… As Enugu Air sets eyes on W/A regional operations

Côte d’Ivoire and Enugu State have resolved to deepen economic cooperation between the West African nation and Nigeria, with a particular focus on Enugu State.

This was even as Enugu Air set its eyes on flight operations across the West African region.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Côte d’Ivoire to Nigeria, Mr. Kalilou Traoré, and Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, made this known during a courtesy visit by the Ambassador to Government House, Enugu, on Monday.

Ambassador Traoré, who was accompanied during the visit by the Chairman and CEO of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Ltd., Chief Innocent Chukwuma, underscored the strong bond between Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire.

He expressed his appreciation for the invitation by the Chairman of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing to tour their world-class facilities in Enugu and commended Governor Mbah for making Enugu welcoming to both visitors and businesses.

“We couldn’t come here without stopping by to visit you and to also ensure that we strengthen economic cooperation between the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria in general and Enugu State in particular. I invite you to Côte d’Ivoire with other collaborators to discuss based on your area of interest and how we can make it mutually fruitful,” Mr. Traore said.

Speaking, Governor Mbah explained that his administration set out to ensure that it created an environment where businesses could thrive and where capital would be safe, and security assured.

Governor Mbah recalled that during the campaign, his team had set out a blueprint of what could be achieved, one being to launch a quantum leap to grow the economy exponentially.

According to him, this growth would come through collaboration, partnership, and the attraction and unlocking of private capital, which, he emphasized, was always guided by return on investment and the assurance of safety.

“We have invested hugely in making sure that we have a safe city largely covered by technology.

“What may interest you is that we launched Enugu Air recently. A few days ago, we got approval to operate regional flights. Hopefully, the next time you visit, or maybe myself visiting Côte d’Ivoire, will be by Enugu Air. So, we won’t have to go through Lagos or Abuja. We hope to start operating regional flights from Enugu to different West African destinations.

“We would like to collaborate with you. It will be interesting for us to know those areas where we can work together in order to achieve our common goals,” Mbah stated.

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central has finally regained access into her office.

This came hours after it was unsealed by the Sergeant at Arms of the National Assembly.

Natasha marched from the FCT High Court to the National Assembly with thousands of her supporters and entered her office after initial fracas involving the supporters and security agencies.

Addressing journalists inside her office, she said it was amazing what she passed through in the last six months.

“It’s actually amazing how much we have had to face and survive in the past six months and most of it happened in the full glare of Nigerians.

“From the unjust suspension to the recall; we survived the recall; we survived the road and waterways in Kogi State that we had to fly in with helicopter.

She thanked God Almighty, and lauded the people of Kogi State and Nigerians.

The female Senator added: “We can’t cow down in the face of injustice; no one is more Nigerian than us; Senator Akpabio is not more of a Senator than I am; he is not the governor of this place and he treated me as if I were his servant or I was a domestic staff in his house.

“It is very unfortunate that at this time after so many years of democracy we have the National Assembly being run under such dictatorship; it is unacceptable.”

Human rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore has petitioned the “Attorney General of Florida, Hon. James Uthmeier,” seeking the “forfeiture and prosecution of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike,” over “illicit property acquisitions” in the United States.

The petition, “dated September 22, 2025,” was “signed by his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, Esq.”

The petition accuses Wike of “secretly purchasing multi-million-dollar real estate in Florida using suspicious cash transactions designed to conceal the source of funds.”

According to the petition, Wike, along with his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, purchased three “luxury lakeside properties in Winter Springs, Seminole County, Florida,” valued at “over $6 million.”

The petition lists the properties, all of which were “purchased in cash.”

The document also notes that the purchases were made via “quit claim deeds between July 2021 and September 2023” and “transferred directly to Wike’s children,” bypassing banking oversight and raising “serious money laundering concerns.”

The petition alleges that Wike failed to “declare these foreign assets to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as required under the Constitution.”

Nyesom Wike and Omoyele Sowore

It also notes that his legitimate income as a public servant “could not sustain such multi-million-dollar acquisitions.”

Adeyanju argued that the transactions violated “Florida state law” and “U.S. federal anti-money laundering statutes.”

He cited the “U.S. Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative” as a precedent for the case, stating, “The U.S. Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, launched in 2010, provides a ready mechanism for action in these kinds of cases, where corrupt foreign officials launder stolen public wealth into the United States under the guise of ordinary family transfers.”

The petition asserts that the acquisitions “are not isolated acts” and “form part of a pattern of corruption that Mr. Wike has cultivated throughout his career as a public servant and politician.”

It adds, “Most recently, as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, he has been credibly accused of allocating thousands of hectares of the capital’s most valuable public lands to his sons, Jordan and Joaquin, through shell companies and proxies.”

The petition also argues that while Wike’s wife was the named grantor in the deeds, it is “evident that the acquisitions and subsequent transfers to their children were undertaken in concert with her husband,” and that her income “could not reasonably sustain multi-million-dollar cash purchases of luxury homes in Florida.”

In the petition, Sowore urged the Florida Attorney General to:

Investigate the source of funds.
Commence forfeiture proceedings against the identified properties.
Institute criminal prosecution against all parties involved.
Impose visa bans and sanctions on Wike to prevent further abuse of U.S. territory.
The petition concluded with a warning that failure to act would make the U.S. a sanctuary for corruption.

The petition stated, “The people of Nigeria have been impoverished for decades by the diversion of public funds,” and “It would be a perversion of justice if those funds, siphoned through abuse of office, are allowed to flourish in Florida’s real estate market.”