Category: News

The Presidency has insisted that the certificate President Bola Tinubu presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was not forged.

Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said the Chicago State University confirmed that the president didn’t submit a fake result to INEC.

Ajayi noted that CSU affirmed under oath that Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution and that the school does not handle replacements for lost certificates.

He said there was no truth in the forgery claim, adding that no person can forge a certificate he already has.

Posting on X, Ajayi wrote: “We should be clear.

“In the deposition made by the Chicago State University, there was nowhere the University said the certificate presented to INEC by President Tinubu is fake. The University insisted under oath that President Tinubu graduated with honours and even at that, replacements for lost certificates are done by vendors not the University.

“The claim that President Tinubu submitted fake certificate to INEC does not make sense. A man can not forge the academic records he possesses. You can only forge what you don’t have.”

Following petition by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, CSU had released Tinubu’s academic records on orders of the court.

Atiku had requested the documents to back his allegation of forgery against Tinubu.

The allegation of forgery was one of those dismissed by the presidential election court in the suit Atiku filed to challenge Tinubu’s election.

The Lagos State Police has declared childhood friend of the late Afrobeat singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba popularly known as Mohbad, Owodumi Ibrahim aka Prime Boy wanted over refusal to honour Police invitation.

The statement on his declaration was made known today by the Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hindeyin as read in part:

“Following his failure to honour police invitation successfully sent to him since the commencement of investigation into the circumstances leading to the de*th of Mr Ilerioluwa Aloba aka Mohbad, the Lagos State Police Command hereby declares wanted Owodumi Ibrahim aka Prime Boy.

“Ibrahim is approximately 1.64-m tall, male, dark-complexioned with tribal marks and Yoruba by tribe. His last known address is 3rd Power, Oke Eletu, Ikorodu.

“If seen, contact the nearest police station or call 0803 688 5727. The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Idowu Owohunwa, hereby offers a handsome reward of N1,000,000 (One Million Naira Only) to anyone with useful information leading to his arrest”.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola has sworn in 23 new High Court judges.

The following are the names and states of the new Judges:

●Dipeolu Deinde Isaac from Ogun State;

●Ogundare Kehinde Olayiwola from Ekiti State

●Agbaje Olufunmilola Adetutu from Lagos State

●Musa Kakaki from Kaduna State

●Abdullahi Muhammad Dan-Ige from Sokoto State

●Sharon Tanko Ishaya from Kebbi State

●Salim Olasupo Ibrahim from Ogun
State

●Yilwa Hauwa Joseph from Gombe State

●Wigwe-Oreh Chituru Joy from Rivers State

●Owoeye Alexander Oluseyi from Kogi State

●Anyalewa Onoja-Alapa from Benue State

●Amina Aliyu Mohammad from Katsina State

●Abiodun Jordan Adeyemi from Kwara State

●Hauwa Buhari from Federal Capital Territory

●Aishatu Auta Ibrahim from Borno State.

●Hussaini Dadan-Garba from Bauchi State

●Ibrahim Ahmad Kala from Gombe State

●Mashkur Salisu from Zamfara State

●Onah Chigozie Sergius from Enugu State

●Egbe Raphael Joshua from Bayelsa State

●Ariwoola Olukayode Jnr. from Oyo State

●Ekerete Udofot Akpan from Akwa Ibom State

●Ogazi Friday Nkemakonam from Ebonyi State.

A Magistrate Court sitting in the Yaba area of Lagos State issued an order for singer Azeez Fashola popularly known as Naira Marley, and Lagos socialite, Balogun Eletu, alias Sam Larry, to be remanded in police custody.

The Lagos State Police Command had filed an application before the court for an order to remand the duo for 30 days pending the completion of their investigation into the controversial deaath of singer Ilerioluwa Aloba aka Mohbad.

Ruling on the application, the Magistrate Adela Olatunbosun ordered that both men be remanded for just 21 days.

Reno Omokri, a former presidential aide, has slammed Peter Obi, the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate in the last election, for suggesting that President Bola Ahmed had submitted a fake certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Peter Obi had, while reacting to the university certificate issues surrounding Tinubu, said people should be honest about their qualifications, insisting that educational qualification is not even a criterion to be a good President. He cited some American leaders who lacked good educational backgrounds.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, obtained victory in his fierce legal battle to probe the academic qualification of Tinubu in the February 25 presidential poll.

Tinubu had supplied certificates from the Chicago State University, CSU, to INEC to secure eligibility to participate in the election.

A United States of America court on Saturday ordered CSU to release Tinubu’s academic records for verification and in support of Atiku’s petition challenging the result of the 2023 presidential poll.

Justice Nancy Maldonado, in a judgment, dismissed the objection raised by Tinubu against Atiku’s request and expressly ordered that the CSU must submit the academic records to Atiku.

And on Monday evening, the records were made available to the PDP leader.

But Reno is calling out the Labour Party candidate for even suggesting that there could have been a fake certificate somewhere.

“Peter Obi, Chicago State University, has backed Bola Tinubu’s certificate and stands by the legitimacy of his academic credentials,” he wrote on X.

“Only yesterday morning, you were on AriseTV accusing a certain leader of having a ‘fake certificate.’

“Now, answer this question: Why did you not tender your own degree from the University of Nigeria Nsukka to the INEC?”

Singer Azeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley, has arrived in Lagos to assist in the ongoing probe of the death of his former signee, Ilerioluwa Aloba aka MohBad.

The singer revealed this in a tweet on Tuesday, adding that he’d also be meeting with the police.

He wrote, “I’d like to share that I’ve just arrived back in Lagos, Nigeria to assist the authorities with the ongoing investigation. It’s important I do my part for Imole.

“I’ll be meeting with the police with hopes for the truth to be uncovered and for justice to prevail.”

MohBad died on September 12 at age 27.

Joseph Aloba, the father of the late Nigerian musician, Ilerioluwa, known professionally as MohBad, has shared his thoughts on conducting a DNA test on his grandson.

During an interview with BBC Pidgin, Mohbad’s father emphasised the strong bond he shared with his son, describing their relationship as that of close companions who interacted like brothers.

He acknowledged that the controversy surrounding the DNA test for Mohbad’s son had extended beyond Nigeria and had now become an international matter.

Aloba said the right course of action should be taken at the right moment concerning the DNA test.

In his own words, “This thing has come to majority now, not only Nigeria. So they should do the proper thing at the proper time.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has rejected the verdict of the Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun. Adebutu said he will be appealing the verdict at the Court of Appeal.

In a statement released on Monday, October 3, 2023, Adebutu described the tribunal’s verdict as “a miscarriage of justice.” He said that the tribunal had ignored the evidence presented by his legal team and had ruled in favor of Abiodun based on “technicalities.”

Adebutu said that the tribunal’s verdict was a blow to democracy and the rule of law in Nigeria. He called on the people of Ogun State to remain calm and to continue to support his bid to become governor of the state.

The Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal had on Saturday, September 30, 2023, dismissed Adebutu’s petition challenging the victory of Abiodun in the March 18, 2023 governorship election. The tribunal said that Adebutu’s petition lacked merit.

Adebutu’s appeal of the tribunal’s verdict will be heard by the Court of Appeal in Ibadan, Oyo State. The date for the hearing has not yet been fixed

The Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps arrested two men, Babatunde Oluwasola and Dada Fowowe, on Monday for their alleged involvement in human trafficking.

The command’s spokesman, Mr. Daniel Aidamenbor, disclosed this in a statement released to the media.

Aidamenbor stated that the suspects were apprehended in Akure and Ondo towns in Ondo State. They were allegedly involved in recruiting three young girls to travel to Libya in April of this year.

Aidamenbor provided details, saying, “Babatunde Oluwasola, also known as Osanle, aged 56 and a carpenter from Osun State but residing in Akure, recruited three girls from Akure to Libya sometime around April 2023. He enlisted the help of Dada Fowowe, also known as Iya Alaso, aged 47 and a trader from Ondo State.

The victims, who journeyed through the desert to Libya, contacted Babatunde two weeks after their departure from Akure, Ondo State, to inform him of their arrival in Libya.

Among the victims was a 15-year-old girl who had left her parents in Akure without informing them of her journey. It was only upon her arrival in Libya that she realized the situation was not as she had expected.

She reached out to her father, who had been searching for her, for help. Her father then reported the case to the NSCDC, Ondo State Command.

Aidamenbor mentioned that the suspects had already made confessional statements, and following the investigation, the case would be transferred to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons for further action.

Some customers of fintech company, OPay were on Sunday thrown into panicky mode as a video of some people complaining about fraudulent withdrawals surfaced online.

In the video, some agents of OPay stormed the Alender House Office of the company in the Alausa area of Ikeja, to protest what they described as unauthorized withdrawal from their accounts.

According to them, they had been experiencing frequent unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts and they had complained to the company, but nothing was being done.

They also said they had reported the matter to the police to help them in recovering their stolen money.

“Huge sums of money were unscrupulously taken away from our accounts. Balances of our accounts were removed, some were transferred to other banks, and some were used to purchase airtime, others were transferred to different OPay accounts that we do not have any dealings with,” a leader of the agents who spoke on camera stated.

The video prompted many to be worried about the safety of their money in the digital bank. However, a check on the video shows that it first surfaced online in August 2021, which shows that the event was not recent.

OPay also on Sunday reacted to the video by saying it was old.

Panick withdrawal
However, the company’s clarification came too late for some customers who had out of panic withdrawn all their money from the fintech account to avoid falling victim.

Reacting to the company’s clarification on the video, a customer of OPay identified as Olanrewaju Abdulyekeen, said:

“I have been a victim of many scams recently, thank God I was able to move my money out of your account. Communication is key. Learn to communicate with your customers when you have issues or crises.”

Another customer of the bank posted a screenshot of his OPay account showing a balance of N1.48. “I have withdrawn all my money,” he said.

OPay’s reaction
Assuring the customers that the platform is secure and their money safe, OPay in a statement released on Sunday, stated:

“Our attention has been drawn to a certain old video that resurfaced on some social media platforms regarding alleged fraudulent activities on some OPay Agent accounts.
“We wish to state that the allegations are dated and have been resolved in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders. We implore our customers and the general public to ignore and disregard the video and its content. We remain committed to protecting our users from any fraudulent activity or scam as customer data protection is our priority.”