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REVEALED: FG Spends N1.1bn On Top Lawyers Over Three Years

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The Federal Ministry of Justice in Nigeria has disbursed a staggering N1.1 billion in professional fees to some of the country’s leading lawyers over the last three years.

This revelation follows an analysis of data from GovSpend, a platform dedicated to tracking government expenditures.

Prominent beneficiaries of these payments include Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) Chief Afe Babalola, Wole Olanipekun, and Dr. Alex Izinyon, among 23 other legal firms.

READ MORE: 2025: Nigerian States Fail To Achieve 60% Budget Execution In 2024

The scope of their professional services ranged from offering legal advice and drafting documents to representing the government in court and handling regulatory compliance matters.

Breakdown of Payments

According to records, Babalola, Olanipekun, and Izinyon collectively received N482.7 million in July 2024 alone. Of this amount:

Chief Afe Babalola received N372.9 million on July 23 for representing the Federal Government in a case registered as FHC/ABJ/SC/8962/2023.

Wole Olanipekun was paid N103.6 million on July 26, while Dr. Alex Izinyon received N6.2 million on July 29.

Further analysis revealed that in 2022, 17 lawyers were paid a combined total of N359.7 million, while four lawyers collectively received N319.3 million in 2021.

Notable beneficiaries include: Savannah Law Chambers: N17.4 million in 2022 and an additional N29 million.

LDS Legal: N70.9 million in 2022 and N21.8 million in 2021, Sulaiman Salihu & Co: N31.4 million in two tranches in 2022 and N100.5 million in 2021.

Other firms like Lex Habitae, Rashida Mohammed & Co, and King’s Chambers each received between N15 million and N22 million for their services.

Tax Payments

As part of the payments, Babalola paid N31 million in Value Added Tax (VAT) and N41.4 million in withholding tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Ministry of Justice, respectively.

Similarly, Olanipekun paid N8.6 million in VAT and N11.5 million in withholding tax.

Despite the comprehensive scale of services rendered, the payments have raised concerns about the transparency and accountability of government expenditures.

The Legal Practitioners Remuneration Order, 2023, outlines guidelines for legal fees, yet the significant sums disbursed to these top lawyers and firms have prompted calls for greater scrutiny of how public funds are allocated.

 

 

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Dangote Refinery IPO: SEC Warns Investors Against Fraudsters, Fake Platforms

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned prospective investors against fraudsters, fake platforms and unauthorised individuals seeking to take advantage of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The Commission issued the warning in a public notice dated Monday, September 14, 2026, following its approval for the IPO by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE to open to the public.

The SEC urged investors to exercise caution and ensure that all applications and payments relating to the IPO are made only through the officially designated and approved receiving agents, subscription channels and platforms.

ALSO READ: Dangote Calls Refinery IPO ‘People’s IPO’ as N2.15tn Offer Opens

The Commission advised prospective investors to obtain information about the IPO only from the SEC’s official channels, the issuer’s official channels and other official channels established and approved for the offer.

It also urged investors to verify the authenticity of any website, platform or link before providing personal or financial information.

According to the SEC, investors should follow only the officially announced subscription or application process and IPO timetable and should “Avoid transferring funds to any person or entity claiming to receive applications/subscriptions outside the approved channels.”

The Commission further advised investors to verify that their chosen registered Capital Market Operator’s channels or platforms for the offer are duly authorised and approved.

The SEC also warned investors to “Avoid responding to unsolicited calls, WhatsApp messages, social media advertisements, emails or other channels/platforms that offer or guarantee allotments or preferential allocation.”

The regulator urged prospective subscribers to carefully read the approved Prospectus and understand the terms, conditions and risks associated with the investment before making any subscription.

SEC warns against fake IPO agents

The Commission stressed that the existence of an individual, company, digital platform or social media account does not, by itself, constitute approval or authorisation to receive applications or funds from investors in respect of the offer.

The SEC therefore advised prospective investors to contact SEC-registered stockbrokers, banks or registered Investment advisers for guidance before subscribing.

The Commission also urged the public to “VERIFY” the registration status of companies, entities, platforms or individuals offering investment opportunities before entering into any transaction with them.

Investors can verify the registration status of operators through the SEC’s dedicated portal for registered fintech operators or through the Commission’s Capital Market Operators platform.

The warning comes as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals IPO officially opens on Monday, September 14, 2026, following the Commission’s approval.

The Commission listed its contact details as +2342094621168-9 and [email protected], while its WhatsApp contact is 0916 772 3240.

The SEC urged investors to remain vigilant and rely only on verified and authorised channels throughout the IPO process.

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BREAKING: Dangote Refinery IPO Subscription Surpasses ₦1.4trn as Investor Demand Soars

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Investor demand for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals initial public offering (IPO) has reached a historic level, with subscription activity surging across digital investment channels.

Data released by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on its official X handle on Monday showed that total transaction volume had surpassed 402,634, pushing the total subscription value to ₦1,476,171,994,112, approximately ₦1.476 trillion.

The figures, displayed on the #NGXInvest command centre dashboard, highlight the strong appetite among investors for the landmark offering.

 

 

 

More details shortly.

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Sunday Dare Highlights Tinubu’s Key Achievements, Fires Back at Steve Osuji

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Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Media and Public Communications/Spokesperson, Dr Sunday Dare, has highlighted what he described as key achievements of the Tinubu administration while firing back at columnist Steve Osuji over his assessment of the 2027 presidential landscape.

Dare made the remarks in a lengthy statement disclosed via his X account on Monday, titled “Steve Osuji’s 2027 Prophetic Fantasy.”

The presidential aide accused Osuji of confusing “cynicism for sophistication, bitter partisanship for objective analysis, and venom for editorial depth.”

SEE ALSO: Your Presidency Left Nigeria in Ruins, Tinubu Is Fixing It – Dare to Obasanjo

Dare said Osuji’s intervention on the 2027 presidential race attempted to portray President Tinubu as an imperiled incumbent while elevating former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi as an “infallible, messianic” opposition figure.

According to him, Osuji’s argument amounted to “wishful thinking” and failed to account for the structural challenges facing Nigeria.

Dare Defends Tinubu’s Economic Reforms

Dare defended some of the administration’s most controversial economic decisions, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market.

He argued that successive governments had failed to confront what he described as the “criminal, unsustainable fuel subsidy regime” and distorted multiple foreign exchange markets.

According to Dare, previous administrations repeatedly postponed the difficult decisions, opting instead for what he called “popular, debt-financed ruin.”

He said Tinubu “took the bull by the horns on day one,” arguing that the reforms stopped the diversion of trillions of naira through the subsidy regime and dismantled what he described as a corrupt parallel-market cartel.

Dare added that revenue flows to the federal, state and local governments had expanded as a result, giving sub-national governments greater financial capacity to execute development projects.

$54.08bn Reserves, 4.43% GDP Growth

The presidential aide also cited what he described as measurable gains in the Nigerian economy.

Dare said Nigeria’s real GDP expanded by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, accelerating from previous quarters.

He also cited the assessments of international rating agencies, including Fitch, Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings, saying their credit upgrades reflected growing confidence in Nigeria’s structural reforms.

According to Dare, Nigeria’s external reserves had risen above $54.08 billion, which he described as the highest level in nearly 18 years.

He further claimed that the debt service-to-revenue ratio had experienced a “dramatic downward rebalancing” away from the unsustainable levels of previous years.

Dare Highlights Tinubu’s Infrastructure Drive

Dare listed infrastructure development as another major area of progress under Tinubu.

He cited the ongoing construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway, as well as rail modernisation and regional power interventions.

According to him, the administration had prioritised high-impact infrastructure through aggressive Public-Private Partnerships and the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund.

He said the projects were laying “the physical tracks for long-term industrialization.”

NELFUND, MSMEs and Minimum Wage

Dare also highlighted the administration’s social interventions and human-capital programmes.

He cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), saying it had enabled hundreds of thousands of indigent students to access higher education.

He also listed Credicorp, MSME intervention funds and the implementation of the new national minimum wage among measures introduced to cushion Nigerians from the effects of the economic adjustments.

Security and EFCC

On security, Dare acknowledged that Nigeria’s security challenges had accumulated over decades and could not disappear overnight.

However, he said the armed forces had continued with “aggressive, coordinated offensives” against insurgency, banditry and kidnapping networks.

He maintained that the operations had steadily restored civil authority to liberated communities.

Dare also cited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying the agency had been empowered to tackle illicit financial flows and sanitise the country’s financial architecture.

He added that Nigeria’s standing in international financial governance had continued to benefit from the administration’s policies.

 

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