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Kano anti-graft czar dares opponents, says he is clean

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Muhuyi Magai

 

The Kano chairman of the Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCAC) Muhyi Magaji Rimingado has declared that though he is not a saint but he is clean of any corruption charges.

The embattled anti-corruption czar fell apart with the Government after an alleged secret investigation into his financial misdemeanor which allegedly came up when he commenced investigation on the Governor’s wife, Hafsat Ganduje’s activities.

The Accountant General of Kano state sent a memo appointing a new accountant for the commission to investigate the chairman of the commission which the chairman resisted saying it is outside his authority to do that.

He responded to questions from journalists in Kano on Wednesday refuting corruption accusations against him.

“An accountant is a subordinate staff. He can’t be the one to investigate his boss. They claim that I am afraid, why should I be afraid of an accountant?

“More so, when the new Accountant was appointed, I called the Accountant General and told him that we will not accept him.

“Going by the laws establishing the commission, in section 15, the commission is given the powers to employ staff and see to all issues concerning the personnel.

“In fact the Kano Civil Service rule does not apply on the Commission. We have our own separate laws. Why then should I be afraid of an Accountant?

“Let me give you an example, according to section 9 of the laws establishing the commission, says we are in charge of investigating all organs of government to ensure that they run according to law. How then can we that are empowered by the law to investigate graft watch on while we see corruption taking place, how do you think we can have the guts to enforce the law on others?

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“We have the power to investigate even the Accountant General and even detain him if necessary, that is what the law provides. How then can the Accountant General just wake up one day and pick a paper and pen and write to me that he has appointed a staff for the commission and I will accept? This is in total contradiction of the law.

“What is there to fear? If they want to investigate anything they are free to. You can’t just appoint an Accountant and say he has come to investigate. They have an oversight function of setting up an investigation but not appointing an accountant, that is not what the law says” he stated.

Defending his person from accusations, Muhyi said that he is not a saint but he is clean.

“Let me tell you something, I am not doing this for anyone to follow me or in order to please anyone. I swear by the Almighty God that I have an account with the Sterling Bank and I don’t have up to N5,000 in it. Let them go and check it today and see, of I have anything more than that I am a liar. I have an account with Zenith Bank, I have both Naira and Dollar accounts there, in my Dollar account I have only $42 as at today. In my Naira account I have about N1,900. You can go anywhere, both home and abroad to enquire whether I have another. Whether here or Abuja to chek if I have invested any form of assets in fear of future poverty or anything. If there is anything like that may the curse of the Almighty God befall it.

“I was approached during the first tenure with an offer. You know when they want to do such corrupt things they send people that know you, those you hold with respect. They are people you can only apologise and say no to in order not to engage in corrupt acts. They came asking me to sell the part of Tebura Mall we are resettling some retailers to them at N300 million but I refused. The person that came with the offer is out there listening to me.

“Now of I had been engaging in corrupt acts when the Governor later revoked that place where would I have placed myself?

“So I want them to know that I am not afraid of any investigation, I am fighting corruption. What is happening is more of corruption fighting back.
For me to allow this to disorient me in the fight against corruption it means I am not ready for the fight.

“My own opinion of serving the public is that of sacrifice. I am here to help myself by helping the in getting rid of corruption from our midst. When you help build a good society you and your family will benefit from it.

 

“I am not saying that I am a saint or I don’t sin, no. Whatever comes my way that I can benefit from is only a bonus, I don’t feel bad loosing it.
I was given a brand new official vehicle Kia Ceranto, when I realised that anywhere I go I hear insulting comments that it is part of what we have looted, I returned it to the government.

“Even the house they are talking about that I own can be investigated by the Code of Conduct to confirm if there is anything illegal about it. If they discover anything beyond my earning they can seize it” he declared.

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President Tinubu Counters Police Academy in Kano, Establishes New Campus in Ogun

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a new campus of the Police Academy in Erinja, Yewa South Local Government Area in Ogun State.

A statement by Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President,
Information & Strategy, says President Tinubu also approved a special take-off grant of N15billion for the college.

The President’s approval was in fulfilment of the provisions of the Nigeria Police Academy (Establishment) Act, 2021, particularly with respect to the expansion of the Police Academy based in Wudil, Kano state, into multiple campuses across the country.

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The intervention fund will be sourced from the TetFund 2026 allocation to finance priority infrastructure, academic facilities, student accommodation, and core training assets.

A high-level consultative meeting involving the Minister of Police Affairs, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, officials of the Federal Ministry of Education, the Inspector-General of Police and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) recommended the siting of the new campus in Erinja.

The meeting considered student intake capacity, funding realities, academic quality assurance, and the long-term needs of the Nigerian Police Force, which is currently recruiting more men.

President Tinubu believes the expansion will strengthen institutional governance, modern policing education and national security.

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Retired Police Storm Villa Gate, Call Contributory Pension Scheme a ‘Killer Disease’

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Retired police personnel and their families, under the umbrella of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria, on Monday blocked one of the gates of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in protest.

The retirees are demanding the removal of the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme, which they described as “fraudulent, illegal, inhumane and obnoxious.”

Protesters carried placards reading “End CPS,” “If military, DSS were removed from PENCOM, why not police?” while many were chanting, “Police dey work, PenCom dey chop.”

They said the protest was aimed at urging President Bola Tinubu to assent to the Police Exit Bill passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, and transmitted to the Presidency on March 16, 2026.

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According to them, the bill, if signed into law, would exempt police personnel from what they called a “slavery and untimely death-inducing pension scheme.”

Speaking in a video of the protest posted by Channels Television, a retired ASP, Nurudeen Dahiru, said, “We are not begging anybody. We have come to fight for our rights. We have suffered.

“We are not here to fight anybody. We are just here to demand for our rights. We have served for 35 years.

“According to the Constitution of the country, when you serve your country for 35 years, you should go home and rest. But see us suffering now. We are not able to take care of our children.

“We have no food to eat. We are dying. Silent killing. So this contributory pension scheme is a killer disease. 35 years is not easy. We are not here to fight anybody.”

Another retired officer said, “We don’t have anything to train them. As I retired 20 years ago, how much are they paying me?

“It is 24,000 that I am paying you because I retired with the inspector. So they have to sign our bill and give us all our money.

“So that somebody can use it for something. You can buy a house. And then now we don’t have a house.

“How can an ASP, a DSP, a CP retire and they are paying him how much? No, no, no. Enough is enough. It is a do or die. Even if some people are killed today, others are coming.”

Speaking to reporters, the National Coordinator of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria, CSP Raphael Irowainu (retd), who led the protest, said the group was at the Villa to press for the President’s assent to the bill exiting the police from the CPS.

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Court Admits Nine Exhibits Against Malami and Family

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

A Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja and presided over by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on Monday, April 20, 2026 admitted nine exhibits against a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami.

The exhibits were presented before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in its ongoing trial of the former Minister and some family members.

The EFCC is prosecuting the defendants on an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities to the tune of N8,713,923,759.49 (Eight Billion, Seven Hundred and Thirteen Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Nine Naira, Forty-Nine Kobo), contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The exhibits, which are documentary in nature, were tendered through the fourth prosecution witness, Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, J. S. Okutepa, SAN, the witness told the court that, in the course of his official duties, he received correspondence from the EFCC requesting documents relating to several accounts linked to the defendants and associated entities.

“I work as a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama branch. My duty includes receiving correspondence from law enforcement agencies and responding accordingly,” he said.

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Bata further disclosed that the bank complied with EFCC’s requests by providing both soft and hard copies of documents relating to accounts belonging to the defendants and companies such as Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.

“My lord, the documents are nine,” he stated, confirming his ability to identify them when presented in court.

Upon application by Okutepa, the court admitted the documents, dated between July 19, 2024 and March 12, 2026, as Exhibits D1 to D9, despite an initial objection by defence counsel, J. B. Daudu, SAN, who noted that “the dates are almost all in March.”

Continuing his testimony under further examination by prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, the witness provided details of transactions contained in the exhibits.

He identified Exhibit D1 as containing account opening documents and statements for accounts belonging to Abubakar Malami and A.A. Malami & Co, including a naira account and a dollar account.

According to him, the statement of account for one of the accounts covered the period from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2023.

The witness confirmed that the accounts were active between 2015 and 2023, noting that “there were transfers within that period.”

He further revealed that total credits into one of the accounts stood at N383,637,21.55 between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2023, while total credits from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015 amounted to N560,506,465.12.

On debits, he stated that N384,322,120.85 was recorded between 2016 and 2023, while N571,891,174.08 was debited between 2012 and 2015.

Giving further breakdown of transactions, the witness told the court that on November 11, 2020, the account received N194,791,608.00 from New Horizons Limited, and on June 24, 2022, it received N622,500,000.00 from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.

He added that on July 1 and July 7, 2022, the account received N250 million each from Rayhaan Hotels Limited, while on December 22, 2022, there was an inflow of N500 million linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.

Continuing in that format, the witness identified so many transactions running into billions.

Following the testimony, the defence counsel, J.B Daudu SAN sought an adjournment to enable him study the exhibits and prepare for cross-examination.

“My lord, we need time to go through the nine exhibits tendered,” Daudu said.

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter till May 13, 2026, for continuation of trial.

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