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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is facing renewed criticism over its decision to auction seized vehicles through a platform it plans to manage itself. The Nigeria Association of Auctioneers (NAA) has argued that the move raises serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and due process in the disposal of forfeited assets.

Speaking with The PUNCH on Tuesday, NAA President Benjamin Isibor said the EFCC should not be allowed to investigate financial crimes, seize assets, retain custody of them, and also oversee their sale. He described the arrangement as a conflict of interest that could undermine public confidence in the asset recovery process.

According to Isibor, the association previously opposed a similar proposal during the tenure of former EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu. He maintained that the commission has no legal authority to act as both custodian and seller of recovered assets.

“The EFCC is now trying to act as both custodian and seller of assets, which is unlawful,” Isibor said. “The commission investigates cases, seizes the assets, and now wants to establish a platform to sell them. That is a role that should be performed by licensed auctioneers to ensure transparency.”

He argued that certified auctioneers are better equipped to guarantee a credible and open disposal process, adding that the association remains committed to protecting the integrity of government asset sales.

Although the association said it could not confirm the number of vehicles slated for the planned auction, it noted that the EFCC recently recovered a fleet of luxury vehicles linked to businesswoman Aisha Achimugu as part of an ongoing investigation. The commission has not disclosed the value of the vehicles or confirmed whether they will be included in the proposed auction.

Isibor further questioned why the EFCC was moving away from its previous practice of engaging licensed auctioneers, noting that some auctioneers had invested significant resources in developing digital auction platforms under contractual agreements with the commission.

“We have worked with the EFCC in the past, and auctioneers spent substantial resources building online portals for these exercises,” he said. “It is surprising that after making such commitments, the commission now wants to handle the process itself.”

He also argued that the proposed arrangement contradicts the principles of natural justice and existing legal frameworks governing the disposal of forfeited assets, including the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and due process regulations.

“The law does not empower the EFCC to conduct the sale of recovered assets by itself,” he said. “That is our concern.”

The association also questioned why previous contractual arrangements with auctioneers appeared to have been abandoned without explanation, insisting that all asset disposal exercises should comply with established procurement and legal procedures.

Former NAA National President, Alhaji Musa Kurra, said concerns had already been raised within the profession over the planned auction, warning against attempts to sidestep established processes.

Over the years, the EFCC has disposed of forfeited assets—including houses, vessels, and vehicles—through public auctions conducted by licensed auctioneers after obtaining final forfeiture orders from the courts. The proceeds are typically remitted to the Federal Government while preventing recovered assets from deteriorating.

The current dispute centres on whether the EFCC should directly manage the auction process or continue to rely on independent, licensed auctioneers.

As of the time of filing this report, the EFCC had not responded to the concerns raised by the auctioneers' association. The commission's spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, did not reply to calls, text messages, or WhatsApp messages seeking comment.

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BUA Cement Plc reported an 80% year-on-year increase in profit to N324.9 billion for the first half of 2026, supported by foreign exchange gains, lower finance costs, and robust operating cash flows.
The cement manufacturer recorded a net foreign exchange gain of N16.57 billion during the six-month period, compared with N782.8 million in the corresponding period of 2025. The performance marks a significant turnaround from the N9.70 billion foreign exchange loss recorded for the full 2025 financial year, reflecting a more stable exchange rate environment after the sharp currency volatility experienced over the past two years.
The improved currency position contributed to a sharp decline in net finance costs, which fell to N3.41 billion from N31.37 billion in the first half of 2025, despite the company's sizeable borrowings. Finance income also climbed to N18.73 billion, driven by higher interest earned on cash balances.
BUA Cement continued to demonstrate strong cash-generating ability, with net cash from operating activities rising to N278.45 billion. The company maintained healthy cash flows even as it paid substantial dividends and continued investing heavily in expanding production capacity.
Capital expenditure exceeded N60.67 billion, with most of the investment directed toward property, plant, and equipment. As a result, the value of the company's property, plant, and equipment increased to N1.22 trillion, up from N1.18 trillion at the end of 2025.
Construction work-in-progress also rose to approximately N183.86 billion, underscoring the scale of the company's ongoing expansion projects.
According to its earnings report, BUA Cement is advancing plans to increase installed production capacity from 17 million metric tonnes per annum to 20 million metric tonnes per annum, including the development of a greenfield cement plant in Ososo, Edo State.
Commenting on the performance, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Yusuf Binji said the company remained focused on unlocking growth opportunities while maintaining strict cost discipline.
"We have delivered a strong quarter despite the constraints encountered," Binji said.
He noted that the company's growth initiatives and cost-optimization programmes were beginning to deliver results, adding that ongoing process improvements are expected to enhance productivity and strengthen cost efficiency in the coming quarters.
"I am very encouraged by our outlook and performance over the next quarters," he added.

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The abduction of a sitting High Court judge from his home ought to shake any nation to its core. When the news broke that Hon. Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza of the Kebbi State High Court had reportedly been kidnapped by armed men who stormed his residence in the early hours of the morning, it was yet another grim reminder that Nigeria’s insecurity has entered a dangerous new phase.

For years, kidnapping was often perceived as a crime directed at wealthy individuals, politicians, expatriates or business owners. It then spread to schoolchildren, farmers, commuters, religious leaders and traditional rulers. Today, it has become a national epidemic that recognises no social status, profession or geography. Judges, doctors, professors, security personnel, clergy, market women and ordinary citizens have all become potential targets.


Perhaps the most disturbing aspect is no longer that kidnappings occur, but that they have become so frequent that they barely shock us anymore. The nation has gradually become desensitised to stories that should ordinarily provoke outrage and sustained national action. We mourn briefly, express sympathy, await the payment of ransom or rescue, and then move on until the next victim appears in the headlines.

This cycle cannot continue.

A Crisis Beyond Crime
The kidnapping of a judicial officer is not merely an attack on one individual or one family. It is an assault on the very institutions that uphold the rule of law. Judges represent the authority of the state. When criminals can invade the home of a serving judge with apparent ease, the message sent to the public is deeply unsettling: no one is beyond the reach of criminal gangs.

More importantly, it exposes the frightening confidence with which armed groups now operate across Nigeria. Whether described as kidnappers, bandits, terrorists or criminal gangs, their methods have become increasingly sophisticated. They gather intelligence on their victims, exploit weak security networks, move across state boundaries with relative freedom and often negotiate ransoms with little fear of arrest.


The distinction between kidnapping, banditry and terrorism has also become increasingly blurred. Criminal groups have diversified their operations, combining cattle rustling, village raids, illegal mining, arms trafficking and mass abductions into highly profitable enterprises.

Kidnapping has effectively become an industry, sustained by access to sophisticated weapons, weak intelligence coordination, porous borders and limited consequences for perpetrators. This is not new; it’s a fact that has been stated many times in different ways.

The consequences extend far beyond the immediate victims. Farmers abandon their lands for fear of attack. Businesses relocate or shut down. Investors become wary. Schools close in vulnerable communities. Health workers decline rural postings. Judicial officers, teachers and civil servants hesitate to serve in high-risk locations. Communities become isolated, local economies collapse, and public confidence in government steadily erodes.

Insecurity is therefore no longer simply a security problem. It has become a development problem, an economic problem and, increasingly, a governance problem. The vast ungoverned spaces in Nigeria make it easy for the perpetrators to gain ground daily.

The Limits of the Current Approach

Nigeria’s security agencies have undoubtedly recorded notable successes. Numerous hostages have been rescued, including the more recent rescue of school children and teachers in Oyo State. Several notorious criminal leaders have been neutralised. Security personnel continue to make enormous sacrifices, often under extremely difficult conditions.

Yet these tactical victories have not translated into strategic success. There have also been casualties, including the Oyo school teachers, several security personnel and retired Major General Rabe Abubakar, a former defence spokesperson, who died in bandit captivity from medical complications on June 13, 2026, after being abducted alongside his wife in Katsina State.

The persistence of kidnappings suggests that our current security architecture is struggling to stay ahead of rapidly evolving threats. Criminal networks adapt quickly, while state institutions often remain constrained by fragmented intelligence systems, overlapping mandates, bureaucratic procedures and inadequate technological capabilities.

Much of our security response remains reactive. Security personnel frequently arrive after attacks have occurred rather than preventing them through timely intelligence. Communities repeatedly warn of suspicious movements, yet these warnings are not always translated into swift preventive action.

Technology also remains underutilised. Across the world, modern policing increasingly relies on surveillance systems, drones, digital forensics, biometric databases, predictive analytics and integrated intelligence platforms. Nigeria has made progress in some of these areas, but deployment remains uneven, and coordination across agencies continues to pose significant challenges.

Equally important is the question of accountability. Criminals thrive where prosecution is weak, investigations are slow, and convictions are uncertain. Justice delayed not only denies closure to victims but also emboldens perpetrators.

We must therefore move beyond viewing kidnapping as isolated criminal incidents. It requires a coordinated national strategy that integrates intelligence, policing, military operations, justice sector reforms, technology and community participation into one coherent framework.

 

Rethinking National Security

Nigeria needs more than additional checkpoints, military deployments or periodic security operations. It needs a fundamentally different approach to national security.

First, intelligence must become the centrepiece of security operations. Preventing attacks is always preferable to responding after lives have already been endangered. Better intelligence gathering, real-time information sharing among agencies and stronger collaboration with local communities can significantly improve early warning systems.

Second, technology should become a force multiplier. Wider deployment of surveillance cameras in urban centres, drone monitoring of vulnerable corridors, improved communications infrastructure and integrated criminal databases would substantially enhance operational effectiveness.

Third, community-based security deserves greater attention. Residents often know when unfamiliar persons arrive, when suspicious camps emerge or when criminal activities begin to take root. Building trust between communities and security agencies encourages timely reporting and improves local intelligence.

Fourth, tackling the financial incentives behind kidnapping is essential. Criminal enterprises flourish because they generate enormous profits. Disrupting financial networks, tracing ransom payments, targeting money laundering channels and dismantling supply chains for arms and logistics should become integral components of national security strategy.

Finally, Nigeria must address the underlying conditions that enable criminal recruitment. Poverty alone does not create criminals, but widespread unemployment, weak education systems, social exclusion and limited economic opportunities provide fertile ground for organised crime to recruit young people into violent networks. Security and development are therefore inseparable. Lasting peace requires both effective law enforcement and inclusive economic growth.

The Hon. Justice Bunza’s abduction should serve as another national wake-up call. Every high-profile abduction demonstrates not only the courage of criminal groups but also the vulnerability of our institutions. If judges are unsafe in their homes, what confidence can ordinary citizens have? Ultimately, the question Nigerians continue to ask is painfully simple: when will the kidnappings end? We are beginning to sound like a broken record.

The answer depends on whether we are prepared to move beyond temporary responses towards comprehensive reforms that match the scale and sophistication of today’s security threats. It requires political will, institutional coordination, sustained investment in intelligence and technology, stronger criminal justice systems and genuine partnership between government and citizens.

A nation cannot fulfil its economic potential or democratic promise while fear dictates the daily lives of its people. Restoring security is therefore not simply about defeating criminals. It is about restoring confidence in the Nigerian state itself.

Until that confidence is rebuilt, every successful kidnapping is more than an isolated crime. It is a reminder that, somewhere between the promises of security and the lived reality of Nigerians, something fundamental remains broken.

Olufunke Baruwa by Olufunke Baruwa

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Last Thursday, July 23, 2026, I granted an interview to Arise News Television on its Newsday programme. It was on the reported huge budgetary allocation of N8bn earmarked for renovation of mosques and churches in the 2026 Federal Government’s budget. The previous day, I had granted an interview to a Daily Trust correspondent on the same issue. By the time the newspaper published the report in its July 23 edition, it had expanded the scope to include over N22bn budgeted for renovation of 106 palaces in the same budget. The total sum came to N30.15bn. During the Arise News interview, I expanded the scope of discussion to include the palace renovation. I roundly condemned the misplaced priorities. The interview went viral as an excerpt from it was published by The Cable and BusinessDay newspapers. True Vision Television likewise interviewed me on it.

The question is, why does the Nigerian government keep embarrassing us by doing ludicrous things? The case of the purported fake agency named “Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council” headed by a con-man named Prince Adeyemi, Adeniyi Matthew who was a able to run a fictitious agency for over one year, secured office space, got official website, open bank account with the Central Bank of Nigeria, opened official website and even get a budgetary allocation of N1.3bn in the 2026 budget is still being investigated, now we have this humongous allocation for renovation of palaces, churches and mosques. Are we cursed? What has the government business with these issues?

According to the Daily Trust newspaper of July 23, 2026, “The huge allocations for maintenance and construction of palaces and religious institutions at a time when critical sectors such as health and education are begging for attention have raised concerns over government spending amid a N31.45tn budget deficit and rising debt obligations. An extensive review of the budget document released by Tracka exposed widespread accountability loopholes, showing that 11 palace projects worth N5.85bn have no identified physical locations, making public tracking and oversight impossible. Also, none of the 45 ministries, departments, and agencies saddled with executing these multi-billion-naira palace projects possesses the legal or statutory mandate to construct royal structures. Instead, the federal government routed billions of naira meant for palaces through completely unrelated research institutes, agricultural colleges, and specialised health facilities, bypassing standard procurement scrutiny.”

According to the Daily Trust report, the N8.05bn earmarked for religious projects could have supported the equipping of hundreds of primary healthcare facilities across the country. Based on the prevailing prices of equipment sourced from the suppliers, a basic but functional primary healthcare centre would require between N35m and N50m for essential medical equipment, depending on the quality, brand and scope of services. Using this estimate, the N8.05bn allocation could have provided equipment packages for between 160 and 230 primary healthcare centres nationwide.


It is noteworthy that the N30.15bn budgetary allocations were made by the federal lawmakers, both Senators and House of Representatives, as part of their multi-trillion-naira constituency projects; a practice which has been widely criticised by successive administrations but which the National Assembly has stoutly defended as part of lawmakers’ representation role which is constitutionally guaranteed. My grouse with this phenomenon is that it brings about budget distortions. Many of the projects, such as sinking of boreholes, provision of streetlights and grading of community roads, are under the Local Government and should have no financial support from the federal government.

These projects are without feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments and appropriate costing. Monies are just arbitrarily allocated to these projects. As revealed above, why do you have to insert renovation of palaces and faith-based organisations in ministries, departments and agencies that have no constitutional and statutory mandate to provide such services? Why can’t the lawmakers work with the Federal Budget Office to have their constituency projects or zonal intervention projects captured during the budget drafting phase rather than resorting to padding the budget of the executive arm?

According to multiple online sources, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has recovered and intercepted billions of naira in cash, equipment, and assets diverted through public constituency and executive projects. These major recoveries happen via the nationwide Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative, better known as CEPTI. The ICPC intercepted and saved over N30bn for the Federal Government through tracking items and funds listed in the budget but diverted by public officials and contractors. The initiative forced hundreds of runaway or defaulting contractors back to project sites to finish abandoned or poorly executed rural water, health, road, and school projects. The anti-graft agency retrieved hundreds of millions of naira worth of diverted empowerment items, machinery, and project vehicles meant for local communities that were cornered for private use.

It is not only the lawmakers that have budgetary allocations for faith-based organisations. According to this newspaper in its January 26, 2026 editorial, “The Federal Government has allocated N11.5bn for religious pilgrimages in the 2026 budget. The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria receives N5.99bn, while the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission gets N5.57bn. Between 2022 and 2024, the Federal Government and at least 21 states reportedly spent about N120bn sponsoring Christian and Muslim pilgrimages.”

The editorial also reported further that “Nigeria ranks fifth globally in Hajj allocations, trailing only Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Over the past 10 years, an estimated N2tn has been wasted on Muslim and Christian religious pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Rome, and other places.

Such subsidies only boost the economies of host countries. Saudi Arabia, for instance, generates an estimated $12bn annually from religious tourism, according to Statista.”

In 2024 alone, the Federal Government approved a N90bn subsidy for Hajj. Unfortunately, part of the resources was embezzled. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission grilled and detained the former Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Jalal Arabi, in mid-2024 over the alleged mismanagement of a N90bn Federal Government Hajj subsidy. Investigators accused top officials of inflating operational costs and making unauthorised withdrawals. The EFCC stated that Arabi and other ranking officials fraudulently overpaid themselves for operational expenses, drawing far above their entitled limits in Saudi Riyals. Anti-graft investigators recovered a total of SR314,098 from high-ranking officials involved in the overpayment scheme. The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee probing the matter criticised NAHCON for discrepancies and poor accountability in how the funds were handled. President Bola Tinubu sacked Jalal Arabi in August 2024 and replaced him with Professor Abdullahi Usman.

I totally agree with the submission of this newspaper to wit: “As a secular state, Nigeria cannot afford to keep wasting money on religious affairs. The government’s sponsorship of religious pilgrimages violates the spirit of Section 10 of the Nigerian Constitution, which states that the government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as a state religion.” Any traditional ruler who wants to renovate or build a new palace can do so by organising a fundraiser. Politically exposed persons can donate their personal funds generously to that cause rather than having a government budgetary allocation made to them. As pointed out earlier, Nigeria is running a deficit budget and can ill afford to spend on this kind of private affairs.


By Jide Ojo I.G: @jideojong

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Buhari to Speak at Chatam House on Thursday, 26th February

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The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari has confirmed that he will honour his speaking engagement at the Royal Institute Of International Affairs, Chatham House in London scheduled for Thursday 26th February.

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