 2026 and Fitch affirmed the country at B with a stable outlook. Minister of Finance Taiwo Oyedele described the development as external validation of difficult reforms including the removal of fuel subsidy, exchange rate unification and tax reforms, saying government’s medium term ambition remains placing Nigeria firmly on the path to investment grade through sustained revenue mobilisation and debt management. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

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Interior Minister to Atiku: Nigeria’s Borders Were Never Closed to Reopen

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The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, has pushed back against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s pledge to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected President in 2027, stating plainly that the borders in question are not closed and therefore cannot be reopened. Tunji Ojo said Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum were reopened as far back as December 2020, with Idiroko and Ikom following in April 2022, and Kamba and Tsamiya in Kebbi State reopened under the current administration in February 2026, linking Nigeria to Niger Republic and Benin Republic respectively. On the Cameroon border crossings at Banki and Amchidé, the Minister said their prolonged closure had nothing to do with a 2019 trade policy, tracing it instead to 2014, when Boko Haram forced their shutdown for security reasons, with Fotokol and Gambaru reopening in 2021 following joint military efforts by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad. He said folding this separate security driven history into a single 2019 shutdown wrongly conflates two distinct issues, trade regulation and counter insurgency, arguing that tighter control at some northern crossings reflects a deliberate security judgement given ongoing banditry rather than neglect. Tunji Ojo said modern border management requires balancing security, documentation and customs compliance rather than choosing between total closure and unrestricted movement, urging Atiku to present a concrete new proposal rather than rewriting recent history for political gain. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

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Tinubu Swears In Enitan as Nigeria’s New Chief Administrative Officer

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sworn in Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan as the new Head of Civil Service of the Federation, succeeding Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who retired after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 60. The brief ceremony took place at the State House, Abuja, marking the official start of Enitan’s tenure as the country’s Chief Administrative Officer, following his nomination by President Tinubu as the most senior Permanent Secretary on August 19, 2026. Born on December 12, 1966, and an indigene of Osun State, Enitan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Lagos and a Master’s in Public Policy Analysis from Nasarawa State University, Keffi. He joined the Federal Civil Service in 1998 as a Senior Operations Officer at the now defunct Family Economic Advancement Programme. He went on to serve at the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and later at the Office of the Vice President, rising from Chief Administrative Officer to Director between 2010 and 2018, before his appointment as Permanent Secretary in December 2018, with postings across the Federal Civil Service Commission and the Ministries of Environment, Police Affairs, Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, and Education. President Tinubu congratulated the new Head of Service and urged him to uphold the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, accountability and efficiency across the Nigerian Civil Service, with former HoCSF Walson-Jack among the dignitaries in attendance. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

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From Handouts to Hope: FG Unveils $1 Billion Plan to Break the Cycle of Poverty

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The Federal Ministry of has unveiled the $1 billion Household Prosperity and Economic Social Protection Project, themed From Palliatives to Pathways, alongside reforms aimed at overhauling Nigeria’s social protection and humanitarian response systems. First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, unveiling the initiative at the Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja, commended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction Dr Bernard M Doro for shifting humanitarian interventions from temporary assistance toward sustainable pathways to recovery, empowerment and self-reliance, noting the initiative aims to improve targeting of vulnerable households and strengthen coordination across programmes. Dr Doro said the launch marks a strategic pivot from palliatives to pathways, placing vulnerable households rather than individual programmes at the centre of government intervention, addressing years of fragmentation and duplicate registries through a unified national architecture linking identification, needs assessment, protection and poverty graduation. Central to the reform is the One Humanitarian, One Poverty Response System, which will bring humanitarian response, social protection and poverty reduction under a single coordinated framework supported by unified registries, digital delivery and real time intelligence. Other initiatives unveiled include an Emergency Shock Responsive Cash Transfer scheme and a Humanitarian First Magazine documenting the impact of interventions on beneficiaries. Permanent Secretary Olubunmi Olusanya said the true measure of success would be the tangible difference made in the lives of vulnerable Nigerians, with goodwill messages delivered by Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum on behalf of other governors, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Abubakar Bagudu, and representatives of the European Union and World Bank. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

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Saraki Still in Tinubu’s Corner, Says Kwara Senator Who Just Quit APC

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Senator Saliu Mustapha, representing Kwara Central, says former Senate President Bukola Saraki is backing the rainbow coalition assembled by Nyesom Wike in support of President Bola Tinubu’s second term bid, even as Mustapha himself has defected from the APC to the PDP. Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Mustapha said his exit from the ruling party does not mean he has abandoned Tinubu’s reelection cause, describing the rainbow coalition established by FCT Minister Wike in Rivers State as having extended its reach into Kwara. He said Saraki, who is not contesting for any office this cycle, is similarly supporting the coalition working to strengthen Tinubu’s chances, aligning himself with the FCT Minister’s stated position despite being in a different party. Mustapha linked his defection to a group called The Otoge Progressives, which he said emerged from a coalition of governorship aspirants who lost the APC primary and later felt alienated by how Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is running the party in Kwara, naming Yahaya Seriki, Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Dele Belgore and others as members. He confirmed picking up the PDP senatorial nomination form for Kwara Central shortly after quitting the APC, securing the ticket through substitution rather than a primary following a waiver from the party. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

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Land, Oil and Fear: Ilaje Communities Cry Out Over Border Tension with Itsekiri Neighbours

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Residents of 19 coastal and oil producing communities in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State have appealed to the Federal and Ondo State Governments to urgently intervene in a land dispute with neighbouring Itsekiri communities in Delta State, warning that tension is rising and could spark an inter communal clash. For generations, residents have lived and worked around the creeks of Ugbo Kingdom, but fear is now growing over what they describe as incursions by armed persons from a neighbouring Itsekiri community into land they consider their ancestral territory. The disputed area, known as Odun Ebiwonjumi, sits close to the Atlantic Ocean and offshore oil activities, a proximity residents believe is fuelling growing interest in the land from outside parties. Community leaders are calling for urgent dialogue between the Ondo and Delta State governments, alongside elders from both ethnic groups, to resolve the matter peacefully before it escalates. For the Ilaje residents, the stakes go beyond property lines, touching on their livelihoods, their ancestral heritage and the long standing peace between the two communities. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed

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