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Reactions Trail Malami’s Statement on Igboho’s Multiple Bank Accounts

Published

4 years ago

October 22, 2021

Nigerians have reacted to Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami comment that one of the crimes committed by Sunday Igboho is owning multiple banks accounts.

The Executive Director, Centre Against Injustice and Domestic violence, Gbenga Soloki, has described Malami’s statement as “most unfortunate, reckless and irresponsible. “

Soloki stated: “Accusing anyone of having many bank accounts is nothing but sheer hypocrisy, is there a law that precludes someone from having so many accounts? Which law has been breached?

“Instead of playing to the gallery, the attorney general should name the alleged lawmaker sponsoring Igboho, get such arrested and prosecuted if there are convincing evidence to the effect.

“The Attorney General should tell the world what has happened to the bureau de change operators accused of funding the activities of Boko haram, it’s not about playing to the gallery, but acting towards resolving the crises of insurgency, banditry and call for secession.

“Nigerians are losing confidence in this government by sheer inconsistency and policy summersaults.

“Let him tell the whole world who the sponsors of Igboho are and not the number of accounts being held.”

On his part, Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), comrade Debo Adeniran, maintained that there is no offence in having multiple bank accounts but not out of place to investigate according to Malami.

Adeniran said: “Though there is no offence in having multiple bank accounts, it absolutely unnecessary to keep multiple bank accounts by an individual.

“Even when an individual is having several companies, it’s not ideal to keep multiple accounts. The owner can open auxiliary accounts to save the stress of multiple accounts. Maybe that’s why it looks suspicious to Malami.

“However, it’s not an offence to keep multiple bank accounts, more so, if not linked with any illicit money transactions like laundry or it’s been used for receiving proceeds of human trafficking.

“On the other hand, if true, like Malami is accusing some people of sponsoring Igboho, then, they have to come out and clear their names. This has to be taken seriously.

“Because you wonder the enormous financial resources at the disposal of these individuals and wonder where they get the money from.

“The matter remains suspicious until proven otherwise and the accused should prove the accounts are legitimate.”

Also reacting, the Executive Chairman, Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate, CPPM, Nelson Ekujumi said the law does not stipulate the number of bank accounts an individual can have.

Ekujumi maintained that owning 44 or 50 bank accounts is not a crime in law, but the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria frowns or prohibits persons or organization owning bank accounts and using them for purposes other than it was intended which is for commercial or private transactions.

According to him; “If in the operation of a bank account, the owner is found to have broken the law by engaging in acts of money laundering, terrorism or whatever crime, then he or she should be made to face the consequences notwithstanding whether he or she is a pastor, Imam or agitator or whatever.

“The law does not give anyone the right or power to operate single or multiple bank accounts to undermine national security by causing insurrection.”

Headline

Nnamdi Kanu’s Case Proof Of Religious Persecution In Nigeria – US lawmaker, John James

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

Former chairman of the Africa Subcommittee and now a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative, John James, has claimed that the case of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is proof of religious persecution in Nigeria.

James stated this when the United States House Subcommittee on Africa on Thursday, held a public hearing to review President Donald Trump’s recent redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

The hearing in Washington, DC included senior US State Department officials and Nigerian religious leaders.

James claimed that in the case of Nnamdi Kanu, Nigeria’s Court of Appeal had struck down the charges against him and ordered his release in 2022.

He said: “Religious persecution is tied to political repression and weakening institutions in Nigeria. The detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a clear example.

“In 2022, Nigeria’s Court of Appeals struck down the charges against him and ordered his release.

“The UN Working Group for Arbitrary Detention has also called for his unconditional release, yet he remains in solitary confinement in deteriorating health and recently had to represent himself in court.

“Nigeria has signaled that the law is optional and targeting Christians is fair game. Just hours ago this morning, despite the pleas and cries of Nigerian people and many Nigerian lawmakers, Kanu was convicted on all charges.”

Nnamdi Kanu was on Thursday, sentenced to life imprisonment over terrorism charges.

Headline

Nigerians Don’t Trust Their Govt – US Congressman Riley Moore

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

US Congressman Riley Moore has said that Nigerian people do not trust their government.

Moore stated this on Thursday at US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa, which is investigating Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, CPC.

“The Nigerian people don’t trust their government. ‘How can you trust a government that doesn’t show up when you ask them to?

“The Nigerian government must work with the US in cooperation to address these insecurity issues.

“A case that just happened recently in Plateau state. We had a pastor there who warned the Nigerian government that they were under attack. There’s imminent attack forces here in the next 24 hours. Please come and help us.

“The Nigerian government did not only ignore it but put up a press release that it is fake news,” he said.

Moore would be meeting with a delegation of senior members of the Nigerian government, over the devastating insecurity in Nigeria and the US designation of the country as CPC, DAILY POST reports.

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US Makes U-turn, To Attend G20 Summit In South Africa

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

In an 11th-hour about-turn, the United States has told South Africa it wants to take part in this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday.

President Donald Trump’s administration had said it would not take part in the November 22-23 meeting and that no final statement by G20 leaders could be issued without its presence.

It has clashed with South Africa over various international and domestic policies this year, extending its objections to Pretoria’s G20 priorities for the meeting of leading economies being held for the first time in Africa.

“We have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa told reporters.

“This comes at the late hour before the summit begins. And so therefore, we do need to engage in those types of discussions to see how practical it is and what it finally really means,” he said.

There was no immediate confirmation from US officials.

Ramaphosa said: “We still need to engage with them to understand fully what their participation at the 11th hour means and how it will manifest itself.”

In a note to the government on Saturday, the US embassy repeated that it would not attend the summit, saying South Africa’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency”.

Ramaphosa said earlier Thursday that South Africa would not be bullied.

“It cannot be that a country’s geographical location or income or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to,” he told delegates at a G20 curtain-raiser event.

There “should be no bullying of one nation by another”, he said.

– ‘Positive sign’ –
Ramaphosa said the apparent change of heart was “a positive sign”.

“All countries are here, and the United States, the biggest economy in the world, needs to be here,” he said.

South Africa chose “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability” as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union.

Its agenda focuses on strengthening disaster resilience, improving debt sustainability for low-income countries, financing a “just energy transition” and harnessing “critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development”.

After early objections from Washington, it vowed to press on with its programme and its aim to find consensus on a leaders’ statement on the outcome of the discussions.

“We will not be told by anyone who is absent that we cannot adopt a declaration or make any decisions at the summit,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Thursday.

Trump has singled out South Africa for harsh treatment on a number of issues since he returned to the White House in January, notably making debunked claims of white Afrikaners being systematically “killed and slaughtered” in the country.

He expelled South Africa’s ambassador in March and has imposed 30 percent trade tariffs, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

US businesses were well represented at a separate Business 20 (B20) event that wound up in Johannesburg Thursday.

The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, thanked South Africa for fostering “real collaboration between G20 nations during a time of rapid change” during its rotating presidency, which transfers to the United States for 2026.

“The US Chamber of Commerce will use our B20 leadership to foster international collaboration,” Clark said.

The United States has significant business interests in South Africa with more than 600 US companies operating in the country, according to the South African embassy in Washington.

G20 members account for 85 percent of global GDP and around two-thirds of the world’s population.