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Alleged N80.2b fraud: EFCC seeks to arraign Yahaya Bello in absentia

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A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed January 21 for ruling on a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arraign and try in absentia former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello for alleged money laundering charge pending against him.

In the charge, the EFCC accused Bello, among others, of laundering N80,246,470,088.88 belonging to Kogi State.

Justice Emeka Nwite chose the date yesterday after lawyers to the commission and Bello concluded their arguments.

EFCC’s lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), made the request, following Bello’s failure to attend court yesterday, despite a pending order of the court that he should submit to trial.

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Pinheiro claimed that the defendant’s continued absence from court was an attempt to truncate the court’s efforts and escape justice.

The lawyer argued that Bello’s continued absence in court for his arraignment was malicious, stressing that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Section 276 (Subsection 1) allows a judge to enter a plea of not guilty on behalf of a defendant and proceed to trial.

He insisted that the defendant was aware of the charges against him and had constituted a team of lawyers to represent him.

According to him, the court had, in its proceedings, granted more than six adjournments in the matter to enable the defendant do the needful.

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Pinheiro said the defendant’s continued nonappearance amounted to a deliberate refusal to enter a plea, describing the right to enter a plea in person as a constitutional right that could be waived by the defendant and should be deemed waived by the court.

The lawyer also argued that under jurisprudence operable in several countries, particularly the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (U.S.A), the question of arraignment and trial in absentia had long been overcome for over two centuries and created equality between civil and criminal jurisprudence.

But Bello’s counsel, Michael Adoyi, averred that the procedure for arraignment is provided for in the ACJA.

Adoyi explained that by Section 352, sub-sections 1 and 2 of ACJA, “the court, in a criminal trial, is immune and distinct from the prosecution so the application by the complainant is a dangerous invitation to the court to descend into the arena to aid the prosecution in the performance of its duty of presenting the defendant before the court for arraignment and trial”.

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The lawyer insisted that civil proceedings are distinct from criminal proceedings.

According to him, whereas the former does not require the presence of a party, the latter mandates the physical presence of the defendant for trial.

In an earlier ruling, Justice Nwite found as meritorious an application filed by Adeola Adedipe (SAN) for the variation of the court order referring him and Abdulwahab Mohammed (SAN) to the Legal Privileges and Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for their alleged roles in the Bello’s continued failure to appear in court.

The judge granted Adedipe’s prayer that his name be deleted from the earlier ruling.

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In another ruling, Justice Nwite dismissed an application praying that the case be further adjourned.

The judge recalled that he had warned that no such applications would be tolerated in the case until the defendant presented himself for arraignment.

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Nigerian Man Nabbed For Stabbing Fellow National To Death In France

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A 27-year-old Nigerian man, identified only as Popori, has been arrested in Grenoble, France, for allegedly stabbing a fellow citizen, Monday, to death.

It was gathered that the incident occurred on the evening of Friday, November 22, when a fight broke out between two men during an altercation in a grocery store in Grenoble, Isère, France.

DayFR reports that, according to Grenoble Prosecutor Eric Vaillant, who confirmed information from Dauphiné Libéré, the incident occurred around 8:30pm.

The two men were inside an exotic grocery store when an argument broke out, quickly escalating into a violent altercation.

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One of the individuals suddenly stabbed the other in the chest, for reasons still unclear.
Emergency services arrived on the scene but were unable to revive the victim.

On Saturday, the Grenoble public prosecutor announced that a 27-year-old Nigerian man had been taken into police custody at 12:30pm as part of an investigation initiated by the local judicial police service.

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Longest serving monarch dies at 111

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Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa, the longest serving traditional ruler in Bauchi State, is dead.

Inuwa, the village Head of Beli (Sarkin Beli) in Shira Local Government Area of Bauchi, passed away at the Federal Medical Center Azare, Katagum Local Government Area of the state.

The monarch who was 111-year-old spent 91 years on the throne.

Chief Imam of Beli, Liman Musa Abubakar, confirmed the death of monarch which he described as a great loss to the entire people of Northern Nigeria.

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During one of the interviews with Daily Trust in his lifetime, the late monarch had said, “Their grandfather was appointed as village head of Beli. He spent 12 years on the throne. He died and our father was appointed the village head. He spent 17 years. After that, I was appointed to the throne when I was 19 years old. This means that by my calculation, I was born around 19 12 or 1913. I was appointed to the throne around 1933 by the Emir of Katagum, AbdulQadir.”

The monarch lived and worked with four different first class Emirs of Katagum.

“We lived with the Emir of Katagum Abdulqadir who appointed me for 12 years before he left the throne and died six months later. Emir Umaru Faruqu was appointed. We spent 35 years with him.

When he died, his son, Muhammadu Kabiru was appointed. We spent 38 years with Emir Kabiru before he died, Again, after Muhammadu Kabiru, the present Emir of Katagum, Umaru Faruq II, was appointed. We lived with him for Six years.

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Late Inuwa had said, “I am almost 91 years old on the throne. Alhamdulillahi, we live in peace with the people. And I gave birth to 11 people. Some of them died, but there are seven of them alive – four men and three women.

Many people interviewed said he was a peaceful ruler who [had] listening ears and worked for the peace of the land.”

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Katsina gov presents N682bn 2025 budget to State Assembly

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Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State on Monday presented the State’s 2025 Budget Proposal to the state House of Assembly.

This is the second full year budget the governor is presenting to the House, which is in the sum of N682,244,449,513.87, covering Recurrent Revenue and Expenditure.

The Budget’s Recurrent Expenditure stands at the sum of N157,967,755,024.36 representing 23.15% while, Capital Expenditure stands at N524,274,694,489.51 representing 76.85%.

The Governor in his speech, announced that, the total of this budget when compared with that of the 2024, has an increase of N200,535,619,501.61, representing 40% increase.

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The Governor, at the beginning of his speech, assured the House that his administration has achieved many of its goals and is on course to meet and exceed its targets.

He insisted that his administration has successfully reversed the tide of insecurity which severely threatened the peaceful co-existence of people in the State.

“Many of our local governments have been restored to normalcy while pushing the bandits to the fringes of the forests and, Insha-Allah, to the end of their existence.

“We have expended a lot of resources in fighting insecurity, and we shall continue to do all we can to protect lives and livelihoods in our dear state. I thank the Honourable Members for your support and dedication to ultimate victory,” he said.

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The Governor while ranking MDAs by allocations, revealed that the Economic Sector got N302,246,140,569.76 representing 44.3%, followed by the Education Sector with 95,995,873,044.70 representing 14%.

In the same vein, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development got 81,840,275,739.70 representing 12% while the Ministry of Rural and Social Development got 58,728,146,293.72 representing 9%.

Other sectors such as the Ministry of Water Resources, 53,832,219,322.46 representing 8%, Ministry of Environment, 49,835,521,799.25 representing 7%, Ministry of Health, 43,881,752,172.75 representing 6%, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs 18,938,508,746.95 representing 3%, Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport 9,684,806,758.56 representing 10%.

Other sectors he said are in the sum of 230,759,902,908.71 representing 31% of the total proposed budget

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