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Alleged N89trn Fraud: Emefiele’s Case’ll Determine Seriousness Of Buhari’s Anti-corruption Fight – Dr Gololo
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr Garus Gololo has berated the Senior Special Assistant to the president on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, for defending the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, over allegations of misappropriation of N89.1 trillion in stamp duty funds by a member of the House of Representatives, Muhammad Gudaji-Kazaure.
Shehu had in a statement described the claim as unfounded and a figment of the imagination of Gudaji-Kazaure.
But speaking in a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Gololo also condemned a group, Arewa Assembly, for standing by the embattled CBN governor.
He called on the president to suspend the CBN governor while investigation is going on.
According to him, if the president fails to suspend the CBN governor, it means the anti-corruption campaign of the President is dead.
“If the President is truly fighting corruption, Emefiele will be suspended and investigated. If they find him guilty he should be prosecuted and if they don’t find him guilty then he will be free. But if they do nothing, then it means the president’s anti-corruption campaign is one sided,” he said.
Continuing, Gololo said: “I am disappointed with the spokesperson of the president Garba Shehu for defending the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Shehu is the spokesperson of President Muhammadu Buhari not Godwin Emefiele. And as far as i am concerned, the president was not mentioned in the allegation, why is he defending Emefiele.
“He should allow Emefiele to be investigated and we also want the president to suspend him while the investigation is going on. Honourable Gudaji-Kazaure is a man of integrity. We believe in him, we respect him. When he says something on the floor of the House of Representatives, he always stands by it. He always stands by the truth.
“We don’t want Garba shehu to intervene because he is not EFCC, he is not ICPC, he is not the police. As a country, we must forget about tribe, religion and focus on the future of Nigeria. One person cannot be accused of misappropriating this kind of money while the majority of Nigerians are living in poverty. The allegation must be investigated properly and the outcome should be made public.
“I also heard a group who call themselves Arewa Assembly defending the Central Bank Governor. If they truly speak for and defend the interest of the North, why didnt they speak when northerners like DCP Aba Kyari, Accountant General of the federation, Col Sambo Dasuki etc. were arrested?
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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.
The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.
Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.
According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.
“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.
“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”
The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.
Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.
“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.
Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.
Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.
He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.
Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.
He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.
To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.
In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization
Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.
Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.
“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.
In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee
is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.
The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
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