Justice A.I. Akobi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has frozen bank accounts linked to TAK Logistics Limited, TAK Agro PLC, and their director, Thomas Etuh, over alleged debts totaling N24.9 billion.

The court on Monday granted the interim order following an ex parte application filed by Mofesomo Tayo-Oyetibo, (SAN), on behalf of Keystone Bank Limited.

The order made by Justice Akobi includes a Mareva injunction restraining the defendants from accessing or dealing with any funds, shares, dividends, or other financial instruments up to the disputed amount.

In the ruling, the court also directed all banks and financial institutions holding accounts operated by the defendants to preserve the funds and to file affidavits within seven days, disclosing the balances and providing relevant bank statements.

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The judge also barred the defendants from transferring, selling, or otherwise disposing of any movable or immovable property pending the resolution of the matter.

Furthermore, the court granted an application for substituted service on the third defendant, Thomas Etuh, allowing Keystone Bank to serve court documents via courier or by posting them at his last known address.

The court ordered that,“The defendants, their directors, agents, privies, or representatives are hereby restrained from withdrawing, transferring, dissipating, or otherwise dealing with funds, shares, dividends, or any other financial instruments up to the sum of N24,934,741,718.91, or any part thereof, in any bank or financial institution.”

In addition, the court ordered immediate compliance by all affected banks and financial institutions, including a requirement to preserve any funds tied to the defendants and submit full account disclosures: “Within seven days of being served with this order, each bank or financial institution shall file an affidavit stating the balances in all accounts held by the defendants, along with relevant statements.”

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The court said that the order applies to accounts associated with the defendants, including those linked to the Bank Verification Number (BVN) 22273745073.

The interim order will lapse seven days after it is served unless extended by the court.

Consequently, the matter was adjourned till July 22, 2025, for further hearing.

Nigerians spent at least $29.29bn on foreign medical expenses during the eight years of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, according to The PUNCH. This translates to an annual spending of about $3.6bn during the review period.

This is according to a detailed analysis of data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s quarterly statistical bulletins. The sum, recorded under the “Health-Related and Social Services” category, reflects cumulative outflows of foreign exchange from June 2015 to May 2023 — precisely covering the duration of Buhari’s two-term presidency, which spanned from May 29, 2015, to May 28, 2023.

The data, reviewed by our correspondent, shows the depth of Nigeria’s dependence on foreign healthcare services, with the CBN’s record showing a year-on-year movement of funds abroad for medical purposes amid economic downturns or dollar shortages at home.

It also highlights the irony that, despite repeated declarations by the administration to revamp the health sector and reduce capital flight, health-related foreign exchange outflows remained significant and even spiked dramatically during the latter years of Buhari’s presidency.

A close review of the spending pattern shows that the first year of Buhari’s presidency recorded the single highest amount spent on medical tourism. Between June 2015 and May 2016, Nigeria spent $7.81bn on health-related services abroad.

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This figure alone accounted for over a quarter of the total medical tourism expenditure under his administration. Notably, September 2015 stood out as a month of exceptional outflow, with $3.20bn disbursed — the highest for any single month throughout the eight-year period.

That spike occurred during Buhari’s first few months in office and was followed by elevated monthly figures in October, November, and December of 2015, which further raised questions about whether the expenditure reflected a backlog of deferred medical bills or a broader trend among elites seeking healthcare abroad immediately after the administration took office.

In the subsequent year, between June 2016 and May 2017, the figure dipped to $2.76bn, although substantial sums were still recorded in months such as March 2016 ($0.96bn) and April 2016 ($0.67bn).

Spending continued to decline in Buhari’s third year in office, falling to $1.72bn between June 2017 and May 2018. By the fourth year of the first term, which ran from June 2018 to May 2019, Nigeria’s medical tourism bill had dropped sharply to just $0.44bn — the lowest across all eight years.

However, a closer examination of the second term reveals a different picture. After a relatively low fifth year, when Nigeria spent $0.92bn on medical services abroad between June 2019 and May 2020, there was a slight increase in the sixth year, with foreign exchange outflows reaching $1.57bn.

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This modest recovery coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which imposed global travel restrictions and temporarily subdued international medical travel. The data during the lockdown period between April 2020 and June 2021 reflected lower figures, but it also hinted at pent-up demand that would soon be unleashed.

Indeed, from June 2021, medical tourism experienced a surge once again. The seventh year of Buhari’s administration — between June 2021 and May 2022 — recorded $6.96bn in health-related foreign exchange disbursements.

June 2021 alone accounted for $3.02bn, almost matching the record set back in 2015. April 2022 saw another massive jump with $1.28bn spent, suggesting that Nigerians, particularly the affluent class and public officials, resumed international travel en masse to seek healthcare that remained inaccessible or underdeveloped at home.

The eighth and final year of the administration recorded the second-highest annual expenditure, with $7.12bn spent between June 2022 and May 2023. January 2023 was a particularly costly month, accounting for $2.30bn in medical outflows — the third highest monthly figure during Buhari’s presidency.

With this late surge in medical tourism spending, the second term of Buhari’s government, which initially appeared more conservative in terms of health-related foreign exchange usage, ended up outpacing the first term.

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A total of $16.56bn was spent in the second term, compared to $12.73bn in the first term. This shift suggests that, despite earlier constraints, the underlying drivers of medical tourism — including poor local healthcare infrastructure, lack of trust in domestic medical services, and the elite’s preference for foreign treatment — remained unaddressed and may have worsened.

Throughout his presidency, Buhari was frequently criticised for seeking medical care abroad. He made multiple trips to the United Kingdom for undisclosed treatments, sometimes staying for extended periods.

Buhari, during his eight-year reign, spent at least 225 days outside the country on medical trips, visiting no fewer than 40 countries since 2015. Eight months after assuming office, the former President embarked on his first medical trip to London, United Kingdom, on February 5, 2016, spending six days.

His second medical trip followed four months later, on June 6, 2016, during which he spent 10 days treating an undisclosed ear infection. On January 19, 2017, Buhari embarked on his second-longest medical trip to London, spending 50 days away.

In May of the same year, barely two months after his last trip, he returned to London for what became his longest medical stay, lasting 104 days. He did not return to the UK for medical purposes again until May 2018, when he spent four days on a follow-up review.

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In March 2021, Buhari departed for London once again, on what the Presidency described as a “routine medical check-up,” which lasted 15 days. His departure came amid a labour crisis in the health sector, during which members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors commenced an indefinite strike over unpaid allowances.

Almost a year later, on March 6, 2022, the ex-President travelled to London again for medical reasons. This time, he spent 12 days. On October 31, 2022, Buhari departed from Owerri, the capital of Imo State, to London for another medical check-up, which lasted approximately two weeks. He returned to the country on November 13, 2022.

Former presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, consistently defended Buhari’s foreign medical trips, stating that he “has used the same medical team for about 40 years.” In a recent interview following Buhari’s death, Adesina argued: “If he had said I’d do my medicals in Nigeria just for show off or something, he could have long been dead.”

In total, Buhari undertook 84 trips to 40 countries during his tenure in office.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Medical Association, the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors earlier criticised political leaders for consistently seeking medical care abroad while neglecting the country’s healthcare system.

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The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Tope Osundara, described the trend as not only disheartening but an indictment of Nigerian leaders’ investments in the sector they are expected to strengthen.

Osundara expressed disappointment that Nigerian leaders continue to patronise foreign hospitals despite annual budget allocations to domestic medical facilities like the State House Clinic.

“It’s more like building a company, investing resources in it, then refusing to use the product and telling others to trust it. It tells you that something is fundamentally wrong with the system, with the people entrusted with managing it.

“There was a time when the former president, Muhammad Buhari, made some utterances that they should abolish this medical tourism. But unfortunately, before he died, he was even at the forefront of going abroad for treatment. Even a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, disclosed that he and Buhari were admitted to the same hospital in London shortly before Buhari passed away. This tells you that Nigeria’s healthcare system is in bad shape.”

On his part, the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Prof Bala Audu, noted that while individuals are free to seek care wherever they choose, the consistent reliance of public office holders on foreign hospitals despite Nigeria’s budgetary allocations to domestic healthcare speaks volumes about misplaced priorities.
(PUNCH)

A former Green Eagles star and Nigerian football icon, Kadiri Ikhana, has been discharged from the Intensive Care Unit at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, after three days of treatment for an undisclosed illness.

According to a statement on Monday via LinkedIn from the chairman of the International Sports Academy and Ikhana’s former teammate, Segun Odegbami, the veteran coach’s recovery is “nothing short of a miracle.”

Odegbami shared the update in a statement released late Sunday night, saying he had Ikhana’s permission to speak on the matter.

“Yesterday, Kadiri Ikhana, MON, my Green Eagles colleague that I reported was gravely ill last week, was kept in the ICU of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital for 3 days. He recovered quickly and was discharged after receiving treatment and undergoing full medical tests.

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“All his medical bills were settled by the Edo State government.

”This morning, I spoke to him. The preliminary medical report of the various tests conducted was handed over to him, and he was asked to report back to the hospital in 3 weeks time for further tests.

“He assures me that he is getting better everyday, even as he still ‘wears’ a catheter underneath his robes, and is on some very serious medications.

“He was cheerful and very grateful to all those that came to support him morally, physically, financially and spiritually. He wants me to thank all Nigerians for their shower of love and prayers,” he wrote.

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As part of his recovery plan, Ikhana has temporarily relocated from Auchi to Abuja, where he is expected to rest and continue his treatment. He made the journey on Sunday, stopping in Lokoja to visit family.

A photo shared shows him standing with his eldest sister and her husband, Pastor and Mrs Jonathan Abioye.

“On behalf of the entire Ikhana family… we thank the Creator of the Universe, the Government of Edo State, his friends… and several other concerned Nigerians that rose up to support and pray for him,” Odegbami stated.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for a “Night of Tributes” in Lagos to honour five Nigerian sports heroes who passed away in the last six months.

The event, sponsored by Air Peace, is scheduled to hold in eight days. Further details are expected to be released starting Monday.