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Bank official testifies on suspicious deposits from Kogi LGAs linked to Yahaya Bello’s nephew

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A senior official from Access Bank has detailed how billions of naira allegedly originating from various Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Kogi State were funneled into private accounts through suspicious transactions during the administration of former Governor Yahaya Bello.

Testifying before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, Ofure Achille, former Head of Operations at Access Bank’s Lokoja branch, said the suspicious cash lodgments and withdrawals occurred over several years and were flagged and reported to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

Ms. Achille is the seventh prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Ali Bello, a nephew to former Governor Bello and current Chief of Staff to Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo. He is facing 18 counts of money laundering involving the alleged diversion of N3 billion belonging to Kogi State.

Also standing trial are Abba Adaudu, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege, Iyada Sadat, and Rashida Bello—accused of using shell companies and personal accounts to move massive sums.

The bank official testified that multiple transactions involving hundreds of millions of naira were inconsistent with the financial profiles of the account holders.

She cited examples including the E-Traders account operated by Jamilu Abdulahi, into which N30 million was deposited over two consecutive days in December 2021, followed by N40 million and another N30 million in early 2022.

“These transactions were flagged and reported to the NFIU as Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) under anti-money laundering laws,” she said.

Achille also revealed that accounts linked to co-defendants—including Fazab Business Enterprise and Hyzman Ary Construction Limited—received substantial funds from various Kogi LGAs. She noted that on 29 August 2017, Ary Construction received inflows totaling N171 million, with the first deposit of only N10,000 earlier that day.

The EFCC’s lead prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), led the witness through documentary evidence detailing patterns of deposits and withdrawals that allegedly reflect the laundering of public funds.

The trial continues before Justice Obiora Egwatu as prosecutors build their case against the defendants in what has become one of the most high-profile corruption trials in recent years.

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TCN counters AEDC, denies responsibility for Abuja power outage

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The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has denied responsibility for the power outage in several parts of Abuja.

Its denial counters claims by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), that blamed the outage in areas such as Dilic Hotel, Prime Plaza, Exclusive Stores, Gilmore, Takwa Crescent, and Former Zartech in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on a “technical fault” from the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

This is contained in a statement on Thursday by Ndidi Mbah, spokesperson for TCN.

The statement reads; “The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) informs the public that the power outage affecting Dilic Hotel, Prime Plaza, Exclusive Stores, PENCOM, AMCON, Gilmore, Takwa Crescent, Former Zartech, and its environ is not due to at technical fault from TCN, contrary to Abuja Distribution Company (AEDC)’s claim,” Mbah said.

“TCN’s feeders serving these areas are not in any way experiencing outages. For emphasis, TCN’s feeders serving these areas are functioning normally, contrary to AEDC’s claim.”

The claims and counter claims now put residents in confusion as to the cause of the power outage.

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Fuel price reduction: ‘Joy’s coming’ – Manufacturers

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Director General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadiri, sees the price of fuel coming down to N800.

Ekwutosblog reported recently that Dangote Petroleum Refinery slashed its ex-depot price for Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, to N840 per litre.

The reduction represents a N40 decrease from the previous rate of N880 per litre.

This happened a few days after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, increased the pump price of petrolto N925 per litre in Lagos.

This decrease is also coming a week after Dangote Refinery increased the ex-depot petrol price to N880 per litre

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television, Ajayi-Kadiri said that it was a welcome development, adding that price of the product would further decrease to N800 with the modalities being put in place by Dangote Refineries.

“You cannot blame anyone for producing and ensuring effective delivery,” he said.

When asked to share his thoughts from a manufacturer’s point of view on what he sees about the long term effect, he added, “So if I may use what the Gen Z is called ‘Joy is coming’, that’s what I see.

“The long term is going to be better. I see the price coming down to 800 and that’s what manufacturers want.

“I just told you now that last year, we spent as much as 1.1 trillion in terms of providing alternatives, apart from the fact that even the quality of the products is not guaranteed.

“So in the near future, I continue to see continued reduction in the price of diesel.

“I also see a situation where other players will be encouraged to come into the field, because that is what it takes. I don’t think that we should use sentiment to dissuade any investor from improving the life and well being of the people.

 

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Nigeria projected among top-five world’s biggest economies

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Nigeria has been projected to be among the top five biggest economies in the world by 2075.

The Spectator Index disclosed in a post on Friday, quoting a Goldman Sachs’ document titled ‘The Path to 2075—Slower global growth, but convergence remains intact’.

According to the news platform, Nigeria’s economy is estimated to reach $13.1 trillion by 2075.

The report showed that Nigeria followed China ($57 trillion), India ($52.5 trillion), the United States of America ($51.5 trillion), and Indonesia ($13.7 trillion) in projected world’s biggest economies by 2075.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.84 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024. The country’s GDP is estimated to be $568 billion at the end of 2024 in real GDP terms.

Africa’s most populous nation is expected to reach a GDP estimate that could be $585.9 billion.

The development comes as the President Bola Tinubu administration projects a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

Meanwhile, financial analysts had expressed doubts over the possibility of Nigeria achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030 when the country’s projected GDP growth rate is 3.2 percent.

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