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Nigeria’s fight against corruption unwavering, unshakable – President Tinubu reaffirms

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to pursuing recovery of assets stolen from the country by economic crime perpetrators in any part of the world.

He said the perpetrators of the economic crimes against humanity, especially Nigeria, would be identified through digital bid and would be held accountable for their actions.

The President spoke on Tuesday in Abuja at the opening of a Summit on Stolen Assets Recovery attended by several foreign nationals and international organizations.

To make the stolen assets recovery meaningful, President Tinubu said the federal government under his watch would take deliberate steps to strengthen anti-corruption institutions and policies in the fight against corruption.

He vowed that transparency and accountability would be enforced while perpetrators of economic crimes would be made to face the music for their unlawful actions and ensure that justice is served.

“Our resolve as a government to fight corruption is unwavering and unshakable and we are pleading with our development partners to join us in this journey to rid our society of corruption.

” Let us work together with steadfast determination to build a Nigeria and a world where integrity triumphs over impunity and justice prevails over greed.

“As we converge here today, it is essential to acknowledge the profound impact that corruption has had on our society. In Nigeria, we have witnessed the devastating effects of corruption on healthcare, education and infrastructure.

” The consequences of misappropriated public funds are painfully evident. Corruption weakens our institutions, erodes trust in governance and deprives our people, especially the vulnerable of the services and opportunities they deserve.

“Asset recovery sends a clear signal and unwavering message that there will be no safe haven for corruption in Nigeria. It serves as a deterrent, a symbol of accountability and a practical tool to rebuild national confidence in public institutions”, he said.

The President said that as part of efforts to make Nigerians feel the impact of recovered stolen funds, it was used to finance critical infrastructure like Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the second Niger Bridge, the Abuja-Kano expressway and rural electrification programs.

President Tinubu called on all and sundry to use courage and unity of purpose to tackle corruption and deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes and use same for the benefits of the people,

While declaring the Summit open, the President charged participants to foster collaboration, inspire innovative solutions and lead to significant progress in the fight against corruption.

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Protest hits Enugu over detention of LP lawmaker-elect

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Some residents of Enugu on Monday stormed the International Conference Centre, venue of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference, to protest the continued incarceration of a lawmaker-elect, Barr Bright Ngene.

The Labour Party lawmaker-elect is the winner of Enugu South Urban 1 House of Assembly seat.

An Enugu South Magistrate’s Court, presided over by E. D. Onwu, on July 28, 2024 sentenced Ngene to seven years’ imprisonment over alleged community development fund scandal.

But at the NBA conference venue, the protesters, who described themselves as constituents and friends of Ngene chanted freedom songs and displayed placards with inscriptions: “NBA Please Save Our Democracy”, “Enugu State Judiciary Must be Independent from Executive”, “Oppression is injustice, free Barr Bright Ngene”, “NBA, It’s Bright Ngene today. It could be any Lawyer Tomorrow”, “Injustice to one Lawyer is injustice to all Lawyers”,among others.

The protesters said they decided to embark on the peaceful protest as a last resort to call the attention of the NBA members to the plight of their colleague, Barr Ngene, who they alleged was wrongly convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment by an Enugu State Magistrate’s Court.

Addressing journalists, spokesperson of the protesters, Mr. Benedict Kachukwu said, “As you can see, we are here, these are friends of Barr Bright Ngene, who was unjustly incarcerated.

“We are here to register our peaceful protest to tell the world what has been happening in Enugu state for the past one year and since the 28th of July 2024, Hon Bright Emeka Ngene that won the House of Assembly seat Enugu South Urban has been unjustly incarcerated.

“Charges that were put on him were baseless, judicial process was not followed and in less than two weeks judgement was dispensed. And the man has been in detention since then till now.

“Efforts to get the matter to the High Court has proved abortive because somehow judges are now recusing themselves from the case. The Chief Judge has refused to assign the case to a new judge.

“So ever since then till now this man, Hon Bright Ngene has been in detention for no just cause. All because he won an election, an election he won on a free ground where the people of Enugu South Urban 1 have given him their mandate freely.

“Somehow he has reaffirmed the decision of the mandate of the people on the 16th of August 2025 where he won overwhelmingly again even from detention.”

Kachukwu said they were at the NBA conference venue to plead with the NBA to look into the matter so that judicial process will be followed.

He made it clear that they were not afraid of going through the judicial process, noting that they had consistently asked the Chief Judge to assign the case no matter what could be the outcome of the judgement.

“But up till now we have not seen, we have not heard and the case has been in comatose at the State High Court.

“Several judges have recused themselves. I can recall on 11th of March 2025 one of the judges called for the judgement from the Magistrate Court, but on the day of the sitting, he now said that he was recusing himself from the case.

“And ever since then till now, the case has not been assigned to any judge. That means the man has been languishing in jail for nothing.

“We have written to every organ of NBA as we speak, but there has not been any kind of response from them. As I speak to you Barr Ubani Monday is aware of this case and he is here; Femi Falana, he just drove in, he is aware of this case, he is here. Top SANs are aware of this case and they are here.

“So we have done all we could do, we decided to resort to coming here to beg. We are not here to fight, we are not here to quarrel, we are here to beg, please let this man be freed so that he can go and represent the people that voted him in the House of Assembly,” he said.

Many observers believe that Barr Ngene’s ordeal is political and in connection with the House of Assembly seat.

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What Happened in Ibom Air Almost Happened in Enugu Air: Consequences of No Consequence!

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“On an Enugu Air flight to Lagos from Abuja this morning, August 16th, another mild drama played out briefly.

 

As the plane taxied, the pilot, a female captain, announced that there was a recalcitrant passenger who had declined switching off his phone as instructed, and that if the fellow insisted, she might be left with no option but to make a U-turn.

At this point, she had stopped on the runway.

 

Hearing this warning, other passengers took it upon themselves and started shouting at this potentially disruptive passenger. Eventually, he turned off his phone, and the journey to Lagos continued.

 

But here is why this piece became compelling and timely. While the purser, a calm and well-mannered lady, was appealing to him to turn off his phone and he refused, hear what he said to her: “Wetin happen for Ibom Air go happen for here now now.”

 

That’s the result of having a poor reward and sanction system with no consequences. If those who had tried this nonsense had faced the penalties for their action and not the shameful “slap on the wrist” punishment meted out to them, another irreverent passenger would not open his mouth and say, “Wetin happen for Ibom Air go happen for here now now.”

 

No serious nation tramples on its own laws or chooses when to enforce them or not and against whom. The two recent breaches in air safety protocols and their handling have shown how unserious we are as a people and also why our leadership will continue to create strong people as against strong institutions. It is a conscious decision. It has never been an accident.

 

With the disastrous handling of the K1 and the K2 matters, even though no attention was given to the incident tagged K3, a template has been created already and it will haunt the Aviation Sector for a long time to come. The shame is not just for the leadership. The people, too, share a large chunk of it as intentional enablers of bad behaviours.

 

Fans and supporters of the Fuji king are now buying similar gold flasks as a form of solidarity with him, displaying it with arrogance of “na we dey power.” Also, practically every money-miss-road, including government officials, had offered “Auntie Komfo” one form of comfort or the other, obviously because…

 

But such people will never offer similar encouragement to outstanding students in any field or institution. We celebrate silly things and reward bad behaviours at the expense of more edifying tangibles and intangibles.

 

Indeed, Nigeria and her people are a case study in human civilisation”.

 

Olaleye Olawale

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Veteran Nollywood Actor Clem Ohameze Vows to Arrest Okwuluora for Attempting to Raise Funds for His Health

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 Veteran Nollywood actor Clem Ohameze broke down in tears during a live video broadcast, passionately denying false reports about his health and family spread by Okwuluora.

Ohameze stated that Okwuluora publicly claimed he was gravely ill, abandoned by his son, and solely reliant on his daughter’s care, while simultaneously attempting to solicit funds on his behalf without authorization.

Denouncing these actions as damaging to his reputation, Ohameze emphatically vowed to pursue legal action and have Okwuluora arrested.

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