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EFCC Alleges N75m Was Recovered from Ex-Minister’s Wife
An operative with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Bello Hamma-Adama, has told Justice Inyang Ekwo, of a Federal High Court in Abuja that a sum of N75m was recovered from Halima Turaki, wife of a former Minister for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs.
Tanimu Turaki was a former Minister for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs during the administration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan between 2013 and 2015.
He also served as the Minister for the Federal Ministry of Labour between 2014 and 2015.
Hamma-Adama, the fifth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Turaki, made the observations before Justice Ekwo on Wednesday.
The EFCC had arraigned Turaki alongside his former Special Assistant, Sampson Okpetu, and two firms, Samtee Essentials Ltd and Pasco Investment Ltd, on a 16-count charge of money laundering.
Although Turaki and Okpetu pleaded not guilty to the charges, the anti-graft agency alleged that the defendants used the companies to launder the fund totalling N845m taken from the two ministries where the ex-minister held sway under the Jonathan administration.
While being led in evidence by the counsel to the EFCC, Mohammed Abubakar, the witness said about N359m was moved from the Ministry of Special Duties for a sensitisation project for the government.
Hamma-Adama, who was the lead investigator in the agency, however, said the money was later transferred in tranches into private individuals’ accounts.
Giving the breakdown, he said N45m was allegedly transferred to the ex-Minister’s brother, Abdullahi Maigwandu, through his Zenith Bank account.
Out of the N45m, he said Maigwandu transferred N20m to the Guarantee Trust Bank account of Halima Tanimu Turaki, the ex-minister’s wife.
According to the fifth prosecution witness, the sum of N20m was transferred to O-Pec Nig Ltd.
He said the remaining N5m was withdrawn in China using the ATM of Maigwandu by Halima to procure furniture items.
“The sum of N30m was transferred to Abubakar Sani Gude’s Zenith Bank account from the ministry’s account and the N30m was sent to the wife of the first defendant (Turaki),” he said.
Hamma-Adama said when Maigwandu was invited for interrogation, he confessed that the money came from the ministry and he neither had any business with the ministry nor engaged in any sensitisation exercise.
The witness said Maigwandu, a civil servant in Kebbi with a monthly salary of N33,000, also told the EFCC that the N45m was received by the ex-Minister’s wife.
“We called for the Maigwandu’s account statement in Zenith Bank. We discovered that he is a civil servant in Kebbi on a salary of about N33, 000.
“We suspected a case of money laundering and we did a network analysis and we discovered that he could not have owned that money because he is on a N33, 000 salary”, Hamma-Adama said.
He said Maigwandu told the investigators that every money in that account belonged to Turaki, except his salary.
“He said he is a brother to the former minister and that the money was transferred on his instruction,” the EFCC operative added.
Hamma-Adama hinted that as at the time the N45m was transferred to Maigwandu, he was having about N7,300 in his account.
He said with all the information gathered, Halima was invited to their office.
“She came alongside the first defendant (her husband) and a lawyer. On video, she mentioned that the transaction was done at her instance.
“She said she was not a contractor with the Ministry of Special Duties and that she did not carry out any sensitisation exercise for the ministry. We ask if she knows Gode and Gwandu and she said she did. She said the transaction was her transaction and it was done on her instructions”, the witness said.
Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter till February 9 and 10 for the continuation of the trial.
The Punch
Eminent Nigerians and Global Leaders on sunday evening, remembered banking icon Herbert Wigwe in an evening of tributes and celebration of his life and legacy. It was the first anniversary of his passing in a helicopter accident in Southern California on February 9, 2024. He died along with his wife, Doreen, son Chizi and friend, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The four-hour memorial service, held at the ballroom of the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, also featured prayers, musical performances and ministration by Lagos preacher, Pastor Itua Ighodalo. There was also a keynote lecture by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Ms Mia Mottley. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in a tribute, described Wigwe as a quintessential banker and business leader who made immense contributions to the growth of Nigeria’s banking industry.
Recalling his numerous engagements, travels and works with Wigwe, Chief Obasanjo noted that the late banker had taken Access Bank as a small lender in 2002 to a global business empire. Obasanjo’s tributes were read by Bolaji Agbede, the acting Group Chief Executive of Access Holdings, the parent company of the bank and other subsidiaries.
President Bola Tinubu said Wigwe’s pioneering legacy in business and finance is a testament to the uncanny ability of Nigerians to overcome obstacles and excel in their chosen fields.
The President, who was represented by Finance Minister Olawale Edun, commended Wigwe for founding a university which is poised to make enormous contributions to higher education in Africa. President Emmanuel Macron of France described the late Wigwe as a master of the art of business diplomacy – a relatively new field that seeks to adapt the skills and mindset of the government diplomat to the needs of the firm he leads.
Macron noted that as President of French-Nigeria Business Council (FNBC), Wigwe had used the platform to promote bilateral relations between the two countries. President Macrons’s statement was read by a senior diplomat at the French Embassy in Abuja. In a keynote lecture delivered extempore, Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados regretted the loss of important correspondent banking relationships (CBRs) during the 2009 financial crisis by banks across the Caribbean and noted that her country has risen to the challenge.
A correspondent banking relationship (CBR) is a bilateral arrangement between banks, often involving a reciprocal cross-border relationship in multiple countries. The arrangement involves one bank (the correspondent – for example a major international bank) providing a deposit account or other liability accounts, and related services, to another bank (the respondent – for example a bank located and doing business in the Caribbean, or Nigeria or any other country).
The Prime Minister announced that Access Bank would soon commence banking business in Barbados once the necessary regulatory approvals have been concluded.
The Prime Minister recalled her fond memories of Herbert Wigwe as a consummate international business icon and recollected that King Jaja of Opobo was exiled to her country by the British colonialists in the 17th century for refusing to implement a nefarious British tax policy and obstructing the colonialists’ commercial and political expansion. Ms Mottley was particularly excited that Opobo is a community in the present day Rivers State, Wigwe’s home state; and she tagged on that to create a pun. ‘’Tochi’’, she called out to Wige’s daughter, now the eldest child, who was also seated in the front row with the rest of the family, “you will soon come to Barbados; but not as an exile’’.
The audience laughed. Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwon-Olu gave an impassioned and heartfelt tribute, describing Wigwe as ‘’larger than life person, who was a builder of people; ideas and fortune’’.
Sanwon-Olu described Wigwe as brave and courageous.
His words: “Where others hesitated, Herbert moved. Lagos has felt his absence. Across the state, his legacies abound’’.
He mentioned a few of such legacies as the renovated National Arts Theatre; Access Bank Lagos Marathon and the triumph over Covid-19.
One of the high points of the evening was Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede’s emotional tributes in which he said that his partnership and friendship with Wigwe endured for so long due to the trust they had in each other. ‘’I was never, for once, afraid that Herbert was in the room, closing deals, when I was not there; and vice versa’’, he said, eliciting a prolonged applause. He announced that despite malicious publications in the social media, he would never abandon Herbert Wigwe’s children.
“Tochi; Hannah; David; Okachi, you are mine; just as my children were your dad’s children when he was here with us’’, Aig-Imoukhuede said, to the applause of the audience, some of whom were already tearing up.
“They’re irreplaceable’’, he said, referring to the departed.
“Herbert is irreplaceable as a friend; he is irreplaceable as a partner’’.
Two of Chizi’s friends, Rasheed Sarumi and Tunde Ogundare, also gave emotional tributes to him; while Linda Petinrin and Queenette Allagoa remembered the late Chizoba Wigwe in emotional tributes. Ambassador Idaere Gogo-Ogan (Herbert’s longstanding friend); Roosevelt Ogbonna (CEO of Access bank Plc); Uche Wigwe (Herbert’s cousin and trustee of Wigwe University) and David Wigwe (Herbert’s son) also gave stirring homage in what was clearly an evening of mixed emotions and celebrations of beautiful lives lost.
Other dignitaries at the event were Chairman of THISDAY Arise Media Group, Prince Nduka Obaigbena; Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN and chairman of Access Bank Plc; Emir Kano, Mohammed Sanusi II; Prof Benedict Oramah, President of Afrexim Bank; Former CEO of GTBank, Fola Adeola; Ben Akabueze, former DG of Budget Office of the Federation; executives and staff of Access Bank Group.
During a dinner after the memorial service, Prince Ogbaigbena formally presented THISDAY Lifetime Achievement Award for Herbert Wigwe to Tochi Wigwe.
The Secretary-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Prof Is-haq Oloyede, has urged leaders in the South-West geopolitical zone to support the establishment of Sharia panels in the six states of the zone.
According to him, the establishment of Sharia panels, which are essentially committees of Islamic scholars set up to settle marriage and inheritance disputes, will foster sustainable peace in the zone.
Oloyede, who doubles as Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), was a guest on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.
He said Nigerian “leaders should have a rethink. For sustainable peace, there is nothing bad in Muslims having” Sharia courts in the South-West.
Of late, the proposed establishment of Sharia panels in states like Ogun, Oyo, and others in the South-West has triggered disquiet in the zone with traditional institutions and the Christian community rejecting the move while state governments in Ogun and Oyo have also ruled out the idea. But despite the pushbacks, the Muslim community in Nigeria and the NSCIA led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, have stressed the importance of the panels as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism for Muslims.
Oloyede said: “I believe that Nigeria is great and Nigeria will continue to be great but it requires a lot of rethinking. Recently, people are talking about Sharia Panels in South-West and I was just smiling; I was smiling that I had never seen that level of ignorance being displayed. Sharia Panel in Oyo State, somebody did a PhD thesis on it in 2007 which means it had been there before 2007. The person who wrote on that appraisal is a professor today in Ibadan. He is Prof Makinde, and the governor coincidentally is Makinde. I don’t know whether they are related.”
The former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin said the matter is something so trivial, and warned against building unnecessary tension around it, especially in the South-West where Muslims, Christians and traditional institutions have co-existed peacefully for ages.
He, however, said the Muslims in the South-West are paying psychologically for the harmony enjoyed in the zone.
Oloyede said: “When you have such a situation (of religious tolerance) and you do not continue to monitor what you are doing, you will be living in the past. I’m a Muslim from the South-West. The Muslims from the South-West pay psychologically for the peace and harmony that we are talking about.
“The churches are licensed by the government to conduct marriages that are statutory and if you have any dispute within your marriage, you go to government-funded high courts for dispute resolution.
“If there is a dispute in my marriage, where do I go? I don’t have the opportunity because I married according to Islamic rites, I will have to go to customary court where the customary judge knows next to nothing about my faith, about the laws on the basis on which we got married. He would now use customary law to determine Islamic marriage and the Constitution of Nigeria allows it to say where the state of assembly allows it, there should be Sharia Courts of Appeal.
“There have been Sharia Courts of Appeal in different parts of the country, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria. When we say there is harmony, it means somebody is suffering in silence but when the person speaks, they say: ‘Why are you making noise?’”
He faulted those criticizing the Sultan of Sokoto for speaking up, saying that Muslims in Nigeria practice the same Islam. “I think we should be able to tolerate one another,” he said.
An appeal filed by Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, challenging the leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly has been dismissed by the Supreme Court in Abuja.
Fubara was also ordered to pay N2m to the Assembly and the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, by a five-member panel led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji on Monday.
The case was dismissed after Fubara’s lawyer, Yusuf Ali, withdrew the suit.
Recall that on October 10, 2024, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, admonished Fubara for failing to follow the rule of law in his actions.
The court further held that Fubara’s actions violated Section 96 of the 1999 Constitution, which requires at least one-third of the Assembly members to form a quorum.
The court noted that “four out of 31 members cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, constitute the required quorum for legislative business.”
Meanwhile, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court also ruled against Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget before the four-member Assembly led by Edison Ehie.
The budget presentation was a result of the leadership crisis within the Rivers State House of Assembly. Fubara had argued that the Amaewhule-led faction lost its legitimacy after defecting from the People’s Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.
However, the lower courts ruled that he failed to provide evidence of their defection and, therefore, could not legally present the budget to a four-member House.
Following the Court of Appeal judgment, Fubara approached the Supreme Court to set aside the lower court’s ruling and allow him to present the budget to the Ehie-led faction.
However, when the case was called on Monday, Fubara’s counsel, Yusuf Ali, informed the Supreme Court that the governor had decided to withdraw the appeal.
Ali stated that a notice dated February 6 had already been filed, explaining that the appeal had been overtaken by events.
All 17 respondents in the case, represented by various lawyers, did not oppose the withdrawal. However, J.B. Daudu (SAN), representing the 3rd to 12th respondents (National Assembly and its leadership), and Wole Olanipekun (SAN), representing the 1st and 2nd respondents (Rivers State House of Assembly and Amaewhule), requested a cost of N2 million.
Daudu further urged the court to dismiss the appeal rather than strike it out, as issues had already been joined.
The five-member Supreme Court panel dismissed the appeal after confirming that the withdrawal was not opposed.
In a brief ruling, Justice Abba-Aji declared the appeal dismissed and awarded a cost of N2 million in favour of the 1st to 12th respondents.
The Punch
