Headline

Expert Marksmen Killed Badeh, Associate Insists

Published

5 years ago

December 29, 2018

Eric

Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh was killed by expert marksmen, an associate of the deceased has alleged.

The former Chief of Defence Staff was shot dead by unknown gunmen along Abuja-Keffi Road on December 18.

The Nasarawa State Police Command on Thursday confirmed the arrest of five suspects in connection with the killing of Badeh.

One of the suspects, Shuaibu Rabo, in a confessional video claimed that they killed the ex-CDS because he resisted being robbed of a large sum of money in his possession meant for the purchase of a parcel of land.

However, his family denied the allegation, claiming that the police concocted the story to deceive the public.

However, the deceased’s associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that a crime scene analysis, the bullet’s trajectory and pictures had indicated that Badeh’s killers were not hoodlums.

Speaking to Saturday PUNCH on Friday, the retired security officer explained that the incident was “a targeted attack”.

He dismissed the confessional video as a charade, stressing that the ex-CDS was broke.

He said, “As an intimate friend of the late CDS, I can tell you categorically that Badeh had no such money. He was very broke and could not pay his domestic staff and power bills. At a time, I volunteered to raise N50,000 to enable him to settle part of the bills, but he declined, saying he would harvest some crops on his farm and sell them to raise money.

“That was why he went to the farm to harvest the crops but he was ambushed and killed.

“He was very broke because all his accounts had been frozen by the court and his pension stopped. So, how could a man who could not pay his bills pay N2m for a farmland as claimed by the police investigation? That is stretching the lies too far.”

Another friend of the late CDS claimed that Badeh was planning to join the campaign team of the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, before he was killed.

According to the source, Badeh delayed the announcement because his lawyer asked him to suspend the move and prepare for the opening of the defence of his corruption case which was slated for January 16, 17 and 18, 2019.

The associate alleged that Badeh might have been murdered to prevent him from revealing in court those who shared the money for arms for which he was being prosecuted.

Meanwhile, Justice I. E. Ekwo of a Federal High Court, Abuja, has ordered the interim forfeiture of the sum of N263m recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from one of the prosecution witnesses in the N3.9bn fraud trial of Badeh.

The EFCC had through an ex parte application filed on December 3, 2018 prayed the court to grant the interim forfeiture of the said money believed to be the proceeds from illegal transactions linked to the fund meant for purchase of arms for the military.

The application is subject to the provisions of Section 29 (b) of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004.

The money has been deposited in the custody of the EFCC Recovery Account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria, according to the acting spokesman for the EFCC, Tony Orilade, in a statement on Friday.

In granting the order on December 18, 2018, Justice Ekwo ruled that “a publication of the notice is to be simultaneously made by the anti-graft agency in a national newspaper and the EFCC website inviting all persons/bodies who might have interest in the said money to show cause why the final order of forfeiture in respect of the sum of N263m should not be made in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

The Punch

Headline

Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

1 week ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”