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PHOTO STORY: Multi-billion naira assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris

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An online news platform, Premium Times, has obtained images of some of the multi-billion naira assets allegedly owned by the suspended Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris.

The properties which are mostly in Kano, his home state in Nigeria’s northwestern region, are said to be worth billions of naira, significantly more than his monthly salary as a public officer.

Part of the assets is the Gezawa Commodity Market in Kano State.

Also, an Ultra-Modern Mall, located in Kano State, is said by sources at the EFCC to be worth more than N700 million.

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From the pictures obtained, the mall is built with bricks and sited on a large expanse of land.

However, while the major exterior works have been perfected, work is still ongoing inside with facilities like elevators and escalators being installed.

The accountant-general had in 2021 launched Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited which he had openly admitted to owning.

Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris

Mr Idris reportedly made the remarks when he met with a delegation of the Kano Concerned Citizens Initiative led by its then chairman, the late Bashir Tofa.

The enclosed market is made up of over 20 blocks of shops painted yellow and a spacious parking space.

The space is occupied by fleets of pick-up vans. Our reporter cannot independently ascertain if the new vehicles belong to the suspended official.

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EFCC investigations

Mr Idris is being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of corruption I involving over N80 billion in alleged looted public funds.

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The suspended AGF, although released after spending nights in the EFCC custody, is also facing allegations of criminal conspiracy.

Our sources said the EFCC has for some time now been investigating a case of diversion of at least N80 billion in public funds which were allegedly laundered through some bogus contracts.

The companies used in laundering the funds have allegedly been linked to family members and associates of the suspended accountant-general, investigators said.

The Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, suspended the accountant-general without pay on May 18, following his arrest and interrogation over corruption allegations.

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Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris

The minister said his suspension was to begin effectively on May 18, 2022.

“Following your recent arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on allegations of diversion of funds and money laundering, I write to convey your suspension from work without pay effective 18th May 2022,” the minister’s letter read in part

Others connected to the alleged diversion have also been arrested.

A former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, was also arrested over “N22bn SURE-P fraud” linked to the accountant-general.

Mr Yari is yet to be released from the EFCC’s custody as he is still being grilled on other corruption accusations related to Mr Idris.

Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris

PREMIUM TIMES reported last week how the former governor is also being investigated for allegedly conspiring with the suspended AGF to siphon an estimated N84billion in public funds.

Those familiar with the matter told this newspaper that the diverted funds were part of the 13 per cent derivation funds meant for payment to eight oil-producing states.

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Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris
Assets traced to suspended Accountant-General Ahmed Idris

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Business

Following work to market a carbon-absorbing material, Nick O’Quinn of purpose consultancy Revolt dwells on how to position innovations with dreams of changing the future.

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Following work to market a carbon-absorbing material, Nick O’Quinn of purpose consultancy Revolt dwells on how to position innovations with dreams of changing the future.

“Technology needs more humanity”, wrote the Washington Post recently, questioning why crypto is still a “thing” and despairing at the tech bros who’ve made it so. In a world that constantly craves the ‘new’, innovation lies at the very center of how we see and drive the notion of ‘progress’. It’s a craving that drives us to fixate on the functionality of new tech, and forget what it’s there to serve.

The marketing community has long been guilty of this fixation. From VR experiences to brands scrambling to ‘do something in the metaverse’, it always comes back to a question – what’s the idea? If Vodafone’s new ‘Together’ positioning last year is anything to go by, real progress lies in the connection of technology with humanity; unlocking the emotion from innovation; finding the purpose at the heart of progress. But how can this humanity and sense of purpose be unlocked?

1. From complexity to clarity
New technology is often complex; communicating its potential even more so. It’s often built on clever science, reliant on foundational knowledge of a problem, or saturated with diverse and revelatory benefits. Take Revolt client Partanna, for example, a building material that absorbs carbon.

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It absorbs carbon throughout its lifetime, and it minimizes emissions by utilizing waste materials from other industries in a process that requires no heat. Its one-surface prefabricated manufacturing process lends itself to building efficient, affordable housing, fast. And given the fact it gets stronger with salt water, Partanna presents a powerful solution for building climate-resilient homes in the coastal communities most vulnerable to the effects of a changing climate.

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There’s a lot there. The key to finding human resonance is to be focused: to navigate through complexity, make a choice about your most relevant message, and deliver it with clarity. Apple has been masterful at this – choosing a single product feature to hero and unlocking the human stories that can bring it to life.

Working with Revolt, Partanna focused on the single most revelatory function: its ability to absorb carbon. This single-minded focus laid the foundations for how it could be powerfully brought to life.

2. From function to flair
When innovation has genuinely transformational functionality, it’s tempting to simply say what it is. But the key is to remember to make people feel something. Creativity is our industry’s superpower for elevating a brand message into something memorable.

Oatly’s ‘It’s like milk but made for humans’ is a great example. How to introduce the world to milk made from oats? Not only does it reframe our perceptions of cows’ milk (and in doing so completely reposition an entire category); it finds humor and human resonance in what is ultimately the juice squeezed from a seed.

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Back to the Partanna example, its ability to absorb carbon is compelling, but it doesn’t absorb carbon through magic but through simple chemical exchange. The challenge is to find a human way to explain it. The exciting elevation comes in reframing Partanna from ‘a material that absorbs carbon’ to ‘a material that breathes’. It’s a metaphor for the most human exchange there is: bringing flair to function and making it feel both more relevant and resonant.

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3. From innovation to inspiration
With innovation, it’s tempting to only focus on the ‘what’. Not least because its raison d’être is that it brings a brand new ‘what’ into the world. But the bigger potential lies in the inspirational ‘why’ that can guide not only what you do now, but where you’re heading too. Tesla doesn’t make electric cars; it exists to ‘accelerate the advent of sustainable transport’. It’s the radical (albeit, at times, dangerously delusional) ambition of Musk’s vision that elevated Tesla into a pioneer that defined an entire category.

For Partanna, their narrative could have stopped at the articulation of what it is, but the real excitement lies in pushing further. Because Partanna isn’t just creating a material that breathes; it is ‘Building a World That Breathes’. This vision talks about the idea of a new world as much as it talks about the material with which we can build it, ushering in a new urban era against the backdrop of a suffocating planet. It’s a dream of a world where there is greater harmony between our built environments and our natural ones. Where both people and the planet are able to thrive.

Any new technology can feel shiny and exciting, especially for the people who created it. When that innovation has the potential to fundamentally change the world for the better, you could be forgiven for thinking it sells itself. But the usual rules of marketing still apply. Innovation is nothing without the powerfully human storytelling that can bring it to life. Technology is nothing without humanity. Progress is nothing without purpose.

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Netherlands moves to restrict some exports

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The Dutch government says before the summer it will put restrictions on the country’s “most advanced” chip exports to protect its national security, following a similar move by the US.

It will include technology produced by computer chip equipment maker ASML. ASML is one of the most important firms in the global microchip supply chain.

Semiconductors, which power everything from mobile phones to military hardware, are at the centre of a bitter dispute between the US and China.

“This is a real step forward, a real victory for the US and also very bad news for China. US-China relations are already in a pretty bad place. This clearly will make things even worse,” Dexter Roberts, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank, told the BBC.

The measures will affect “very specific technologies in the semiconductor production cycle,” the country’s trade minister Liesje Schreinemacher said.

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“The Netherlands considers it necessary on national and international security grounds that this technology is brought under control as soon as possible,” she said in a letter to lawmakers on Wednesday.

Ms Schreinemacher added that the Dutch government had considered “the technological developments and geopolitical context,” without naming China or ASML.

COPYRIGHT@BBC

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Technology

Telcos hamonise shortcodes for credit recharge, others

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Nigeria is moving towards harmonising all shortcodes to a uniform number across all telecommunications operators from May 17.

Through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in the next two months, telcos like MTN, Airtel, 9mobile, and Globacom, among others, may begin to use one singular code for specific transactions.

ALTON Chairman and Head of Operations, Gbenga Adebayo and Gbolahan Awonuga respectively, in a statement, said the harmonisation of shortcodes is aimed at implementing a streamlined process for common shortcodes across the industry, by making life easier for Nigerians through the memorisation of single codes, for various services across all networks, as well as providing a cohesive regulatory framework that is consistent with global best practices.

“The harmonisation of shortcodes is aimed at implementing a streamlined process for common short codes across the industry by making life easier for Nigerians through the memorisation of single codes for various services across all networks as well as providing a cohesive regulatory framework that is consistent with global best practices.

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“Following the directive from NCC, the Association hereby informs the general public that during migration, which is to be concluded by May 17, 2023, old and new common codes, will run concurrently, after which the old codes will cease to operate”.

The body listed the proposed harmonised shortcodes to include: Call Center/Help Desk – 300; Voice Mail Deposit – 301; Voice Mail Retrieval -302; Borrow Services – 303; STOP Services – 304; Check Balance – 310; Credit Recharge – 311; Data Plan – 312; Share Services – 321; Data Plan Balance – 323; Verification of SIM Registration/ NIN – SIM Linkage – 996 and Porting Services (MNP) – 2442.

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Explaining further, ALTON said the harmonisation of shortcodes entails making the common shortcodes utilised by customers to be uniform across all networks. For instance, the code for recharging a line can be used across all mobile networks for the same function. The body said there is no need for a special code to activate the shortcodes.

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