TheNewsGuru

Tag: Accounts

  • Trump’s favourite social media app, Twitter, others suspend his accounts over Capitol violence

    Trump’s favourite social media app, Twitter, others suspend his accounts over Capitol violence

    Twitter and Facebook suspended Donald Trump on Wednesday over posts accused of inflaming violence in the US Capitol, as social media scrambled to respond to mayhem by supporters buying into his baseless attacks on the integrity of the election.

    The unprecedented sanctions came after the president took to social media to repeat his numerous false claims about fraud and other impropriety in the election he lost to Joe Biden.

    “This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video,” said Facebook vice president of integrity Guy Rosen.

    “We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”

    Facebook barred Trump from posting at the social network or its Instagram service for 24 hours, saying his messages were promoting violence.

    Trump’s falsehoods, ranging from specific allegations to broad conspiracy theories, also prompted Facebook to change a label added to posts aiming to undermine the election results.

    The new label reads: “Joe Biden has been elected president with results that were certified by all 50 states. The US has laws, procedures, and established institutions to ensure the peaceful transfer of power after an election.”

    An activist group calling itself a mock Facebook oversight board said sanctions against Trump at the social network were long overdue.

    “This is too little, too late,” the group said in a statement.

    “Donald Trump has breached Facebook’s own terms and conditions multiple times. His account is not just a threat to democracy but to human life.”

    The crackdown came after Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attack that led to one woman being shot and killed by police, interrupting congressional debate over Biden’s election victory.

    The assault came after the president had urged supporters to march on the seat of government during a speech outside the White House in which he alleged baselessly that the election had been stolen from him.

    He later released a video on social media in which he repeated the false claim — even telling the mob “I love you.”

    YouTube removed the video in line with its policy barring claims challenging election results.

    Twitter said Trump’s messages were violations of the platform’s rules on civic integrity and that any future violations “will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”

    The messaging platform said Trump’s account would be locked for 12 hours and that if the offending tweets were not removed, “the account will remain locked.”

    Facebook said it would search for and remove content which praised the storming of the Capitol or encouraged the violence.

    The platform said it would seek to take down additional calls for protests, including peaceful ones, if they violated a curfew imposed by the city of Washington, or any attempts to “re-stage” the storming of Congress.

    “The violent protests in the Capitol today are a disgrace,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

    “We prohibit incitement and calls for violence on our platform. We are actively reviewing and removing any content that breaks these rules.”

    Facebook maintained that it was in contact with law enforcement officials and continued to enforce bans on QAnon conspiracy group, militarized social movements, and hate groups.

    A #StormTheCapitol hashtag was blocked at Facebook and Instagram, according to the internet titan.

  • Access Bank breaks silence on freezing of #EndSARS campaigners accounts

    Access Bank breaks silence on freezing of #EndSARS campaigners accounts

    The management of Access Bank on Friday gave reasons why it froze the accounts of its customers linked to #EndSARS protest.

    The Bank in a statement in Abuja said it only only obeyed a directive of the regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), based on a valid court order.

    It however, sympathised with the affected customers, adding that it hoped the matter would be resolved “as soon as possible.”

    The bank expressed surprise that it was being targeted negatively in spite of evidence it was not behind the customers’ ordeals.

    “We want to express our sympathy for the inconvenience that eight of our customers are going through due to the restrictions on their accounts as mandated by a Federal court order. We are eager for this to be resolved as soon as possible.

    “It is common knowledge that we and the entire banking industry are regulated entities and therefore operate under the authority of our regulators and law enforcement agencies. As such we are compelled to comply with regulatory directives.

    “While acknowledging the concern of all well-meaning parties, we urge that enquiries and views be channeled to the relevant regulatory and judicial agencies where the matter is receiving attention. It is therefore surprising that some individuals still choose to target Access Bank in a negative manner despite not being the source of the action,” the bank said.

    It added that it has always been at the forefront of innovative efforts in support of the development of Nigeria, saying that it embraced the role being the largest employer of labour, which are largely youths.

    “Access Bank has always led the way with regard to support for young Nigerians in terms of capacity building and development of SMEs.

    “We continue to be concerned by the inconvenience that our affected customers are experiencing. We stand ready to play our part to remedy the situation and have them using their accounts as quickly as possible,” the bank said.

  • Court declines request to freeze Edo Govt’s accounts

    Court declines request to freeze Edo Govt’s accounts

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has declined a request by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) for an order freezing accounts of the Edo Government over its alleged refusal to the outstanding salaries and entitlements of court workers in the state.

    JUSUN had also prayed the court to order confiscation of what was due to Edo State from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

    In a ruling on Thursday, Justice Okon Abang held the request made ex-parte by the national headquarters of JUSUN was capable of crippling the activities of the state before the forthcoming governorship election.

    Justice Abang noted that the motion ” coming less than a month before the governorship election scheduled for September 19, 2020 is designed to cripple governance in the state.”

    The judge was of the view that the motion was filed in bad faith and that he reasonably believe that those behind it have ulterior motive.

    He said: “It is ill-motivated because the judgment of this court can still be enforced even after the election in Edo State.

    “The reason offered by JUSUN for bringing this application during 2020 annual vacation of the court in the course of the forthcoming election in Edo State, and the purported claim of controversy being generated by two leading political parties in Edo State and also the threat to order closure of all bank accounts of Edo State by faction of the Edo State House of Assembly, my lords, these are not good and substantial reasons.”

    The judge said the outcome of the Edo poll would not affect the subsisting judgment of the court given on January 13, 2014, which was not appealed.

    Justice Abang added any of the parties that win election would have no choice than to comply with the subsisting judgment provided the lawyer to the judgment creditor or the judgment creditor itself will do the proper thing by ascertaining the actual amount they are entitled to.

    While holding the application was lacking in merit, the judge described it as “vague” for failing to disclose the amount the union members were being owed by the state government.

    The judge said the action was an abuse of court process.

    He proceeded to dismiss the application and adjourned further proceedings in the case against the other states to September 30.

  • Unspent 2019 Budget Money: Federal Civil Servants rush to clear their accounts

    Unspent 2019 Budget Money: Federal Civil Servants rush to clear their accounts

     

    …as the year draws to an end

    … how civil servants enrich their pockets this period

    By Emman Ovuakporie

    It has become almost a norm as Federal Civil Servants rush to clear their accounts to beat the 31st December deadline to return all unspent budget monies to the Consolidated Revenue Account, CRA.

    TNG in its usual style of digging deep discovered that at this period of the year civil servants work tirelessly to clear whatever is left in their accounts to ensure that such unspent monies are not returned.

    A visit by TNG to most ministries last Friday showed that there was a beehive of activities in most of the MDAs particularly the Ministry of Health and Foreign Affairs.

    A further check revealed that it’s an annual ritual because all tables must be cleared particularly the accounts to beat the December 31st deadline.

    Some of the civil servants who spoke to TNG under the condition of anonymity described the rush as a normal thing that must be accomplished on a yearly basis.

    One of the civil servants revealed that”this is the period we clear our tables to make sure the money we couldn’t spend within the budget cycle is returned to CRA.

    “But the truth is that our top officials clear alot of this money into their pockets and make sure contractors that were not paid get paid before the end of the year.

    Another Civil Servant who works in the ministry of health said”some of these emergency contracts are bogus and some are never executed but the contractors get paid all the same.

    “You know that by 2020 the January-December budget cycle will come on stream again and there’s need to streamline things to fit into the cycle.

    Recall that in 2017, N118billion capital vote budget money unspent was returned to the CRA by MDAs.

    The return of unspent budget money really came to fore during the Late Umaru Yar’dua administration in 2008 when the House of Representatives directed that N2.1bn should be returned to the CRA.

    It has become a yearly ritual but most civil servants in powerful positions capitalise on this ritual to enrich their pockets.

    The return of such monies is the direct outcome of the return to the envelope system of allocation to MDAs, (bulk allocation to MDAs, instead of project-specific releases)adopted in the first two years of the current President Muhamnadu Buhari administration.

    There is no guarantee that MDAs that return money to the coffers of the government are entitled to receive the same amount of money the following year, in addition to what was budgeted for that particular agency,”.

     

  • Missing N14.8bn: We don’t have audited accounts – Customs

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), yesterday, disclosed that it has no audited accounts because there was no approval for the engagement of external auditors from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

    The Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), made the disclosure at an investigation with the House of Representatives’ public accounts committee, which is investigating audit queries raised against the NCS between 2013 and 2014 financial years by Office of Auditor General of the Federation (OAuGF).

    Testifying before the committee, Ali said: “I want to tell this honourable committee that as we speak, the Service has no audited accounts because we have no approval from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), to engage external auditors.”

    Represented by Comptroller S.I. Ibrahim, Ali added: “We just got this approval recently and the external auditors just sent a draft copy on the 2013 financial year to us just last week.

    “We wrote several letters to the BPP on this until we got the nod; it is not our own making.”

    On the N14.8 billion allegedly missing in the NCS as alerted by the OAuGF, Ibrahim informed the committee that prior to the introduction of the Treasury of Single Accounts (TSA), 28 commercial banks were collecting revenue for the Service.

    The report of the auditor general alleged that N14.8 billion got missing from the coffers of the Service in 2013.

    The Wole Oke-led committee consequently ordered the Customs boss to produce before it tomorrow three former account officers with the Service on another audit query of N28 million said to have been expended on a training programme for personnel at the Service’s premises in Gwagwalada, during which over N1 million was paid out for hiring a hall.

    Oke noted that: “It will be in the interest of the Customs boss to produce the affected officers, serving or retired, before this committee to tell us all we need to know about the expenditure or should be ready to refund the amount to the coffers of the Federal Government.”

    The committee also directed officials of the BPP to appear before it tomorrow to respond to the claims of the NCS.

    Also summoned by the committee is the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it tomorrow on the alleged missing N14.8 billion in the Service.

    It equally directed the CBN governor to come with the statement of accounts of the NCS in the period under review with a view to tracking down the missing money.

  • Alleged N7b fraud: EFCC freezes Galaxy boss’ 16 accounts

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has blocked 16 accounts traced to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Galaxy Transportation and Construction Services Limited, Babagana Dalori, who has been accused of defrauding 27,400 Nigerians of about N7 billion.

    Dalori is being detained by the EFCC for interrogation by the agency’s operatives.

    The suspect has allegedly agreed to part with some of his properties.

    But Dalori, who insisted that he is not a fraudulent businessman, blamed his company’s fortunes on economic recession.

    According to a top source, the EFCC decided to investigate Dalori and his company, following the receipt of a petition by 63 Nigerians who complained of being defrauded by the suspects.

    The source said: “The 63 petitioners alleged that they invested in a company named Galaxy Transportation & Construction Services Ltd for a period of one year with fixed percentage of return on investment. It was further alleged that at the end of the investment period, the company neither paid the interest nor the capital.

    “On receipt of the petition, the following actions were carried out: all the 16 accounts linked to the suspects were traced and blocked; and 22 documents of various properties were recovered.

    “Investigation into this case is still at preliminary stage as the team is intensifying efforts to trace all assets that belong to the 1st suspect (Galaxy Transportation and Construction Services Limited) and the 2nd suspect (Dalori).

    “So far, twenty two (22) properties have been traced to the suspects including Six (6) filing stations and five quarries across different states.

    “Also, responses from banks and Corporate Affairs COmmission (CAC) are being awaited. Preliminary investigation has so far revealed the possibility of the suspects to have diverted the funds of various investors to other business rather than the businesses they invested in.

    “At the end of the investigation, we may have a case of criminal breach of trust and obtaining money under false pretence.

    ”Furthermore, the suspect express willingness to part with his properties to settle settlement with the petitioners.”

    A document gave insight into the business activities of the suspects.

    It said: ”Due to the trust reposed in him, investors keep on investing in his Galaxy scheme. He used flyers, advertisements in the television and radio stations in order to convince the investors.

    “He even went to the extent of organising Nollywood to act a movie for him over the scheme. He specifically organised some actors and actresses in Kannywood to act in a movie called “Zero Hour” to show the need for people to invest in Galaxy.

    “Unfortunately, his gimmicks paid off as different people took their hard earned savings, inheritance, pensions and other source of income and invested in Galaxy.

    “Now, the scheme has crashed and investors can no longer get their money.

    “Though the agreement signed by the investors with Galaxy was specific- transportation and construction services. But he has now diversified into other areas in contrast to the agreement.

    “At the moment, he has used the investors’ money to incorporate different entities without getting their consent. He now has Galaxy Global Energy Concept Ltd, Galaxy Miners Concept Ltd, Galaxy Global Farms, Galaxy Computers, Galaxy Block Making Factory, Galaxy Hospital and Galaxy Hotel.”

    Contrary to the claim of Galaxy spokesman that the matter was civil and not criminal, the business of deposits taking under Nigerian legislation can only be undertaken by a licensed deposit- taking financial institutions as enshrined in Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), CBN Act and the NDIC

    But a statement by the spokesperson of the company, Mr. Cletus Onoja, said the arrest of Dalori was not based on fraud.

    Onoja said Dalori was merely taken for investigation by the EFCC following a petition by the company’s clients.

    He said what was at stake was that the company could no longer meet its obligations to its clients within the time expected of it for reasons beyond its control.

    “As such, some investors who were not satisfied with our explanation and efforts currently put at recovering the loss petitioned the EFCC even though the matter was civil and not criminal.

    “As an obedient citizen of the country, the MD/CEO turned in and gave himself to the Commission’s interrogations,’’ he added.

    ”It is on record that even when the country was in recession in 2016 and 2017, our company did not fail to meet its obligations to pay its clients and business partners.

    He said the company runs a legitimate transportation and construction services business in over five states in the country with its headquarters in Abuja for the last nine years.

    .”The company’s management is working round the clock to overcome the challenges; it is sad that it has already caused serious worries in the minds of our clients and affected our cordial relationship.’’

     

  • Court bars FG, EFCC from freezing suspended CJN Onnoghen’s accounts

    The Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the President, Attorney General of the Federation and Nigerian Financial Intelligence from freezing the bank accounts of the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

    Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu granted the order while ruling on a motion ex parte instituted by the Legal Defence and Assistance Project Ltd/GTE.

    The AGF last month wrote a letter to the NFIU asking the unit to “restrict normal banking operations on certain accounts belonging to Onnoghen”.

    The AGF said the order was in line with Executive Order 06 on the preservation of assets connected with corruption.

    On February 8, 2019, however, Justice Ojukwu ruled that the AGF must obtain a court order before freezing the accounts.

    The court ruled, “That the AGF shall obtain an order of court (ex parte) before freezing the accounts of Justice Onnoghen Walter Nkanu Samuel (in respect of exhibit 8) in compliance with the law if it was not obtained.

    “That where it is shown that the order of court was obtained before the freezing of the accounts contained in Exhibit B, the freezing order shall remain valid.”

    The court ordered that the order be served on the respondents pending the hearing of the motion notice.

    The court adjourned the matter till February 13.

    The NFIU last month discovered the identities of firms that paid $3m into the bank accounts of Onnoghen.

    The allegations are contained in an interim report sent to the Office of the AGF. It is expected to be tendered in evidence before the Code of Conduct Tribunal should the case be allowed to continue.

    According to the document, Onnoghen made huge transactions despite the fact that his salary and allowances were between N240, 202 and N751, 082.37 from 2005 to 2018.

    The document read in part, “Suspicious transactions including $800,000 Standard Chartered Bank investment subscription were uncovered. Another $630,000 was discovered to have been lodged in some of the accounts through what was rated as structured payments in tranches of $10,000 each.

    “Most of the lodgements effected between 2012 and 2016 respectively, were undeclared in the Asset Declaration Form of Onnoghen.”

  • Alleged false asset declaration: FG orders freezing of CJN Onnoghen’s bank accounts

    Alleged false asset declaration: FG orders freezing of CJN Onnoghen’s bank accounts

    The Federal Government has ordered that restrictions be placed on five bank accounts belonging to the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

    The restriction order was contained in a letter with reference number HAGF/2019/E06/Vol.01, by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), dated January 14, 2019 and addressed to the Director, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.

    According to a report by The Punch, a top official in the AGF’s office confirmed that the freezing order originated from Malami.

    The first national spokesperson for the Coalition of United Political Parties, Imo Ugochinyere, made copies of the letter available to journalists at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

    The letter, which was signed by Abiodun Aikomo on behalf of the AGF, asked that normal banking operations be restricted on the CJN’s accounts domiciled in Standard Chartered Bank, pending the final determination of the case against the CJN at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

    According to the letter, the directive was given in pursuant to the Presidential Executive Order 6 of 2018.

    The letter was titled, “Re: Request for freezing of bank accounts subject to investigation and prosecution pursuant to Presidential Executive Order No. 6 of July 5, 2018 on the preservation of assets connected with corruption.”

    It read, “I am directed by Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to request that you, pursuant to the Presidential Executive Order No. 6 of 2018, forthwith restrict normal banking operations on certain accounts belonging to Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen, pending the final determination of the case against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT/ABJ/1/19 – Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Hon. Justice Onnoghen Nkanu Walter Samuel).

    “These accounts are as follows: a. Account No. 5001062686 (euro) Standard Chartered Bank (SCB); b. Account No. 5001062679 (pound sterling) SCB; c. Account No. 0001062650 (dollar) SCB; d. Account No. 0001062667 (naira) SCB; and e. Account No. 5000162693 (naira).”

  • [Video] Customers of Polaris bank panic over technical shutdown

    [Video] Customers of Polaris bank panic over technical shutdown

    Several customers of Polaris Bank are in fear as technical challenges mar banking operations in the financial institution.

    According to information reaching TheNewsGuru,TNG most of the disturbed customers have been unable to make withdrawals from their accounts for over 48 hours.

    One of the affected persons, who identified himself to TNG as Micheal [Surname withheld], lamented that both his business and personal upkeep as suffered as a result of the partial shutdown of operations in Polaris.

    Micheal who visited the Polaris branch in Ikorodu area of Lagos to make withdrawals on Tuesday said: “I have not been feeding well, I only came here two days ago and was told there was a challenge with network. However, when I came here today, I was shocked as the problem persisted”

    “We have been here for hours, sitting down for nothing. My biggest fear came when my account manager confided in me that I should be prayerful. He [account manager] said the bank is having financial crisis due to an ongoing battle with one of the former top directors of the bank over misappropriation of funds.

    Meanwhile, the management of Polaris bank has issued a statement apologising to its customers on the crisis at hand.

    The statement reads, ” Dear Esteemed Customer,We wish to inform you that we are experiencing service disruptions on some of our platforms as a result of system maintenance which has lingered beyond the expected time.

    Whilst our technical teams are working hard to restore services across affected platforms, our branches will continue to attend to customers.

    We apologise for the inconveniences and assure you that the situation will soon be normalised. Thanks for your understanding.

    Recall that in pursuant to section 38(1)(c) and 39(1) of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation Act No. 16 of 2006 (NDIC Act) and by a Purchase and Assumption Agreement dated 21st day of September, 2018, Polaris Bank Limited as a bridge bank, has assumed all the deposit liabilities and certain other liabilities and has had vested in it, all the assets of Skye Bank Plc effective from the 21st day of September, 2018.

    By this notice, this to a large extent allays fears that Polaris bank is undergoing any financial crisis, as it is now fully capitalised and has the support of both the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation.

    Other reactions from affected customers:

  • EFCC allegedly traces Akwa Ibom’s N1.4b to 11 accounts

    EFCC allegedly traces Akwa Ibom’s N1.4b to 11 accounts

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has traced about N1.4billion allegedly belonging to the Akwa Ibom State Government to 11 suspected slush accounts.

    According to a report by The Nation, the cash was remitted into the accounts in two tranches of N1.1billion and N300million.

    Some of the accounts belong to eight top lawyers in the country.

    Sources said that the suspects might be interrogated soon.

    One of the suspected lawyers has made a statement to the EFCC on how he came about the huge transfers into his account from the Akwa Ibom State Government accounts.

    The suspect, according to sources, told detectives that the deposits were legal fees for 16 cases.

    He could not produce documentary evidence of any agreement between his team and the state government.

    Detectives were said to be curious that the alleged legal fees were paid into the 11 accounts in cash as against the standard practice of paying with cheque.

    It was also gathered that one of the accounts which was opened on March 16, 2016 had a huge deposit record on March 14, 2016.

    The anti-graft agency has already invited four officials of the state government for questioning on the issue.

    They are: Commissioner for Finance, Nsikan Linus, the Permanent Secretary and Director of Finance and Accounts in the Ministry of Justice , and an Assistant Chief Accountant in the Accountant-General Office in the state, Mfon Jacobson Udomah.

    They have all refused to honour the invitation without any valid reason.

    The fact-sheet of the case sighted by The Nation showed that N1.4billion was remitted into the various accounts as follows: N135m; N120m; N100m; N60m; N60m; N65m; N570m; N75m; N75m; N75m; N30m; and N45m.

    Investigators said: “There was no document tied to specific payment. The deposit also did not specify what the cash was meant for.

    “There was no evidence of any agreement between the state government and the beneficiaries of the N1.4billion. The lead coordinator of the lawyers who benefitted from the cash could not say how much was charged and how much was agreed upon.

    “The lead lawyer only said the cash was for 16 cases in various courts across the country but only a case was reflected as having gone from the lower court to the Supreme Court.

    “The lead lawyer has made statement without any shred of evidence or document to justify the legal contract.”

    The EFCC is insisting that the four officials must report for questioning.

    A source familiar with the matter said: “Letters of invitation were written to the Permanent Secretary and Director of Finance and Accounts of the Ministry of Justice of Akwa Ibom State on June 8, 2018 and the Commissioner for Finance and an Assistant Chief Accountant in the Accountant-General Office in the state on July 13, 2018.

    “They were to be questioned in Abuja. They all failed to report despite sending reminders to them on July 3 and July 13. We later sent a team to interact with them at the EFCC’s Uyo Zonal office but they refused to meet with our operatives.

    “The EFCC’s team from Abuja travelled to Uyo on July 19 and on July 20, our operatives requested to invite the affected state officials. None of them came around.

    “The Secretary to the State Government and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice wrote an undertaking in Uyo Zonal Office and Abuja respectively assuring the EFCC that the invited persons would report as requested but they failed to turn up.

    “The Attorney-General came to Abuja on July 24, 2018 that he would bring those invited on July 30 but he never did. We are still insisting they must come.”