***Pleads not guilty to corruption charges involving N110 billion

The Federal Capital Territory High Court has ordered that the former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, remain in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) until December 10, 2024, when it will rule on his bail application.

The ruling follows a plea hearing on November 27, 2024, where Bello and two other defendants faced 16-count charges, including conspiracy and criminal breach of trust. Bello denied all the charges, which stem from allegations of diverting over N110 billion in state funds during his tenure as governor.

Counsel for Bello, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Joseph Bodunde Dauda, filed a motion for bail, which was contested by the EFCC’s counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN. Pinheiro argued that the bail request was invalid due to an expired application filed earlier in October. Dauda, however, clarified that a fresh bail application had been submitted on November 22, stressing that the defendant had shown respect for the law by attending court.

The court heard arguments about the jurisdiction of the case, with the EFCC requesting that the trial begin immediately. However, Bello’s defense team noted that they had only been served with the charges the evening prior and requested additional time to prepare.

Bello faces serious allegations of embezzling state funds to acquire personal properties, including multiple luxury homes and assets worth millions of dollars abroad.
His legal troubles intensified after he had previously evaded arrest in April and September 2024, culminating in a dramatic surrender to the EFCC in November.

The court has also ordered the two other defendants, Umar Shuaib Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, to remain under administrative bail, while the court will continue deliberations on Bello’s case at the next session.

The ruling on the bail request is set to be delivered on December 10, 2024.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister of State, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, has called on the FCT College of Education (COE), Zuba, to adopt a curriculum that balances global compliance with local relevance. The Minister made this appeal during the combined 3rd Convocation Ceremony of the College, where 6,068 students graduated.

Her Special Adviser on Media, Austine Elemue, in a statement quoted her to have emphasized the importance of aligning the curriculum with the demands of a changing world to produce globally competitive graduates who are equipped to address local challenges.
She charged the graduates to apply their knowledge and skills towards national development.

Acknowledging the infrastructural challenges in the education sector, the Minister noted that the FCT Administration has invested over ₦13 billion in school renovations and remains committed to upgrading critical infrastructure. She assured that the Administration would continue to support initiatives aimed at excellence and sustainable growth in education.

“The College must lead in research and community service while embracing ICT-based teaching technologies to remain impactful and relevant in modern education,” she stated.
Mahmoud called on the College to continue to adjust to the everchanging demands of modern day world by repositioning itself through training and retraining of staff, especially in the area of the use of ICT based technologies in teaching, so as to encourage impactful education that would bring about sustainable development.

She said, “this College should be the vanguard of research and community service in line with their tripartite mandate.

“Our College, as citadel of learning, should take the lead in championing demand-driven research that would serve the society in making human lives better and enriched”.

The minister commended the College for the industrial peace between the staff and student unions, while hoping that it will continue so as to ensure that the territory has a stable higher education sector that positively contributes to national and global competiveness.

Mahmoud assured that the current FCT Administration would give maximum support, within the available resources, to every planned and sincere effort that is geared towards excellence.
The Provost of the College, Dr. Sule Mundi, highlighted the achievements of the graduates, which included 4,625 from the NCE regular program and 1,443 from the part-time program. He appealed for increased funding to enable the College to introduce technical programs like automobile technology and electrical engineering to meet market demands and enhance self-reliance among graduates.
Mundi, therefore, appealed to the Administration for adequate funding to enable the College expands its programmes by introducing the technical component such as automobile technology, building, electrical and electronics.

He stressed that the importance of such courses cannot be over emphasised, especially as such categories of teachers are looking at the basic and post basic level in addition to the fact that they provided a platform for self-reliance.

He, however, thanked the FCT Minister for his timely intervention on issues that border on the continued growth and development of the College.

While welcoming guests to the occasion, the FCT Education Mandate Secretary, Dr. Danlami Hayyo, noted that the convocation ceremony was a fulfilment of FCT Administrator’s determination to place the College on a high platform in the comity of colleges of education globally.
The ceremony featured fellowship awards and certificates of excellence for top-performing students.

The Acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), Mr. Michael Ango, has declared that the ongoing harmonisation of revenue collection and administration will effectively address the issue of multiple taxation in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Appearing on Channels Television’s Dateline Abuja, Ango revealed that the FCT-IRS is working closely with government agencies and the six area councils to ensure the seamless implementation of the initiative.
He commended FCT Minister Barr. Nyesom Wike for his directive and support in streamlining the tax system to make it more efficient for taxpayers while boosting revenue.

“The minister has tasked us to ensure the issue of multiple taxes is resolved swiftly. To achieve this, we aligned with the Federal Government’s Tax Reform Committee, where I served before my appointment. The FCT has now been adopted as a pilot for tax harmonisation, and the process is already underway,” Ango stated.

He explained that under the new system, taxpayers will no longer need to interact with multiple agencies. Taxes and levies for bodies such as AGIS, Development Control, Water Board, Abuja Environmental Protection Agency, and area councils can now be paid through FCT-IRS, which will handle collection and remittance.

“For instance, if you have 30 houses, you don’t need three agents to manage your rent collection. With this harmonisation, all taxes and levies will be centrally collected and properly distributed to the relevant agencies,” he explained.

Ango also emphasized the importance of voluntary compliance, urging taxpayers to view paying taxes as a civic duty. He highlighted ongoing infrastructure projects and services across the FCT as evidence of the effective use of tax revenues, encouraging residents to support development by fulfilling their tax obligations.

The harmonisation initiative is expected to streamline tax processes, eliminate redundancies, and provide a more transparent and efficient system for revenue collection in the FCT.