Report from EFCC on how Lagos state Speaker Spent funds on foreign trips and his wife.

EFCC today March 18th revealed how Lagos Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji, squandered money on his wife, foreign trips and how on August 1, 2011, N4.4m was paid to him as “cost of allowance”; and his personal assistant and orderly pocketed N1.2m and N1.1m respectively.

Premium Times reports

The trial of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, continued Tuesday with the prosecution witness detailing how the defendants allegedly laundered millions of Naira.

Adebayo Adeniyi, the EFCC witness, told the court how the defendants collected N13.5 million for honorarium, N4.5 million for renovation of the Speaker’s residence, and N1.5 million for the Speaker’s Guest House every month for six consecutive months.

Mr. Ikuforiji and Oyebode Atoyebi, his aide, are facing a 54-count amended charge of money laundering amounting to over N600 million.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, accused the Speaker and his aide of receiving the money from the Lagos State House of Assembly without passing through a financial institution.

The trial was adjourned last January for the prosecution to provide a summarized version of the monies collected by Mr. Ikuforiji and his aide.
But on Tuesday, Godwin Obla, counsel to the EFCC, said that he would rather continue with his previous method to avoid any grounds for appeal.

It was a painstaking effort that required Mr. Obla to go through each of the transactions with the witness. The judge admitted that, but overruled the defence’s plea that the prosecution tabulate the relevant sections of the transactions.
“We’ve lost time. We vacated three days for that exercise to be done,” said Ibrahim Buba, the trial judge.
“What I understand the prosecution to be doing is trying to go through the records viz a viz each count of the allegation. They are entitled to do so.
“It is indeed difficult, if not laborious,” Mr. Buba added.

2011 TRANSACTIONS
Mr. Adeniyi continued his testimony by stating how the Lagos House of Assembly paid millions of naira to Mr. Ikuforiji; his wife, Mayowa; his orderly; his personal assistant; as well as the state’s Deputy Speaker.

All the monies were collected by Mr. Atoyebi and paid for in cash, the witness said.
On July 14, 2011, N5.4 million was paid to Mr. Ikuforiji for a trip to San Diego, California; his personal assistant and orderly collected N1.3 million and N1.2 million respectively, according to Mr. Adeniyi.

On August 1, 2011, N4.4 million was paid to the Speaker as “cost of allowance”; his personal assistant and orderly pocketed N1.2 million and N1.1 million respectively. Two days later, N10 million was paid to the Speaker for Ramadan, the witness said.

On August, 2011, N6.4 million was paid to Mayowa Ikuforiji, the Speaker’s wife; and N1.3 million to the wife’s orderly, the witness said.
Between January and June 2011, N13.5 million was paid as honorarium, every month, to the Speaker, Mr. Adeniyi added.

He said N4 million and N1 million were also paid monthly, within the stated period, for the renovation of the Speaker’s official residence and guest house respectively.

Asked why there were columns with Cheque Numbers in the cash register, Mr. Adeniyi responded that: “What they do is that a cheque is raised in most cases in the name of the Permanent Secretary and cashed from the bank.
“It is this cash that is eventually paid and registered in this document, the details of payments.”

2010 TRANSACTIONS
“Basically, these cash payments are supposed to be made through a financial institution, paid to the beneficiaries, not through cash payments. Cash payments stall the tracing of the monies.
“We discovered that some of it was paid into the account of the first accused person. Some of it was used for his credit card and other personal matters,” he added.

During cross examination by Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Mr. Ikuforiji, Mr. Adeniyi said that he was not aware what the Speaker used the monies for.

“Our investigation is not focused on knowing whether he spent the money on his personal house.
“From our investigation, we did not go in depth into who approved the disbursements, we were particular about the cash disbursement which was above the threshold of transactions by a Permanent Secretary.

“Any payment must be made through e-payment, most especially when it is above the threshold,” Mr. Adeniyi said.
When shown one of the cash registers by the defence lawyer, Mr. Adeniyi said that he could not “remember seeing it.”

Mr. Obla objected to that line of questioning, insisting that the defence must tender the cash register as an exhibit before it court be used for cross examination.
The judge, however, said that the defence was at liberty to use any document that had been brought before the court.

“You cannot file a document and your witness said he cannot remember seeing it. If it was filed by the defence, it is a different ball game altogether,” the judge told Mr. Obla.
“Once you have provided this document, it is for them (the defence) to use it at their own time during the trial, not at your own time,” the judge added.
The trial was adjourned till April 28 for continuation of trial.

Man Rapes 8-Year Old Boy In Jigawa

The Jigawa State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has arrested a 20-year old boy in Jigawa for raping another boy who is 8.

The suspect was arrested on Sunday when they were hinted about the incident. A medical check-up was also carried out and it confirmed the little boy was raped.

The suspect later confessed to the crime and said he usually gives the little boy N20 each time he wanted to lure him into the act.

Exclusive To JJD Readers! Sad Story of a Smoker.....Funny!

I just read this online and i think i should share it with you guy!
Please read it all and don't laugh too much guys.

I had just moved out of my parents house and was sharing a room with my "friend". I had no idea he smoked weed, despite his suspicious movements and signature weed scent (abi na odour?).
Barely two weeks after moving in with him, my worst fears were confirmed as he started bringing home his weed smoking buddies and they would occasionally roll a wrap and smoke it right there in the room or mix the weed with beans or spaghetti.
Being a very curious person I always wondered what made them happy after smoking, so I decided to find out for myself (wrong move).
It was a very hot day in February, a Saturday I think it was, my friend was out as usual. I searched everywhere for his stash but couldn't find it so I decided to go and get mine.
I arrived the weed joint all sweaty and nervous, half expecting to get mugged but nobody seemed to be aware of my presence there, they were all on different planets all expect one I concluded that he must be the seller so I approached him and the following conversation ensued:
Me: how far?
Weed seller: I dey
Me: I wan buy weed
Weed seller: how many parcel?
Me: parcel ke? Iro oo, na just small i need
Weed seller: laughs really hard. bolo leleyi sha (meaning this guy is a dunce oo)
Apparently, a parcel of weed is that small wrap, I didn't know that. I thought it was something very large.
I gave him 1000naira and he gave me a tiny wrap of weed with a white paper, I was surprised when he gave me 950 as change. I couldn't believe weed was that cheap.
On my way home, I decided not to smoke it but mix it with beans because I thought that it will be better that way (another wrong move).
Long story short, I cooked beans and added the whole weed, ate it and called my friend, I told him ogbeni, I just ate weed oo and nothing happened to me this one that you people will eat and be feeling funky, I don chop am oo. My friend was like, ehen you be strong man oo.
I decided to take a quick nap before doing laundry, I woke up about 20 minutes later on the floor, I was banging my head on the floor, and I couldn't stop, my heart beat was so audible and fast, everything was extra bright and extra loud.
After a few minutes of head banging, I was able to get up from the floor,
I felt as if I had just gained access to a part of my mind that I never knew existed previously.
It was scary and cool at the same time. I could feel the blood flowing in my veins (you have to experience it to believe it. Though I strongly advise against it). I felt so uncomfortable in the room, it felt like I was in an oven.
Suddenly, a voice in my head wisphered ogbeni bo aso e joor (off your clothes), I obeyed. The voice came again oya sa re (now run). That was when I realized that the weed had taken effect, so I decided to take a shower to see if it will calm me down, but the water felt so hot on my skin so hot I ran out of the bathroom.
I called my friend to see if he could help me make sense of what was going on but he laughed at me, he asked me the quantity of weed I took and I told him I used a whole parcel, he said guyyyyy you don eff up! If you no sleep in the next 30mins, you go mad oo. Go chemist make you go explain yourself.
By this time things had escalated, I had a severe itch at the back of my head that wouldn't go away no matter how hard I scratched and I was convinced that the beating in my chest was an evil spirit that could only be killed with a punch.
I ran to my neighbor - Champion and told him, Champion e jo e fun mi lese laya(champion pls punch me in the chest). ti e ba gbami lese laya mo ma ku oo (if you don't punch me I will die oo).
He hissed and walked out having had enough of such nonsense from the boys in the boys quarters.
The voice in my head came again - iwo na o de gba ara e lese laya abi o ti fe ku ni (why don't you punch yourself in the chest or do you want to die?) I punched and punched but there was no difference.
The house was getting hotter, the voice in my head was getting louder, the itch in my head was getting worse, and the evil spirit in my chest was getting louder.
Then came the voice again - oya ma sare lo (start running). So I started running but on getting outside in the sun, I felt so cold I was shivering but that didn't stop me from running (I would have given Usain Bolt a run for his money on that day).
On getting to the chemist, i realized I was bare footed, I told him I had a severe headache I needed something to make me sleep immediately. He gave me the drug and I chewed it right there in his presence.
Next I asked him to give me a drug for evil spirit, that was when he realized something was wrong with me and chased me out.
I got back home and tried to sleep but my heart beat wouldn't let me, so I ran back out this time around to a nurse in the area, first thing she asked was - kilode o wo bata ni? (why don't you have your shoes on?
I told her Jackie Chan ti gba bata lowo mi (Jackie Chan collected my shoes). I was finally able to explain my situation to her and she took me in, tied something around my elbow and injected me directly in the vein.
I passed out immediately only to wake around 1 or 2am in the middle of the night with the worst kind of hunger I have ever felt in my life. I ate a whole loaf of butter field bread in one sitting without butter or tea.
I came home to a hero's welcome, my friend told me e be like say your head no carry am but e go better make you try am once more so you go dey use to it.
The following day while the house was empty, I packed my Ghana must go and like the prodigal son in the bible I went back home to my parents.
It's been a few years since that experience but the lesson I learnt is an unforgettable one. My curiosity hasn't gotten me in trouble again and my circle of friends have since changed