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N109.4bn fraud: EFCC never promised not to prosecute Ahmed Idris, official tells court

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2 months ago

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Mahmoud Tukur, an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), told an Abuja court that the commission did not promise not to prosecute Ahmed Idris, former accountant-general of the federation (AGF).

Tukur said this while giving evidence as a witness on Wednesday in a trial-within-trial to verify the willingness of a statements made by Idris.

Idris is standing trial on a 14-count charge alongside Geoffrey Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and a firm — Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited — before a high court of the federal capital territory (FCT) in Maitama.

Idris was arrested on May 16, 2022, by the EFCC over alleged diversion of funds and money laundering.

Halilu Yusuf, the presiding judge, had ordered a trial-within-trial in the matter to enable the court to determine whether all the extra-judicial statements made by the former AGF to the EFCC should be admitted in evidence.

Chris Uche, counsel to Idris, alleged that the EFCC had assured the defendant that he would not be subjected to any trial if he gave details that would implicate a former minister of finance and some governors.

Led in evidence by Oluwaleke Atolagbe, prosecution counsel, the witness said Idris’ first statement was voluntarily made on January 22, 2022.

“This statement was at the preliminary stage of the investigation and it was the 1st defendant that approached the commission himself requesting to be heard on January 22, 2022,” he said.

“Although the team was not ready for such, the commission, however, obliged him. We listened to him and told him whatever he said would be documented.

“Two other operatives were with me. He came to our office without a lawyer.

“By my thinking, coming without a lawyer means he was waiving his rights.”

Tukur told the court that Idris was given administrative bail.

He said Idris was arrested in Kano on May 16, 2022, and brought to Abuja because he refused to respond to messages and calls put across to him by the EFCC.

The witness added that Idris came in the company of his security officer, Yusuf Aro, wrote a statement and was detained.

He said on May 17, Haruna Isa, a director of legal services from the AGF’s office, was present and he wrote his statements.

He said the defendant also wrote statements on May 21, 23, 25, 26 and 31, 2022, in the presence of Odudu Ituen, a lawyer from Paul Erokoro’s chambers.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, the witness insisted that he never promised not to prosecute the defendant.

He said cautionary words were issued to the defendant by an EFCC officer.

After the cross-examination of the witness, Atolagbe, the prosecution counsel, told the court he had two more witnesses to call.

He, however, told the court that the witnesses were not available and prayed for an adjournment.

Yusuf Halilu, presiding judge, then adjourned until May 15 for the witnesses to testify.

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Business

‘7 international, 15 national’ — CBN updates list of licenced banks

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3 hours ago

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May 8, 2024 4:05 pm

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has updated the list of deposit money banks operating in the country.

This was disclosed in a circular published on May 7 on its website and titled ‘List of Deposit Money Banks and Other Financial Institutions as of 26th April 2024’.

Newsmen observed the number of deposit money banks moved from 34 in 2020 to 44 in the latest list.

Also, the CBN disclosed Union Bank‘s licence was downgraded from international to national.

Globus Bank, Premium Trust Bank, and Optimus Bank upgraded their licence to the national category.

A further breakdown of the latest list of DMBs by the CBN shows seven banks are under the commercial banking category with international licences, 15 banks with commercial banking licences are under the national category, and four are authorised for regional operations.

Also on the list are four non-interest banks with national licences and six banks with merchant banking licences with national authorisation.

CBN disclosed Nigeria has seven financial holdings companies (HoldCo), while the country has one representative office called the Mauritius Commercial Bank Representative Office (Nigeria) Limited.

Full list of banks and their categories

International Lenders

  1. Zenith Bank
  2. Guaranty Trust Bank
  3. First City Monument Bank (FCMB )
  4. Access Bank 
  5. United Bank of Africa (UBA)
  6. Fidelity Bank 
  7. First Bank of Nigeria (FBN)

National Licenced

  1. Citibank Nigeria
  2. Ecobank Nigeria 
  3. Heritage Bank 
  4. Globus Bank 
  5. Keystone Bank 
  6. Polaris Bank 
  7. Stanbic  IBTC Bank 
  8. Standard Chartered Bank 
  9. Sterling Bank 
  10. Titan Trust Bank 
  11. Union Bank 
  12. Unity Bank 
  13. Wema Bank 
  14. Premium Trust Bank 
  15. Optimus Bank

Regional Licenced 

  1. Providus Bank
  2. Parallax Bank 
  3. Suntrust Bank 
  4. Signature Bank 

Non-Interest Lenders

  1. Jaiz Bank 
  2. Taj Bank 
  3. Lotus Bank 
  4. Alternative Bank

Merchant Licenced 

  1. Coronation Merchant Bank
  2. FBN Merchant Bank 
  3. FSDH Merchant Bank
  4. Greenwich Merchant Bank 
  5. Nova Merchant Bank 
  6. Rand Merchant Bank

Financial Holding Companies 

  1. Access Holdings
  2. FBN Holdings
  3. Guaranty Trust Holdings
  4. FCMB Holdings
  5. FSDH Holdings
  6. Stanbic IBTC  Holdings
  7. Sterling  Financial Holdings

Representative Office 

  1. The Mauritius Commercial Bank Representative Office (Nigeria) Limited.

On March 29, CBN announced an upward review of the minimum capital requirements for commercial, merchant and non-interest banks.

The apex bank said the increase was necessary due to prevailing macroeconomic challenges and headwinds occasioned by external and domestic shocks.

CBN advised banks unable to meet the required capital base to downgrade their licence.

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Business

FG debunks officials demanded $150m bribe from Binance

Published

5 hours ago

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May 8, 2024 2:19 pm

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The federal government has accused Binance of blackmail after the company alleged officials demanded $150 million in cryptocurrency payments as bribe to settle the prosecution of its executives in Nigeria.

On Tuesday, Richard Teng, Binance’s chief executive officer (CEO), said some unknown persons in Nigeria demanded huge payments in digital currency to make their problems in the country “go away”.

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Business

Naira depreciates again at official market, trades at ₦1,416 to dollar

Published

11 hours ago

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May 8, 2024 8:31 am

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The naira on Tuesday depreciated at the official market, trading at ₦1,416.57 to the dollar.

Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), showed that the naira lost ₦62.36.

This represents a 4.60% loss when compared to the previous trading date on Monday when it exchanged at ₦1,354.21 to a dollar.

However, the total daily turnover increased to 160.77 on Tuesday, up from $84.83 million recorded on Monday.

Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the naira traded between 1,445 and ₦1,301 against the dollar.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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