The Nigerian Immigration Service on Thursday put the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, on its watchlist.

This came hours after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission declared Bello wanted in connection to an alleged case of money laundering to the tune of N80.2bn.

The circular sighted by The PUNCH was dated April 18, 2024 and was signed by Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, DS Umar, for the Comptroller-General, Kemi Nandap.

The service detailed the name, nationality, and passport number of the former gpvernor (B50083321) saying “I am directed to inform you that the above-named person has been placed on the watch list.

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“Suffice to mention that the subject is being prosecuted before the Federal High Court Abuja for conspiracy, breach of trust, and money laundering vide letter Ref; CR; 3000/EFCC/LS/EGCS.1/ TE/Vide/1/279 dated April 18, 2024.

“If seen at any entry or exit point, he should be arrested and referred to the Director of Investigation or contact 08036226329/07039617304 for further action.”

Earlier, the EFCC declared Bello wanted, asking members of the public with useful information about the former governor’s whereabouts to contact any of the commission’s offices across the country.

The anti-graft commission had earlier stated that it would arraign the former governor before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday.

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This came after the EFCC was granted a warrant of arrest by the Federal High Court in Abuja to apprehend Bello.

Bello, alongside three other suspects, Ali Bello, Dauda Suliman, and Abdulsalam Hudu, were to be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite on 19 counts related to money laundering.

But drama ensued when officers of the Nigeria Police Force foiled the EFCC’s attempt to arrest Bello at his Abuja residence on Wednesday.

A group of armed men, identified as “Special Forces,” along with officers from the Nigeria Police Force, intervened to prevent the EFCC operatives from apprehending him.

The PUNCH gathered that the current governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, had intervened to prevent the arrest of his predecessor.

Ododo’s security team reportedly escorted Bello out of the location in the governor’s vehicle.

Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the application by a former Anambra State Governor, Willie Maduabuchi Obiano, which sought to quash the N40 billion money laundering charges brought against him by the Federal Government.

The Judge, in a ruling delivered on Thursday, faulted and rejected all grounds upon which the application was predicated by Obiano.

The former governor had, among others, prayed the Judge to dismiss the 9-count charges instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on behalf of the Federal Government.

He claimed that there was no connection between the proof of evidence supplied to the court by the EFCC and the accusations against him.

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He averred that there was no testimony from any witness indicating that he issued directives for the disbursement of security votes and other funds belonging to the Anambra State Government.

Obiano also claimed that he could not be held accountable for any alleged unlawful actions by officials of the Anambra State Government as there is no concept of vicarious liability in the criminal justice system.

His motion on notice was brought pursuant to Section 6(6)(a) and (b) and Section 36(6)(b) of the 1999 constitution as amended and Section 1(1) & (2), 266, 271(b), 383(4) &492 (3) of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act 2015.

Among others, Obiano sought “An order of the court quashing the instant charge for it amounts to flagrant abuse of judicial process and a mockery of the criminal Justice

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“An order quashing the charge for non-disclosure of a prime facie case being vague and devoid of precision in respect of all the 9 count charges.

“No prima facie case has been disclosed against the defendant in this charge. There is no link between the proof of evidence and the purported allegation made against the defendant in the charge

“No evidence exists from any witness showing that the defendant passed down a directive for the disbursement of security votes and other funds belonging to Anambra State government.

“The defendant cannot be made answerable for any purported unlawful actions of officials of Anambra State government as there is no vicarious liability in our criminal jurisprudence.

“The thinking and conclusion of the prosecution on the counts arose from speculation and suspicions.

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“The subject matter of the charge borders on accountability for security vote funds.
The honourable court lacks the requisite jurisdiction to entertain issues on accountability for security vote funds

“There is an appeal filed by the Anambra state government challenging the powers of EFCC to investigate the security vote of Anambra state government.

“The preferment of the entire charge is in bad faith. This honourable court has inherent judicial power to grant all the reliefs sought above.”

But in the ruling, Justice Ekwo held that all the reliefs sought by Obiano are not grantable because they are premature and lacking in merit.

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The Judge said there is no way the court would know whether the former governor is linked with the alleged offences or not unless the trial is conducted in line with the provisions of the law.

The former governor is being prosecuted by EFCC on 9-count charges bordering on money laundering to the tune of N40 billion.

Meanwhile, the Judge has fixed June 24, 25, 26 and 27 for full blown trial of the charges.

In the same vein, Justice Ekwo permitted Obiano 60 days to travel abroad for medical treatment.

The Judge ordered that Obiano be made to sign an undertaking to return to the country after the treatment and to deposit his travelling passport within three days of his return to Nigeria.

President Bola Tinubu has approved system-wide policies to comprehensively overhaul the education sector to improve learning and skill development, increase enrolment, and ensure the academic security of the nation’s children.

The approved policies are captured as DOTS, an acronym representing: Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training & Development, and Skill Development & Acquisition.

This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale.

On the issue of data repository, the statement explained that there is a paucity of coordinated, verifiable and authentic data on all aspects of the education sector in Nigeria, which is critical for planning.

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Consequently, the President approved the conduct of an extensive census of all schools in Nigeria from primary to tertiary level, their conditions and live-in facilities, proximity to one another, educational infrastructure, etc.

He also approved that there should be a census for all teachers in Nigeria, their qualifications, training support received, etc, a census on all pupils and students in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions, gender, exam grades, etc.

According to the statement, “This information will guide federal and state interventions for teachers’ training and development as well as overall support. It will also provide data on gender ratio (boys and girls), their specific learning needs, and who is in school or who has dropped out based on daily monitoring with year-by-year reporting.

“There will be a dedicated portal/dashboard in the Federal Ministry of Education, offices of state governors, and local government chairpersons, which will host and disseminate this information for the federal government, states, and local governments to monitor in real time.

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“This new data tracking architecture will enable the government to track the progress of students, thus having a clear data-driven mechanism for interventions, especially concerning out-of-school children, girls, and those with specific learning disabilities, among others.”

On out-of-school children’s education and training, it said “The Federal Ministry of Education is already implementing the government’s policy through the activities of four of its agencies. Already, there are about two million beneficiaries. The system-wide policy will further enhance the education and training of the nation’s out-of-school children.”

“Under the teachers’ development and support programme, the Federal Ministry of Education will support and train teachers in digital skills to facilitate the use of technology in classrooms. This is expected to bring technology and digitization to teachers and learners at all levels of education.

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“President Tinubu in his determined effort to enhance skill diversity in the education sector in order to effectively equip Nigerian students with the requisite skills, knowledge, and values to become functional and productive members of society, also approved the National Skills Framework for skill development and acquisition for all levels.

“The framework is designed to provide the appropriate skills for each level of education that will result in the empowering of generations of Nigerians with the required aptitude for the evolving needs of the global economy of the 21st century.

“This framework is expected to address skill-gaps, quality of education, and unemployment concerns as students will acquire certain skill sets, in addition to general knowledge.

“It is expected that once fully implemented, these programmes will succeed in resetting learning and connecting the ‘DOTS’ for significant improvement of the overall education system in Nigeria, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu,” the statement added.