EFCC arrests military chief at airport

                                                           Air Vice Marshal Rufus Adeniyi Ojuawo

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested a serving senior officer of the Nigerian Air Force in connection with the $2.1bn arms purchase scandal.

It was learnt that the officer, Air Vice Marshal R.A. Ojuawo, was arrested by operatives of the EFCC at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his way out of the country, according to The PUNCH.

A top source, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Tuesday, said Ojuawo was arrested while accompanying the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, to a meeting of the United States Africa Command in Germany on Sunday.

According to Wikipedia, the United States Africa Command, otherwise known as AFRICOM, is one of the nine unified combatant commands of the US Armed Forces, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany.

It is responsible for the US military operations and military relations with 53 African nations. Its area of responsibility covers all of Africa except Egypt, which is within the area of responsibility of the US Central Command.

The source, said, “The event, which they were going to attend, was about the activities of the military in the fight against insurgency. AVM Ojuawo was the one that was supposed to deliver the keynote address on behalf of the Nigerian Air Force, told The PUNCH.

“However, a team of EFCC detectives stormed the airport and refused to allow him travel. All the senior military officers present pleaded with the detectives but they refused to listen. We explained to them that we had invested a lot of time and energy in putting together the report that Ojuawo was supposed to present.

“The Air Force had done feasibility studies on how to rehabilitate Internally Displaced Persons and was going to present the report in Germany.

“We promised them that immediately we were done with the event, Ojuawo would return and visit the EFCC but the detectives said he was a flight risk. How could he flee when he was in the entourage of the CDS?”

It was learnt that Ojuawo had been invited by the commission a few weeks ago and had even visited the Idiagbon House headquarters of the anti-graft agency, where he was interrogated alongside the immediate past CDS, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.), and was allowed to go.

According to a source in the NAF, Ojuawo was the Director of Operations when Badeh was the Chief of Air Staff.

However, the Director of Information, Defence Headquarters, Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said he was not aware of such incident.

The defence spokesman said the EFCC had a good relationship with the military, adding that such an incident was unlikely.

“I am not aware of the incident. It is unlikely that such a thing would happen without my knowledge. My deputy was part of the entourage and he never informed me of such an incident.

“We support the anti-corruption war as patriotic Nigerians and we will not hide such information,” the Defence spokesman stated.

The spokesperson for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said he could not confirm the story, stressing that he could not say if the senior Air Force officer was in the custody of the agency.

“I cannot confirm if he was arrested or not. I don’t know if he’s in custody,” he said on the telephone on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Badeh, who has been in the EFCC’s detention for nearly 48 hours, is being probed for contracts totalling $930,500,690.00 which were awarded under his leadership.

It was gathered that the EFCC had subjected him to not less than 18 hours of interrogation since he was detained on Monday.

It was also learnt that the commission would, this week, obtain a holding charge to enable it to detain the former Chief of Defence Staff for more than 48 hours.

The money is said to be part of the $2.1bn, meant for the purchase of arms, which was under the control of the Office of the National Security Adviser, then under the headship of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).

Badeh is also said to be answering questions on the non-specification of procurement costs, absence of contract agreements, award of contracts beyond authorised thresholds, transfer of public funds for unidentified purposes and general non-adherence to provisions of the Public Procurement Act.

However, another military source said several of the officers, who were being interrogated by the EFCC, did not have the option of refusing to obey instructions given to them on critical issues because of the tradition of the military.

There were indications that the Federal Government had deployed security operatives in all the international airports to prevent those under investigation from fleeing the country.

The AVM, who has been detained alongside the former CDS, was among some Air Force officers; who were recommended for interrogation by the Presidential Panel on Arms Procurement.

Meanwhile, it was also gathered that the EFCC had interrogated six serving Air Vice-Marshals, including Ojuawo and one A.M. Mamu.

An information stated that the six officers were quizzed following statements made by the ex-CDS and the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu.

Presidency Reacts To Brouhaha Over Buhari’s Telegraph Interview

The State House has described as misconstrued, the various interpretations of President Muhammadu Buhari’s comments in an interview granted to the UK’s Telegraph newspaper on February 5.

In a statement released in Abuja on Tuesday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said that the wave of negative reactions to the President’s remarks about the reputation of Nigerians abroad was as a result of an incomplete understanding of President Buhari’s point.

“President Buhari was asked about the flood of migrants from Nigeria and the fraudulent applications for asylum put in by people desperate to leave their motherland at any cost, and it was this question that elicited his response,” Mr Shehu said, encouraging Nigerians to avail themselves of a full text of the interview, which has now been made available on the Telegraph’s website.

The President’s spokesman added that it was preposterous for anyone to imagine that the President of Nigeria would describe all the citizens of the country he leads as criminals, when he himself is a Nigerian – obviously not a criminal – and when there are many Nigerians of honest living making their country proud all over the world.

“Unfortunately, there are also Nigerians giving their country a bad image abroad and it is to those Nigerians that the President referred in his comments,” he said.

Mr Shehu maintained that people may play politics and online games with the President’s comments, but the fact of the matter remained that Nigeria’s reputation abroad has been severely damaged by her own citizens.

“These Nigerians who leave their country to go and make mischief on foreign shores have given the rest of us a bad reputation that we daily struggle to overcome,” he said.

The President’s aide called attention to the many efforts of President Buhari to clean up Nigeria’s image such as the war on corruption, stating that “Acknowledging you have a problem is the first step to preferring a solution.

“President Buhari is very aware of the problems the people of Nigeria face both at home and abroad; and he is not shying away from admitting them even as he focuses on solutions to bring them to a permanent end,” he said.

With Channel TV

Court rejects Kanu’s request for his seized passports, money

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed an application by leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and founder of Radio Biaf‎ra, Nnamdi Kanu, for the release of certain items, including his British and Nigeria passports, which are in the custody of the Department of State Service.

Justice James Tsoho dismissed the application made orally by Kanu’s lawyer, Mr. Chuks Muouma (SAN), who had sought the release of the items because they would not be needed by the prosecution since they were not listed as part of exhibits to be tendered.

Apart from the passports, other items which Muouma sought to be released to the IPOB leader who is currently in detention at Kuje prison along with his two co-accuse, are cash sums of $2,200 and N87,000, The PUNCH reported.

Justice Tsoho, in dismissing the application for lacking in merit, insisted that the fact that the items were not listed as possible exhibits did not foreclose the possibility of their being later used by the prosecution as exhibits.

‎He then adjourned the case till February 19 for the hearing of an application by the prosecution for protection of its witnesses.

The judge, before adjourning the case,  granted the request by the defence lawyer to the effect that relations of the accused persons be allowed in the court room subject to security screening and the capacity of the court room.

Kanu, David Nwawusi and Benjamin Madubugwu are being prosecuted on six counts of treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and other offences bordering on their agitation for secession ‎of the Republic of Biafra from Nigeria.

‎Justice Tsoho had on January 29 denied bail to Kanu and the two other defendants and ordered that they remained on remand pending the period of their trial.

The judge in rejecting the accused persons’ bail application, held that they were not entitled to bail as they failed to challenge the allegation by the prosecution that they would continue to commit the alleged crime for which they were being prosecuted if granted bail.

Kanu was in the custody of the Department of State Service from the time of his arrest in a Lagos hotel on October 14, 2015 till January 20, 2016, when he was transferred to prison by an order of Justice Tsoho , shortly after he was arraigned along with two others.

Popular Yoruba actor, Arakangudu, is dead

Top Yoruba actor, Sikiru Adeshina, popularly called Arakangudu, died between late Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday, The Punch reported.

Speaking with our correspondent on the telephone from his base in Ekiti State, veteran thespian, Chief Jimoh Aliu, said those with the late actor broke the news of his death to him on Tuesday morning.

“I was called by those who were with him and told that he died after making a noise from his sleep,” Aliyu said. “They told me he died early this morning.”

Apart from acting, late Adesina produced movies like Ilu Gangan, Idunnu Mi, Ogbologbo, Iya Oju Ogun, Agbede Ogun, Ere Agbere among others.

Prosecutor Closes Case In Metuh’s Trial

The prosecution has closed its case against the spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Olisa Metuh.

The case was closed after the 8th prosecution witness briefed the court on how Mr Metuh had destroyed his statement during investigation by the anti-graft agency, according to Channel TV.

Under cross examination, the witness, Mr Junaid Sa’id, said that after Mr Metuh had written in his statement that the monies he received from the Office of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki, was for campaign activities as approved by former President Goodluck Jonathan and for the payment of his personal debt.

He added that about 77.5 million was allegedly paid to one CMC Connect for campaign publicity for the PDP while 25 million was giving to one Abba Dabo for the same purpose.

The witness, who is an investigative officer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also told the court that the National Women Leader of the PDP, Kema Chikwe, got five million Naira from the said money while the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, Tony Anenih, received the sum of 21.7 billion Naira.

He also told Justice Obong Abang that 500 million Naira was paid in two tranches to a company, Daniel Ford International, by Mr Metuh for the purchase of a landed property at Banana Island in Lagos State.

The witness said that ‎investigations revealed that the former NSA had on November 27, 2014, made a 10 billion Naira withdrawal from the Central Bank of Nigeria and converted same to $47 million which was shared to some PDP party members at its national convention.

According to him, the two million dollars allegedly laundered by the PDP spokesman is strongly linked to the said withdrawal.

It was four days after the disbursements that Mister Metuh gave the money to his then wealth manager, Nneka Ararume, he claimed.

The official of the EFCC further told the court that out of the 400 million Naira that was fraudulently transferred to Mr Metuh and his company by the former NSA, the accused person kept 50 million Naira for himself

But when asked if there was any documentary evidence to substantiate his testimony, the witness ‎answered in the negative.

‎The trial judge then adjourned the case till February 18 for the defence to open its case.