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Army not involved in confiscation of any community land in Osun

Published

1 year ago

August 30, 2023

Nigerian army headquarter

Army not involved in confiscation of any community land in Osun

The Nigerian Army absolved self from allegation of confiscation of community land for a proposed civil-military intervention project in Orolu Community in Osun.

This contained in a statement by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig -Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Nwachukwu said that one Chief Babatunde Oyetunji, Eesa of Ifon, had in a statement alleged that the Nigerian Army had decided to forcefully acquire land for a proposed project in Orolu Community.

He said the allegations were entirely false, malicious and an effort by some vested interests to tarnish the good reputation of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and drag the name of the institution in the mud.

“The fact of the matter is that one of the lines of operations of the Nigerian army in tackling security challenges in the country is the Non-kinetic line of operations.

“It is a soft approach, aimed at winning the hearts and minds of the public through the instrumentality of Civil-Military Cooperation activities or programmes of the Nigerian Army.

“This effort, is fundamentally geared towards fostering cooperation and galvanising support of the civil populace for army’s diverse operations to mitigate security challenges across the country.

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Hence, the Nigerian army usually executes special community intervention projects, such as hospitals, boreholes, electrification amongst others based on needs assessment, after consultations with the leadership of such communities, at the behest of senior officers, who hail from the benefiting community,” he said.

In this particular case, Nwachukwu said that a retired senior officer conceptualised an intervention project; a medical centre in the state.

He said the proposal had not even been formally forwarded to the Chief of Army staff for approval, adding that the Department of Civil-Military Affairs at the Army Headquarters was yet to receive requisite information to enable it initiate a comprehensive proposal for the project.

He explained that the army would not have in any way known which land belongs to who, since it was not yet involved in the process.

According to him, it is only when and if the request of the retired senior officer is forwarded to the Chief of Army Staff and is approved, that the Army can send a team to carry out due diligence on the project site and carry along all stakeholders in the process.

“Surprisingly, if the said project for which the COAS and the Nigerian army are being maligned sails through and is approved, it is a project that will benefit the civil populace and serve humanity, irrespective of community affiliation.

“The Nigerian Army hereby absolves itself of any involvement in an attempt to confiscate any community land.

“The Nigerian Army is a professional and law abiding institution that has always followed due process in all her intervention projects, so far undertaken.

“Therefore, members of the public are enjoined to discountenance the allegations and continue to support the Nigerian Army and its Kinetic and None kinetic operations across the country,” Nwachukwu said.

Army not involved in confiscation of any community land in Osun

(NAN)

metro

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

Published

9 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

The federal government has unveiled a proposed budget of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.

Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed this to journalists on Thursday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Bagudu revealed that the council had approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.

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According to the minister, the government has pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel, with an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd).

The budget also sets the exchange rate at N1,400 per dollar and aims for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4%.

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

metro

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

Published

9 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told FIJ that they have arrested Timber Wabote, the former executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB), on the grounds of a failed $35 million Bayelsa refinery project fraud.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed this to FIJ on Thursday.

“It is true,” Oyewale responded to FIJ’s inquiries.

Wabote is accused of misappropriating public funds for a refinery project that should have improved local energy production.

Vanguard reported that the NCDMB under Wabote paid $35 million to support the development of energy infrastructure in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, yet there was nothing to show for it.

The EFCC picked Wabote up following the arrest of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering and diversion of $35 million in public funds.

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“NCDMB under the watch of Wabote allegedly paid the $35 million to Akindele to build a 2,000 barrel per day (BPD), refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass free trade zone (FTZ), Okpoama Community in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State,” a source with the EFCC had explained.

Since December 2020 when the payments were made, Akindele abandoned the project with little or nothing to show for the huge sum he received.

Preliminary investigations showed that Wabote’s NCDMB financed 17 different projects, including the 2,000 BPD refinery in Brass LGA.

There has been a series of public fund misappropriation cases in the energy sector in recent times.

FIJ earlier reported that members of the House of Representatives summoned three ministers to defend how over $2 billion was spent on renewable energy with not much to show for it.

A recent FIJ report also recently detailed how residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, have not had power in their homes since July due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.

The Bayelsa state government told FIJ it was the federal government’s responsibility to provide electricity for residents. The state has no renewable energy options reliable enough to power its capital despite the multi-million-dollar NCMB energy project.

Transparency in the energy sector has become necessary at a time when Nigerians have suffered power instability due to frequent grid collapses.

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

metro

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

Published

10 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

Yahaya Bello

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested an adjournment in the new case against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, stating that the 30-day window for the previously issued summons is still active.

The commission has granted administrative bail to his co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, and asked the court for an extension of time for Bello to appear.

At the resumed hearing before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, EFCC Counsel Jamiu Agoro noted that the court’s order from October 3rd had not yet expired.

“In that wise, we feel it will not be appropriate for us to take proceedings while that 30 days is still running. So we have discussed and agreed to come back on the 27th day of November, 2024, my lord,” he told the court.

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He also mentioned that the previously set date of November 20th was not convenient for the prosecution counsels.

Counsel to the second defendant, Aliyu Saiki, SAN, confirmed that his client had been granted administrative bail by the prosecution and had no objection to the adjournment request. The third defendant’s counsel, ZE Abass, concurred.

The prosecution counsel also requested the court to allow the notice of hearing to be pasted on the last known address of the first defendant.

After hearing from all counsels, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and the issuance of the hearing notice.

“I have considered the application for adjournment by the complainant and issuance of hearing notice and the submission by the second and third defendants. The application is granted,” she said.

Justice Anenih then adjourned the case to November 27th for arraignment.

The former governor, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.