By Modupe Gbadeyanka

About 3,714 pre-retirees across Lagos, Akure, Port Harcourt, Abuja, and Kano were recently engaged by Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, through its 2026 Pre-Retirement Seminar series.

The programme was crafted to give attendees a thorough and practical understanding of what it truly means to retire well in today’s Nigeria.

The annual series has firmly established itself as one of the most impactful and far-reaching retirement education platforms in the country’s financial services industry.

One of the most anticipated elements of this year’s edition was a live interview panel session that brought together representatives from Stanbic IBTC’s subsidiaries speaking directly to the financial realities facing pre-retirees.

The panel addressed key market intelligence questions on pension management, income planning, and life after work. The open format encouraged substantive exchanges that helped participants gain clarity on complex decisions and understand the full range of options available to them as they transitioned out of active employment.

A dedicated health talk rounded out the core sessions, addressing a dimension of retirement planning that is often overlooked: the critical role of physical wellbeing in sustaining a fulfilling post-work life.

Throughout the day, carefully placed interludes highlighted the breadth of Stanbic IBTC’s product and service offerings, ensuring attendees left with both the knowledge and the resources to take meaningful steps towards securing their retirement.

“This seminar series reflects our broader definition of what financial services should deliver. Success is not just measured by the assets we manage, but by the quality of life our clients are able to live in retirement.

“The strong engagement across all five cities highlights a growing appetite among Nigerians to take ownership of their retirement journey,” the chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, Mr Olumide Oyetan, said.

“For many, years of pension contributions have not always translated into a clear understanding of their future. These seminars are designed to address that gap in a direct and practical way – ensuring every client leaves with clarity on their current position, available options, and the steps to take next.

“This initiative is a clear expression of our commitment to our clients, and one we will continue to invest in, because they deserve nothing less,” Mr Oyetan added.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A self-acclaimed prophet, Mr Godwin Sunday Ajuluchukwucheya, also known as Prophet Sunday Koboko, is being questioned by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Enugu State over an alleged N70.3 million fraud.

He was accused of defrauding his church members of the said amount of money.

The anti-money laundering got into the matter after a petition from one of the members, identified as Mr Okey Uwakwe.

The petitioner claimed that Mr Ajuluchukwucheya presented himself as a true man of God, capable of luring his brother, who had been abroad since 1997, to return home. He also alleged that he paid the cleric about N6.2 million for spiritual works.

According to the petitioner, the suspect equally deceived him into believing that he had the power to make his sister-in-law, who has been without a child for over 15 years, conceive. It was alleged that Mr Ajuluchukwucheya collected about N3.3 million, also for spiritual works to that effect.

The petitioner further alleged that the suspect announced to his church members that he had won N33.0 billion in a lotto game, assuring that members who contribute financially to him shall receive dividends from the said amount.

The petitioner also alleged that members of Mr Ajuluchukwucheya’s ministry were also lured by the suspect to contribute to the suspect’s rice processing machine worth N1 billion to become partners in the business.

He allegedly contributed the sum of N500,000, claiming further that the total sum sent to the suspect was N13.3 million, without results.

During an investigation into the matter, members of the suspect’s ministry started flooding the agency with claims of how they were defrauded by the suspect.

“When I came there (the ministry), a whole lot of things were going on as investments in the church, which I partook in virtually all of them…ranging from the issue of him winning N33 billion with Baba Ijebu.

“He said the money cannot be retrieved due to how huge the amount was. So, members of the church will have to help him by buying holy ghost thunder to blast the spiritual army being organised by Baba Ijebu.

“He sold each of the spiritual thunder for N38,000, and we had to buy 1,000 pieces to fight Baba Ijebu’s spiritual army,” one of the members informed the EFCC, according to a statement on its website.

The total amount that members of Mr Ajuluchukwucheya’s church alleged he took from them is N70,.4 million.

Investigations showed that the suspect’s modus operandi is luring the members of his ministry into buying his “products” for prosperity, which include: miracle sticker, spiritual dragon and holy ghost thunder.

Another member and victim of the suspect said, “He asked me to do what they tagged holy ghost thunder, believing it was going to solve my problems. I bought it, and after all the payments, nothing happened, and my problems still persisted.”

The EFCC disclosed that as soon as investigations are concluded, the suspect would be arraigned before a court.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has renewed its agreement with TotalEnergies for a 24-month extension of technology deployment to detect, measure, and reduce methane and carbon emissions.

According to a statement, the agreement was signed by NNPC’s Executive Vice President, Upstream, Mr Udy Ntia and TotalEnergies Country Chair and Managing Director, Mr Matthieu Bouyer, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Mr Ntia said the duo renewed the agreement to extend the deployment of Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA) technology across its upstream operations.

The agreement is aimed at helping the state oil company meet its gas flare reduction obligation in keeping with its Oil & Gas Decarbonisation Charter (OGDC) commitments, Oil & Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 participation and near-zero methane ambition by 2030.

It is a follow-up on an earlier agreement signed in 2023 for the adoption of the AUSEA technology.

Mr Ntia expressed satisfaction with the first phase of the deployment of the technology and hoped it would scale across more assets.

“Today’s signing represents a practical step in NNPC Limited’s journey to build a credible, transparent and action-oriented decarbonisation programme.

“Through the AUSEA initiative, we are strengthening our ability to detect, quantify and prioritise methane abatement opportunities using advanced measurement technology,” Mr Ntia said in the statement.

He also called for the institutionalisation of progress reporting, in line with compliance requirements and the possibility of leveraging the transfer of the AUSEA technology.

On his part, Mr Mike Sangster, TotalEnergies’ Senior Vice President, Africa, expressed satisfaction with the cooperation his company has been enjoying from the NNPC over the years.

He said TotalEnergies was the first oil-producing company in Nigeria to end gas flaring in all its assets, adding that the AUSEA technology was instrumental to that feat, even as the company looked forward to near-zero methane emissions by 2030.

AUSEA is a drone-based technology developed by TotalEnergies in partnership with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Reims.

It helps in the identification of unaccounted emission sources and the establishment of a basis for querying and improving current emission reporting processes. It also helps in the provision of data to review the operational system and implement corrective actions, as well as estimation of flare combustion efficiency.