The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has appealed to the National Assembly to enact a law against unexplained wealth.

He said such a law would engender the fight against economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption.

In a statement by the EFCC Spokesperson, Dele Oyewale on Wednesday, the chairman made the plea at National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance convened by the Public Accounts Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives.

The statement noted that the Chairman condemned non-existing legislation against unexplained wealth saying that corruption is emboldened when people living above their means are not questioned.

“I want to make an appeal to you all, please, pass the bill on unexplained wealth. We need transparency in resource management. That’s all we need,” he said.

Olukoyede also called on government at all levels to uphold transparency in resource management even as he stated that “mismanagement of resources is behind banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other acts of insecurity in the country.

The chairman also sought the Commission’s cooperation with custodians of stolen assets abroad for the repatriation of the stolen assets to Nigeria.

He noted that custodians of stolen assets are as guilty as those that stole the assets.

In his remarks, the House Committee Chairman on Public Accounts, Honourable Bamidele Salaam said to tackle corruption headlong, there must be a review of the nation’s cost of labour such that workers would not fall prey to inducement and corruption.

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. The Federal Government said yesterday it has begun diplomatic engagement with the United States over its new visa policy for Nigerians. The revised visa policy announced by the US State Department on Tuesday limits Nigerian non-immigrant visas to a three-month single-entry.

2. At least 13 people, including a mobile police officer and three vigilantes, were reportedly killed when armed bandits raided Mongoro community in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State. At about 5pm on Wednesday, residents of Wamba, also in Mariga LGA, told Daily Trust that their community remained under siege by the attackers.

3. The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, on Wednesday disclosed that the agency had begun investigating the financial records of the oil and gas sector and had already uncovered “mind-boggling” levels of corruption. He revealed that the ongoing probe into the oil and gas sector is only scratching the surface of widespread fiscal malfeasance.

4. The National Security Adviser, NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has cautioned critics of the Bola Tinubu administration against underestimating the President’s leadership and commitment to transforming Nigeria, insisting that such critics belong to the past era with outdated ideas and failed records. According to him, people who underestimate him are doing so at their own peril.

5. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, Mr Boss Mustapha, on Wednesday subtly dismissed insinuations that the contributions of any particular leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC-led to the emergence of Buhari as president in 2015. He said he said Buhari already had over 12 million existing votes and that the merger of the legacy parties brought in three million votes.

6. The Senate has begun moves to amend the Electricity Act, 2023, to criminalise critical electricity infrastructure vandalism across the country, in the face of rising wave of recurrent sabotage by vandals. The bill, sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe on Wednesday scaled second reading and the president of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, thereafter, referred it to the committee on power.

7. The African Democratic Congress has accused the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government of plotting to suppress legitimate opposition under the guise of national security, following recent claims by a presidential aide. In a strongly worded statement on Wednesday, the party said it had no intention of undermining democracy but is solely focused on rescuing Nigeria from what it described as the “irredeemable incompetence” of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

8. The Senate on Wednesday launched a sweeping probe into the rise of Ponzi schemes in the country, following the catastrophic collapse of Crypto Bridge Exchange, a digital investment platform that allegedly fleeced Nigerians of over N1.3tn. The Ponzi scheme has been described as one of the largest financial scams in the nation’s history.

9. There was panic at the Ekwulobia and Oko communities in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Wednesday, when some yet-to-be-identified gunmen, in large numbers, invaded the areas and started shooting indiscriminately, killing about four persons and injuring many others in the process. It was gathered that they also set ablaze one of the security vehicles used by the joint security team in the area and some other vehicles.

10. A devastating fire incident, on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, destroyed five shops and a form factory at two different locations in Oyo State. The five shops were destroyed beside Olowo-Ifon Shopping Complex, Orita Challenge, in Ibadan, the state capital, while the foam factory incident occurred at Global Crystal foam Nigeria Limited located at the Oko-Oba Area of Akinmorin Road in Oyo town.

A Senatorial aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, Hon. Chief Bright Igodo Ogaji, has said the choice of former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark as the Interim National Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC), will propel the party to victory in 2027.

This was as Ogaji also backed the newly emerged leadership of the party in Benue State, describing it as a new dawn in the state and Nigeria in general.

Recall that the ADC was officially inaugurated last week in Abuja by major opposition leaders in Nigeria and others from the ruling All Progressives Congress, with Senator Mark as Interim National Chairman, while former Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola emerged Interim National Secretary.

The party was subsequently launched in Benue State on Wednesday, taking over the Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where former Speaker pro tempore of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Terngu Tsegba, and former Member representing Obi/Oju Federal Constituency, Rt. Hon. Samson Okwu, emerged Interim Chairman and Secretary, respectively.

Reacting, Chief Ogaji, in a statement he personally signed, expressed great confidence in the leadership of ADC, both in Benue and at the National level, urging his supporters to register with the party as a brand new vehicle that would deliver the people to the promised land.

The former Chairman of Oju Local Government Council of Benue State, whose teeming supporters made a powerful representation at the event, specifically extolled the sterling leadership qualities of Senator Mark over the years, describing him as a game-changer that has come through a storm to rescue Nigeria from the shackles of oppression and underdevelopment.

He said, “the new face of ADC (Senator Mark), no doubt, is a game-changer that has come through a storm to rescue Nigeria from the shackles of oppression, underdevelopment and return Benue and Nigeria to a path of inclusive development, prosperity and pride.

“His emergence and those of the Benue leadership, has given birth to a renewed Nigeria destined for growth.”

“I urge all my supporters, home and abroad, to queue behind these great leaders of our land, to make the new party work, for Benue people and Nigerians”, Ogaji said.