An Ikeja Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced Olawale Faleti, a former Lagos State Education director, to two years and five months’ imprisonment for stealing ₦48.9 million from Access Bank Plc.

Justice Rahman Oshodi convicted Faleti, 64, on five counts of stealing after finding him guilty of charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In his judgment, Oshodi said the offence was deliberate and sustained, noting that Faleti carried out repeated withdrawals despite knowing he had no authorisation to access the funds.

The judge added that the convict failed to show genuine remorse or fully accept responsibility for his actions.

“Financial institutions are the lifeblood of our economy and public confidence in them must be preserved,” Oshodi said, adding that “Those who attempt to defraud or steal from banks must understand that severe consequences will follow.”

While acknowledging Faleti as a first-time offender, the court said a custodial sentence was unavoidable.

The judge applied a 20 per cent reduction from the three-year maximum sentence, citing minimal restitution efforts as a mitigating factor.

Faleti was sentenced to two years and five months’ imprisonment on each of the five counts, with the sentences ordered to run concurrently.

The court directed that the sentence take effect from January 5, 2026, and ordered that Faleti’s biometric details and name be entered into the Lagos State Judiciary offenders’ registry.

After deducting ₦3 million already restituted, the court ordered Faleti to pay an outstanding ₦45.9 million to Access Bank Plc, directing the bank to notify the court upon full recovery of the funds.

Earlier, Mr Ahmed Dambuwa, EFCC counsel, told the court that Faleti dishonestly converted ₦48.9 million belonging to the bank by exploiting unauthorised access to an Access Bank credit card.

He said the card permitted withdrawals of not less than ₦43,000 per transaction, but a system glitch enabled Faleti to withdraw about ₦48 million during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

One of the charges stated that between July 2 and July 10, 2020, Faleti converted ₦12.6 million for personal use, while another alleged that between May 22 and July 1, 2020, he converted ₦6.9 million, all property of Access Bank Plc.

The offences were said to contravene Section 287(1)(a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

974 Nigerians Face Imminent Deportation from Canada Amid Enforcement Surge – No fewer than 974 Nigerians are currently facing imminent deportation from Canada, according to official data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

The affected individuals fall under the country’s “removal-in-progress” category, signifying that deportation proceedings have commenced but remain inconclusive, pending final arrangements such as travel documents. Between January and October 2025 alone, Canadian authorities deported 366 Nigerians, marking a significant uptick from previous years.
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Of these, approximately 83 per cent comprised failed refugee claimants, while criminality accounted for about four per cent of cases. Nigeria emerged as the only African country in Canada’s top 10 nationalities for deportations in 2025, securing ninth position, while ranking fifth among those awaiting removal.

This contrasts sharply with 2023 and 2024, when Nigeria was absent from the top 10 deportation list, though figures reflect an eight per cent rise over the 2019 total of 339 removals.

Canada’s aggressive enforcement drive has seen nearly 400 foreign nationals removed weekly, culminating in 18,048 deportations during the 2024-2025 fiscal year at a cost of about $78 million.

The initiative draws support from an additional $30.5 million for removals and $1.3 billion for border enforcement, aimed at bolstering immigration controls amid pressures on housing, employment, and security.

Canada remains a prime destination for Nigerians outside the United Kingdom and United States, with over 71,000 acquiring citizenship between 2005 and 2024, alongside thousands arriving annually as students, workers, and permanent residents.
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Under Canadian law, those issued enforceable removal orders must depart voluntarily or face enforced exit. The CBSA’s nationwide inventory lists 29,542 individuals in removal-in-progress as of late 2025, dominated by failed refugee claims at 15,605 cases. Nigeria’s 974 cases place it behind India (6,515), Mexico (4,650), USA (1,704), and China (1,430).
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Immigration lawyers caution that passage of Bill C-12 could escalate deportations by imposing permanent bans on certain refugee claims and curbing late filings.

Authorities attribute the push to restoring system integrity, with non-compliance by refugee claimants driving most inadmissibility findings.

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has challenged the South East Development Commission (SEDC) leadership to provide transparent details on achievements recorded in its inaugural year despite an approved budget of N140 billion for 2025.

SEDC

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, disclosed that the group’s researchers found no concrete evidence of infrastructure projects executed in the South-East region for the benefit of the Igbo people since the commission’s inception.

Efforts to obtain specifics from Senate Committee Chairman on SEDC, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, and Governing Board Chairman, Chief Emeka Wogu, yielded vague responses, with Wogu citing a mere “road map” and Kalu claiming no information was available.

The rights group recalled that the National Assembly approved N140 billion for SEDC in the N54.9 trillion 2025 budget passed on February 14, matching allocations for other regional commissions like South-West, South-South, and North-Central, while North-West received N145.61 billion and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) got N626.53 billion.

President Bola Tinubu signed the SEDC Establishment Bill into law on July 24, 2024, with the board inaugurated on February 12, 2025, under Chairman Emeka Wogu and Managing Director Mark Okoye.

Okoye, in his inaugural address, quoted the World Bank estimating a $10 billion annual investment need over 30 years to bridge the region’s infrastructure gap, pledging collaboration with states, private sector, and partners to build a $200 billion economy by 2035.

Priorities outlined include security and investment infrastructure, agriculture, industrialisation, technology, innovation, and human capital development, amid challenges like insecurity, low ease-of-doing-business, unemployment, and 2,500 erosion sites displacing thousands.

HURIWA noted that while the commission’s creation sparked optimism to address post-Civil War neglect, bureaucratic hurdles, political meddling, and funding opacity threaten its potential, aligning with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for inclusivity.

The group described SEDC’s performance as a “spectacular failure,” urging Igbo youths and intellectuals to demand accountability to prevent elite capture of funds meant for roads, housing reconstruction, ecological remediation, agriculture, manufacturing, technology, railways, and energy projects in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states.

Onwubiko warned that pocketing the cash-backed N140 billion would betray the Igbo people’s development aspirations, calling for immediate disclosure of expenditures and verifiable outcomes.