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In her judgment, the judge, Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, said the prosecution’s case was “feeble” and failed to provide “copious evidence” linking Mr. Fani-Kayode to money laundering.
Mr. Fani-Kayode, whose trial began in 2008 before Justice Ramat Mohammed, was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for allegedly laundering about N100 million while he was minister of culture and tourism and subsequently, aviation minister.
The allegedly laundered sum was, however, reduced to N2.1million on November 17, 2014 after the court dismissed 38 of the 40-count charge levelled against Mr. Fani-Kayode for want of proof.
The EFCC prosecutor, Festus Keyamo, while urging the court to uphold the remaining two counts and to accordingly convict Mr. Fani-Kayode, said the former minister failed to exonerate himself of the allegations.
Mr. Keyamo pointed out that the object of the charge was that Mr. Fani-Kayode transacted in cash sums above N500,000, which was the threshold stipulated by the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
Mr. Keyamo had argued that Mr. Fani-Kayode admitted making such transactions in his confessional statement of Dec. 22, 2008 made to the EFCC.
Mr. Keyamo had argued that the prosecution had discharged its duty once it established that Mr. Fani-Kayode transacted in large sums above the Money Laundering threshold, adding that it was left for Mr. Fani-Kayode to explain the source of the money.
“Once you cannot explain the source of the large sum of money found on you, you are guilty of money laundering. If the prosecution must show where the money is coming from, then the whole essence of the money laundering law is defeated.
“It is not in all cases that the burden of proof lies on the prosecution; the burden at this point shifts to the accused person,” Mr. Keyamo argued.
But Mr. Fani-Kayode’s lawyer, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), in his summary argument, maintained that Mr. Fani-Kayode made no confession to the EFCC, adding that the anti-graft agency failed to show that Mr. Fani-Kayode actually accepted a cash sum of N1million as alleged.
Mr. Adedipe said the EFCC also failed to show to the court the person who handed the cash sum to the accused person.
He said for the case of the prosecution to succeed, it had to be proven beyond reasonable doubts.
ESPN Report
However, the Ivory Coast international told France Football: "I read of helicopters, private beaches and plane tickets. I have no idea where that information comes from, but I have never demanded such things. "When I sign a contract I don't care about those things: everything that has been said about me is false."
Al-Jazira added: "We confirm that we stopped negotiating with Gervinho but this was purely because of technical details and not because of the player's demands, as reported by some online sources."
The club had already reached an agreement with Roma for the serviceS of Gervinho for a fee in the region of €13 million. Gervinho signed for Roma from Arsenal in 2013 and last season he scored two goals in 24 Serie A starts.
The 52-year-old presumably meant to send the sexy selfie via Instagram's direct message application on Monday night, but instead posted the candid snapshot for the world to see. Mr Jacobs quickly deleted the offending photo, but not before one fan snapped a screenshot and sent it to Gawker.
'It's yours to try!' Mr Jacobs captioned the picture, which appears to have been taken in his closet.
However, fans will no doubt quickly be able to recognize the designer's gold ring and distinctive arm tattoos.
The photo also shows Mr Jacobs' underwear pulled down past his thighs as he poses in the mirror, with his wardrobe and shopping bags serving as the backdrop.See the graphic pic after the cut....
"I think with all due respect to former Minister Okonjo Iweala, she knows how to play around, I don't want to say lie with statistics. I have made this point that she keeps opening only parts of the pages and not the entire book. The logic of transparency is that the honorable minister must publish in full what is accruing to the federation account month to month and what is distributed to who?
What she has been publishing is what went to the Federal government, state government and Local government. What she has never published simultaneously is what is it that accrued during the period out of which this said some was distributed so we can net what is distributed from all that was collected so we can see what was left in the Excess Crude. Now you can see her changing the goal post. Okonjo was a member of the National Economic Council, I was a member and we have asked her and I am on record at asking her , don't give us verbal report on matters of federation account. Give us written report and the power to spend is not vested in Commissioners, she knows that.
You look at the constitution and tell me what section gives the commissioners of finance presided over by the Finance Minister all not elected by Nigerians. The membership of NEC is clear-the governors chaired by the Vice President representing the President, the CBN governor and other federal relevant ministries such as the ministry of National Planning. How would she avoid this level of responsibility? When people are abusing governors today nobody is talking about Finance commissioners.Sometimes not even finance Minister. Why will she rather have the conversation with Commissioners of Finance and not the governors? So she has some explanation to do."he said
“But Nigerians know that collective revenues, allocations and expenditures of the three tiers of government are the concern of the monthly FAAC meetings,” the minister said.
She added that Governor Oshiomhole and some others like him, had made futile efforts at rubbishing her in the past and that the current effort would fail like the ones before it.
According to her, “it is clear that this is the latest chapter of a political witch-hunt by elements who are attempting to use the respected National Economic Council for ignoble purposes having failed abysmally in their previous attempts to tar the Okonjo-Iweala name.
“It will be recalled that one of such attempts took place in May when some of these governors, hiding under the auspices of the Nigerian Governors Forum, asked Okonjo-Iweala to explain $20 billion alleged to be missing from the same ECA.
“The Finance Ministry subsequently issued a news release and published an advertorial in national newspapers on May 25, 2015, giving details of what the Federal Government and states received from the ECA in the last four years. It also provided details of the use of the funds for payment of petrol subsidies for the Nigerian public and SURE-P allocations to the three tiers for development purposes.
“After the publication, the accusers lost their voice. But the latest allegations show that these persons are still in the business of throwing up wild, unsubstantiated figures to damage Okonjo-Iweala’s name. For instance, within the last few months, Governor Oshiomhole and his fellow travelers have asked Okonjo-Iweala to account for “missing” $30 billion, $20 billion and now $2.1 billion. What they don’t seem to understand is that the strategy has lost all credibility because the falsehood is clear for all to see,” she said.
She wondered how some governors who fought the Federal Government’s efforts to leave robust savings in the ECA and even took the Federal Government to court over the matter now turn around to make such unfounded allegations. She also acknowledged the efforts of governors who are working hard to overcome the current revenue challenges facing their states without resorting to character assassination and blame games.
The former minister also said she pioneered the practice of publishing monthly updates of all allocations to different tiers of government in order to empower Nigerians with information and knowledge of government revenues and expenditure.
“This enabled the Nigerian public to ask questions about the utilization of these resources. Of course many elected and appointed public officials were not happy with this development”, she claimed.
Publishing government revenues and expenditure, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, said, continued till the end of the Goodluck Jonathan administration as well as periodic updates on the Excess Crude Account, subsidy payments for verified claims by oil marketers for fuel imports and SURE-P payments to the three tiers of government.
She insisted that the idea that she spent $2.1 billion without authorization “is simply not credible given that details of government receipts and expenditure are public knowledge”.vanguard
On Tuesday, Caitlyn Jenner, 65, showed no signs of tiring as she stepped out dressed to the nines in a tight-fitting leopard print wrap dress and high heels for a day of shopping at Patricia Field's store in New York.
It seemed to be a successful trip too, as the reality star was seen leaving in an entirely different outfit just moments later, showing off her legs in a rainbow sequinned mini-skirt.
Thanks to all her new fans and increased profile since her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair, it is clear that Caitlyn has ramped up security.
Before her big reveal, Caitlyn - who was then known as Bruce Jenner - was never seen with a security guard, always popping out for solo strolls to get coffee.
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| Caitlyn was seen walking out with a Princess Clutches clutch bag that retails at $32 |
Parading the suspects on Tuesday, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Kayode Balogun, told journalists that the suspect, Ms. Susan was nabbed after trafficking a victim, one Faith Ekepemephia, from her hometown in Akwa Ibom to Akure for alleged prostitution.
He said officials of the command got wind of the incident after complains from some church members who came to report at the office of the Corps.
Balogun condemned the act, adding that the command made its own investigation and found out that the culprit was guilty, noting that officials of NAPTIP would begin further investigation.
“The act is totally unacceptable and wrong for the society. We would make further investigation and hand them over to the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, for further questioning”, he said.
Narrating her ordeal, the victim, Faith Ekpemephia, said she was lured from her hometown in Akwa Ibom to Akure under the guise of serving as a domestic house-maid but later discovered she had been recruited into prostitute business.
“A girl from my village in Akwa Ibom who resides in Akure, Ondo state told me that one Madam she currently works with needed the service of a house help.
“The girl told me that I would be helping the Madam for house shores and she shall pay me monthly salary”.
According to her, upon arriving Akure last week Tuesday, she was lodged in a brothel and was introduced into prostitution.
“I Arrived Akure last week Tuesday for the House help job and lodged in their hotel only to discovered that it was a prostitute work she lured me down here to do.
“I cried and told her that I want to go back to my village as this was not the type of work she told me about but she threatened me not to go back”.
Faith further revealed that she had to run away from the business as she was already tired of maltreatment.
“The woman always collects the service money from me anytime I want to meet with a man. I have made up to N6000 and slept with more than three men since my arrival”, she said.
However, the suspects and the victim have been handed over to the officials of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, in the state for further investigation.
It was not certain as of press time why some of the filling stations had stopped dispensing the product but there had been fears that the stance of the new government on petrol subsidy had been unclear thereby instilling fear in the marketers.
But the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in response to the development said there was enough supply of the product.
In a statement issued by Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, the corporation cautioned members of the public against panic buying of petrol.
Alegbe said the NNPC had stepped up efforts to maintain stability in the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.
He said there was enough stock of petrol to service the country for 25 days at a national consumption rate of 40 million litres per day even as the corporation had stepped up product distribution to petroleum marketers and NNPC retail outlets across the country.
While calling on members of the public to refrain from panic buying, the NNPC said it had sufficient stock of petrol at its coastal depots in Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar, besides the stock in the national strategic reserves.Vanguard
The statement further read that the government, while saddened and troubled by the turn of events in the financial status of the state and the country at large, is taking responsibility for the unfortunate problem and is prepared to meet the challenge head-on.
“Since the inception of this government, we have treated the resources under our control with the utmost respect and disbursed them diligently for the greater benefits of our people. Our mandate had always been to use our God-given wealth to bridge the gap between the downtrodden and the government.
“It is very unfortunate that we find ourselves unable to pay our workers their due wages for several months when, in the past, we stood for paying on or before the 25th of each month. We thank the ever understanding workers of our state for their patience as we go through this most trying time.
“However, we are glad to announce that we have commenced the process of paying for the balance of November and full December salary arrears for all our workers across the state and the process should be concluded by Friday, July 3rd, 2015. We are able to do this because our partners and creditors have faith in us and we have proven to be responsible and trustworthy.
“We must emphasise at this point: We are not out of the woods yet! Our finances took a dive because we were hit by the shock of the sudden and massive drop in global oil prices while Nigeria also had a Federal Government that failed in its primary responsibility to secure our people and our commonwealth.
“Therefore, we hereby announce a 50 per cent cut to the salaries and allowances of all political office holders and appointees. This is one of the many steps we are taking to ensure the sustenance of our collective. We are also calling on our people to join us and do their part in carrying the weight of change.
“As we proceed on this journey of self-discovery, we hope to put more and more of our people to work by attracting productive investments to our state. The better part of our resources will go to funding capital projects that will create employment and unlock wealth. Osun State will rise from this situation and prosper like never before,” it added.Vanguard
On monday, unidentified gunmen kidnapped Madam Martha Binabo, the wife of former Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly and the state former Acting Governor, Rt. Hon Nestor Binabo.
The incident, the latest in the series of high profile kidnaping in the state occurred at Agbura community in the outskirts of Yenagoa the state capital.
The victim, aged 48, was abducted Monday at about 11.30am by five armed men clad in military camouflage in front of a company where she is also the director.
The gunmen were said to have lured their victim outside the company’s gate for a talk only to force her into a waiting car and drove towards Otuokpoti sand dump.
The get away car was later abandoned and set ablaze at the Otuokpoti sand dump water front by the gunmen who escaped into the creek in a waiting speedboat with their victim.
