The ₦100 Billion Relief
You might be able to afford the home of your dreams in Tinubu's government. Open this email to find out how.
Happy Friday! If you plan to take lots of naps, eat great food and read good books, this weekend, then you’re a certified Big Brain.
Don’t forget to catch up on any of the editions you might have missed. See you bright and early on Monday, Big Brains! 🌞
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Let’s get into today’s edition:
Inside President Tinubu's ₦100 Billion Consumer Credit Scheme
EFCC Takes Back Appeal Against Court Order Stopping Yahaya Bello’s Arrest
11 Nigerians Suspected of Large-Scale Dating Scam Arrested in Germany
The Big Deal
President Tinubu's New Move: ₦100 Billion Consumer Credit to Help Your Life
President Tinubu's slander might be coming to an end. Only this week, his government has announced schemes that might make life easier for Nigerians. First, the cost-effective, eco-friendly CNG public transportation and now, the official takeoff of ₦100 billion consumer credit scheme.
How does it work?
According to the official statement that was released by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the consumer credit will allow Nigerians access to important goods and services such as “homes, vehicles, and education” that they can pay for overtime. The goal is to improve our quality of life and promote economic stability.
What do I need to do to jump on this?
The scheme is available to “working Nigerians”. But it isn’t clear if this includes self-employed Nigerians. On their official portal, there’s a “self-employment” form which probably means self-employed Nigerians are encouraged to apply. The scheme will be rolled out in phases, starting with members of the civil service before members of the public.
If you’re a hustling working Nigeria, this scheme has the potential to make your life easier. It claims that it’ll help you build your credit score as well – which means you’ll likely be able to access more loans and credit in future. You can even express interest here. Of course, if you’re an Otedola, you don’t need to bother about this.
Yahaya Bello vs EFCC
You might want to grab your popcorn because the Yahaya Bello vs EFCC drama doesn’t seem to be ending soon. In yesterday’s newsletter, we reported that the EFCC chairman accused Yahaya Bello of moving $720,000 dollars from state resources to pay his child’s school fees in advance. With this still unfolding, the EFCC has decided to withdraw its appeal against an order that protected former Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State from being arrested. The EFCC filed its notice of discontinuance on April 22, citing that the original order from a Kogi State High Court no longer applied. They also added that the appeal was filed too late.
English, please…
If none of the above made sense to you, EFCC is no longer legally kicking back against the court order that was stopping them from arresting the former governor.
What’s the backstory?
In February, The Kogi State High Court issued an interim order that prevented EFCC from arresting, detaining, or prosecuting Bello until the court could hear his case.
In response to that, the EFCC appealed the order, and on April 17, the court ruled in favor of Bello's fundamental human rights suit. The court’s orders allow Bello to continue to live freely, stopping EFCC from arresting or detaining him without permission from the Federal High Court. Before that, Yahaya Bello had reportedly turned down the EFCC chairman’s invitation to come to the office to shed more light on the $720,000 school fees allegations. Yahaya allegedly declined and asked the EFCC chairman if he could come to his village instead.
Now back to the plot twist that led to the withdrawal of EFCC’s appeal, on the same day (April 17) the court ruled in favor of Yahaya Bello, EFCC decided that they had had enough of Yahaya Bello’s refusal to show up in court or their office, so they organized a siege with armed men surrounding his house in Abuja to arrest him reportedly with the support of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi. But they were not able to arrest him because Ahmed Ododo, the serving governor of Kogi state, came to the house and reportedly took Bello away. The EFCC then declared Bello wanted and warned that it wouldn't tolerate any interference with its work.
In the appeal withdrawal notice filed on April 22, EFCC admitted that they were out of the time allowed by the court.
So is Yahaya Bello a free man?
The withdrawal of the appeal against the court order that prevented EFCC from arresting Bello has not affected the charges against him. The EFCC is still charging Bello with 19 counts related to alleged money laundering, breach of trust, and misusing funds totaling N80.2 billion. The case is being heard by Justice Emeka Nwite at the Federal High Court in Abuja and has been adjourned till May 10. So Yahaya Bello is not a free man until the Federal High Court says he is.
Also, it high-key runs in the family,
While the legal team of the former governor insists that their client is innocent, his absence from the public eye and his refusal to show up in court has left questions in the minds of many Nigerians.
The Bellos are not new to handling EFCC cases and somehow coming out on top. Last year, Yahaya Bello’s wife, Rashida Bello, his nephew, and three other people were arraigned by EFCC on an 18-count charge “bordering on criminal misappropriation and money laundering to the tune of ₦3,081,804,654. Rashida and the four other people in this case pleaded not guilty. In what should go down in history as the biggest plot twist ever, Alli Bello, the nephew of the former governor who was eventually granted bail of ₦500m by the court alongside 3 others, currently serves as the appointed chief of staff to Ahmed Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi (present governor of Kogi who was accused of helping Yahaya Bello escape arrest).
11 Nigerians Suspected of Large-Scale Dating Scam Arrested in Germany
Because we care about your TGIF energy and your mental health, we saved the most worrying news for the last. On Wednesday, German police arrested 11 suspected members of the Black Axe gang, also known as the Neo Black Movement of Africa, for their involvement in a large-scale dating scam.
The gang was engaged in various criminal activities worldwide, with their focus in Germany being romance scams and money laundering, according to a statement from Bavarian police. These scams were described as a “modern form of marriage fraud” where the fraudsters used fake identities to lure victims with the promise of marriage and then repeatedly asked for money for different reasons.
The funds were reportedly sent to Black Axe in Nigeria through financial agents. The suspects, all Nigerian nationals between 29 and 53, were taken into custody during raids across the country on Tuesday.
While there is no extradition law that allows the surrendering of an individual from one state to another state for prosecution or punishment for crimes committed in the requesting country's jurisdiction between Nigeria and Germany in 2024, if found guilty, these Nigerians would most likely be faced persecution in Germany according to German laws with crimes like money laundering attracting punishments like a monetary penalty or a custodial sentence of up to five years according to Section 261 of the StGB (Criminal Code).
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