Crime
Ex-VP Atiku Demands Independent Probe Of N17.5tn For Pipeline Security
Ex-VP Atiku Demands Independent Probe Of N17.5tn For Pipeline Security
Ex-VP Atiku demands independent probe of N17.5tn for pipeline security. Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has called for an independent forensic audit of N17.5 trillion for the securing fuel pipelines and other related issues.
The former vice president, who described the figure as one of the most brazen financial scandals in the nation’s history, also called on the federal government to publish the full list of companies awarded these contracts.
Atiku, in a statement, also said the scope, deliverables, and duration of each contract should be disclosed just as further disbursement must be halted until accountability is established. He also charged the governor to explain to Nigerians how this expenditure aligns with national priorities at a time of unprecedented economic strangulation.
The former vice president was reacting to a report that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) spent N17.5 trillion in just 12 months on “securing fuel pipelines and others.”
Reacting, the former vice president, while questioning the figure, said Nigeria spent roughly N18 trillion on fuel subsidy over a period of 12 years in a national programme that directly cushioned millions of Nigerians, stabilised the transport sector, and helped keep food prices manageable.
He however said under President Bola Tinubu, the country has now expended nearly the same amount in a single year on the same subsidy and opaque pipeline security contracts awarded to private firms tied to associates and cronies of the President.
Likening the president’s action to robbing Peter (Nigerians) to pay Paul (cronies), Atiku noted that it is not governance but a grand larceny dressed as public expenditure. “The Tinubu administration justified the removal of fuel subsidy by claiming the country could no longer afford it. Nigerians were told to tighten their belts, endure hardship, and “make sacrifices.”
“However, the same administration has now channelled ₦17.5 trillion — an amount that could transform Nigeria’s power sector, rebuild our refineries, or fund universal healthcare — into opaque security contracts whose beneficiaries are conveniently linked to those in power.
“In some places in the country, a litre of PMS goes for over N1,000 and the justification for this by the Tinubu administration is the wholesome removal of subsidy, yet according to the records provided by the NNPCL, this same administration has spentN7.13tn on what it calls, “energy-security cost to keep petrol prices stable”; another N8.67tn on what it calls “under-recovery.”
These two balablu nomenclatures: energy-cost and under-recovery are a new coinage of the Tinubu administration to deceive Nigerians on the government’s fraudulent claim that it was no longer paying subsidies on petroleum products.”
He further raised some posers for the Tinubu administration: “Who are the companies paid under these contracts? “What specifically justifies a 38.7 percent rise in the amount of energy-cost from N6.25tn in 2024 to N8.67tn in 2025?
“Why is pipeline security now more expensive than a decade-long subsidy that served over 200 million Nigerians? “Where are the audit reports, parliamentary oversight findings, and cost-validation documents?”
The former vice president said no administration that presides over this level of fiscal recklessness has the moral authority to demand sacrifice from its people.
He added that the Nigerian public cannot continue to suffer crushing inflation, punitive fuel prices, an unending collapse of the naira, and widespread hunger — only for a select circle of political allies to pocket trillions under the guise of “pipeline security.”
“This scandal confirms what Nigerians already know: the Tinubu administration did not end subsidy — it merely redirected public wealth from the entire nation to a privileged cartel anchored around the Presidency. “The government must, without delay: Publish the full list of companies awarded these contracts;
“Disclose the scope, deliverables, and duration of each contract.
Atiku
“Subject the entire ₦17.5 trillion expenditure to an independent forensic audit; Halt further disbursement until accountability is established. “Explain to Nigerians how this expenditure aligns with national priorities at a time of unprecedented economic strangulation.”
He said Nigerians deserve transparency, not deceit, adding that leadership isn’t about cronyism. He stressed that Nigerians deserve a government that places national interest above private enrichment.
“This ₦17.5 trillion pipeline-security expenditure is not merely a financial anomaly — it is a moral indictment on the Tinubu administration and a clarion call for full accountability,” he said.
NDLEA Destroys Illicit Drug Warehouses In Ondo, Ekiti Forests
NDLEA destroys illicit drug warehouses in Ondo, Ekiti forests. A total of 2,483 compressed blocks of skunk and 247 bags of the same substance, all weighing 5,442 kilogrammes, were recovered, and five suspects were arrested.
Operatives of a special operations unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency stormed forests in Omuo-Ekiti, Ekiti, destroying 14,654 kilograms of skunk and arresting two suspects.
The agency disclosed this in a statement on Sunday. It said the operatives in another operation on December 2 stormed the forests in Asin-Ekiti, Ikole LGA, Ekiti, where they destroyed 54,300kg of skunk in two large warehouses that were razed.
It said that 28.3kg of the same psychoactive substance was recovered for the purpose of prosecution.
NDLEA operatives raided the Igoba forest in Akure North LGA, Ondo, on December 2. A total of 2,483 compressed blocks of skunk and 247 bags of the same substance, all weighing 5,442 kilogrammes, were recovered, and five suspects were arrested.
According to the anti-narcotics agency, 500kg of the same substance was recovered from a Mercedes-Benz van marked MGU 614 XB by NDLEA officers on patrol along Mokwa-Jebba road in Niger, on December 4, with the driver arrested.
It disclosed that NDLEA operatives in the FCT Abuja on December 3 intercepted a consignment of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis, weighing 22kg at Abaji expressway. A follow-up operation at the Jabi park in Abuja led to the arrest of a female receiver.
Also in the FCT, a suspect was arrested by operatives on Friday with 24kg of skunk and 573,500 pills of exol-5 along the Kwali-Gwagwalada expressway.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 217 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 113kg from a suspect at Ladipo Market, Mushin.
A suspect was nabbed with 351kg of skunk at the Onipanu area of the state on December 5, adding that another suspect was arrested with 104.1kg of the same psychoactive substance at the Trade Fair complex, Ojo, on December 2.
NDLEA Destroys Largest Seizure
A total of 447.5 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered from two Honda Accord cars marked: ABC-678 KK and GGE-772 FB at Agho forest, Akoko Edo LGA, Edo.
A suspect was apprehended in connection with the seizure. A raid operation at a warehouse in the Isiefve community, Uhunwonde LGA, led to the seizure of 315.8kg of skunk and the arrest of a male suspect.
“With the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities, among others, in the past week,” said the statement.
These include WADA sensitisation lectures to students and staff of St. Michael’s Academy, Sabon Gari, Kano; Harry Pass Secondary School, Masaje, Gboko LGA, Benue; and Community Junior Secondary School, Okuru-Ama, Obio/Akpor LGA, Rivers, among others.
High Court Summons Wike In N40bn Defamation Suit Filed By Tonye Cole
High court summons Wike in N40bn defamation suit filed by Tonye Cole. A high court in Abuja has ordered Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to enter an appearance in a N40 billion defamation suit instituted against him by Tonye Cole. The suit also lists Channels Incorporated Limited, owners of Channels Television, as a defendant.
The court, in a notice seen on Friday, said the matter, marked CV/4502/25, will be heard on December 9 before M. A. Hassan, judge of court 33. “Take notice that suit no: CV/4502/25 Tonye Patrick Cole vs Nyesom Ezenwo Wike & Anor will come up on the 9th day of December 2025 before Hon. Justice M. A. Hassan (Court 33) for mention,” the notice reads.
Cole’s legal team, led by Jibrin Okutepa, said the action was initiated after Wike and Channels Television allegedly failed to comply with a pre-action notice and a letter of demand dated October 8.
Cole, the 2023 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state, is seeking N40 billion in damages over comments made by Wike during a live interview on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” on September 18.
The claimant said the statements were false and malicious, adding that they damaged his reputation in personal, professional, and public spheres.
Court filings indicate that Wike’s remarks suggested Cole was involved in financial misconduct and mismanagement of state resources, including matters linked to Rivers state gas and the Olympia Hotel.
High Court Summons Wike
Cole’s counsel argued that the comments were defamatory because they imputed dishonesty and wrongdoing, thereby injuring the former APC governorship candidate’s standing nationally and internationally.
Cole said he suffered humiliation, mental anguish, and reputational harm owing to a “malicious, reckless, and unfounded defamatory broadcast and publication.”
He is asking for N500 million to cover the cost of the litigation and a judicial declaration that the statements were false and defamatory.
He wants an order compelling the defendants to retract the claims, delete the broadcast from all platforms, and issue a public apology on Channels Television and in at least five national newspapers.
Cole is also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from publishing any further defamatory material about him.
The court directed the defendants to enter an appearance within 21 days of receiving the writ.
Police Arrests Seven Suspected Kidnappers In Gombe
Police arrests seven suspected kidnappers in Gombe. According to Mr Abdullahi, the suspects will be charged to court on completion of investigation.
The police in Gombe have apprehended seven suspects for alleged kidnapping and cattle rustling in the state.
This is contained in a statement by the spokesman for the command, DSP Buhari Abdullahi, on Friday in Gombe.
Mr Abdullahi said operatives of the command on November 23 detained a 40-year-old suspect (name withheld), who is a member of an interstate kidnapping syndicate.
He said the operatives acted on intelligence indicating that the suspects were harbouring criminals, engaged in kidnapping and cattle rustling.
Mr Abdullahi said preliminary investigation showed that the suspects have accomplices in Gombe, Bauchi, Yobe and Adamawa.
“Acting on intelligence, police operatives attached to Operation Hattara in collaboration with the Gombe State Professional Hunters Association, stormed identified criminal hideouts.
“Engaging the suspects in a gun duel and successfully arresting six additional members of the gang,” he said.
Mr Abdullahi said the operatives neutralised two suspected members of the gang, while one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and eight rounds of live ammunition were recovered.
Police
He said the corpses of the neutralised kidnappers had been deposited at the mortuary, Specialist Hospital Gombe
The spokesman said preliminary investigation also showed that the suspects participated in several kidnappings and collected about N160 million ransom.
According to Mr Abdullahi, the suspects will be charged to court on completion of investigation.
While urging the residents to cooperate with the police, Mr Abdullahi reiterated the command’s commitment to protect lives and property.
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