Famous former lawmaker, Senator Ayogu Eze, is dead. He died at the age of 65.

Ayogu represented Enugu North in the Senate during which time he played key role of the image maker of the Senate.

He died in an Abuja hospital after a protracted illness.

Sources squealed that Ayogu had been down, a situation that made him unable to attend his child’s wedding ceremony held earlier in the year in Lagos State.

He was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, before he defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, where he ran for Enugu State governorship election.

In the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the senate committee on Information and Media, making him the official spokesperson of the senate in 2007.

After his reelection to the senate in 2011, he was appointed chairman of the committee on works.

Eze also served as a member of committees on Police Affairs, National Planning, Marine Transport and Federal Character & Inter-Government Affairs.

In May last year, the Senate confirmed the appointment of Eze and five others as Federal Commissioners for Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC.

•EFCC gets order to freeze 300 accounts, says one account transacted $15bn illegally

•Naira would have crashed massively if 300 accounts were not frozen – Chairman

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission may prosecute 300 forex racketeers trading on a peer-to-peer platform outside the financial regulations.

The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who gave this indication during an interactive programme with editors and bureau chiefs in Abuja on Tuesday, revealed that the accounts were frozen following a court order on Monday.

He disclosed that one of the accounts traded over $15bn in the past year.

Recently, the Federal Government through the Nigerian Communications Commission blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms to avert what it considered continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.

It also detained two senior executives of Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange amidst efforts by the government to rein in speculation on the naira by cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges.

The government also sent EFCC operatives to arrest Bureau De Change operators at the popular Wuse Zone 4 in Abuja.

While the websites of Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken have been inaccessible in the country, reports said crypto traders now use alternatives like Bybit, Bitget, Kucoin, and Coincola and messaging platforms like Telegram which comes with an in-app wallet to make transactions.

But highlighting the measures being taken to protect the naira and stimulate the economy, Olukoyede explained that the forex accounts were frozen to ensure the safety of the foreign exchange market and protect the economy.

He stated that the efforts had helped the value of the naira and the forex market.

He pointed out that the commission needed the support of Nigerians to succeed as he emphasised that if the agency failed, Nigeria had failed.

‘Worse than Binance’

Olukoyede stated, “We observe due process in whatever we do. Do you know that the Binance case we are currently handling now has helped us to bring down the madness in the forex market?

’Suddenly, we discovered that there are people in the system who are even doing worse than Binance. They called them P2P and all of that. We noticed in the last two days ago that dollars have started appreciating. There was stability for 24 hours, then the naira was devalued again by N20 and N25. I don’t know whether you noticed that.

“It was due to the activities of some of these guys on P2P platforms like coolcoin. Some of you must have seen them on social media. To shock you; just yesterday (Monday), I asked them to freeze over 300 accounts. We found that one of those guys (account owners), had traded over $15bn last year.’’

Continuing, the lawyer said 300 illicit accounts would have led to a crash of the naira in the next week if the EFCC hadn’t moved against them.

He added, ‘’Our job is serious. We work 18 hours per day. We are not saying that Nigerians should praise us because that was what we signed for but where we deserve, we should be given. We are humans like Nigerians.

“Over 300 accounts in illicit forex trading that would have led to another crash in the next one week if we didn’t move yesterday. Some people just want to see this country go from bad to worse. We must find a way to work together. We got an order to freeze those accounts; Imagine what would have happened if we didn’t seize those accounts.’’

The EFCC boss said his agency was focusing on illegal mining which he described as an economic crime.

‘Illegal miners’

He stated that EFCC operatives had recently intercepted 40 trucks of illegally mined lithium, promising to prosecute the perpetrators.

He also shed light on the current moves to arrest a former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, vowing to pursue the case to its logical conclusion.

Olukoyede vowed to resign as EFCC chairman if Bello was not prosecuted even as he declared that he would bring to book those who obstructed the arrest of the former governor.

The EFCC chairman vowed that everyone involved in obstructing Bello’s arrest from his Abuja residence would face the full wrath of the law.

He hinted that the incumbent Kogi State governor, Usman Ododo, accused of helping his predecessor to escape arrest, may be investigated for obstructing a lawful operation.

The EFCC is seeking to arraign Bello on 19 counts bordering on alleged money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2bn.

Olukoyede said that no matter what anyone did or the amount of attack against the anti-graft agency, he and his men would not relent in helping to sanitise the country.

He revealed how he put a phone call across to Bello following the allegations of corruption brought against him.

Olukoyede said, “I called Yahaya Bello, as a serving governor, to come to my office to clear himself. I shouldn’t have done that. But he said because a certain senator had planted over 100 journalists in my office, he would not come.

“I told him that he would be allowed to use my private gate to give him a cover, but he said my men should come to his village to interrogate him.”

Olukoyede noted that the EFCC did not violate any law while trying to arrest the former governor from his residence.

“Rather, we have obeyed the law. I inherited the case and I didn’t create it. Why has he not submitted himself to the law?” he asked.

He added, “I have arraigned two past governors who have been granted bail now — Willie Obiano and Abdulfatah Ahmed.”

Speaking further, he said, “We would have gone after him since January but we waited for the court order. As early as 7 am, my men were there; over 50 of them. They mounted surveillance. We met over 30 armed policemen there. We would have exchanged fire and there would have been casualties.

“My men were about to move in when the governor of Kogi drove in and they later changed the narrative.”

He vowed that all those who had dipped their hands in the nation’s coffers would be investigated and prosecuted.

“If I can do (Ex-Anambra governor Willie) Obiano, (Ex-Kwara governor) Abdulfatah Ahmed and Chief Olu Agunloye, my kinsman, why not Yahaya Bello?” Olukoyede noted.

He further revealed how the former governor withdrew $720,000 from the state’s coffers to pay his child’s school fees in advance.

Olukoyede noted that Bello wired the $720,000 from the state’s coffers through a Bureau de Change operator.

The EFCC boss, while expressing his dissatisfaction with the ex-governor for failing to honour the EFCC summons, said, “A sitting governor, because he knew that he was going, he removed money directly from government’s account to bureau de change, and used it to pay his child’s school fee in advance. Dollars, $720,000 in advance, in anticipation that he was going to leave the government house.”

He expressed dismay over the activities of internet fraudsters which he said was enjoying the support of some unscrupulous Nigerians.

According to him, banks in the country lost over N8 billion to internet fraud in 2022.

He said more than 71 per cent of companies operating in Nigeria were victims of cybercrime in 2022, adding that the anti-graft agency’s fight against internet fraud is about saving the nation’s future.

Olukoyede disclosed that the commission has created a cybercrime research centre where convicted internet fraudsters, known in local parlance as Yahoo Yahoo boys, will be trained to channel their knowledge to positive aspects of society.

The EFCC chair also said the agency is prosecuting two of its operatives for violating the agency’s code of conduct.

He said the commission has implemented some reforms to enhance its fight against corruption, including creating a directorate of fraud risk assessment/control and ethics/integrity.

Meanwhile, ex-governor Bello was on Tuesday served his charges through his counsel, Abdulwahab Muhammad (SAN) after Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, ruled that the defendant should be served through his counsel, especially as he failed to appear before the court, yet again.

This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by the EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale.

The EFCC is prosecuting Bello alongside his Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman and Abdulsalam Hudu on 19-count charges bordering on money laundering to the tune of N80.2bn

The commission’s attempt to arrest him last Wednesday at his Abuja residence failed as Bello refused to grant the operatives access to his residence or give himself up, leading to a stand-off which lasted for several hours.

He subsequently managed to escape the dragnet as he was allegedly helped by Governor Ododo who took him away in his car.

The EFCC declared him wanted while the Nigeria Immigration Service put him on its watchlist.

At Tuesday’s sitting, Bello’s counsel, Adeola Adedipe (SAN) prayed the court to quash the arrest warrant granted the commission against Bello, arguing that Tuesday’s substituted service to the defendant through Muhammad has invalidated the arrest warrant.

“The court is expected to do justice at all times. A warrant of arrest cannot be hanging on Bello’s neck when we are in this court. It appears to us that the defendant will not get justice because the court granted a warrant of arrest before service,” he said.

However, prosecution counsel, Kemi Piniero (SAN) in response, urged the court to decline hearing on any motion from Bello’s legal team until the defendant is physically present in court for his arraignment.

“The stage we are in now is to determine the whereabouts of the defendant. He cannot be in his house while the trial proceeds without him coming here to take his plea. My Lord, this is a criminal matter not a civil matter, he must come and take his plea.

‘’It is a matter of over N80 billion. All these applications by the defendant are to prevent his arraignment and frustrate the commencement of trial,” he said.

After hearing both counsels, Justice Nwite adjourned ruling on the defence’s application, seeking a revocation of the arrest warrant on Bello till May 10.

• The Punch

•Says production from assets fell to 120,000bpd, from 600,000bpd

•Insists country’s output could rise to 5mbpd in 18 months

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has revealed that Nigeria lost $34 billion in the last two and a half years due to the fall in production from the assets being divested by ExxonMobil to Seplat Energy, a transaction still awaiting approval by the federal government.

Lokpobiri made the disclosure in Lagos, during his keynote speech at the Second Quarter Dinner of the Petroleum Club, with the theme, “Funding Our Way out of the Crisis: Looking up to the Oil and Gas Sector.”

The minister explained that output from the assets declined from 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to current 120,000bpd, leaving a shortfall of 480,000bpd, which he said amounted to $34 billion loss at a conservative $80 per barrels, in the last two and a half years.

Lokpobiri insisted that Nigeria could ramp up oil production to five million barrels per day within the next 12 to 18 months. He said lack of required investment in the Nigerian oil and gas industry over the past 10 years contributed to the decline in production, and stressed that it was one of the major challenges he faced on assumption of office.

Lokpobiri explained that Nigeria was producing about 600,000bpd from the ExxonMobil assets that were now under divestment, pointing out that today, the production from the asset has dropped to about 120,000bpd.

He stated that if the problem hindering the divestment process was resolved and minimal investment made on the asset, the country would be able to restore the production to 600,000bpd with the addition of 480,000bpd.

With that, in addition to condensate, which is outside the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) computation, the minister maintained that the country was already delivering two million barrels.

Lokpobiri explained, “My own opinion is that, look, we are in short of 480,000 barrels a day from that ExxonMobil-Seplat transaction.

“For the past two and a half years, oil has been moving around $80 a barrel. Four hundred and eighty thousand barrels a day, multiply it by two and a half years, it will give you about $34 billion.

“When I was on this table, I was doing rough mathematics and I guess you have your phones. So, you can do the calculation. If one asset was doing about 600,000 barrels, because of certain problems, which we’re trying to resolve, production declined to 120,000 barrels, which means we’ve lost about 480,000 barrels a day.

“Multiply it by $80 a barrel. Every day, you’ll get about $34 million. Multiply it by two and a half years, you’re talking about over $30 billion. If $30 billion is injected into our economy today, I guess you guys will have to sell more of your dollars because dollar will naturally drop. This exchange rate is sometimes a question of demand and supply.”

As minister, with the mandate of the president, Lokpobiri said he would ensure that all problems hampering investment in the sector were resolved, beginning with the Seplat-ExxonMobil divestment issue.

“If from only that Seplat-ExxonMobil transaction, we have lost about $35 billion, imagine if that money was in Nigeria. Imagine if NNPC has about 70 per cent of that money. If they have that money to expand their investment, I believe that Nigeria will be in a better place,” he added.

Lokpobiri stated that the quickest way to the redemption of the Nigerian economic problems was through the oil and gas sector, arguing that no oil and gas producing country fails to prioritise investment in the sector.

He said President Bola Tinubu had given him a mandate to ramp up production, adding that achieving that needs engagement and collaboration with all the relevant industry stakeholders.

Lokpobiri admitted that the task of ramping up oil production could not be feasible without sustainable investment and without solving the problems in the industry.

He said one of the first problems that confronted him was the ExxonMobil-Seplat transaction, and said for the past two years, they’ve been struggling to resolve the problem.

He revealed that some agreements had been reached in the attempt to resolve the divestment bottleneck, assuring that in no distant time, the problem would be finally solved.

The minister stated, “When I came, what I did was to bring Seplat and NNPC to the table to say, ‘look, we must lock up ourselves in this room. We must find a solution to this problem.’

“What is the problem? They can attest to the fact that we are able to get some agreements. And I believe that in no distant time, we’ll be able to resolve that problem.”

He reiterated that his target was to ensure that production was ramped up by guaranteeing sustainable investments and by resolving the critical problems in the sector.

Lokpobiri stressed that production growth needed to happen on sustainable basis to increase the country ‘s revenue and enable the president to deliver the promises he made to Nigerians.

“That is my mandate. That is the mandate given to me by Mr. President. And I can assure you that this present administration is committed to ensuring that that happens,” he stated.

While the divestment was happening across the world, the minister clarified that in Nigeria, the international oil companies (IOCs) were not divesting and running away from the country. Rather, he said, the IOCs were divesting into deep offshore

Lokpobiri added that the development presented another opportunity for indigenous companies under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), who have grown capacity, to take over the divested assets, maximise their productivity in these assets and pull Nigerians out of suffering.

Lokpobiri encouraged indigenous firms to put money together and work to overcome their funding challenge.

He explained, “If a group of people come together to say, ‘look, if I have $10 million, you have $20 million, let’s pull our resources together and see how we can fund some assets in this sector,’ I think that would be an alternative solution to our issues.”

He announced that only Nigeria and Ghana were currently in the contest to host the upcoming African Energy Bank (AEB).

He said if headquartered in Abuja, the bank, which would have $5 billion initial capital, would in four or five years grow to about $120 billion, and Nigeria’s economy would benefit from it.

Lokpobiri stated, “But the summary of what I want to say today is that, as a government, our own policy is to ensure that we do everything that is globally possible that other countries don’t have and that other countries are doing to attract investment, so that we can attract the desired investment.

“We are willing to remove all bottlenecks in the industry because every country that has oil, prioritises investment in the oil and gas sector, and that is why as a government, the president has directed that we should resolve all problems we have in the industry.

“And that is why we are also trying to resolve the problem of OML 245, the popular Malabu oil field, because we want to attract all the investment because in my own opinion, if we don’t attract the investment, this resource we have will just be buried under the soil with no value addition.”