Money Laundering Trial: Femi Fani- Kayode's Bail Might Be Revoked As One Of His Sureties Apply To Withdraw

Fani-Kayode, who is the Director of Media and
Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party’s
Presidential Campaign Organisation, is currently
canvassing arguments to exonerate himself of the
remaining two counts.

One Wale Ajisebutu has written to a Federal High Court in Lagos seeking to withdraw as a surety for a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, who is facing money laundering charges.

Ajisebutu was one of the two persons who stood as
sureties for Fani-Kayode in the fulfilment of the bail
conditions granted him by Justice Ramat Mohammed in
December 2008.

The bail was in the sum of N200m.
Ajisebutu’s application to withdraw was listed for hearing before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia on Tuesday. It was, however, not taken as it was learnt that Fani- Kayode had written to the court seeking for an adjournment.

The surety said he was withdrawing because he had an
urgent need for the documents of his landed property, which he had deposited into the court’s custody.

Further proceeding in Fani-Kayode’s trial had been adjourned till March 26.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had charged him with 40 counts of money laundering.

It was the allegation of the anti-graft agency, that while he was Minister of Culture of Tourism and the Minister of Aviation, Fani-Kayode severally dealt in cash sums above N500,000 without going through any financial institution.

The alleged offence was said to have contravened Sections 15(1) (a) (b) (c) (d) and 15 (2) (a) (b) of the Money Laundering (prohibition) Act, 2004.

But Ofili-Ajumogobia, had on November 17, dismissed 38 of the counts for failure of the EFCC to prove the particulars of the offence.

Fani-Kayode, who is the Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Presidential Campaign Organisation, is currently canvassing arguments to exonerate himself of the remaining two counts.

The counts read, “That you, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode on or before September 20, 2006, while serving as Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, made a transaction exceeding N500,000 which was not done through financial institution, by accepting cash payment of N1m, which sum was further paid into your personal account
number, 103450252601 with First Inland Bank PLc Apapa branch, now FCMB, through one Supo Agbaje, your administrative staff, now at large.

The world’s richest doctor (worth R150bn) was born and raised in South Africa

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the son of Chinese immigrants to
South Africa, is the world’s richest doctor and the
wealthiest resident of Los Angeles with a net worth of
almost R150-billion.

Soon-Shiong was born on 29 July 1952 and grew up
“coloured” in Port Elizabeth after his parents fled from
China during World War Two.

He finished high school when he was 16 and received his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand at 23, finishing fourth out of 189 graduates.

He moved to Canada, then to the US, after doing an
internship at the all-white Johannesburg General Hospital where he was paid half the salary of everyone else.

Fighting cancer, making money

Soon-Shiong became well-known during the 1980s for
transplanting pancreas cells to treat diabetes.

He invented the world’s first protein nanoparticle delivery technology to treat breast cancer, doubling the response rate in patients.

He founded two drug companies, Abraxis and American
Pharmaceutical Partners, which he sold for R112-billion.

He holds 50 US patents, including that of block buster
pancreatic cancer drug Abraxane.

Revolutionising healthcare

Soon-Shiong founded Nantworks in 2001 to developed
technology that can analyse genetic data from tumours in mere seconds.

Through Nantworks Soon-Shiong aims to realise his vision of future cancer treatments where all sorts of technologies such as diagnostics, networked supercomputers and personalised mixtures of cancer drugs converge to manage cancer and achieve a sustained, disease-free state.

Giving his billions away

Forbes ranks Soon-Shiong’s fortune among the 100
largest in the US.

Soon-Shiong, as a member of the Buffett/Gates Giving
Pledge, plans to give away half of his sizeable fortune
while he is still alive.

To date has given away hundreds of millions of dollars and funds numerous healthcare projects in the US.

Movie Review: Cinderella Will Steal Your Heart

Magnificent! We all knew the story, yet directorKenneth Branagh still had the audience eager to see it unfold as witnessed by the applause at the end of this masterpiece. The regal sets, bizarre costumes and jaw dropping special effects make this fairy tale almost a reality. Lily James, the beauty fromDowntonAbby, is perfect asCinderella.Her dark brows juxtaposed against her pale complexion and blonde locks give her expressions heightened impact.

She is simply splendid while Cate Blanchett, as the evil Stepmother, terrifies and yet gets the biggest laughs when her delivery is spot on. Richard Madden as the Prince has all the right moments, but his pitter- pat -appeal is a tad short for a Prince of one's fantasies. Kenneth Branagh directs with perfection and gives longmoments between the Prince andCinderella. These moments allow them to fall in love in lingering romantic silence.And how nice that the four mice were sparred.

Iso feared the evil stepmother Cate Blanchett would do them in with her adorable, but evil cat, but the cruelty in this film is kept to a minimum. Perhaps there could have been more.Cinderelladoes not suffer as much as she did in my memory. Her suffering seems to be replaced by her need to forgive and to be kind.

Opposite from a selfless Ella are her stepsisters, Drisella and Anastasia who are played respectively by Sophie Mc Shera and Holiday Grainger with bubbly enthusiasm.But the highlight of the film is fairy god mother Helen Bonham Carter who steals everyone's thunder when she turns a pumpkin into a gold chariot with the mice as horses andlizards and ducks asCinderella'sentourage. Together they drive her golden pumpkin a la mode to the ball given by the King.

The purpose of the ball is to find a bride for the Prince whose heart is spent pining for a younglass he met in the woods while hunting. He never learned her name. But as we all know this lass was Ella, who later is dubbedCinderelladue to nights sleeping by the fire while its cinders leave smudges of charcoal on her face.

Branagh's direction begins slow and small and builds to a crescendo and climax guaranteed not to let your fantasies down. The stellar castis so well coiffed in period fairy garb that some are barely recognizable. Stellan Skarsgard, as the Grand Duke, is a nasty piece of work and good at this, while Derek Jacobi who plays the King spreads wisdom and concern with each utterance. After the Palace Ball the Prince combs the countryside looking for the beauteous spirit who stole his heart, but who left her glass slipper. When lo and behold, he has been among the Palace's caped and masked troops looking for the mysteriousCinderella.

As the King's guard searches for her, Captain, Nonso Anozie, plays good while the Grand Duke plays bad cop. These two workwell together and add gravitas at a moment when the ho hums could have set in.Writer Chris Weitz keeps the dialogue active and modern, but not cutsie or filled with clichés. My only criticism is that the Prince lacked a tad bit of sensuality which could have made him more charming. But leaving the theatre the applause warmed my heart and I left with memories of the goodness and kindness of aCinderellawho never grows old.

Kwankwaso Berates Fayose Over Unguarded Utterances, Says His 'Day Of Reckoning' Is Imminent

Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has berated
his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayo Fayose, over what he
called the latter’s unguarded utterances.

The Governor who led the Hausa community in Lagos,
in a visit to the National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, to plan for the forthcoming election, used the occasion to react to
what he calls the seeming disrespect for elders by Fayose.

Kwankwaso was reacting to Fayose’s various
vilifying statements about Buhari and that he
(Kwankwaso) and former vice president, Atiku
Abubakar, were secretly working against the All Pro­
gressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen­
eral Muhammadu Buhari.

The Kano State governor, while fielding questions
from journalists during the visit, said Fayose should
be mindful of the fact that the day of reckoning would
soon come.

Read His Statement In Part:
“I have this belief that in this part of the country are
people who are positively cultured. This part of
Nigeria we have very respectful people, ranging from
Awolowo, Shonekam, Obasanjo, MKO Abiola, Asiwaju
and so on and so forth.

“But anytime I listen to this young man in Ekiti State,
I feel terribly embarrassed as a governor and I feel
bad for Yoruba people.

“This young man, I don’t know what went wrong, I
used to know him, although I was not very close to
him. Of course when I was a governor, he was not a
governor, he was governor after I left Government
House in 2003.

“These days if I look at him, I think many things are
wrong with his words and even his mouth. You tell him
that he should learn how to respect elders.

“Even those of us who are governors with him are his
seniors and in this business of politics, like all other
businesses, I think seniority should be respected".