News

My Properties Abroad Not Acquired With Public Funds – Festus Keyamo

Published

1 year ago

April 22, 2023

Editor

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has provided clarification a property he was said to have acquired in the United States of America.

Keyamo, in a statement via his verified Twitter handle on Saturday, said he did not acquire the house with stolen funds.

Recall that the Minister has been trending on social media after he appeared before a building in the US.

But, he has confirmed that the property belongs to him, noting that he acquired it with money he made from legal practice.

Keyamo said he was only trying to bait the horde of those he called sore losers at the last elections with a video of his vacation in “one of my properties abroad” amid a light workout.

He said they fell so terribly for the bait, adding hat they seem to view everyone from their depraved universe and assuming everyone will wallow in the same moral squalor as them.

On how he acquired the property, Keyamo said he had, on March 6, 2019, written to the relevant government agencies, informing them of the closure of his foreign account(s) and the repatriation of the funds to the country, “being some savings I had made as a private legal practitioner and a property investor over decades.”

According to Keyamo, the foreign funds were lying in his accounts until he was appointed Minister in 2019.

He stated, “In 2021, I again wrote to the relevant agencies (by letters dated January 22, 2021), informing them of the movement of those funds out of the country to purchase a property as a better investment decision, instead of the funds lying idly in the account whilst I am in public office.”

The Minister said he laughed when he saw the trending issues regarding “just one of my properties in the US.”

He said it was laughable that some people think that he (Keyamo) could not afford such a property after his 30 years of active, high-profile practice of law.

Keyamo added that he has been underrated because he had chosen to live a simple and modest life and not given to the ostentatious display of wealth.

He said the building is “about the cheapest of my several properties.”

Keyamo added that his flourishing and manned law chambers and his real estate investments are still far more financially profitable than serving Nigeria.

“Ours is a labour of love to my country,” he said.

He added that “Some of us don’t need Government funds or patronage to get by.”

News

LG Poll: Voter Apathy As Makinde Votes In Ibadan

Published

31 mins ago

April 27, 2024

Editor

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Saturday, urged residents of the state to come out en-masse to perform their civic responsibility in the ongoing Local Government election.

Our correspondent, who monitored the election, observed that eligible voters refused to come out to participate in the ongoing election.

The governor made this appeal while speaking with journalists shortly after casting his vote at Ward 1, Unit 11 in the Ibadan North East Local Government Area of the state.

Makinde reminded them of the need to take part in choosing their leaders.

He, therefore, appealed to residents to come out to exercise their civic responsibilities.

The ongoing local government election is expected to end by 3:pm.

Details later…

News

Late Actor, Junior Pope’s Funeral Arrangement Released

Published

40 mins ago

April 27, 2024

Editor

The funeral arrangement of late actor, Junior Pope has been released.

Recall that the actor drowned on April 10 along with four crew members, while travelling by water for filmmaker Adanma Luke’s film “The Other Side of Life”.

According to Junior Pope’s family, the actor will be buried on May 17th at his hometown in Nsukka, Enugu state.

News

Yahaya Bello: Abuja American School Refunds $760,000 To EFCC

Published

2 hours ago

April 27, 2024

Editor

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has confirmed the receipt of the refund of $760,000 paid as advanced school fees by a former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello for his children at the American International School, Abuja.

The spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the development to our correspondent in Abuja on Friday.

“The school has refunded the entire $ 760, 000 to the EFCC’s recovery account,” he said.

Earlier, the American International School of Abuja had asked the EFCC to provide “authentic banking details” for the refund of fees paid for the children of the former governor.

Bello allegedly paid $720,000 in advance as fees for five of his children from the coffers of the Kogi State Government.

The children are in Grade Levels 2 to 8 at the school.

On April 17, EFCC operatives laid siege on Bello’s residence in Abuja in an attempt to arrest him over an alleged N80.2 billion fraud.

While the operatives were at the house, Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi, arrived at the property and reportedly whisked Bello away.

In a letter addressed to the Lagos Zonal Commander of the EFCC, the school said the sum of $845,852 has been paid in tuition “since the 7th of September 2021 to date.”

AISA said the sum to be refunded is $760,910 because it had deducted educational services already rendered.

“Please forward to us an official written request, with the authentic banking details of the EFCC, for the refund of the above-mentioned funds as previously indicated as part of your investigation into the alleged money laundering activities by the Bello family,” the letter reads.

It added, “Since the 7th September 2021 to date, $845,852.84 in tuition and other fees have been deposited into our bank account.

“We have calculated the net amount to be transferred and refunded to the State, after deducting the educational services rendered as $760,910.84.

“No further additional fees are expected in respect of tuition as the students’ fees have now been settled until they graduate from ASIA.”

The school said it would draw the attention of the anti-graft agency if there were any further deposits by the Bello family.

In a statement signed by Greg Hughes, AISA also said, “Ali Bello contacted the school on Friday 13 August 2021 requesting to pay the family school fees in advance until the students graduate from High School.”

The Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, had earlier revealed that the former governor transferred $720,000 from the government’s coffers to a bureau de change before leaving office to pay in advance for his child’s school fee.
Olukoyede revealed this during an interview with journalists on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said, “A sitting governor, because he knows he is going, moved money directly from government to bureau de change, used it to pay the child’s school fee in advance, $720,000 in advance, in anticipation that he was going to leave the Government House.

“In a poor state like Kogi, and you want me to close my eyes to that under the guise of ‘I’m being used.’ Being used by who at this stage of my life?”