General
EFCC Arraigns Katsina Permanent Secretary For Fraud
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 arraigned one Mr Sule Yusuf Saulawa, a Permanent Secretary formally attached to the office of the Deputy Governor of Katsina State before Honourable Justice Sanusi Tukur of the Katsina High Court on a one count charge of Obtaining by False Pretense contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
The accused person who is a permanent secretary in Katsina but currently without portfolio allegedly obtained the sum of N2.5 million while he was attached to the office of the Deputy Governor of Katsina State from the complainant under the pretext that the then Deputy Governor’s office would award the complainant a contract for the supply of fertilizer to all the Local Government areas in Katsina State.
Mr Saulawa was said to have obtained the money under the guise that it is for the purchase of bidding documents. It was further alleged that after obtaining the money from the complainant, the accused person cut contact with the complainant.
Investigation into the alleged fraud by the EFCC revealed through one Mr Kabiru Dan-Asali who disclosed in his statement that he was present at the time the complainant, Mr Musa Baba gave one Nasiru who is a boy to the complainant, the sum of N2,500,000 ( Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) on behalf of the accused person. The accused person also confirmed this in his voluntary statement he made to the EFCC.
Despite all this, the accused person pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him in court.
In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, Mr Sa’ad Hanafi Sa’ad requested the court for trial date and also asked that the accused person be remanded in prison custody.
However, counsel representing the accused person, Mr Bashir Mohammed, moved a bail application praying the court to admit his client to bail pending the determination of the case.
Hanafi objected the bail application on ground that the accused person if granted bail, would likely jump bail because he had once dishonoured the administrative bail granted to him by the EFCC. He added that instead of admitting the accused person to bail, the court shall order for a speedy trial of the matter.
The charge read that “You Sule Yusuf Saulawa while being the permanent secretary with the office of the Deputy Governor, Katsina State, sometimes in 2015 in Katsina, within the Judicial Division of the High Court of Katsina State with intent to defraud falsely obtained from one Alhaji Musa Baba, the Chairman of Many Agro Allied and Chemical Company Nigeria Limited and Diamond Fertilizer Nigeria Limited the sum of N2,500,000 (Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) by falsely representing that the Office of the Deputy Governor of Katsina State would award him contract for the supply of fertilizer to all the Local Government areas in the state and asked him to purchase a bidding documents which would be given to him as soon as he writes a proposal offering best price to the State Government which he did, but which you knew all to be false and you thereby committed an offense contrary to section 1 (1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act”.
Justice Tukur remanded the accused person in prison custody and adjourned the matter to January 6, 2017 for ruling on bail application and commencement of trial.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has explained why it initiated a move to freeze the bank account of the Osun State government.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Governor of Osun State, Mr Ademola Adeleke, claimed that the anti-money laundering agency asked one of its bankers, First Bank, not to release funds to the state government.
According to the Governor, this was part of the strategies to frustrate his administration ahead of the August 15, 2026, governorship election in the state.
Reacting to the issue on Wednesday night, the EFCC, in a statement, said it has been investigating the state government since March 2026 over an alleged “fraudulent handling of Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) account to the tune of N11.0 billion.
The organisation noted that some officials of the state government, especially the Accountant General of the State, have had interview sessions with investigators of the EFCC.
“These ongoing investigations of the state government would not have warranted any placement of Post No Debit order on its account but for the precipitate and unwarranted movement of funds from the accounts to different suspicious accounts since August 2, 2026.
“The commission noticed huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities and had to swiftly halt the trend by freezing the accounts from which such heavy funds are being moved,” parts of the statement said.
In the disclosure, the agency noted that its preventive mandate is a public-inclined framework of safeguarding public funds, assets and resources, stressing that it cannot “watch idly while a state government’s account is being pillaged.”
“While the commission is fully aware of the impending governorship election in Osun State, it has a responsibility to act in defence of the sanctity of the funds of the state. It will be uncharitable for the commission to allow an excuse of an upcoming election to fold its arms to perform its legally-assigned functions,” it pointed out.
The EFCC disclosed that it is “keeping watch over the finances of other states like Osun State. Many of these states are on the investigative radar of the commission to ensure accountability and probity. The commission has always pointed out that it is non-partisan and non-sectarian but always working in the overall interests of Nigerians. The Osun State government account was frozen to save public funds from being looted.”
The organisation urged the public “to ignore false narratives and deliberate demonisation of the works of the EFCC. The interests of all Nigerians are greater and will always be protected by the commission.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has launched a mobile application designed to monitor fuel consumption patterns in real time across retail outlets nationwide.
The NMDPRA, established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, is responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum operations. The deployment of the mobile application aligns with the authority’s broader efforts to leverage technology to improve regulatory compliance and strengthen accountability.
The pilot phase of the project began on August 1 in Abuja and its six Area Councils, the authority said in a statement published on X.
As part of the rollout, the Executive Director for Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure (DSSRI), Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, led a team alongside officials from the Abuja Regional Office to assess the readiness and operational performance of the digital platform at participating retail outlets.
According to the NMDPRA, the application captures inventory and compliance data in real time, enabling regulators to monitor fuel distribution more effectively while improving operational efficiency across the sector.
The authority said the platform would generate reliable, data-driven insights to support evidence-based decision-making, strengthen national energy security planning and enhance transparency in the downstream petroleum industry.
It added that the initiative is expected to provide significant value to government, investors, operators and other stakeholders by improving access to accurate fuel consumption and compliance data.
Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector has undergone significant changes since the deregulation of the petrol market and the removal of fuel subsidies, with regulators placing greater emphasis on data-driven supervision to ensure product availability, prevent supply disruptions and discourage sharp regional disparities in distribution.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
No doubt, moving money among African markets remains a slow, fragmented process that relies on multiple intermediaries and prolonged settlement cycles.
To solve this issue and drive the development of stablecoin-enabled payment services for businesses across the continent, Onafriq has joined forces with a leading stablecoin infrastructure provider, Privy.
The collaboration will enable Onafriq to create and manage embedded digital asset solutions for its partners and, in time, institutional clients where regulation allows. The initial phase focuses on cross-chain stablecoin transfers and treasury and settlement workflows, creating the foundation for future cross-border payment and liquidity solutions.
Integrating Privy’s secure infrastructure enables Onafriq to build the capabilities required to support a new generation of efficient digital payment services for banks, fintechs, and mobile money operators.
This partnership is a key component of Onafriq’s broader strategy to modernise pan-African payment infrastructure, enabling secure multi-modal wallets and more efficient movement of value across the continent.
The outcome will support a range of future institutional use cases, including stablecoin-enabled settlement, treasury management and liquidity services, as it reflects Onafriq’s commitment to driving Africa’s digital transformation agenda by investing in technologies that make financial services more efficient, connected and accessible.
It was gathered that Onafriq selected Privy for its enterprise-grade infrastructure to enable the seamless integration of digital asset wallet capabilities into its products, subject to regulatory approval, and deliver a simple user experience while abstracting the complexity of blockchain technology.
“At Onafriq, we keep investing in technology that makes payments faster and more accessible. Privy gives us a building block for faster settlement and better liquidity management. As demand for digital asset services grows, our goal is to ensure Africa’s payment ecosystem benefits securely and in line with regulatory frameworks,” the Group Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Onafriq,” Mr Luke Kyohere, said.
The chief executive of Privy, Mr Henri Stern, said, “Stablecoins will play an increasingly important role in the future of global payments, but real-world adoption depends on infrastructure that is secure, scalable and simple to implement. Working with Onafriq allows us to help build that foundation across Africa and beyond.”
