By Sani Idris

A group, Concerned Northern Forum (CNF) has appealed to Nigerian politicians who are over 60 years of age not to contest in the forth coming 2023 presidential election.

The Spokes person of the forum, Comrade Abdulsalam Mohammed Kazeem made the appeal in a statement issued to pressmen on Monday in Kaduna.

He lamented that the Nigerian civil service rules which does not retain any individual above 60 years of age no matter his or her experience, should be applied to politicians to enable people of younger and fresher ideas contribute their own quota to the development of the nation.

"Most renowned civil servants with outstanding history accountability, transparency and fairness in service are later engaged by the Federal, State or Local government either as consultants, advisors or committee members to help formulate and restructure policies that will bring about efficiency, and effectiveness in service delivery.

The Spokes person noted that in developed nations, experienced people above 60 years were mostly engaged in charitable activities, free consultancy services, and all forms of selfless services to their nation and populace.

He however said in developing nations, such people were actively involved in all forms of forgeries and always desperate in aspiring for top elected political offices they have no value to add,

According to him, many among Nigeria's political elites source of wealth is questionable and their state of health is unknown which may not be capable of withstanding the enormous pressure in ruling a country like Nigeria.

"Research we carried out proves that; most of our political elites aspiring to rule Nigeria have reasons not beyond lust for power and affluence, with no blue print on how to tackle the enormous challenges bedeviling us as a nation.

"This is the right time for us actualise the vision of president Muhammadu Buhari on the 'Not too young to run', and we are ready to give our mandate to those candidates below 60 years who must however have good manifestos.

"They must also have the political will to help address our immediate, short term and long term problems which is making our economy dangle despite our population and abundant resources which ordinarily should be advantageous to us as a nation".

"We should owe it as a duty for a blessed country like ours with renowned boardroom czars, world class leaders of thought, entrepreneurs and respected professors in all specialisations to ignore less qualified people with questionable records as candidates of political parties to rule the country.

"The time is now and 2023 presidency for us should be based on an Individual's personal competence, health status, integrity and credibility,

we can't not allow the recycling of politicians who have been instrumental to the enormous problems facing our country from 1999 till date to still come and lead us to more uncertainties,".

"Our nation deserves a cosmopolitant leader who is full of energy, vast in ideas and one who understands the politics of trade, international affairs and foreign policy.

"Our Elites should stop making a mockery of the 'Not too young to run', which is meant to develop young, vibrant, articulate leadership, but what we see from the body language of political parties is a vision of 'Not too old to rule',".

He called on youths to take advantage of the 'not too young to rule' to participate actively, not only in social media rather they should help mobilize and sensitise their fellow youths on how to get permanent voters card and become a members of political parties.

"The youths should aspire for political offices and equally encourage others with leadership potential with either finances, free consultancy services or soft words of encouragement which will demonstrate that we are ready to lead our nation too.

"The youths are the trustees of this nation and the epoch of been spectators is over, we have to participate actively because available records shows that out of the over 84 million registered voters, the youth represent over 51 per cent.

"Our nation is rapidly growing with a population of over 200 million m with more than 60 per cent of the people under 25 years of age, the time is now to unerr our past and have a nation that can stand tall among committee of great nations against all we are witnessing today".

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Nigerian who ignored FBI warning jailed in US for laundering N778 million for fraudsters

Samson Toromade

November 29, 2021 5:34 PM

The convict has been ordered to repay N180 million ($440,950) to victims.

The convict continued to help fraudsters despite red flags from U.S. authorities

A Nigerian resident in the United States was jailed last week for conspiring to launder over N778 million ($1.89 million) in mail and wire fraud proceeds.

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The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania had arraigned Jabin Godspower Okpako for conspiring with his wife,Christine Bradley, to help fraudsters launder proceeds of crime.

The duo received funds from victims and laundered them through numerous bank and wire transactions in multiple states, and transferred to three separate bank accounts in Nigeria.

The victims were multiple women in the U.S., aged between 55 and 85, who had been defrauded with numerous scams initiated on dating websites and social media sites including Instagram and Facebook.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge, Matthew Brann, noted that the couple continued to conduct money laundering transfers despite receiving a warning letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concerning their activities.

They also continued to transfer fraud proceeds to Nigeria even after numerous banks closed their accounts based on the suspicious and irregular nature of the transactions.

Okpako, 36, was sentenced to 87 months in prison, and ordered to repay N180 million ($440,950) to victims, and forfeit proceeds of the criminal activity.

Bradley, 54, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit money laundering through mail and wire fraud, and is awaiting sentencing.

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