News
How Ibori Gave me $15m Cash Bribe, Ribadu Tells UK Court
Malam Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), on Thursday told the British court hearing the ongoing asset confiscation of James Ibori, convicted former governor of Delta state of how Ibori tried to him (Ribadu) in 2007 with $15 million in cash stuffed in a bag so heavy one man alone could not lift it.
Ribadu, who was chairman of EFCC from April 2003 to December 2007, gave evidence at a confiscation hearing in which prosecutors are seeking court orders to have Ibori’s assets seized.
He told a London court he pretended to take the bribe because he wanted the cash as evidence to use against Ibori in a prosecution, but rather than keep the money for himself, he had it taken straight to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)to be kept safe in a vault.
He added that Ibori was so desperate he tried to halt a probe into his finances.
Ribadu told the court that about $1 billion flowed from Federal Government accounts into Delta State’s coffers during Ibori’s eight years in power, and he estimated Ibori had stolen or wasted more than half of that amount.
Under Nigeria’s constitution, state governors enjoy immunity from prosecution but are limited to two terms in office. With the end of his second term looming in April 2007, Ibori was worried the EFCC were planning to prosecute him, Ribadu said.
In late April 2007, a meeting was arranged between the two men at a “neutral place”, the house of Andy Uba, a close associate of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Ibori arrived at the house with several members of his staff and a very large black sack containing $15 million in cash. Ribadu said he watched as two of Ibori’s men lifted the heavy sack and handed it over to his own EFCC staff. “It was a bag that an individual could not carry alone,” he said.
The EFCC men drove the bag to the Central Bank where the money was counted and boxed into smaller containers. The court was shown photographs of the boxes of cash.
“I have given you money Nuhu, just give me my clearance,” Ribadu quoted Ibori as telling him after those events.
Instead, the EFCC continued to investigate Ibori’s affairs and had him arrested on corruption charges on December 12, 2007.
But Ribadu said the climate had changed since Obasanjo had stepped down and President Umaru Yar’Adua had been sworn in. Ribadu said Ibori was close to Yar’Adua, and then attorney general, Michael Aondoakaa, sought to neuter the EFCC.
On December 27, just 15 days after Ibori’s arrest, Ribadu was sacked as chairman of the EFCC. Efforts to prosecute Ibori in Nigeria foundered, and he was eventually prosecuted in Britain because he had laundered some of his millions there.
After his removal as EFCC chairman, Ribadu told the court he survived two separate assassination attempts, including one during which three shots were fired at his car.
After the second attempt, he fled Nigeria by what he described as the “bush path”, first by motorcycle taxi across the border to Benin, then by an Air France flight to Paris and then to Britain where he was given refuge at an Oxford college.
Ribadu remained in exile until after the death of Yar’Adua in May 2010. He told the court that under President Goodluck Jonathan, the climate changed again and he returned home.
It was also that year that Ibori’s luck turned. He was arrested in Dubai on a British warrant and extradited to London a year later. He is now serving his term at Long Lartin maximum security prison in central England.
The charges to which Ibori pleaded guilty amount to the theft of about $80 million, but British prosecutors said that was only part of his total loot, which was kept hidden via a complex web of shell companies, offshore accounts and front men.
Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) has alerted its customers to a fraudulent message circulating on social media, falsely claiming that electricity consumers can receive an additional 20 per cent bonus units when recharging their prepaid meters through unofficial channels.
In a statement issued by the company’s management on Monday, YEDC described the claim as false and urged customers to disregard the misleading information, stressing that it did not originate from the company.
According to the statement, YEDC does not offer bonus electricity units through individuals, agents, personal bank accounts, phone numbers, or social media contacts.
The company advised customers to purchase electricity tokens only through approved cashless payment platforms, including the YEDC Pay App, OPay, Interswitch, and other authorised vending channels, or to visit the nearest YEDC office for assistance.
YEDC also cautioned customers against sharing their meter details or personal information, or making payments to unauthorised persons claiming to represent the company.
The company further urged customers to rely exclusively on information disseminated through its official communication channels to avoid falling victim to fraud.
The management thanked customers for their continued cooperation and reaffirmed its commitment to serving them.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that two foreign currency accounts opened in connection with the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) have remained inactive since their creation, with no funds deposited and no transactions recorded.
The revelation emerged on Monday during the ongoing investigation by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee probing the circumstances surrounding the establishment and operations of the council.
Lawmakers are investigating allegations that the PFIPC was created and operated without a valid legal framework and outside the established procedures required for government agencies and institutions.
Appearing before the committee, representatives of both the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) distanced their institutions from the establishment of the council.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation stated that it neither created the council nor possessed the constitutional authority to establish federal agencies.
Representing the office, officials explained that the OHCSF is only responsible for approving administrative structures of government agencies after all necessary requirements have been fulfilled.
According to the office, records showed that the council submitted a request on August 6, 2025, seeking approval for its organisational structure.
However, the application was not approved because the required supporting documents were not attached.
The committee heard that despite the rejection of the request, officials linked to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC)/PFIPC later appeared during the 2025 manpower budget defence exercise and sought approval for staffing and recruitment arrangements.
The office disclosed that the council informed government officials that its activities were being carried out largely through personnel seconded or deployed from other institutions.
Lawmakers were told that the council requested approval for a total of 314 positions. The figure consisted of 14 existing officers and an additional 300 proposed positions.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service further revealed that concerns later arose regarding documents presented by the council as evidence of its legal backing.
Officials told the committee that upon examination, the documents failed to display essential features expected of an enabling law or valid legal instrument establishing a government body.
Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, head of the Civil Service of the Federation, also rejected claims that her office deployed civil servants to work for the council.
She maintained that the office did not assign personnel to the body and did not provide office accommodation for its operations.
According to her, matters relating to the creation, supervision and oversight of government agencies fall under the responsibilities of other relevant institutions, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria also provided details regarding accounts linked to the council.Nigerian current events
Hamisu Abdullahi, director at the apex bank, who represented the CBN Governor before the committee, explained that the bank opened two foreign currency accounts following a formal request from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He told lawmakers that the request was received on July 30, 2025, and instructed the bank to create a United States dollar domiciliary account and a Pound Sterling domiciliary account.
Abdullahi stressed that the CBN only opens accounts for government agencies after receiving official authorisation from the Accountant-General’s office.
However, he disclosed that the accounts never became operational because the council failed to provide authorised signatories required for activation.
As a result, both accounts remained dormant from the day they were opened.
He informed the committee that neither account had received deposits nor processed withdrawals. The accounts also recorded no foreign exchange allocations, remittances, inflows or outflows.Governor election news
According to him, the balances in both accounts remain at zero.
The CBN official further stated that the council did not engage directly with the apex bank regarding the management or operation of the accounts after they were created.
Following the submissions, members of the committee demanded more information as part of efforts to determine the full scope of the council’s activities.
Hon. Abdulmalik Danga, chairman of the committee, directed the Central Bank to submit comprehensive records relating to both the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
The committee requested details covering the opening of the accounts, their operational history and any information connected to related banking activities.
Lawmakers also instructed the CBN to work with commercial banks to identify and provide records of any accounts linked to the entities under investigation.
However, the committee is expected to continue its hearings as more government agencies and officials appear before lawmakers to provide explanations on the controversial council and the circumstances surrounding its operations.
STEM Africa Fest, an annual science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education event designed to expose children to hands-on learning, returned to Lagos, with organisers urging greater integration of practical STEM education into Nigeria’s school curriculum to prepare young people for future careers.
The organisers said the initiative has reached over 25,000 children across Africa in six years, renewing calls for greater integration of practical STEM education into Nigeria’s school curriculum.
The festival, which began in 2021 during the COVID-19 lockdown, has expanded beyond Nigeria to Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Zambia, Rwanda and Kenya, promoting experiential learning through science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM). The sixth edition which held in Lagos, attracted about 3,500 children and parents from all over.
Conveners, Titi Adewusi and Jadesola Adedeji, said the initiative was conceived to address the gap between classroom theory and practical learning, giving children opportunities to build, experiment and interact with emerging technologies.
According to Adewusi, this year’s theme, “Building Future Innovators”, reflects the organisers’ vision of nurturing Africa’s next generation of innovators, problem-solvers and creative thinkers.
“Children are learning the theories and we wanted to bring the real thing, hands-on. If you’re teaching a child about 3D printing, we want them to actually experience it. If you’re teaching a child about building robots or AI, we wanted them to experience it,” she said.
Adedeji, said the idea for the festival emerged from a shared desire to make science education more engaging after discussions between the founders several years ago.
She said the maiden edition, held during the pandemic, attracted over 1,000 participants globally, while the first physical edition recorded over 6,000 attendees.
They identified funding, stakeholder mobilisation and expanding the festival to other locations as some of the challenges encountered since its inception. They noted that increasing demand from different states and African countries had prompted them to adopt a partnership model that allows collaborators replicate the programme using an established framework.
They also urged governments at all levels to strengthen support for STEM education by integrating practical learning into school curricula and partnering with private organisations to improve access to science and technology education.
Adewusi said they have developed a STEM curriculum that is being implemented in some schools and expressed readiness to collaborate with the government to expand its adoption in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal on quality education.
Adedeji added that government support should go beyond funding to include curriculum development, teacher training and institutional backing for STEM-focused initiatives.
Representing Access Holdings, Programme Manager for Sustainability, Ikechukwu Iheagwam, said the company’s continued support for the festival aligns with its commitment to advancing education and technology.
He said exposing children to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics would better prepare them for the future, adding that private sector participation should complement government efforts in improving STEM education.
Some pupils who attended the festival said the practical sessions strengthened their interest in science and technology.
A student of Court Hill College, Opebi, Jason Lawal, said he participated in activities including a Rubik’s Cube challenge and an artificial intelligence masterclass where participants created short AI-generated animations.
Another student of Greater Ecstasy High School, Iyana-Ipaja, Fatima Namama said attending the festival over the years had deepened her interest in laboratory science and technology. She called for wider integration of STEM education into the school curriculum and more opportunities for pupils to participate in similar learning events.
The organisers said the festival’s impact extends beyond attendance figures, noting that some former participants have returned in recent years as exhibitors in coding and robotics, reflecting its contribution to nurturing future innovators.
YEDC Warns Customers, Says 20 Percent Electricity Bonus is Scam
FG to Support 12 Tech Startups with N482m under iDICE
NBC, INEC, Plan Joint Broadcast Monitoring Framework ahead of 2027 Elections
No Going Back on July 31 Deadline for Insurance Firms’ Recapitalisation – NAICOM
Court Affirms FCCPC’s Power to Regulate Digital Lending
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Lebara Nigeria Launches Lebara Play, Africa’s First Telecom-Owned Micro-Drama Platform
CANAL+ Partners Samsung to Pre-Load DStv Stream on New Samsung TVs In Nigeria, Other African Countries
Tokenization, Blockchain Technology will Transform Financial Institutions – IMF
E-Financial2 days agoNRS Issues July 31 Deadline for e-Invoicing Compliance
News2 days agoNIMASA Unveils Accelerator Scheme to Drive Innovation, Sustainable Growth
E-Financial2 days agoAccess Holdings Sells 7.44% Stake in Ghana Unit
E-Financial2 days agoNDIC Urges Youths to Shun Ponzi Schemes, Embrace Savings
News2 days agoAdebutu, PDP Chieftain Accuses Nigerian Governors of Embezzling LG Allocations
E-Business2 days agoSERAP to Sue NASS over Bill Empowering NDPC to Regulate Social Media
News2 days agoICPC Secures Final Forfeiture of N941m Linked to IPPIS Fraud
News2 days agoeBusinessLife Advocates Greater Support for Girls in ICT as Students Showcase AI Innovations