News
Court orders forfeiture of $7m in Providus Bank recovered by EFCC to FG
Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on Monday, ordered the final forfeiture of seven million dollars recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to the Federal Government. Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order after EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, moved an application for the final forfeiture of the money. Mr Oyedepo reminded that the court, on August 27, granted the commission’s request for the interim freezing of the sum. He said the anti-graft agency had complied with the directive of the court by publishing the interim order for interested parties to show cause why the final order should not be made. He said an affidavit of compliance was filed on September 3. He said, “My lord, since August 27 that your lordship granted the order till date, we have not received any opposition to our application. Hence, we filed a motion for final forfeiture.’’ Recall that on Friday when the matter was heard, a lawyer, Gbenga Akande, announced appearance for an interested party. Although Mr Akande refused to disclose the name of his client who he represented to the court despite the pressure by Mr Oyedepo and the judge, the lawyer promised to file their affidavit to show cause and other documents today. “My lord, as soon as we file our response, the learner counsel for the applicant will know the interested party,” he said. The judge, who ordered Mr Oyedepo to serve Mr Akande with copies of the documents, adjourned the matter until September 15 for report.
But when the matter was called on Monday, Akande was not in court. However, another lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, appeared in court for an interested party. Mr Oyedepo, therefore, moved the application for final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government since no party had shown interest in the matter. “The party showing interest at the last adjourned date was represented by Gbenga Femi Akande, Esq,” he said. When the judge asked Mr Ozurumba for his submission, the lawyer simply said, “On our part, we are not opposing the application. In view of the fact that there is no opposition, we apply for final forfeiture of the seven million U.S dollars,” he said. Justice Nwite, who held that the application was meritorious, ordered the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government. “I have listened to the submission of the counsel for applicant and gone through the affidavit evidence including the written address. I am of the view that the application is meritorious. Consequently, the application is granted,” he said.
In the affidavit in support of the motion ex-parte marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1763/2025 and deposed to by an EFCC investigator, Emmanuel Okeibunor, the official said the commission received a credible intelligence report alleging that the sum of seven million dollars was, in suspicious circumstances, conveyed to and kept in Providus Bank Limited in Lagos. Mr Okeibunor averred that upon the receipt of the said intelligence report, the same was assigned to his team to analyse and, if found credible, investigate. According to him, my team found the intelligence credible and proceeded to investigate further. “My team confirmed that seven million dollars was taken, in suspicious circumstances, to the Providus Bank Limited located at No.114 Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island Lagos between March 25 and 26.”
He said the investigation revealed that the said sum was not credited to any known customers’ account of the bank, but rather surreptitiously kept in the bank’s vault. The official said those interviewed, including some of the bank staff, alleged that the funds were brought to the bank for and on behalf of the managing director, Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited. “My team interviewed the managing director of Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited in respect of the seven million dollars who insisted that she did not take any money to Providus Bank. My team was equally informed by the managing director of Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited that she took a loan of seven million dollars from Providus Bank Limited which she has yet to pay back to the bank. That Providus Bank Limited did not file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in respect of this transaction. “That the funds sought to be forfeited are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity, as they did not represent known, provable, and legitimate income of either Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, the couriers, or officials of Providus Bank Limited.” He said the funds had been recovered by his team in raw cash and taken to the Central Bank of Nigeria for safekeeping, hence, the need for the sum to be forfeited to the Federal Government. The funds sought to be forfeited are also reasonably suspected to have been abandoned, as nobody came forward to claim the funds from the Providus Bank Limited or the commission that recovered the same,” he said. NAN
A new technology transfer agreement between the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) and the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT) is expected to open more job opportunities, improve local skills, and expand access to advanced technology for ordinary Nigerians.
In a press statement reaching Vanguard on Friday, the MoU aims to strengthen industrial development, support local content, and create clearer pathways for Nigerians to benefit from China’s growing investments in the country.
PICTT Chairman, Dr Dahiru Mohammed, said the partnership will immediately begin coordinated programmes that support local participation in infrastructure and industrial projects.
Special Adviser to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr John Uwajumogu, said the deal will help attract high value investments that can stimulate job creation and strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
NCSP Head of International Relations, Ms Judy Melifonwu, highlighted that Nigerians stand to gain from expanded STEM scholarships, technical training, access to modern technology, and collaboration across key sectors including steel, agriculture, automobile parks, and cultural industries.
The NCSP Director-General reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to measurable results, noting that the partnership with PICTT will prioritise initiatives that deliver direct national impact.
The MoU signals a new phase of Nigeria–China cooperation focused on practical delivery, local content, and opportunities that improve everyday livelihoods.
EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms on Thursday over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in its WhatsApp messenger that would block rivals, hardening Europe’s already tough stance on Big Tech. The move, reported earlier by Reuters and the Financial Times, is the latest action by European Union regulators against large technology firms such as Amazon and Alphabet’s Google as the bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.
Europe’s tough stance – a marked contrast to more lenient U.S. regulation – has sparked an industry pushback, particularly by U.S. tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump. The European Commission said that the investigation will look into Meta’s new policy that would limit other AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, a potential boost for its own Meta AI system integrated into the platform earlier this year.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move was to prevent dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors”. She added interim measures could be imposed to block Meta’s new WhatsApp AI policy rollout. “AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” she said. This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”
A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless”, adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platforms had put a “strain on our systems that they were not designed to support”, a reference to AI systems from other providers. “Still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.” The EU was the first in the world to establish a comprehensive legal framework for AI, setting out guardrails for AI systems and rules for certain high-risk applications in the AI Act.
Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been built into WhatsApp’s interface across European markets since March. The Commission said a new policy fully applicable from January 15, 2026, may block competing AI providers from reaching customers via the platform. Ribera said the probe came on the back of complaints from small AI developers about the WhatsApp policy. The Interaction Company of California, which has developed AI assistant Poke.com, has taken its grievance to the EU competition enforcer. Spanish AI startup Luzia has also talked to the Commission, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Marvin von Hagen, co-founder and CEO of The Interaction Company of California, said if Meta was allowed to roll out its new policy, “millions of European consumers will be deprived of the possibility of enjoying new and innovative AI assistants”. Meta also risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules.
Italy’s antitrust watchdog opened a parallel investigation in July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp, expanding the probe in November to examine whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking rival AI chatbots from the messaging platform. The antitrust probe is a more traditional means of investigation than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark legislation currently used to scrutinize Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud services for potential curbs. Reuters
The spouses and children of billionaires inherited more wealth in 2025 than in any previous year since reporting began in 2015, according to UBS’s Billionaire Ambitions Report published on Thursday. In the 12 months to April, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, collectively receiving $298 billion, up more than a third from 2024, the Swiss bank said. “These heirs are proof of a multi-year wealth transfer that’s intensifying,” UBS executive Benjamin Cavalli said.
The report is based on a survey of some of UBS’s super-rich clients and a database that tracks the wealth of billionaires across 47 markets in all world regions. At least $5.9 trillion will be inherited by billionaire children over the next 15 years, the bank calculates.
Most of this inheritance growth is set to take place in the United States, with India, France, Germany and Switzerland next on the list, UBS estimated. However, billionaires are highly mobile, especially younger ones, which could change that picture, it added. The search for a better quality of life, geopolitical concerns and tax considerations are driving decisions to relocate, according to the report.
In Switzerland, where $206 billion will be inherited over the next 15 years according to the bank, voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected 50 per cent tax on inherited fortunes of $62 million or more, after critics said it could trigger an exodus of wealthy people.
Switzerland, the UAE, the U.S. and Singapore are among billionaires’ preferred destinations, UBS’s Cavalli said. “In Switzerland, Sunday’s vote may have helped to increase the country’s appeal again,” he said. Reuters
-
News3 days agoNigeria to officially tag Kidnapping as Act of Terrorism as bill passes 2nd reading in Senate
-
News3 days agoNigeria champions African-Arab trade to boost agribusiness, industrial growth
-
News3 days agoFG’s plan to tax digital currencies may push traders to into underground financing—stakeholders
-
Finance1 week agoAfreximbank successfully closed its second Samurai Bond transactions, raising JPY 81.8bn or $527m
-
News1 week agoFG launches fresh offensive against Trans-border crimes, irregular migration, ECOWAS biometric identity Card
-
Economy3 days agoMAN cries out some operators at FTZs abusing system to detriment of local manufacturers
-
News3 days agoEU to support Nigeria’s war against insecurity
-
Uncategorized3 days agoDeveloping Countries’ Debt Outflows Hit 50-Year High During 2022-2024—WBG