The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arrested a former governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, over an alleged fraud of N27bn.

Ishaku was reportedly picked up at his Abuja residence in the early hours of Friday.

The former governor was said to still be in the anti-graft agency’s custody as of the time of filing this report.

According to Daily Trust, at least 15-count charges have been filed against Ishaku and he would be arraigned in court soon as evidence against him has been compiled.

“Yes, he’s in our custody right now. We have been investigating him covertly since he left as the State governor. There is a lot of financial malfeasance he perpetrated,” the source said.

The spokesman of the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the development but declined further comments when contacted by the paper.

Ishaku’s arrest is coming on the heels of ongoing face-off between the commission and the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, who was alleged to have stolen N80.2bn.

The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGi) has partnered with transporters in a bid to slash transport costs.

The Program Director/Chief Executive of PCNGi, Michael Oluwagbemi made the announcement in a statement on Friday.

“The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGi) commenced today a Transport Fare Drop Programme across the country, starting with Abuja, as it ramped up the adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a cleaner, more affordable alternative to fuel,” Oluwagbemi said.

“Representatives of the PCNGi signed an MOU with the National Union of Road Transport Workers covering the Abuja to Itakpe Station—Ajaokuta Train Station—Adavi route to convert fleet vehicles to CNG in return for a 30-40% fare reduction.

“This programme will encourage NURTW members in Abuja to convert their vehicles to CNG in exchange for a fare reduction.”

Oluwagbemi added that On Saturday, September 28, 2024, the PCNGi will continue its nationwide commercial incentive programme for commercial car open days, expanding to 38 centres in Kaduna, Abuja, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Delta and Edo states.

He explained that the PCNGi will sign an agreement with the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF) on Monday, September 30, to operationalise the Nigerian Police CNG Conversion Programme and train cadets to manage the strategic conversion centres the NPTF is investing in.

According to the PCNGi’s Programme Director, Oluwagbemi, this initiative will help train the police cadets to manage strategic conversion centres established by the NPTF.

Similarly, to celebrate Nigeria’s 64th Independence Anniversary on October 1st, 2024, the PCNGi will launch the CNG Tricycle Empowerment Program in collaboration with the Ministry of Youths.

This program aims to provide over 2000 young Nigerians with the opportunity to own and operate CNG-powered tricycles.

It will launch the Kogi State Conversion Incentive Programme on Wednesday, October 2 and hand over CNG buses to the state’s mass transit entity to ply interstate routes to Abuja.

Additionally, according to Oluwagbemi, the PCNGI will inaugurate three new CNG conversion sites in the state.

He added that to conclude the week’s activities, the initiative will launch in Ekiti State, where the handover of CNG buses to the state mass transit organisation and transporters to ply the route to Abuja will take place. It will also inaugurate four new CNG conversion sites in the state.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday said contrary to claims made by the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, Nigeria did not lose $49.8 billion during his administration.

The ex-President stated this in Abuja at the launch of a book titled “Public Policy and Agent Interests: Perspectives from The Emerging World”, which was edited by former Minister of Finance, Shamsuddeen Usman.

“The Financial Reporting Council queries the expenditure of CBN because it is the Financial Reporting Council that has the powers to audit the CBN, it is not the Auditor General of the Federation.

“There were serious infractions that need to be looked at, that was the reason. Somehow, the time was short. So before we finished, his tenure elapsed, probably he would have been called back,” Jonathan said.

Sanusi served as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor between 2009 and 2014, a period that coincided with Jonathan’s time as the President.

In 2014, the then-CBN governor alleged that Nigeria had lost $49.8bn under Jonathan’s administration.

The claim attracted wide criticism and the government later set up a committee to probe the allegation.

Sanusi was asked to proceed on an indefinite leave of absence, with Godwin Emefiele appointed in his place. He went on to become the Emir of Kano, dethroned in 2020 and was reinstated a few months ago.

The Federal Government (FG) is set to begin with the payment of the new minimum wage to civil servants.

The spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday.

“Employees under the Federal Government (FG) payroll can expect to receive notifications regarding their updated minimum wage salary payments from today,” Mokwa said.

”What I can tell you is that the minimum wage salary payment is today but I am not sure of the arrears,”

President Bola Tinubu approved a new minimum wage of N70,000 on July 18, 2024 after a series of meetings with the organised labour.

The Federal Government has announced plans to introduce tolls on major roads across the country following the completion of ongoing construction and renovation projects.

Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, revealed this during an Inter-Ministerial Press Briefing in Abuja, part of activities marking Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary.

“We have the Lagos-Ibadan (Expressway), we are completing it and we are tolling it,” Umahi said.

Other key road projects such as the Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Road, and Makurdi-9th Mile, among others, will also be tolled, according to the minister.

The former governor of Ebonyi State said that the tolling system is expected to generate substantial revenue for the Federal Government.

According to Umahi, private sector investors have been engaged to provide funds for the construction of these roads, in collaboration with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Works, to ensure the effective management of the toll system.

Speaking about the Keffi-Makurdi Road, which has been completed, Umahi noted that the government is working on a paperless payment system in partnership with the Ministry of Finance.

He assured that road users will see significant improvements in safety and convenience, factors he believes will encourage public acceptance of tolls.

“For example, we are completing the Lagos-Ibadan, we are working on Makurdi to 9th Mile in Enugu State, we are working from Abuja to Lagos. These roads are going to be tolled. But we are not just tolling them, we are bringing confidence in the use of these roads.

“If people can travel at night because we are bringing security, where the response time will be 10 minutes on the entire corridor, where you have solar light permanently there and then reduce travel time, and through the tolling, the roads are maintained, then, there will be confidence because Nigerians will pay if the roads are good,” Umahi said.

The minister further explained that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is treating road development as an investment, unlike previous administrations. He revealed that the current government inherited 300 damaged roads and bridges, and assured that new road construction projects would commence in all six geopolitical zones starting from October 1, 2024.

President Bola Tinubu says Africa holds a significant portion of the world’s mineral reserves, including 92 per cent of global platinum, 56 per cent of cobalt, and 54 per cent of manganese, yet it is underdeveloped.

The president attributed the continent’s underdevelopment to the fact that the resources were primarily extracted and exported to foreign countries for refining and manufacturing.

Tinubu, represented by his Vice, Kashim Shettima,  stated this in a keynote address, during the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) meeting, held on the sidelines of the ongoing 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.

A statement on the event was made available to newsmen in Abuja by Mr. Stanley Nkwocha, the spokesperson of the vice president.

In the statement, the President noted that extracting raw minerals in Africa had continued to keep the continent in a state of poverty

According to him, the extraction of raw minerals without local processing only deepens Africa’s underdevelopment and prolongs its economic challenges.

Tinubu, therefore, stressed the urgent need for the continent to break free from the dependency.

“This has left the continent at the mercy of foreign markets, forcing it to repurchase finished products at much higher prices.

“A situation in which the raw minerals are extracted from our countries, exported, refined, and sold to us as finished products merely consolidates the foundations of our misery and pushes us further down the depths of underdevelopment,” he said.

The President called on African nations to adopt a new agenda that prioritised local value addition, which was essential to industrialising the continent and providing sustainable economic growth.

On the evolution of lithium-ion technology, Tinubu noted that the development had enabled the swift production and manufacturing of portable consumer electronics such as laptops, computers, cellular phones, and electric cars.

“We live in a world of electronic mobility in which lithium-powered batteries provide higher specific energy, higher energy density, higher energy efficiency, longer cycle life, and longer calendar life.

“The global need for new battery technology has triggered a new scramble for Africa’s critical minerals.

“Africa possesses 92 percent of global reserves of platinum, 56 per cent of Cobalt, 54 per cent of Manganese and 36 per cent of Chromium.

” These are the minerals employed in the manufacturing of the new batteries. In short, the world needs Africa today more than ever,” he said.

Tinubu further emphasised Africa’s determination to move beyond the historical exploitation of its resources, advocating the localisation of the entire mineral value chain within the continent.

He assured of his administration’s commitment to adding local value to Nigeria’s mineral resources as part of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group’s (AMSG) vision chaired by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.

Tinubu drew attention to Nigeria’s vast market of over 226 million people, adding that the success of the country’s 10 billion dollars telecoms market is proof of its growth potential

” This is evident in the manufacturing of Lithium batteries, concentrates and components to set up their business and domesticate the value chain from extraction to production in Nigeria.”

He affirmed that the AMSG was focused on transforming Africa from a supplier of raw materials into a global mining industry stakeholder.

On his part, the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, who spoke in his capacity as the Chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, laid out the group’s vision to transform Africa’s mining industry through local value addition and industrialisation.

The minister criticised the traditional model of mineral extraction in Africa where raw materials are exported for processing abroad.

This, according to him, resulted in loss of economic opportunities and jobs on the continent.

He maintained that the pattern of trade had left African nations vulnerable, as they were forced to import finished goods at inflated prices.

Alake proposed a shift towards local value addition – processing raw minerals into finished goods within Africa – as a strategy for enhancing the continent’s economic independence and contributing more significantly to its GDP.

He acknowledged that, although the continent faces significant developmental challenges, Africa’s natural wealth provides a pathway to prosperity if leveraged correctly.

The General Secretary of AMSG, Mr Moses Engadu, called for a new vision and political will among African leaders to ensure value addition becomes a sacrosanct condition to granting mineral license to any investor.

The roundtable had representatives from investors, development partners, multilateral institutions, and major financial institutions in attendance.