By Adedapo Adesanya

The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced three suspects in the abduction of students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State to life imprisonment.

According to the court, the sentencing of Mr Abdulrazak Umar, known under the alias Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid; Mr Yunusa Musa, alias Yunusa Bin Musa; and Mr Shamsu Adamu Sani, alias Abu Itisar, will start from the date of their arrest.

Before the sentencing by Justice Salim Ibrahim, counsel for the defendants pleaded with the court to sentence them on liberal terms, adding that they were first-time offenders and had pleaded guilty.

Justice Ibrahim pointed out that this showed that they were remorseful of their actions, and all the counts they were charged with are not related to the kidnapping.

He added that the convicts were married men who have children and have aged parents who are dependent on them. He pleaded with the court to give them a second chance at life and sentence them on liberal terms.

Counsel for the prosecution, however, pointed out that the convicts were aware of the people on the battlefield, and as true Nigerians, they should have reported it to the authorities.

After the charges were read to them, they pleaded guilty to membership of a proscribed terrorist group.

At their arraignment on alleged terrorism at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the three defendants also pleaded guilty to concealing information on the planning and execution of the abduction.

However, only the first accused person, Abdulrazak Umar, alias Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid, pleaded guilty to counts 7, 8, 9 and 10, which bordered on training and passing instructions and inciting terror group members on a particular religious ideology.

The three accused persons were on trial by DSS on a 10-count charge bordering on kidnapping, concealment of information, and terrorism-related offences.

According to the charges, the defendants, all from Niger State, are accused of knowingly withholding information about individuals linked to terrorist activities, participating in kidnapping, and using a messaging platform to facilitate terrorist training.

The federal government had, last week, charged the suspects for the recent kidnapping of children and teachers of a school in the Oriire Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State. The 10-count charges filed before the Abuja court bordered on terrorism, kidnapping, concealment, incitement and illegal mining.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Pathway Advisors Limited (PAL) and Pivot Integrated Energy Services Limited have launched a N100 billion Series 1 Commercial Paper (CP) issuance under Pivot’s N300 billion Commercial Paper Programme, opening a new funding window aimed at strengthening the downstream energy company’s working capital.

The offer, for which Pathway Advisors is serving as Lead Arranger and Issuing House, is now open for subscription and will close on July 31, 2026.

The transaction underscores Pathway Advisors’ role in facilitating capital market access for Nigerian corporates while supporting the expansion plans of one of the country’s indigenous downstream energy companies.

Under the transaction, Pivot is seeking to raise up to N100 billion through three tranches with varying tenors and returns. Series 1 Tranche A has a tenor of 180 days, offering a discount rate of 17.5 per cent and a yield of 19.15 per cent. Tranche B has a tenor of 270 days, with a 19.5 per cent discount rate and a yield of 22.79 per cent, while Tranche C has a 364-day tenor, carrying a 19.69 per cent discount rate and a yield of 24.50 per cent.

The minimum subscription is N5 million, representing 5,000 units at N1,000 per unit, with additional subscriptions accepted in multiples of N1,000 thereafter.

The commercial paper programme has received investment-grade short-term ratings from leading rating agencies, earning an A3 rating from Agusto & Co., an A3 rating from Global Credit Ratings (GCR), and an A1 rating from DataPro Limited.

According to the transaction details, proceeds from the issuance will be deployed towards working capital financing to support Pivot’s operations in the importation, trading, storage, distribution and supply of refined petroleum products across Nigeria and selected African markets.

The company said the offer presents investors with an opportunity to participate in the growth of a leading indigenous downstream energy company supported by strong revenue growth, robust off-take arrangements and improving profitability.

Pivot Integrated Energy Services Limited is an indigenous integrated downstream energy company engaged in the importation, trading, storage, distribution and supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK).

The company serves a broad customer base that includes bulk buyers, distributors, industrial users, logistics operators, manufacturers and retail-linked channels across key commercial centres such as Lagos, Calabar and Port Harcourt.

It is also one of the 20 approved off-takers under the Dangote Refinery PMS Consortium, with an allocated target volume of 300 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit per quarter, positioning it among the key distributors in Nigeria’s evolving downstream petroleum market.

For Pathway Advisors Limited, the transaction further reinforces its position in Nigeria’s debt capital market as a financial advisory and capital-raising firm. Registered and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the firm provides transaction advisory, capital raising, project finance, mergers and acquisitions advisory, and strategic financial solutions to corporate and institutional clients.

The firm said it remains committed to facilitating access to capital for businesses while supporting sustainable economic growth across key sectors of the Nigerian economy through innovative financing solutions.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered 908 suspected ghost workers across 50 federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), recovering about N942 million allegedly paid as fraudulent salaries during a nationwide payroll verification exercise.

ICPC Chairman, Mr Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), disclosed the findings while speaking on the commission’s ongoing investigation into payroll fraud in federal government institutions.

The anti-graft agency said the exercise exposed widespread payroll irregularities, with the Nigeria Police Force accounting for the highest number of suspected ghost workers.

“For this operation, we identified 570 people whom we suspect are among the fake workers collecting salaries without working,” Mr Aliyu said.

Beyond the police, several MDAs were also found to have significant payroll discrepancies. The National Water Resources Authority recorded 80 suspected ghost workers.

“For this agency, we identified 80 names of people collecting salaries even though they are not workers of the agency,” the ICPC chairman stated.

The Federal Ministry of Works recorded 56 suspected ghost workers, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had 24. The Ministry of Defence was found to have 19 suspected fake workers.

“For the Ministry of Defence, we identified 19 people acting as fake workers,” Mr Aliyu added.

The Federal Ministry of Power and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment each recorded 17 suspected ghost workers, while the Federal Ministry of Health had 15. The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation recorded 12 suspected fake workers.

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Interior were also listed among the institutions affected by the payroll fraud, although the ICPC did not disclose the number of suspected ghost workers identified in the two organisations.

Explaining the scheme, Mr Aliyu said ghost workers are fictitious names inserted into government payrolls to fraudulently receive salaries.

“In some cases, officials add the names of their relatives or associates to the payroll even though they are not employees, and they continue collecting the salaries,” he said.

He cited one case uncovered during the investigation, revealing that, “We found a case where one person put the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on the payroll while also collecting the salaries of 12 workers.”

He said the payroll verification exercise forms part of the commission’s broader efforts to eliminate leakages in the public service, improve accountability in MDAs and ensure that government salaries are paid only to legitimate employees.