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EXPOSED!!! How APC, Amaechi tried to rig Akwa-Ibom Gubernatorial election in 2015′ – Judge reveals
Another Nigerian judge caught in the State Security Service crackdown on senior judicial officers has written to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmud Mohammed, stating how the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, allegedly tried to manipulate him.
Inyang Okoro, a Supreme Court judge, whose home in Abuja was amongst those raided by masked SSS operatives on October 7 and 8, said security agencies came after him because he turned down pressure to help influence the outcome of the Supreme Court ruling on Akwa Ibom gubernatorial election.
In a letter dated October 17, 2016, and addressed directly to Mr. Mohammed, Mr. Okoro said operatives lured him to open his gate late at night using President Buhari’s name.
“On Friday, October 7, 2016, at about 9:00 p.m., I received a phone call from an unfamiliar caller. He introduced himself as an official from the presidency.
“He told me he had a letter for me from Mr. President. I immediately left my study room and went to open the door. Upon the door being opened, I saw so many heavily armed men with an inscription “DSS” on their uniform. One of them who was in mufti told me they were to search my house.
“I requested that I be allowed to inform the Chief Justice of Nigeria but they rebuffed, rather, they seized my phone from me,” Mr. Okoro said.
The letter, first published by Sitippe.com, is the latest in the emerging fallout of the SSS raid, which was conducted between late Friday, October 7, and early Saturday, October 8.
The raid saw scores of SSS operatives swoope on the premises of the judges arresting some of them.
The move, which the SSS described as a ‘sting operation’ in a statement, was conducted in Abuja, Enugu, Gombe, Kano and Port-Harcourt.
Seven allegedly corrupt judges were arrested in the raids while attempts to arrest more were frustrated.
Mr. Okoro’s letter came a few days after his junior colleague, Adeniyi Ademola, wrote a similar onethat was also addressed to Mr. Mohammed.
In his, Mr. Ademola blamed the Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, for his own ordeal and said the SSS operatives frightened him with their firearms.
After narrating the initial tactics of the officer, Mr. Okoro went on to detail the items taken from his premises which he said included a unit of iPad, three phones, $38,800, N3.5 million and four chequebooks.
He said he signed the items declaration form presented to him by the SSS after the raid. Unlike Mr. Ademola, he did not say he was forced to sign at gunpoint.
Mr. Okoro, however, said the operatives refused his appeal to allow him sleep in his home and visit their office in the morning, adding that the guns they were holding also made it difficult for him to argue with them.
Mr. Okoro said they asked him to explain the source of funds found in his home.
“I told them that having received the sum of $24,000 and £10,000 a year for the past three years of my sojourn in this court as annual medical and vacation allowances. And having spent more than £5,000 on each of the three trips I have so far made abroad, I was entitled to have more than the amount recovered from me.
“Put differently, my Lord, the money was the balance of my estacode received from this court for the past three years.”
Mr. Okoro said all the money was quite outside the estacodes he had received for the international conferences he attended since joining the Supreme Court.
He told Mr. Mohammed that up till when he was writing his letter on October 17, exactly 10 days after the raid, the SSS has not confronted him with any petition or complaint from any quarters.
“Rather, they have grilled me asking questions on some non-existing properties around the country. They have also doubted the age of my children alleging that they are toddlers,” Mr. Okoro said. “This is sad and unbelievable.”
Specifically, Mr. Okoro accused Mr. Amaechi of being behind his ordeal.
The senior jurist recounted how Mr. Amaechi allegedly visited him in the run-up to the Supreme Court decision on the appeal about the outcome of the Akwa Ibom governorship poll in 2015.
The election pitted incumbent Emmanuel Udom of the Peoples Democratic Party against Umana Umana of the All Progressives Congress, who also allegedly visited the judge.
Mr. Udom won the election held on April 11, 2015, and the Supreme Court upheld it on February 3.
Mr. Okoro said the outcome would have been different if Mr. Amaechi had had his way.
The judge said he strongly believed that this his travail is not unconnected with a verbal report he had informed the Chief Justice about on February 1, 2016, to the effect that Mr. Amaechi visited his official residence.
Mr. Okoro said Mr. Amaechi approached him and said the president of Nigeria and the APC sent him to plead with the judge that they must win their election appeals in respect of Rivers State, Akwa Ibom State and Abia State at all costs.
“For Akwa Ibom State, he alleged that he sponsored Umana Umana, the candidate of APC for that election and that if he lost, Akwa Ibom appeal, he would have lost a fortune,” Mr. Okoro said.
“Mr. Amaechi also said that he had already visited you and that you had agreed to make me a member of the panel that would hear the appeals. He further told me that Mr. Umana would be paying me millions of naira monthly if I cooperated with them.
“Mr response, as I told you on that date, was that it does not lie within my power to grant his request and I would do all within my power not to be in the panel for Akwa Ibom State. My Lord, graciously left me out of the panel for Akwa Ibom State,” Mr. Okoro said.
But Mr. Amaechi flatly denied the allegations on Wednesday night.
In a message to PREMIUM TIMES by his media adviser, David Iyofor, Mr. Amaechi said Mr. Okoro’s allegations against him were baseless and spurious. He threatened to take legal action against the judge.
“This accusation from Justice Okoro against Amaechi is a figment of his imagination,” Mr. Iyofor said.
It was “concocted to obfuscate and politicise the real issues for his arrest and SSS investigation of allegations of corruption against him.
“The claims by Justice Okoro against Amaechi are blatant lies bereft of any iota of truth or even.”
“This is a cheap attempt, albeit political move, to drag the name of Amaechi into something he knows nothing about,” Mr. Iyofor said. “Justice Okoro should face his issues and leave Amaechi out of it. He will be hearing from our lawyers.”
Mr. Okoro also detailed how Mr. Umana allegedly paid him a separate visit in an attempt to influence the outcome of the Supreme Court ruling, adding that he was there with a clergyman.
“My Lord will recall that I also reported that Mr. Umana Umana visited my residence before Amaechi’s visit. He also made the same request of assistance to win his appeal at the Supreme Court. Mr. Umana talked about “seeing” the justices who would hear the appeal.
“Pastor Ebebe Ukpong who led Mr. Umana Umana to my house intercepted and said that the issue of “seeing” the justices was not part of their visit and that as a pastor he would not be part of such a discussion.
“Mr. Umana apologised and I advised them to go and pray about the matter and get a good lawyer. That was how they left my house,” Mr. Okoro said.
Notwithstanding, Mr. Okoro said members of the APC in Akwa Ibom continued to assume that he was the one responsible for their loss at the Supreme Court.
“Could I have resigned from the court simply because people of Akwa Ibom had a matter before it?” Mr. Okoro queried rhetorically.
Mr. Umana could not be reached for comments Tuesday night.
Mr. Okoro told the Chief Justice he had never been involved in corrupt practice.
Precision and Heritage: How Fifi Stitches Is Rewriting African Fashion Narratives
A Nigerian-born designer is gradually carving out a cross-continental footprint in contemporary fashion, blending African textile heritage with British technical discipline.
Esther Fiyinfoluwa Adeosun, Founder and Creative Director of Fifi Stitches, is gaining recognition for structured womenswear and bridal couture that reinterprets traditional fabrics through architectural tailoring and precision construction.
Born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Adeosun’s fashion journey began at home, seated beside her mother’s sewing machine. What started as childhood curiosity, sometimes jamming the machine just to understand its mechanics—evolved into a disciplined design practice now operating between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
During an interview with journalists the fifi Stitches once mentioned “I was fascinated by how flat fabric could transform into something structured and meaningful”.
In her Story , early designs made for her family, though imperfectly finished, were worn with pride—an encouragement that laid the foundation for her professional confidence.
Today, Fifi Stitches is recognised for sculpted bodices, controlled tailoring, corsetry construction, and the contemporary reinterpretation of Ankara, Aso Oke, and Adire textiles.
The brand challenges the long-held perception that African fabrics belong solely in ceremonial contexts, instead positioning them within global luxury and modern design spaces.
Adeosun’s training reflects this dual perspective. She studied Fashion Design and Entrepreneurship at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Development Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, and earned a Diploma in Fashion Design through Alison Online.
In the UK, she undertook industry-focused technical training with Fashion-Enter Ltd and gained fashion business exposure through Fashion Capital UK.
Her technical expertise spans pattern drafting, draping, garment technology, structured tailoring, corsetry, and bespoke fittings—skills she describes as central to credibility in fashion. “Precision builds trust,” she says. “A designer must understand construction as deeply as creativity.”
Fifi Stitches has showcased collections at the Suffolk Fashion Show, Liverpool Fashion Show – FB Fashion Ball, Red Carpet Fashion Event in London, and through editorial features in London Runway Magazine.
The brand has also received coverage in The Guardian Nigeria and Vanguard Allure, expanding its visibility across markets.
Beyond couture, Adeosun integrates community impact into her practice.
She has facilitated garment construction workshops, draping sessions, and introductory training programmes for women and emerging creatives, promoting fashion as both artistic expression and vocational empowerment.
Fifi Stcithes Boss operates between Nigeria and the UK, in order to continue to shape her brand identity.
According to her “Nigeria provides cultural richness and expressive textile traditions, while the UK offers structured production systems, sustainability conversations, and institutional frameworks”.
Looking ahead, Adeosun said she plan to establish a fully structured fashion house spanning Africa and the UK, develop scalable production partnerships, launch capsule collections, and expand independent editorial visibility.
Her broader ambition is clear: to position African textile craftsmanship within global contemporary design conversations—through structure, discipline, and technical excellence.
GTCO Launches “Take on Squad” Hackathon 3.0, Opens Call for Applications
Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (“GTCO” or the “Group”) has announced the launch of “Take on Squad” Hackathon 3.0, reaffirming its commitment to fostering innovation, empowering talent, and supporting the development of technology-driven solutions that address real-world challenges across Africa.
Now in its third edition, the Hackathon brings together developers, designers and entrepreneurs across Nigeria in a collaborative environment to build practical solutions across key sectors including financial services, healthcare, commerce and digital inclusion. Under the theme “Smart Systems: The Intelligent Economy,” participants are challenged to design and build intelligent, data-driven solutions that transform how communities engage with money.
Applications are now open, and interested teams can find full guidelines and registration details on the official portal at https://squadco.com/hackathon.
Speaking on the initiative, Eduophon Japhet, Managing Director of HabariPay, stated: “Today’s dynamic, digitally driven world demands continuous innovation, which is shaping how economies grow, how businesses scale, and how societies evolve. Through “Take on Squad” Hackathon, we are deliberately investing in the ideas and talent that will define the future. Our objective is not simply to encourage innovation, but to enable its translation into scalable solutions that deliver real and measurable impact. This reflects GTCO’s role as a financial services platform that connects capital, capability, and creativity to drive sustainable progress.”
The social coding event remains a cornerstone of HabariPay’s mission to foster creativity and problem-solving among emerging tech talents. Competing teams will leverage Squad’s advanced APIs to create scalable digital tools that address everyday challenges faced by businesses and individuals.
Through initiatives such as this, GTCO continues to position itself at the intersection of finance, technology and enterprise, actively shaping the future of digital transformation in Africa.
About HabariPay
HabariPay Ltd is the fintech subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), one of the largest financial services institutions in Africa with direct and indirect investments in a network of operating entities located in 10 countries across Africa and the United Kingdom.
Licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), our goal is to support SMEs, micro merchants, large corporations and other fintechs (Tech Stars) with the tools they need to thrive in an evolving digital economy and expand beyond their current market reach. HabariPay’s solutions include Squad, a full-scale digital payments toolkit to make in-person and online payments simpler, HabariPay Storefront, an e-commerce website to facilitate online purchases, Value-Added Services to help merchants access cost-effective and flexible airtime and data bundles to run their businesses, as well as a switching infrastructure that enables tech-focused businesses to optimise cost and make transactions more efficient.
HabariPay’s contributions to Accelerating Digital Acceptance in Africa have not gone unnoticed–it received Mastercard’s Innovative Mobile Payment Solution Award at TIA 2022 for its innovative payment solution, SquadPOS.
About Squad
Squad is a complete digital payments solution that is reliable, secure, and affordable, making receiving in-person and online payments simpler and convenient.
Thousands of merchants currently leverage Squad’s payment solutions for their daily business operations. Squad’s current products and service offerings include SquadPOS, Squad Payment Links, Squad Virtual Accounts, USSD, and E-Commerce Storefront.
Find out more at www.squadco.com.
Electric 8-Seater Tula Moto Keke Enters Nigerian Market, Targets Higher Operator Earnings
LAGOS — A new electric-powered tricycle with an expanded passenger capacity has been introduced into Nigeria’s urban transport sector, offering operators a potentially more profitable and eco-friendly alternative to conventional petrol-driven “keke.”
The newly launched 8-seater electric tricycle, now available in Lagos with plans for nationwide distribution, features a dual-row seating arrangement capable of accommodating up to eight passengers per trip—significantly higher than the standard three-passenger configuration common across the country.
Promoters of the innovation say the increased capacity is designed to boost daily earnings for operators, particularly amid persistent fluctuations in fuel prices. By running entirely on electric power, the vehicle eliminates dependence on petrol, reducing operating costs and shielding drivers from fuel price volatility.
According to the distributors, the tricycle is equipped with a durable battery system capable of covering extended distances on a single charge, making it suitable for commercial operations across high-traffic routes, residential estates, campuses, and marketplaces.
“The concept is straightforward—enable drivers to earn more while spending less,” a company representative stated. “With higher passenger capacity and zero fuel requirements, operators can maximise each trip without the burden of daily fuel expenses.”
Beyond its cost-saving potential, the electric keke is also said to require less maintenance than traditional models, offering additional long-term savings. Its quieter and smoother operation is expected to enhance passenger comfort and overall commuting experience.
Industry analysts note that the introduction of electric mobility solutions reflects a growing shift toward cleaner and more sustainable transportation alternatives in Nigeria, particularly in densely populated urban centres such as Lagos.
The distributors added that the product is currently available under a limited promotional offer, with delivery options across the country.
For inquiries and purchase: 📞 08153432071
📞 08035889103
Office Address:
📍 Plot 9, Block 113, Beulah Plaza,
Lekki–Epe Expressway,
Lekki Phase 1, Lagos
As transportation costs continue to rise and environmental concerns gain prominence, innovations like the electric 8-seater keke may signal an emerging transition toward more efficient and sustainable mobility solutions nationwide.
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