Ex-NSCDC Commandant Forfeits 60 Buildings, Land To FG Over Corruption

Federal High Court, Abuja

Bintu was said to have defrauded over 1,000 persons, who subscribed to her housing estate located along the Airport Road, Abuja.

A Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, has ordered the final forfeiture of 60 buildings illegally acquired by a former Deputy Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Adenike Bintu, to the Federal Government, 

Bintu was said to have defrauded over 1,000 persons, who subscribed to her housing estate located along the Airport Road, Abuja.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission had approached Justice O. Egwuata, praying for an order for the final forfeiture of the 60 buildings and a 9.6 hectares land, both located at Sabon-Lugbe South-West Extension, Airport Road, Abuja, alleged to have been acquired by Bintu through corrupt means.

The commission’s counsel, John-Paul Okwor, told the court that the ICPC was relying on Section 48 (1) (2) and (3) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, which gives it power to approach courts to forfeit properties corruptly acquired by individuals.

A statement on Thursday by the ICPC spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, titled, ‘ICPC: NSCDC commandant forfeits 60 buildings, land to FG,’ said the commission had argued before the court that the former commandant set up a private company, Faith Winners Victory Properties Limited, through which she allegedly perpetrated the fraud by selling plots of land to unsuspecting members of the public.

The court heard that Bintu claimed that the land, which she used in defrauding over 1,000 subscribers, was owned in partnership with the NSCDC.

The statement read, “However, the subscribers, who had made several payments running into millions of naira, were never allocated plots of land nor had their funds returned to them by Bintu and her company.

“Furthermore, ICPC proved before the court that Bintu, who had jumped bail and is now a fugitive, did not enter into any partnership with NSCDC to build estates for members of the public.”

She was said to have told the court in her arguments that ICPC had no powers to prosecute civil cases and that Sections 6 and 48 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, relied upon by the commission had been repealed by the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2003.

Our correspondent learnt that her arguments were dismissed by the court for lack of merit, and Justice Egwuata then ruled that all the 60 buildings and the 9.6 hectare of land situated at Sabon-Lugbe South-West Extension, Airport Road, Abuja, listed by ICPC be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Joint operation: Amotekun, 20 armed robbers in shootout on lfe/llesha highway

Four persons have been rescued by the joint operation of the Western Nigeria Security Network, WNSN codenamed Amotekun, in a foiled robbery operation along Ife/Ilesha expressway.

The joint operation was put in place by the South West governors for a hitch-free Yuletide in the region.

Many of the motorists and passengers were reportedly robbed and stabbed by the bandit numbering about twenty who blocked the highway in the early hours of Thursday.

During the robbery operation, over 70 vehicle owners were held hostage by the robbers who operated on the highway.

Speaking with newsmen in Akure, the chairman of the joint operation of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun and Ondo state commander of the security outfit, Chief Adetunji Adeleye said that they received distress call by 1 am on Thursday.

Adetunji said ” during a joint operation by men of the Amotekun in Ondo and Osun states along Ife /Ilesha/Akure road. We are on patrol at about 1 am when we got a distress call that a robbery spree is ongoing along Osu junction.

“So our men rushed to the scene which is some few meters after Osu junction, we met over 70 vehicles parked on the road and we have to manouvered to the spot only to found that the robbers are actually at work and opened fire on our men immediately they sighted them.

“They exchanged fire with men of the Amotekun and we pursued them into the bush and we were able to retrieve this car, Toyota corolla, that was stolen from the owner and some other 46 vehicles parked at the spot.”

He said that the armed robbers “numbering about 20 operated on the Ife / Ilesha expressway unhindered in the middle of the night. We gave them a hot chase after they snatched vehicles, while other travellers out of fear parked their vehicles on the road.

” The Amotekun Corps rescued four occupants of a vehicle while the armed robbers had injured some of them, stabbing them after beating them before our arrival at the scene of the crime.

“One man was not as lucky as others, before we got there he had been badly beaten and macheted and we had to rush him to a hospital where they administered first aid treatment to avoid serious casualty.

Adeleye however, advised motorists to avoid travelling at night, noting that “despite our 24-hour patrol, I want to advise our people to avoid travelling at night where avoidable but I can assure you that we are always on the road.”

Speaking with newsmen, one of the victims, Mathew Olakanmi said he was travelling from Lagos to Jos, Plateau state, to deliver the vehicle when he ran into the armed robbers.

Olakanmi said the armed men stopped him on the road and started shooting sporadically but said he managed to reverse his vehicle from the spot to escape from them but said he ran into another member of the gang who have laid siege in the bush.

” The robbers threatened to shoot me and kill me and other occupants of the vehicle. I had to stop and surrender the car key.

“We were flagged down on the road by these men, I thought they are policemen only to discover that they are armed robbers.

“They tried to shoot me and I had to reverse about a kilometre before I ran into another gang.

“They took the car key from me and started beating us, they took all my documents and money and I escaped from the spot but other people in the vehicle are not lucky.

“They stabbed and macheted them and beat them up and took them as a hostage. I want to appreciate the Amotekun and South-West governors for this initiative”

Meanwhile, Adeleye has assured “the good people of Osun and Ondo states that we will stop at nothing in joining forces with other security agencies in ensuring that criminals are chased away from this area.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Letter to the National Assembly Withholding Assent to Electoral Act Amendment Bill

Further to the letter dated 18th November, 2021 forwarded for Presidential assent, the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 as passed by the National Assembly, I have received informed advice from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Government, and have also carefully reviewed the Bill in light of the current realties prevalent in the federal Repulic of Nigeria in the circumstances arising from the review

1. Rt. Honourable Speaker may wish to note that the nomination of party candidates solely via direct primaries as envisaged by the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 has serious adverse legal, financial, economic and security consequences which cannot be accommodated at the moment considering our Nation’s peculiarities. It also has implications on the rights of citizens to participate in the government as constitutionally ensured.

2. The Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 seeks to amend certain provisions of the extant Electoral Act 2010. Part of the objective of the Bill is the amendment of the present Section 87 of the Electoral Act, 2010 to delete the provision for the conduct of indirect primaries in the nomination of party candidates such that party candidates can henceforth only emerge through direct primaries. ”

3. Arising from the review, Mr Speaker may wish to particularly note the pertinent issues implicated as follows to wit:

a. The conduct of direct primaries across the 8,809 wards across the length and breadth of the country will lead to a significant spike in the cost of conducting primary elections by parties as well as increase in the cost of monitoring such elections by INEC who has to deploy monitors across these wards each time a party is to conduct direct primaries for the presidential, gubernatorial and legislative posts. In addition to these costs with the already huge cost of conducting general election will inevitably lead to huge financial burden on both political parties, INEC and the economy in general at a time of dwindling revenues.

b. The indirect consequences of the issues of high cost and monetization are that it will raise financial crimes and constitute further strain on the economy. It will also stifle smaller parties without the enormous resources required to mobilise all party members for the primaries. This is not healthy for the sustenance of multi-party democracy in Nigeria.

c. _ In addition to increased costs identified above, conducting and monitoring primary elections across 8,809 wards will pose huge security challenges as the security agencies will also be overstretched, direct primaries will be open to participation from all and sundry and such large turn-out without effective security coordination will also engender intimidation and disruptions, thereby raising credibility issues for the outcomes of such elections.

d. The amendment as proposed is a violation of the underlying spirit of democracy which is characterised by freedom of choices. Political party membership is a voluntary exercise of the constitutional right to freedom of association. Several millions of Nigerians are not card carrying members of any political party. Thus, the emphasis should be on enabling qualified Nigerians to vote for the candidate of their choice during general elections as a means of participation in governance and furtherance of the concept of universal adult suffrage or universal franchise.
ⓘ

e. The proposed amendment may also give rise to plethora of Iitigations based on diverse grounds and issues of Law including but not limited to the fact that the proposed amendment cannot work in retrospect given that the existing Constitution of the Parties already registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) permits direct, indirect and consensus primaries. This real possibility, will, without doubt, truncate the electoral program of the Nation as another electoral exercise is imminent towards a change of Government in 2023.

f. Nigeria is at the moment still grappling with the issues of monetization of the political process and vote buying at both party and general elections. The direct implication of institutionalizing only direct primaries is the aggravation of over-monetization of the process as there will be much more people a contestant needs to reach out to, thereby further fuelling corruption and abuse of office by incumbent contestants who may resort to public resources to satisfy the increased demands and logistics of winning party primaries.

g. Direct primaries are alse subject or susceptible to manipulation or malpractices as most parties cannot boast of reliable and verified Membership Register or valid means of identification which, therefore, means non-members can be recruited to vote by wealthy contestants to influence the outcome. Rival parties can also conspire and mobilise people to vote against a good or popular candidate in a party during its primaries just to pave way for their own candidates. Whereas where voting is done by accredited delegates during indirect primaries, the above irregularities are not possible.

4. The major conclusions arrived at upon the review are highlighted hereunder, to wit:

a. Aside its serious adverse legal, financial, economic and security consequences, the limitation or restriction of the nomination procedures available to political parties and their members constitutes an affront to the right to freedom of association. It is thus undemocratic fo restrict the procedure or means of nomination of candidates by political parties, as it also amounts to undue interference in the affairs of political partes.

b. Indirect primaries or collegiate elections are part of internationally accepted electoral practices. Moreso, direct primaries are not free from manipulations and do not particularly guarantee the emergence of the will of the people especially in circumstances like ours where it is near impossible to sustain a workable implementation framework or structure thereof.


5. In the premise of the above, I hereby signify to the National Assembly that I am constrained to withhold assent to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 in line with the provisions of Section 58(1) & (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). It is my considered position that the political parties should be allowed to freely exercise right of choice in deciding which of the direct or indirect to adopt in the of their primary elections as their respective realities may permit.

Please accept, Rt Hon Speaker, the assurance of my highest consideration and esteem.

US BILLIONIARE AND TESLA OWNER TO PAY $11B TAX IN 2022

US Billionaire and Owner of Tesla Elon Musk has been the topic of a public debate on social media over how much tax he pays.

Earlier this week, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted that Mr Musk should stop "freeloading off everyone else".

"For those wondering, I will pay over $11bn in taxes this year," the billionaire responded. 

Mr Musk, founder of electric car maker Tesla and aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, became the world's richest person earlier this year.

Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts his wealth at $243bn, while Tesla is worth around $1tn and SpaceX is worth $100bn.

Last week, Mr Musk was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year.

That prompted Senator Warren to tweet: "Let's change the rigged tax code so 'The Person of the Year' will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else."

US President Joe Biden is keen to increase taxes on the ultra-rich, although legislative plans have so far stalled in Congress.

Some senators, including Ms Warren, have backed the idea of taxing not only the income of America's richest citizens, but also the rising value of the assets they hold, like shares.

Many of America's wealthiest citizens don't take a directly taxable salary. Instead, they hold their wealth in shares and other investments, then take out loans using those assets as collateral.

SOURCE

Pope Francis Appoints Nigerian Archbishop As Vatican’s Permanent Observer at the UN

Archbishop Nwachukwu

Nigerian prelate and the Apostolic Nuncio to the Antilles, Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu has gotten a new appointment from Pope Francis.

He has now been appointed as the new Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations Office and Specialized Institutions in Geneva.

The 61-year-old Nwachukwu who now replaces Bishop Ivan Jurkovic (previously appointed nuncio in Canada), was also appointed as the Permanent Observer to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Representative of the Holy See to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The Nigerian cleric's appointment was confirmed in a press release from the Office of the Secretariat of the Episcopal Conference of the Antilles dated Friday, December 17, 2021.

It read;

“The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, titular of Acquaviva and until now apostolic nuncio in Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica, Grenada, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Santa Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname, and apostolic delegate in the Antilles; and Holy See Plenipotentiary Representative at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), as Holy See Permanent Observer to the United Nations and Specialised Institutions in Geneva and at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Holy See Representative at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).


“He sincerely appreciates your support during his mission in this region and requests that you accompany him with your prayers and friendship as he prepares to assume the new responsibilities.”


Prior to his recent appointment, Nwachukwu was the Apostolic Nuncio to Saint Lucia, Grenada, and the Bahamas. He got the appointment on 27 February 2018; and was also appointed as Apostolic Nuncio to Suriname on 9 March 2018; and Apostolic Nuncio to Belize on 8 September 2018.


The 61-year-old Nwachukwu will now replace Bishop Ivan Jurkovic (previously appointed nuncio in Canada).

Man Stuns Wife, Gives Her Private Jet As Early Christmas Gift (Video)

The man gave the wife a private jet as Christmas gift

 A man has left his wife totally speechless and overjoyed after gifting her a private jet as a Christmas gift.

A man has given his wife the surprise of the year after gifting her a private jet.

 

The real estate mogul, identified as Masoud Shojaee got tongues wagging on social media after his wife shared a video of him presenting the private jet to her as early Christmas gift.

 

Taking to her official Instagram page to share the video of the moment she was led out of a Rolls Royce blindfolded by her husband, the astonished lady wrote:

 

“OMG The most insane gift @mrmasoudshojaee I love you A 11 years later and you still manage to surprise me! I love my carpet too.”

 

Reactions have continued to trail the video as netizens share mixed views.

 

@tbrw_ Steph, said, “I would’ve fainted right then and there lol congrats my love and happy holidays to you too.”

 

@Rolabb said, “When Person Son go find me?”

 

Watch video