The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, October 30, 2014 arraigned an undergraduate of the University of Benin, Kenneth Rukewe Ebule before Justice E. F Ikponmwen of an Edo State High Court, sitting in Benin- City on a 6- count charge bordering on forgery, obtaining money by false pretence and possession of fraudulent documents. The accused person allegedly duped Sabine Albert, a German, of the sum of $12, 088, 75 through fraudulent claims.
Rukewe, 30, a final year student of Computer and Statistics at the University of Benin, was arrested by officials of a new generation bank on May 28, 2014 in Benin City and handed over to the EFCC for further investigation.
Troubles started for him when Albert alleged that within two months after he had internet contact with him, Rukewe fraudulently obtained the sum of $12,088,75 (Twelve Thousand Eighty Eight Dollars and Seventy Five Cents) from him.
Rukewe allegedly posed to Albert as an English businessman on transit in Nigeria. He gave his name as Bob Albert and told his victim that he
had a contract with a Nigerian company worth €1.200, 000.00 and that he needed a loan to facilitate a transaction with the company. He
promised to pay back the loan and even doubled it because he was sure of pulling through the transactions.
He also told Albert that he had
complications and suffered a robbery attack.
Rukewe also falsely told Albert that, a levy of of N1,975,861 (One Million, Nine Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty One Naira only) was imposed on him by the Federal Inland Revenue Service for the release of his International Passport, and a cheque worth 1, 200,000 Euros. He also pleaded for a flight ticket to London.
Based on all these, Albert offered to loan him the money by sending it through Western Union, only to discover that he had been scammed.
Investigation also revealed that the suspect had defrauded other German nationals to the tune of $110,975.00USD (One Hundred and Ten thousand, Nine Hundred and Seventy Five United States Dollars) between May 2013 and January 2014.
When the charges were read to the defendant, he pleaded not guilty.
One of the charges read in part:
"Ebule Kenneth Rukewe (a.k.a. Bob Albert), on or about the 17th day of July, 2013 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with Intent
to defraud, obtained the sum of $12,088,75 (Twelve Thousand Eighty Eight Dollars and Seventy Five Cents) from Sabine Albert (a
German National), under the false pretence that the money represented part payment of N1,975,861 (One Million Nine Hundred and Seventy Kobo) levy imposed one Bobby Albert (a British citizen) by Federal Inland Revenue
Service for the release of the International Passport, Cheque worth 1,200,000 Euros and flight ticket to London of the said Bobby Albert, which representation you knew to be false".
In view of the plea of the defendant, prosecution counsel, Kayode Oni asked for a trial date and prayed the court to remand the defendant in prison custody. The defence counsel, Maureen Morka informed the court of her application for bail dated September 9, 2014 and prayed the
court to grant the defendant bail.
Justice Ikponmwen granted the defendant bail in the sum of One Million Naira and two sureties in
like sum. The sureties must be resident in Benin City and must be gainfully employed in Edo State.
The defendant must also produce his student identity card.
Justice Ikponmwen subsequently adjourned the case to November 21, 2014 for hearing and ordered that the defendant be remanded in
prison custody pending the perfection of his bail.
"We don't really know what went wrong, we only know what is in reports in the media." Anietie
said.
He also said that the family is making preparations to bring her body home. According to the Daily Mail, Joy, who relocated to the UK
from Nigeria in 2007 and lives with her mother in Thamesmead, died on October 23rd after visiting a clinic called SP Clinic in Thailand which she had found on the internet She initially visitied to the SP clinic, which she found on the internet, on October 14 to have the operation which she hoped would give her a
bigger, fuller bottom.
A few days later her wounds became infected and she returned to have corrective surgery to remove the silicon implants.
But she was found dead on the operating table with a three inch-long stitched incision on her tail bone after medical staff found they were unable to resuscitate her.
Thai officials investigating her death believe her operation had been delayed to ensure Miss Williams had not eaten anything beforehand and that as a result the operation began after the clinic's legal closing time of 7pm.
It is believed Miss Williams had long struggled with her self-esteem and been bullied at school before choosing to undergo an operation on her nose to improve her looks.
While in Bangkok she had been staying at the £11-a-night Vabua Asotel hotel which is used by the clinic as accommodation for its patients.
The doctor who carried out the procedure, Sompob Sansiri, 51, was later arrested and accused of negligence after it was found that he had been carrying out night-time surgery without a licence.
He has now been charged with recklessness causing death and could face 10 years in jail if found guilty.
The clinic has been closed for 60 days while investigations are carried out. Thailand is a world-leader in cosmetic surgery tourism with many companies offering procedures at discounts of up to 60 per cent. The industry earned the country £2.68billion in 2013 alone.
One of Joy's friend who spoke with UK Telegraph said she had suffered bullying and low self esteem issues while they were in school and that she was never happy with herself.
"She was a really, really nice girl. She was very friendly and caring. She was always helping her mum with her brothers. She was a very bright girl and did well at school. She was a bit shy and quiet and I knew in later years there was something wrong and upsetting her.
At school she had been bullied over her appearance and she went for surgery on her nose and face. Last time I saw her it was obvious she had had cosmetic surgery. She was fine before, she didn't need to. She was fine the way she was but she just wasn't happy. She had no self esteem and I guess she felt she needed to do it. She was just never happy with herself."
Police are now waiting for the postmortem result which would determine if the doctor will be charged for medical negligence.
Source: UK Daily Mail
Annabel, 24, a native of Enugu State, was last seen on Wednesday, September 17 evening, when she left her Paradise City Hostel in Iyiagu Estate, Awka. When she was leaving the club, Annabel reportedly left at midnight with a guy she met at the club. That was the last time she was seen.
Annabel's friend and hostel mate, who simply gave her name as Ifeoma, said after clubbing, the girls decided to find a place to sleep before returning to their hostels.
But Annabel, she said, told her friends she wanted to go with Mmiri, a male acquaintance, she met at the club. She was said to have told her friends that she was in
need of money, which could have informed her decision to go away with the guy.
When she did not return in the morning, it was learnt that Ada and Chika called Annabel's phone but were disappointed to hear a male voice claiming to have found the phone on the ground and asked the 'owner' to come for it.
Ada and Chika, it was gathered, retrieved the phone and contacted Annabel's elder brother, Ifeanyi, who reported the matter at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Awka.
CAMPUSLIFE learnt that Ada and Chika were detained for alleged complicity but were later released on bail. When contacted on the
phone, it was learnt that Mmiri claimed Annabel left his house at 3:30am when she refused to enter his room.
But, after the conversation, Mmiri reportedly switched off his phone and stopped going to a popular bar, where he drinks with his friends.
He is nowhere to be found.
Our correspondent's efforts to speak with Annabel's friends she went to the nightclub with were futile. All of them declined to comment on the issue.
Annabel's roommate, Ukamaka, gave an account of what happened when she spoke to CAMPUSLIFE on telephone. She said: "Annabel told me she was going to the club that evening. Her friends, Ada and Chika,
waited in the compound till they were joined by their other friends. I had a premonition of the incident in a dream I had the previous night.
I told her not to go to the club but she refused. When the other three girls arrived, they all left together.
When she did not return in the morning, I called her line but nobody picked. Later, a man claimed he found it."
Asked to describe the kind of person Annabel is, Ukamaka said that her roommate is a good Christian and hardworking, saying Annabel is a good tailor. "I believe Annabel is a victim of circumstance,"
Ifeanyi said his family remained devastated by the incident.
"We are devastated at the moment. When I received the news, I travelled from Onitsha to Awka to report the matter at the police
station. The matter is still being attended to at SCID and "B" Division. We have even gone spiritual to seek God's help to find my missing sister. Our Dad is late but mum is highly disorganised."
Ifeanyi said the matter had been reported to the UNIZIK management. Annabel's mother in
Onitsha, fought back tears as neighbours consoled her. She said:
"I warned my daughter to stay clear of bad friends, but she would not listen. When she was admitted in a hospital a few months ago, my spirit never accepted the kind of girls who visited her. Now, they have done their worst. I can't see my daughter, now. Where is my only daughter? Annabel was seven months in my womb when my husband died."
Mrs Edeh said she had consulted a prophet, who confirmed to her that her daughter is alive but held captive somewhere. She claimed that the prophet informed her that it was Annabel's friends that facilitated her 'abduction' and threatened to sue them if her daughter did not return within days.
She added: "All I am asking is the safe return of my daughter. I have no other girl. If she was kidnapped, those holding her would have called us. I am confused. We are only praying to God and hoping that she returns home safe and alive. I am pleading with anyone, who knows her whereabouts, to give useful information that can help us to locate her."
The Moroccan airline arrived Lagos from Casablanca at 6am.
The victim, one Theophilus Onnakhinon, a Nigerian, was said to have been flown into the country by the airline, while his younger brother, Chinedu Eroka, absconded from Sierra Leonean authorities.
As at the time of filing this report, it was not clear why Eroka absconded from the Sierra Leone.
A source close to the Port Health Services at the airport, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that the passenger had already been treated for the Ebola Virus Disease and declared cured.
The source said the passenger was assisted into the country by a Nigerian consular official, Mrs.
T. Mohammed.
According to the source, the consular officer accompanied Onnakhinon into the country in order to avoid stigmatisation by Nigerian health officials and others at the airport.
On arrival, he was immediately handed over to the Port Health officials, who immediately isolated and quarantined him.
As of the time of filing this report, Onnakhinon was still being observed by the Port Health officials.
The source said that the essence of his being quarantined was for the officials to determine his health status and confirm that he was indeed free of the disease before being allowed to integrate into the society.
The source said, "It is true that there was an Ebola scare at the Lagos airport today, but the fact is that the victim had been cured of the disease in Sierra Leone before being assisted into Nigeria by our consular officer in that country.
"Immediately he landed, he was handed over to the port health authorities who immediately carried out checks on him and isolated him
from other passengers.
"But the truth is that we just want to re-check what has already been done by the Sierra Leonean authorities. You know, we cannot take chances again in the country. I can assure you that the situation is under control."
Wednesday's incident came a week after the World Health Organisation declared Nigeria Ebola free.
It was learnt that the incident happened on Monday, around 12.30pm, in Atlantic View Estate, Alpha Beach Road, Lekki.
Punch learnt that Okechukwu was on her menstrual period and had gone out to buy sanitary pads.
The Imo State indigene was said to be on her way back home when she was accosted by the stranger.
She said, "After buying the sanitary pads, I was going back home when I saw a man, who should be in his forties, standing at a corner. He approached me and ordered me to take him to my house."He put his hand into his pocket as if he wanted to bring out a weapon. He said he would kill me if I shouted. When we got to the house, he said I should shut the door and I did. He said I should remove my clothes; and I started begging him, but he refused to listen.
So I told him to let me get to the kitchen because I was cooking something and I would be back. I got a rod and hid it in my wrapper. I went back and moved slowly towards him, still begging, but he refused. He was taking off his clothes and wearing a condom when I used the rod to hit him in the head. I started screaming. And then I picked the phone and called my uncle."
The victim's uncle, who pleaded anonymity, told Punch Metro that he went to report the matter at the Ilasan Police Station after learning what had happened.
He said, "I was not at home when the incident happened and her younger brother had also gone out.
So, she was alone in the house and
it was possible he had been monitoring her movement. When she called me and said what had happened, I left the office and went to the police station in Jakande Estate where I reported the matter."
A police source told our correspondent that investigators found a pack of condoms on the deceased, including a phone without a SIM card.
The source added that since the incident happened, no one had shown up to claim the man's corpse.
He said, "He was about wearing the condom when the girl hit him on the head and he died. His mission was to rape her and steal from the house.
He probably took advantage of her
frail stature. We have got information that he was not alone.
He belonged to a gang that has been terrorising Lekki residents for
some time now. And that's why since this incident, nobody knows his name and address, and none of his relatives has come forward to say they know him.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, promised to call our correspondent back, but he had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
Okechukwu was however said to have been arrested and detained in police custody.
A private aircraft belonging to Oritsejafor last month conveyed some unnamed persons and the cash to South Africa ostensibly to purchase arms from the black market to help bolster Nigeria's fight against terrorists in parts of
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
This led to widespread speculations in the media and sentiments being expressed by politicians on the issue in Nigeria.
Three individuals on board were subsequently briefly detained in South-Africa while the cash was confiscated by that country's financial authorities.
Weeks later, there were also insinuations that Niger Delta activist, Dokubo was one of those
who flew in the plane.
However, authoritative sources have told Vanguard that a panel set up to investigate the matter cleared the CAN President, while also dismissing allegations that Dokubo was on the flight.
The source said, "A Special Team, comprising security agents, intelligence experts and officials
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs investigated the $9.3m cash-for- arms deal and submitted its report to the Presidency.
"The committee confirmed that the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo
Oritsajefor had no connection with the transaction.
"It was true that the CAN President's jet was used but we found out that it was without his
knowledge. As at the time in question, the aircraft was on lease. And you may be aware that the lease trend is peculiar to private jet
owners in the country.
"It is the view of the committee that Oritsajefor cannot be held liable for any shuttle made by a lease firm.
"As for the manifest of the plane, the committee also discovered that the Niger Delta activist, Mujahedeen Asari Dokubo was not among those on board the transaction aircraft. There was no
mention of Dokubo in the manifest presented during the investigation."
The source expressed surprise that the matter was made public by South African authorities in the first place since an end user certificate duly signed by the Office National Security Adviser
was presented by those who were on the plane.
"The committee's findings revealed that the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) has the statutorily and legitimately mandate to issue end-user certificate for such arms transactions.
The imputations surrounding the role of the ONSA were unfounded, baseless and ill-motivated.
The source added that "The decision of South Africa to return $15million to Nigeria lent credence to the legality of the transaction"
saying " Certainly, Nigeria had no case to answer".
The deal will allow Nigeria's market leader in fruit juices to use the legendary United crest and club
imagery on a range of products throughout Nigeria.
Founded over 30 years ago, Chi prides itself as Nigeria's premier producer of healthy, high quality,
fruit and dairy-based beverages enjoyed by millions of customers every year.
With brands like Chivita 100%, Chivita Active, Chi Exotic, Chi Happy Hour and Chi Ice Tea occupying leading positions in their respective segments, Chi Limited has successfully ensured market dominance in Nigeria over the years through the expansion of its well-known brands. Its emphasis on innovation and community has ensured investment in modern facilities across Africa, creating employment and giving people skills to help improve their lives.
United's group managing director, Richard Arnold, said: "We are delighted to welcome Chi Limited as
an official partner of Manchester United. With over 30 years of experience, Chi has a commitment to the health and well-being of the local population by producing high quality, market-leading products.
"We have close to 35 million followers in Nigeria who are some of the most passionate in our global fanbase, something that we fondly remember after playing in Abuja in 2008. We hope that this partnership will help bring these fans closer even to the club they love."
Chi Limited's head of marketing, Probal Bhattacharya, described the partnership as between two of the most cherished brands in Nigeria, he said: "As a company, we are proud to partner with such a reputable and successful club
like Manchester United whose tradition of excellence is in tandem with ours.
"We are confident that the partnership will further deepen consumer loyalty as well as ensure that millions of passionate soccer fans across Nigeria continue to refresh and rejuvenate themselves with Chivita 100% Juice and Chi's other beverage offerings, as they relish every moment of the beautiful game."
In a letter sent to the Nigerian Football Federation on Tuesday, Fifa said their directive must be met by midday, 31 October.
Fifa wants the reinstatement of the NFF board that was elected on 30 September.
If Nigeria fail to comply, they will be expelled from qualification for next year's Africa Cup of Nations.
The Super Eagles are the reigning champions but are now facing the very real prospect of missing the chance to defend their title at the 17 January to 8 February finals.
Already this year, Nigeria have been banned twice for government interference in the NFF and Fifa warned the country in September and again in October that another incident would result in a lengthy ban.
Fifa's action follows last week's ruling by the Jos High Court annulled last month's election of Amaju Pinnick as Nigeria Football Federation president.
Justice Ambrose Allagoa ruled that the elective congress of the NFF should not be recognised as the Jos High Court had put in place 11 days earlier an order that the elections could not be held.
This injunction was brought by two members of the previous NFF executive led by Chris Giwa, which was stripped of its authority after elections that took it to power on 26 August were deemed invalid by Fifa.
The court order was ignored by the NFF, which went ahead with their congress and the Pinnick-led executive was put in place.
Justice Allagoa has ruled, however, that the original injunction remains in place and therefore the 30 September congress should not be recognised.
Fifa's letter said: "As stated in our previous letters, Fifa stressed that should the electoral process and the instalment of the newly elected NFF board be affected by any interference, the case would be brought to the attention of the appropriate Fifa bodies for a suspension of the NFF until the next Fifa Congress due to take place on 28 and 29 May 2015.
"We thus hope that by Friday midday, we will receive the requested evidence in order to avoid the adverse consequences of a suspension."
Six members of Germany's World Cup-winning squad feature in Fifa's shortlist for the Ballon d'Or released on Tuesday, with Barcelona star Lionel Messi and Real Madrid attacker Cristiano Ronaldo again among the leading contenders for the prize.
Captain Philipp Lahm, Mario Gotze, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer and Bastian Schweinsteiger all tasted success in Brazil this year and have been rewarded for their efforts with a nomination.
Ronaldo won the prestigious award in 2013, with Messi emerging victorious in the preceding four years.
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have six nominees each, while four Barcelona and three Chelsea players are still in the running.
Furthermore, Manchester United, Manchester City, Paris Saint -Germain, Juventus all have one
candidate each.
See full list after the cut:
2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or shortlist:
Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium),
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Gotze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas
Muller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Ivory
Coast)
Meanwhile, Fifa has also announced the names of the coaches who are in contention to scoop the Coach of the Year award, with Carlo Ancelotti and Joachim Low the favourites following their Champions League and World Cup success, respectively.
Coach of the Year shortlist:
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid), Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus/Italy national team), Pep Guardiola (Spain/Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany/ USA national team), Joachim Low (Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea), Manuel Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City), Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Louis van Gaal(Netherlands/ Netherlands national team/Manchester United)
Olayiwola, 22, was nabbed by a student who handed him over to security operatives attached to the institution after the items were found in his possession.
Bello Nurudeen, the student who caught Olayiwola, disclosed that he noticed Abeeb carrying a female bag and moving towards a gutter close by.
The Agricultural Economics and Extension student said: "I felt uncomfortable when I saw him, a guy carrying a woman's bag. I almost
waved the thought off, thinking it could belong to his girlfriend.
However, I followed him up and
traced him to the gutter side".
"I saw him drop the bag and he quickly left the scene. I noticed him carrying another bag from the base of the ICT building again, heading straight to where he dropped the former. This time, the bag appeared like that of a male.
"I monitored his movement as he was transferring some items from the former bag to the latter. I decided to move closer to see things clearly.
"When I challenged him to explain whose bag he was carrying, he felt infuriated and said: 'Why are you questioning me?'
"Then, it was apparent that something was fishy and I immediately called the attention of other students around and everyone came around.
"While we were questioning him, security officers from the new ICT building noticed the crowd at the scene and came around to take over the case".
Asked what he was doing at the point where he was caught, Olayiwola explained that he came
for exams, claiming to be a student of AEC in his second year.
At that point, he was asked to provide the name of his class rep for the sake of identification but he could not.
The name he mentioned was wrong. It was later learnt that Olayiwola was a fresher in the department of Crop Production and Soil Science.
When further search was conducted on him, three phones for which he could not give convincing proof of ownership were found in his bag and he was handed over to the security unit for appropriate investigations.
Officers from the security unit alongside some Students Union Government, SUG, representatives later recovered twenty other phones from Olayiwola's room in the hostel.
When the suspect discovered that the phones had been found in his room, he confessed to have committed the said crime and claimed to have sold about three of them already.
The items recovered from him includes 23 phones, six batteries, six SIM cards, five memory cards, two Hand-frees, one hand bag and one HP Pavilion Laptop.
At the time of filing this report, a phone call had been made to inform the suspect's father, Mr. Olayiwola who promised to join the university's security unit.
The Presidency had angrily reacted to a claim made by Amaechi that the cause of the frosty relationship between him and the
Presidency was because President Goodluck Jonathan hates Rivers people and that the president ceded Soku oil wells in Kalabari to Bayelsa and 40 Etche oil wells also in Rivers to Abia state.
Amaechi also accused the wife of the president, Patience Jonathan of corruption. He said Patience wanted him to bring the money meant for Rivers people to Abuja.
In addition to that, Amaechi at a mega rally held in Port Harcourt on Saturday rubbished claims by President Jonathan that the All Progressive Congress (APC) was a party only on billboards.
And today, in his reply to the statement from the office of President Jonathan, which accused him of "Political rascality," the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Ibim Semenitari said Governor
Amaechi is an elected official and not a mere 'prefect'.
Semenitari also faulted Reuben Abati, the President's spokesman for failing to get his facts right before publishing the statement despite his wealth of experience.
She added that Amaechi never mentioned the name of the President nor his wife during his speech at the rally.
Semenitari said, "I would want to say that the Presidential Spokesman should be careful for the kind of threats he issues to an elected Governor.
"He should remember that the President is not a prefect of the governor. He was elected as President just as the Governor was elected as a governor, and Nigeria is a federation.
"And please, Abati should know his limits and need not attempt to cross his boundaries.
"It is a bit strange to hear the kind of comments coming out of the Presidency and this shows that the statement was already prepared before governor Amaechi spoke.
"At no point in his speech did Governor Amaechi make any references. His wife was not even
discussed because she is not an official of government.
"I do not understand where or how Mr. Abati got his story, so we just take it that this is one of those clear indications of rascality within the Presidency trying to call a dog a bad name and hang it".
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, told the Financial Times that "Nigeria has two to three months of rainy day savings to cushion it while contingencies are put in place, should world oil prices continue to fall."
She expressed fears that in a situation where global oil price falls below $78, the country would have to draw down on the Excess Crude Account (ECA).
Hear the Minister, "Our intention is not to run in there and raid it, but even if prices continue to go down we can survive sufficiently for two to three months. That is the time needed to get other measures in place. What you don't want is a hard
landing."
Acknowledging that "our buffers are slimmer this time," Okonjo-Iweala added that there is about
$4bn in the ECA at present, $2bn short of what the International Monetary Fund had recommended.
She further submitted that the country needs to ramp its non oil revenues on the fiscal side, even as she revealed that global consulting firm, McKinsey, has been engaged to carry out an extensive review
of revenue services in order to identify potential gains.
The Co-ordinating Minister for the economy added that she was encouraged by an exhaustive data
review, which saw Nigeria's economy overtake South Africa's as the continent's largest, showing that the economy had diversified to a much greater extent than previously thought.
Her words, "In an oil country you can never feel at ease exactly. But I feel we can master this situation
because we have a diverse base.
"We will have to look very hard at recurrent expenditure, and identify overlapping agencies.
When the price is heading down everyone sees the necessity but that doesn't stop them from hating
you."
She admitted that lower oil prices would provide a stronger incentive to government to rein in oil theft, which has cost billions of dollars a year, and help to drive through stalled oil sector legislation to stimulate production.
"That would enable us to pick up quantity to help us cushion on the price side," she said.
Nigerian Government, which basically depends on oil for as much as 80 per cent of revenues, is projecting an oil price of $78 per barrel for its 2015 budget, up from $77.5 per barrel in 2013 and precariously close to recent world prices.
Nigeria was in a much stronger position last time the world price of oil tumbled, with about $22bn reserved in the ECA then. Those funds helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with economic output relatively unscathed.
But with recent years of oil boom, the government has consistently used the ECA, sharing the proceeds among the 36 states in the federation, which are constitutionally entitled to their share.
Nigeria also holds foreign reserves equivalent to $39billion. These have come under recent pressure as the central bank has stepped in to prop up the naira, but can still cover up to nine months of imports.
McKinsey helped South Africa broaden its tax base to the tune of about $3bn and Okonjo-Iweala
believed similar gains were possible over the longer term in Nigeria. At the moment, Nigeria's ratio of non-oil tax revenues to GDP stands at 4.5 per cent placing it among the lowest on the continent.
The CAF chief revealed that Nigeria would have been banned by FIFA on Friday, but he had to step
in and plead with Sepp Blatter. But he warned that things were not looking good for the West African
nation.
"I had to plead passionately with FIFA President, Mr. Sepp Blatter not to take action on Nigeria on Friday, because Nigeria was in the final of the African Women Championship and a ban on your country would have been bad for the competition and our sponsors. We all heard the news of the court ruling on Thursday, and the football world is angry with Nigeria. That is the truth," Hayatou said.
"The FIFA letter that came to your Federation before the elections of September 30 was very clear about an automatic suspension should there be any interference with the political process, and after the elections went ahead, we all thought you had settled your issues."
Nigeria's High Commissioner to Namibia, Ambassador Biodun Olorunfemi, Nigeria's Deputy President of the CAF Appeal Board, Mazi Amanze Uchegbulam, CAF General Coordinator, Mr. Paul Bassey and CAF Media Committee Member, Aisha Falode were the other prominent people present in Hayatou's meeting with Danagogo.
Hayatou added that a FIFA ban was imminent if football matters were not withdrawn from civil courts.
He added: "I appealed to FIFA to give until Monday for Nigeria to put its act together. After that, there
is absolutely nothing I can do. It is all very disappointing because we have over 50 National Associations in Africa, but a big country like Nigeria is the one always giving us the biggest headache.
"Nigeria signed to be part of the football world by joining FIFA, and opted to abide by the FIFA –approved Statutes that you have.
How many times do we have to tell your country that football matters are not taken to civil courts? If Nigeria no longer wants to be part of the football world, then so be it."