The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the authority to arrest and detain six promoters of the embattled Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) over their alleged involvement in a massive investment fraud exceeding $1 billion. Justice Emeka Nwite issued the ruling on Thursday following submissions by the EFCC’s counsel, Fadila Yusuf. The court approved an ex parte motion filed by the commission on April 23, which sought an order to arrest and remand the suspects while investigations continued. The suspects named in the application are Adefowora Olanipekun, Adefowora Oluwanisola, Emmanuel Uko, Seyi Oloyede,…
Author: Platform Times Newspaper
The Federal High Court in Lagos has directed 54 banks to return a staggering N9,329,322,870 fraudulently transferred by hackers from an old generation bank. Justice Deinde Dipeolu, who delivered the ruling on April 15, 2025, granted the orders following an ex parte application filed in suit number FHC/L/CS/629/2025. PLATFORM TIMES reports that the court also ordered an immediate Post No Debit restriction on all accounts linked to the theft. According to court documents, the plaintiff bank revealed that on March 23, 2025, hackers breached its core banking system, executing unauthorised debits from multiple customer accounts and dispersing over N9.3bn across…
The Federal Government has granted tax waivers to Dangote Fertilisers, Mikano International Limited, and 103 other companies, raising the total number of beneficiaries under the Pioneer Status Incentive (PSI) scheme to 105 as of December 2024, This development comes amid mounting concerns over the policy’s economic effectiveness and the government’s plan to phase out the current tax incentive regime in favour of a more targeted approach. According to the latest PSI report released by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), 22 new companies were granted pioneer status in the last quarter of 2024. This marks a notable increase from 83…
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday issued a firm directive to Nigeria’s security chiefs, ordering them to immediately curb the resurgence of violent attacks in parts of the country, particularly in Plateau, Borno, and Benue states. Speaking during a high-level security meeting at the State House in Abuja, the President declared that the current wave of insecurity must be brought to an end, saying “enough is enough.” In attendance at the closed-door meeting were National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mohammed Mohammed; Chief of Defence Intelligence, Emmanuel Undiandeye; Director-General of the Department of…
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, has issued a 30-day ultimatum to troops of the Nigerian Army to reclaim communities in Baruten and Kaiama Local Government Areas of Kwara State, as well as the Kainji forest in Niger State, from the grip of bandits and insurgents. Oluyede gave the marching order on Wednesday while addressing officers at the 22 Armoured Brigade, Sobi Cantonment, Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. The army chief’s directive comes on the heels of recent attacks in the region. On April 21, suspected terrorists reportedly invaded Kaiama and Baruten LGAs, leaving no fewer than…
President Bola Tinubu has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to a low-carbon future, unveiling a sweeping climate strategy expected to unlock $2.5 billion in high-integrity carbon credits and attract over $410 billion in green investments by 2060. Speaking on Wednesday during a high-level virtual dialogue on climate and just transition, President Tinubu presented Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP) as a bold and pragmatic roadmap to achieving net-zero emissions by 2060. The plan, he said, targets five critical sectors—power, cooking, transportation, oil and gas, and industry—while aligning energy access with decarbonisation and economic growth. “The global climate emergency demands our collective, courageous, and…
The De-Renaissance Patriots Foundation has raised alarm over what it described as the growing political marginalisation and systemic disenfranchisement of indigenous Lagosians, calling on the Lagos State and Federal Governments, National Assembly, and international community to intervene in what it termed “a crisis threatening Nigeria’s democratic and federal structure.” In a strongly worded statement issued on Wednesday, the group rejected a proposed constitutional amendment currently before the National Assembly, which seeks to redefine indigeneship based on birth, residency, or marriage instead of ancestral lineage. “Indigeneship is a matter of heritage, not habitation,” the Foundation declared. “This legislation, if passed, will…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the removal of fuel subsidy and spending of subsidy savings would take time to impact on the people. Deputy Director in the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, Era Dabla-Norris said this on Wednesday at the Fiscal Monitor session of the ongoing IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC. Dabla-Norris said that petrol subsidy removal impacts people’s income immediately but there are tangible benefits like energy efficiency, but the ability to reallocate fiscal savings, takes time to materialise. The IMF Deputy Director called on the Federal Government to think about a comprehensive strategy on…
Feyisayo Ogunbiyi The Ogun State Government has budgeted a total of N56,038,958,560.71 for the operations of the State House of Assembly over a five-year period, from 2021 to 2025, PLATFORM TIMES investigation has revealed. The allocation, spread across five annual budgets, covers expenses for the 26-member legislative arm and its associated institutions, including the House of Assembly Service Commission. While the figures reflect approved budgets, actual implementation remains uncertain due to missing data in the Open State portal, the source of the information. A breakdown of the figures shows that in 2021, the state budgeted N4,294,721,840.27 for the legislature, including…
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested a Nigerian man, Ebuka Iwuagwu, in Atlanta over allegations of large-scale fraud involving COVID-19 relief funds and a coordinated romance scam. Iwuagwu, 39, was taken into custody on Monday following an eight-count indictment for money laundering and conspiracy filed at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division. The indictment, dated April 2, 2025, detailed his alleged role in a scheme that defrauded both individuals and the U.S. government of millions of naira worth of funds. According to court documents obtained by Peoples Gazette, the accused…