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Court Postpones Trial Of Ex-NHIS Boss

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Prof. Usman Yusuf, the former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), will remain in custody after the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Kuje deferred his arraignment to February 3, 2025.

Yusuf, who was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, appeared before Justice Chinyere E. Nwecheonwu on Thursday for his scheduled arraignment on fraud-related charges.

RELATED NEWS: BREAKING: EFCC Arrests Former NHIS Boss, Prof. Usman Yusuf

However, the court adjourned the case to allow the prosecution time to amend the charges against him.

During the session, defense counsel Isah Dokto Haruna, who represented lead counsel O.I. Habeeb, SAN, applied for bail on behalf of the defendant.

However, Justice Nwecheonwu declined the request, stating that bail could not be considered until Yusuf was formally arraigned.

“In the absence of a formal arraignment, bail at this stage is premature,” the judge ruled.

Consequently, the court ordered that Yusuf remain in EFCC custody until the next hearing date.

The case will resume on February 3, 2025, when the former NHIS chief is expected to be formally charged.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. american news new york

    January 30, 2025 at 2:29 pm

    Your blog post has inspired me to delve deeper into this topic. Thank you for igniting my curiosity!

  2. news elon musk

    January 30, 2025 at 6:32 pm

    Your blog post was exactly what I needed to read today. It’s amazing how much insight you’ve packed into just a few paragraphs.

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Crime

Notorious Bandit Leader, Bello Turji Fines Sokoto Villages N22m For Killing Gang Member

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18-year-old student stabs 2 students over Football Argument In Bauchi

Bello Turji, a notorious bandit leader, has imposed a N22 million fine on four villages in Sokoto State after one of his gang members was killed during a military operation in their locality.

The levy, which was initially N25 million, was reduced after negotiations between the affected communities and Turji’s gang.

According to Aminu Boza, a lawmaker representing Sabon Birni West in the Sokoto State House of Assembly, one of the villages being forced to pay the fine is Garin Idi, the hometown of the state’s Deputy Governor, Idris Gobir.

READ ALSO: Sokoto On Edge: Nigerian Army In Intense Gun Battle With Bandits Led By Bello Turji

Boza revealed that Turji has relocated his base to the eastern part of Isa Local Government Area (LGA) in Sokoto.

“He is just like a businessman who has multiple shops and is going around to supervise them,” Boza said, criticizing the military for failing to maintain a sustained presence in the region.

“I have always criticised the military for not sustaining their operation in the eastern part of Sokoto because anytime they withdraw, it is the villages that bear the brunt,” he stated.

Despite multiple visits from top officials of the Ministry of Defence, banditry remains a serious threat in Sokoto.

Boza pointed to a recent attack in which six members of the Sokoto Community Guards were killed.

In addition to the imposed fine, Turji is also demanding N250,000 from the family of each of the 13 worshippers abducted in Sabon Birni LGA two weeks ago. So far, five hostages have been released after their families paid the ransom.

The lawmaker called on the military to intensify and sustain operations in the region, emphasizing that consistent military action is necessary to protect vulnerable communities and restore peace.

 

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Crime

Singer Portable Arraigned In Ogun Court Over Alleged Assault On Officials

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Portable Among 2022 Most Searched Artists On Google

Controversial street-hop singer, Habeeb Okikiola Olalomi, popularly known as Portable, has been arraigned at the Ogun State Magistrate Court in Isabo, Abeokuta, over an alleged assault on government officials.

The Ogun State Police Command had declared Portable wanted on February 18 following an incident involving three officials from the Ogun State Planning and Development Permit Authority (OGPDPA).

The officials were reportedly carrying out enforcement actions at the singer’s bar when the situation escalated.

READ MORE: Portable Surrenders To Police In Lagos, Awaits Transfer To Ogun

According to police reports, the altercation occurred on February 5, when OGPDPA officials attempted to seal Portable’s establishment due to “a lack of approved permits and insufficient airspace.”

The singer allegedly led a group in a violent attack on the officials, who managed to escape despite sustaining injuries.

Following the incident, nine of Portable’s associates were arrested and arraigned on a five-count charge, including armed violence, felony, obstruction, assault, and intent to kill.

Portable later surrendered himself to the police in Lagos on Wednesday before being transferred to the Ogun State Police Command.

He was subsequently brought before the court on Thursday to face charges related to the attack.

 

 

 

 

More to follow……….. 

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Crime

Alleged N5.78b Fraud: Ex-Kwara Gov, Ahmed Diverted UBEC Funds-Witness

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Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,

 

The First Prosecution Witness (PW1), Abubakar Hassan in the trial of former governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, and his Commissioner for Finance, Ademola Banu on Monday, February 17, 2025, told Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the State High Court, sitting in Ilorin that the first defendant diverted to personal use, funds earmarked for Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) projects in the state.

The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC is prosecuting both defendants on a 12-count charge of mismanagement and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N5.78 billion.

ALSO READ: Edo Pitches EFFC Against Obaseki, PDP Leaders In N96bn LG Fraud

The witness, an Assistant Director of Finance in UBEC, while being led in evidence by prosecution, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, disclosed that a total of 51 UBEC projects approved under the 2013 Action Plan were abandoned under former Governor Ahmed due to a lack of funds. The projects, discovered by the UBEC Project Monitoring Committee in the state were abandoned despite UBEC’s approval for citing them in state and funds for their execution, released. According to the witness, the state government under the leadership of the defendant mismanaged the funds.

“My lord, the Projects Monitoring
Committee conducted investigations and found that many projects were either unexecuted or abandoned. We wrote to the then Kwara State governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, in May 2018 to address these issues. The projects were categorized into three: Early Care Education, Primary School Education, and Junior Secondary School Education, but we received no response,” he said.

He further explained that the abandoned projects were scattered all through the 16 Local Government Areas of the state and further revealed that on January 6, 2015, the sum N1 billion had to be loaned from the 2013 UBEC Matching Grant Account with Skye Bank Plc to pay staff salaries and pensions.

Addressing the utilization of the 2014 and 2015 State Counterpart Funds, he stated that the Kwara SUBEB illegally withdrew the sum of N1,829,054,054.06
(One Billion, Eight Hundred and Twenty-nine Million, Fifty-four Thousand, Fifty-four, Six Kobo) from funds lodged on February 18, 2016, stating that the withdrawn funds qualified the state to access the Federal Government’s UBE Matching Grants.

“State Matching Grants are not permitted to be borrowed or utilized for any purpose outside the approved action plan. The objectives of UBEC were undermined due to these infractions and the failure to implement the Action Plan,” he said.

Worried by the diversion of the funds, the witness disclosed that UBEC also had to send a letter of invitation to the state government, requesting a documentary evidence on Kwara State Government’s use of UBEC funds. Attached to the invite were
documents showing the lodgment of funds from UBEC to the Kwara SUBEB.

Justice Abdulgafar adjourned the matter until February 18, 2025, for cross-examination of the witness.

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