General
Airtel, Avaya Enable Remote Work, Learning in Nigeria
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
As part of its determination to enable organisations in the country to implement remote working and learning initiatives, leading telecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria, has partnered with Avaya Holdings Corp.
It was gathered that through the partnership, Avaya will offer companies in the country full-feature access to its flagship collaboration app, Avaya Spaces, on a complimentary basis, through Airtel Nigeria.
Avaya Spaces changes the way work gets done, bringing together globally distributed teams instantly with immersive, 24/7 collaboration. And seamless integration makes Avaya Spaces easy to use with the cloud solutions that organizations already use.
Commenting on Airtel’s partnership with Avaya on Avaya Spaces, Oladokun Oye, Head: Enterprise Division, Airtel Nigeria, said Airtel is committed to exploring opportunities and possibilities that will drive learning and enterprise operations while empowering entrepreneurs, enterprises and students to become more productive and successful.
“Our partnership with Avaya supports key sectors by enabling organizations to maintain the safety of workers, students and customers as their top priority while ensuring minimum disruption to everyday business.”
“We have invested in building a robust telecommunications network as an enabler of business continuity. Today, this investment will support the continued delivery of services as well as sustaining economic activities, regardless of location and physical spaces,” he said.
Avaya Spaces is how to handle usual tasks, but also the unplanned and new-priority work that arrives nearly every day. Users can launch ad-hoc HD video conferencing meetings to bring everyone together, share and collaborate ‘in-person’. And automated alerts when someone chats or posts an item within Spaces make it easy to stay on top of fast-moving projects and stay in touch with team members anywhere.
The Avaya Spaces app is available on Android and iOS devices, and can also be securely accessed on personal computers and laptops via Chrome or Firefox browsers.
With obvious use cases for schools, it enables teachers and administrative staff to reliably communicate with parents, students and each other to minimize learning disruption amid the school closure. Using the app, students will be able to participate in virtual classrooms from any location, with the ability to download study materials and send assignments to teachers electronically.
Since January, Avaya has seen an increase of more than 3,200% in video collaboration traffic on the Avaya Spaces platform. Several hundred universities, schools and other organizations worldwide have engaged Avaya to gain the connectivity and collaboration capabilities Avaya Spaces provides as they address the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands of businesses have also moved online with Avaya Spaces, using the app to conduct virtual events, launch magazines, keep teams engaged, and enable business continuity.
“As the COVID-19 crisis has developed, we have reacted quickly and decisively in providing collaboration technology on a complimentary basis to help those most affected.
“We are proud to be able to do the same in Nigeria in partnership with Airtel Nigeria, which has shown its commitment to social obligations. Together, we aim to help Nigerian organizations minimize the disruption caused by COVID-19 and begin building a brighter future,” said Nour Al Atassi, Director, Service Providers – Middle East, Africa & Asia Avaya.
It will be recalled that Airtel, earlier in the year, had committed N1.97Bn towards the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Providing a breakdown of the pledged sum, Airtel said it offered free Short Message Services (SMS) to customers across all networks worth over N1.2Bn as well as complimentary data for customers to access educational sites worth over N494m.
The telco also zero-rated traffic to select sites including Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) worth over N30m just as it has commenced a multi-million-naira educational awareness campaign to sensitize Nigerians on steps to take to prevent the Coronavirus.
Airtel further committed N160m to support the NCDC, Port Health Services and the 36 States, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to Airtel, it has offered toll-free lines to each of the 36 States including the FCT to help in the fight against COVID-19 and is also connecting the NCDC’s offices nationwide with Broadband services.
Airtel also announced that it has offered devices and toll-free lines to the NCDC and also provided the Port Health Services with devices and Closed User Group (CUG) lines.
Airtel further stated that the complementary video services through collaboration with Avaya Spaces was another demonstration of its commitment towards the fight against COVID-19 targeted at minimising the spread of the pandemic in the country.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The share certificates, seven landed properties, and $2.1 million linked to the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, have been finally forfeited to the federal government.
The final forfeiture was affirmed by a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-member panel of the Supreme Court on Friday, July 17, 2026.
The panel led by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Saulawa set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal and affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which had ordered the final forfeiture of the assets on the grounds that they were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
Following the final forfeiture order made by the Federal High Court, Mr Emefiele challenged the decision before the Court of Appeal, which reversed the judgment of the trial court.
Dissatisfied with the appellate court’s decision, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) approached the apex court, which has now restored and affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court.
The forfeited properties include a fully detached duplex of identical structures situated at No. 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped parcel of land measuring 1,919.592 square metres, covered by Survey Plan No. DS/LS/340, situated at Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos; and a bungalow situated at No. 65A Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos;
Others are a four-bedroom duplex situated at 12A Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; an industrial complex under construction on 22 plots of land in Agbor, Delta State; eight units of undetached apartments on a plot measuring 2,457.60 square metres, situated at No. 8A Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; and a full duplex together with all its appurtenances on a plot measuring 2,217.87 square metres, situated at 2A Bank Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Ebonyi State Police Command has insisted on conducting a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death of Miss Mary Habila, a physiotherapist who died at the residence of the Minister of Works, Mr David Umahi, in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The demise of the deceased, which occurred in late June, recently became public and has sparked calls for a probe from many quarters.
Meanwhile, the family of the deceased has approached the court to stop the autopsy, but experts tell Business Post that the family has no authority to file an affidavit, as this is a case of suspected murder against the state and not the family.
Mr Umahi has also called for a probe.
The Ebonyi Police Command said the autopsy was necessary to establish the cause of death and support its ongoing investigation, despite objections from the deceased’s family.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Joshua Ukandu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday, stating that the police had commenced a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ms Habila’s death.
Mr Ukandu said preliminary investigations revealed that the deceased and a colleague were members of the medical team attached to the Minister of Works and had accompanied him to his hometown in Uburu, where she later died in a room within the compound of his residence.
According to him, detectives from the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) have visited the scene, documented relevant evidence and obtained statements from persons connected to the incident.
He added that the command had concluded arrangements to engage a qualified pathologist to carry out a post-mortem examination, which it considers crucial to determining the actual cause of death.
Mr Ukandu explained that the police became involved in the matter after receiving a distress call on June 27, 2026, from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Ohaozara Division, informing the command of a medical emergency involving Habila and requesting his presence at the David Umahi Federal Teaching Hospital, Uburu.
“On arrival, the DPO was informed by hospital authorities that Miss Mary Habila had been brought in dead.
He immediately briefed the Commissioner of Police, who directed that the matter be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for thorough investigation,” the statement read.
The police spokesperson disclosed that while the family of the deceased had opposed the conduct of an autopsy, the command considered the procedure necessary in view of the circumstances surrounding the death.
“The Command therefore awaits the attendance of the family or their duly appointed representative, as their presence is essential to the conduct of the post-mortem examination,” Mr Ukandu said, assuring the public that the investigation would be conducted professionally, transparently and without bias, stressing that every necessary step would be taken to uncover the circumstances surrounding Habila’s death.
Mr Ukandu further assured that the command would continue to provide updates as the investigation progresses.
Family Seeks to Stop Autopsy
The family of the deceased, who is a staff member of the David Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences and was seconded to the Federal Ministry of Works, formally requested the withdrawal of further investigation into her death and declined an autopsy.
In an affidavit titled Affidavit of Withdrawal of Case filed before the High Court of Justice of Ebonyi State, her father, Tanko Habila Wisdom, said the family was not alleging any foul play in her death and wished to proceed with her burial.
According to the affidavit, Mary Habila died on June 27, 2026, in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The deponent stated that before her death, Habila was a staff member of the David Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences and had been seconded to the Federal Ministry of Works in Mabushi, Abuja, where she served in the Office of the Minister of Works for about three years.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A Federal High Court in Apo, Abuja, has ordered the final forfeiture of billions of Naira worth of assets linked to businesswoman and socialite, Ms Aisha Achimugu, to the federal government.
Justice Jude Onwugbuzie granted the order following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), directing the permanent forfeiture of jewellery valued at N4.645 billion, 11 exotic vehicles worth N4.293 billion, $50,000 and N30 million in cash.
The ruling followed the EFCC’s request for the final forfeiture of the assets, which the commission said were linked to Ms Achimugu.
The forfeited assets include: Jewellery valued at N4,645,170,294.90; 11 exotic vehicles worth N4,293,000,000; $50,000 in cash; and N30,000,000 in cash.
The court’s judgment vests ownership of the assets in the federal government, bringing the forfeiture proceedings to a close.
In March, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja affirmed the final forfeiture of $13 million linked to the Lagos socialite. However, in an interview in April, she denied that $13 million was discovered by the EFCC in her residence, describing the claim as inaccurate and misleading.
Justice Nwite had, on August 22, 2025, granted the anti-graft agency’s motion ex parte for an interim order forfeiting the sum of $13 million linked to Oceangate Ltd to the federal government over allegations that the fund was proceeds of unlawful activity.
The judge had then directed the commission to publish the order in a national daily for interested people to show cause within 14 days why the fund should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
In 2024, the businesswoman gained significant media attention for a seven-day birthday celebration in Grenada, which was attended by high-profile guests, reportedly including Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The socialite also defended her widely publicised birthday celebration, noting that it had been “planned for 10 years” and was not funded with any money under investigation.
