Headline

Details Of Buhari’s Meeting With Gov Obaseki Emerge

Published

3 years ago

October 13, 2021

Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, has called for the full implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Programme (NLTP) to address the problem of clashes between farmers and herders.

The governor made the call when he addressed State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.

Obaseki said that the people of Edo State had resolved that ranching was a private business and should be treated as such.

He said: “Our people say that as far as they are concerned, ranching is a private business just like every other agricultural venture, therefore, those involved should provide the land.

“As you already know, it is expensive to run and manage ranches.

“So I came to discuss with the President that since the people of Edo would rather invest privately.

“Then, the National Livestock Transformation Programme, which is now being implemented by the Federal Government, should acknowledge our model.

“It should also be able to help Edo people benefit from the funding that is now being made available for people who want to go into the livestock business and have made investments in ranches and other similar livestock programmes,”.

According to Obaseki, the state government is yet to promulgate a law banning open grazing because it sees the venture as private business.

“As you know, most Southern States have passed laws relating to open grazing but Edo State has not. Because we want to ensure that whatever laws we pass are laws that we can enforce.

“We have had extensive consultations with our people to deal with the issue that yes, we do not want open grazing because it is out modelled and out dated; however, what are the options?

“If we are asking that we should now have ranches and these cows should be constrained to specific areas such as ranches, then who provides the land?,” he queried.

On politics, Obaseki commended the Senate for joining their House of Representatives counterparts in approving the transmission of election results electronically.

He said: “Definitely if not for God and the technology utilised by INEC, I may not be governor today.

“So, I am one of those people who believe that we should not have elections in this country, going into the future, without transmitting results electronically from the polling units.

“Because, for elections to be credible, they have to be seen as transparent and once you have voted, you should be sure that your vote will count.”

He maintained that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had the capacity to transmit results electronically.

“With technology today, it is possible and INEC has shown it that from my election, that as soon as you voted and the results are counted in the polling unit, then that result should be made available, such that you already know what would be collated at the ward collation point.

“What has happened in many cases in the past is that people go and vote. The votes are counted in the polling unit but by the time it gets to the collation point, it changes.

“But this time around, because of the transparency, everybody will see and know what is expected at the collating point.

“That is what happened during my election and I am a very strong advocate for electronic transmission of results during elections,’’ he said.

DAILY POST reports that the governor thanked President Buhari for his support in ensuring the return of Edo’s stolen artefacts to the state from foreign lands.

Headline

Money Laundering: More Trouble For Binance As Canada Fines Crypto Giant $4.38m

Published

3 hours ago

May 11, 2024

Editor

Cryptocurrency exchange giant, Binance, facing charges for alleged $35.4million money laundering and tax evasion in Nigeria, has been fined about C$ 6 million ($4.38million) by Canada’s anti-money laundering agency for violating the country’s money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada on Thursday said Binance had failed to register as a foreign money services business with the intelligence body despite several deadlines.

According to Reuters, the Canadian anti-money laundering agency added that Binance, which ceased operations in Canada last year, had not reported receiving virtual currency worth C$10,000 or more on 5,902 separate occasions between June 1, 2021, and July 19, 2023.

Binance did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

Meanwhile, senior authorities within the Federal Government have accused the Chief Executive Officer of Binance, Richard Teng, of blackmail, over a claim that some unknown individuals in Nigeria, demanded a $ 150 million crypto currency bribe from the company’s embattled representatives.

Top Federal Government sources who were not authorised to speak, told our correspondent in confidence in separate interviews on Tuesday.

Senior executives in the Office of the National Security Adviser noted that the Finance CEO’s claim was unfounded.

One of the sources said, “Did he (Binance CEO) mention a name? Since he didn’t mention a name, why should anyone be worried? Why should anyone waste their time if somebody made an unfounded allegation but could not mmentionany name?”

Another source noted, “If someone would say something like this, he should be able to mention the people. It’s not worth our time, anybody can say anything but as long as they can’t substantiate it, it’s a waste of time.

“He should mention names, if not, all that he’s saying is rubbish.”

Meanwhile, two other Federal Government sources at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission accused the Binance CEO of blackmailing the Nigerian government.

They noted that Teng’s claim was frivolous, adding that the Binance CEO’s action was the modus operandi of foreign personalities and corporations facing legal charges in Nigeria and other African countries.

One of the sources noted, “It is not only the EFCC that is prosecuting or investigating Binance over its atrocities against Nigeria. There are allegations of money laundering, and tax evasion, amongst others against the company, and several federal government agencies are probing the company’s activities in the country.

“But the latest comment about alleged request for bribery by the Binance CEO is a blackmail against the federal government. That is the modus operandi of international corporations and individuals facing charges in Nigeria or anywhere else in Africa.”

Another source said, “It is the tradition of these international players to blackmail the country whenever they’re caught. What is the correlation between the alleged request for a bribe and the allegations brought against Binance?

“The facts are there – they evaded tax, their platform is being used to launder money, so why are they not facing the facts? The claim is frivolous and a mere blackmail against the government.”

The PUNCH reported last Tuesday that the founder and former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao had been sentenced to four months in prison in the United States.

Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 to a money laundering charge.

A United States District Judge Richard Jones said in court last Tuesday that Zhao has also satisfied the requirement of him to pay $50 million in fines.

The 47-year-old admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by willfully failing to set up an effective anti-money laundering system at Binance.

Zhoa founded and ran the cryptocurrency exchange as CEO from July 2017 to November 2023.

In March, The PUNCH reported that a U.S. district court ordered that Zhao surrender his Canadian passport and notify the court before travelling within the country.
PUNCH

Headline

Porn Star Testifies Against Trump At Hush Money Trial

Published

3 days ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

The porn star at the heart of Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial, Stormy Daniels, testified on Tuesday about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with the former president in a hotel penthouse suite.

Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels on the eve of his 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, when the lurid story of marital infidelity could have sunk his campaign.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger announced “The people call Stormy Daniels,” as Trump, who is seeking to recapture the White House in November, sat at the defense table in the Manhattan courtroom flanked by his lawyers, AFP reports.

What followed was detailed testimony about the sexual encounter Daniels said she had with Trump – his pajamas, his boxer shorts, the sexual position, that he did not wear a condom – all while the former president, sitting just feet away, stared on in silence, stony-faced.

Trump has denied having sex with Daniels, and his defense team sought, unsuccessfully, to have a mistrial declared.

The extraordinary courtroom face-off comes six months before election day when Trump will try to defeat Democratic President Joe Biden.

Daniels walked prosecutors through her difficult childhood in Louisiana, a stint as a stripper and her eventually joining the adult film industry.

The 45-year-old, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe where she was employed as a greeter by X-rated movie company Wicked Entertainment.

Daniels said she was 27 at the time and Trump was “probably older than my father.”

She said a member of Trump’s security detail told her the real estate tycoon wanted to have dinner with her. She was reluctant but agreed after discussing it with her publicist.

When she arrived at the penthouse where Trump was staying he emerged wearing “silk or satin pajamas which I immediately made fun of,” Daniels told the jury.

“I said ‘Does Mr Hefner know you stole his pajamas?’” she said in a reference to the outfit favored by the late Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner.

Trump changed clothes and they began talking about adult movies.

“He was very interested in a lot of the business stuff,” Daniels said.

Trump, who was married at the time to his current wife, Melania, suggested Daniels be on his hit reality television show, “The Apprentice,” she said.

Daniels said she went to the bathroom at one point and when she emerged Trump was on the bed in boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

“It startled me,” she said. “The intention was pretty clear.”

“I was not threatened verbally or physically,” Daniels said, although there was an “imbalance of power.”

She said they had brief sex on the bed “in missionary position” and Trump did not wear a condom.

“I felt ashamed I didn’t stop it, didn’t say no,” Daniels said.

Daniels said she met with Trump again on several occasions but cut off contact when it became clear she would not appear on “The Apprentice.”

After Trump announced his candidacy for president, Daniels said her publicist suggested she could sell her story and put her in touch with Keith Davidson, a Hollywood lawyer who testified previously at the trial.

“My motivation wasn’t money, it was to get the story out,” Daniels said.

She said she entered into a non-disclosure agreement in October 2016 on the eve of the presidential election negotiated by Davidson and Cohen for which she was paid $130,000.

“I couldn’t tell my story, he couldn’t tell the story,” she said.

After a lunch break, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche asked Judge Juan Merchan to declare a mistrial, objecting to some of Daniels’ testimony, particularly her claim that she was threatened in 2011 by a man in a Las Vegas parking garage who allegedly warned her not to talk about Trump.

“It’s extremely prejudicial to insert safety concerns into a trial about business records,” Blanche said.

Merchan denied the motion, saying “I don’t think we have reached a point where a mistrial is in order.”

Trump is under a partial gag order prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses, the jury or court staff.

Merchan has already fined him $10,000 for breaching the gag order and warned Trump he may face jail time for future violations.

Headline

Naira Abuse: Trouble Looms As Group Petitions EFCC, Wants Edo APC Candidate Prosecuted

Published

3 days ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

The All Progressives Congress candidate in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, is at risk of being sentenced to six- months imprisonment in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria Act of 2007 as a coalition of civil society organisations under the aegis of the Network of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria accused him of abusing the Nigerian currency, the naira.

The group lodged the complaint with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Okpebholo in a petition dated May 2, 2024, and addressed to the chairman of the EFCC.

The petition was signed by the group’s National Coordinator, Victor Kalu, and National Secretary, Ali Abacha.

The coalition claimed the senator is guilty of the offence of naira abuse and mutilation, citing the CBN Act of 2007, which declares such actions as punishable offences.

The coalition said it is “disappointment that prominent individuals, including lawmakers, have violated this provision of the CBN Act.”

Meanwhile, they commended the EFCC for its “swift response in arresting and charging individuals who have been caught on viral videos abusing and defacing the Naira at social events such as the cases of Mr Okuneye Idris Olarewaju, popularly known as Bobrisky, and Mr Pascal Okechukwu, also known as Cubana Chief Priest, who have faced legal consequences for their actions.”

While praising the EFCC for its actions, the coalition demanded that all individuals captured in viral videos abusing the Naira should be promptly arrested and brought to justice, as no one is above the law.

They called on the EFCC and other law enforcement agencies to investigate the “viral video involving Senator Monday Okpebholo, who is seen engaging in Naira abuse and mutilation.”

They added that Okpebholo should be held accountable for his actions as a representative of the people.

They, however, warned that failure to address the viral video involving Okpebholo would result in the coalition taking further actions.

They threatened to mobilise their members, supporters, and democracy advocates for a peaceful protest against the EFCC, citing selective action and bias if the EFCC failed to address the viral video involving Okpebholo.

In his response, the senator refuted the allegation, saying it was false.

Okpebholo, in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, described the allegation as a hatchet job targeted at smearing his image ahead of the September governorship election.

He blamed his detractors and the opposition camp as being the brain behind the campaign of calumny.

While stressing that he has never been arrested by the police for any civil or criminal offence, the lawmaker insisted the man in the video circulating on social media was not him.

He said, “As a private and public person, I have never sprayed or mutilated the naira in my over 50 years on earth. It baffles me why these agents will fabricate fake news to tarnish my image ahead of the election. I therefore called on the IGP to investigate the faces behind the petition and prosecute them accordingly.

“They are scouting for fake news and non-existent things to blackmail me and lie to Edo people. Unfortunately, we know what they are up to. They are smelling the defeat already. Edo people have already decided, and no amount of State-sponsored intimidation will work.

“In Edo State, President Bola Tinubu-led APC administration is working. The federal government is reconstructing federal roads in Edo Central, Edo North, and Edo South. That is why Edo people must take sides with the APC and vote for me as the next governor of Edo State.

“We will bring the Federal Government closer to the Edo people. We have been isolated for too long, and it is time to end that alienation.”
PUNCH