Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has appointed a 28-year-old travel content creator, Pelumi Nubi, as the state tourism ambassador.

This was made known by the governor’s Senior Special Assistant on New Media, Jubril Gawat, in a tweet via his profile on X on Monday.

He said, “Welcome, Pelumi Nubi

peluminubi_, Our Brand New Lagos Ambassador, She gets a brand New car from Governor #jidesanwoolu, A new home in Lagos, a customised plate number and one more thing, she is donating her vehicle (the one she used for the trip) to our brand new J Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History as monumental gift to Lagos State.”

Nubi, who completed her solo road trip from London, United Kingdom, to Lagos, Nigeria on Sunday was received at the Nigeria-Benin Republic border on behalf of Lagos State Government by the state Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka, and the Special Adviser, Tourism, Arts and Culture, Idris Aregbe.

Nubi embarked on her solo trip in a car on January 30, 2024

A Federal High Court in Abuja has remanded a Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, in Kuje Correctional Centre, pending the determination of his bail application.

The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, gave the order after Gambaryan pleaded not guilty to the money laundering charges preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday.

The judge subsequently adjourned the matter till April 18 for the ruling on his bail application and May 2 for commencement of trial.

Details later…

The embattled former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has arrived at the Ikeja State High Court in Lagos for
his arraigned over alleged abuse of office and allocation of billions of dollars.

Emefiele, alongside his co-defendant, one Henry Isioma Omole, will be arraigned on fresh 26 counts before Justice Rahman Oshodi this morning.

In the charge marked ID/23787c/2024 and dated April 3, 2024, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele abused his office between 2022 and 2023 in Lagos.

The commission alleged that the former CBN governor “directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, an arbitrary act, to wit: allocating foreign exchange in the aggregate sum of $2,136,391,737.33 without bids, which act is prejudicial to the rights of Nigerians.”

Details later…

The National Chairman of Labour Party, Julius Abure, and his brother have been discharged from the private health facility they were rushed for treatment following Wednesday’s fire that razed his residence in Abuja.

This was disclosed to The PUNCH by the National Youth Leader of the party, Kennedy Ahanotu.

“Yes, the national chairman has been discharged and asked to come back tomorrow for further check-up. He is hale and hearty and looked far better than when he was rushed to the hospital yesterday,” Ahanotu told our correspondent on the phone.

A fire was said to have been recorded in Abure’s Abuja home on Wednesday.

An earlier statement issued in the wake of the fire, which started a few minutes after 1am, described the incident as an alleged assassination attempt with Abure being the prime target.

Members of the National Working Committee of LP who spoke to our reporter agreed that though his orderlies have done the needful, it is believed that Abure may have to report the incident himself to the police once he is discharged.

Before Abure was discharged from the hospital, Ahanotu told our reporter on Thursday morning that the chairman and his brother were in stable condition.

Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday reserved the judgment of convicted controversial cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, till April 9, 2024.

The judge also ordered that he should be returned to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s custody pending the judgment.

Details later…

Unknown gunmen on Thursday invaded Agojeju Odo Community in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State, killing 19 persons and setting several houses ablaze.

Confirming the incident on Friday, the Police Public Relation Officer, Kogi State Command, William Aya, said the yet-to-be-identified gunmen attacked the community on Thursday evening.

Aya disclosed that the Divisional Police Office in the local government informed him that 19 people were killed while some sustained injuries during the attack.

The Kogi Police Spokesperson said that the Commissioner of Police, CP Bethrand Onuoha has deployed more personnel to community while assuring that the perpetrators of the heinous act will be apprehended.

Meanwhile local sources said, the gunmen attacked the sleepy Agojeju Odo town where they killed the victims and destroyed farm products.

The community appealed to the Kogi State governor, Usman Ododo and security agencies to come to their aid by deploying more security personnel to the area.

Residents of the community said police in the local government council have been overwhelmed by the attackers.

Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned the tax evasion case involving Binance Holdings Limited and its executives.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service had dragged the firm to court for tax evasion.

Also joined in the suit are officials of the company, Tigran Gambaryan, and fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla.

In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, Binance was accused of failing to register with the FIRS for the purpose of paying all relevant taxes administered by the service.

The FIRS also alleged that while it was offering taxable services to subscribers on its trading platform, the company failed to issue invoices to the subscribers for the purposes of determining and payment of its Value Added Taxes.

The matter was adjourned on Thursday following the FIRS’ inability to serve Gambaryan the charges in EFCC custody.

The alleged money laundering case instituted by the EFCC is underway.

Details later…