Former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido has expressed his willingness to meet with President Bola Tinubu if such an engagement would promote Nigeria’s progress and national development.

Lamido, who spoke exclusively to The Nation at Bamaina, his country home on Sallah day, said he remains open to dialogue with the President if it would advance the nation’s well-being.

Despite being a vocal PDP critic of the administration, Lamido emphasized that his openness to dialogue is driven by national interest rather than partisan politics.

“I will be more than willing. So when are we going to see him?” he said, emphasising his readiness to engage constructively.

The former governor, however, dismissed claims that he had turned down an invitation from the President to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that no such offer was ever made to him.

“When was I invited? Let me know, please. Did he send you to me? I’m hearing this from you for the first time,” he stated.

He maintained that any meaningful interaction between him and the President should be focused on national interest rather than partisan considerations.

“If it is about the progress and development of Nigeria, I am open. I will be willing to meet him,” Lamido added.

On reports linking him to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), following viral images showing him with the party’s logo, Lamido described the claims as products of social media manipulation.

“In this era of social media and content creation, anything is possible. People sit in their rooms and create stories. I have not seen such pictures,” he said.

Commenting on recent developments in the country, the former governor stressed the need for Nigerians to take responsibility for their electoral decisions, noting that leadership outcomes reflect the choices made by the electorate.

“When we were campaigning, we urged Nigerians to vote right, with integrity and conscience. People voted, and whatever you put in is what you get out,” he said.

He also used the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr to felicitate with Muslims, urging prayers for peace, unity and stability in Nigeria.

“We thank Allah Almighty for sparing our lives to witness Ramadan. It was a period of repentance, prayers and supplications,” he said.

Lamido further prayed for national peace and prosperity, calling for divine guidance for leaders at all levels.

“We pray that Allah secures Nigeria, restores peace, stability and prosperity, and guides our leaders to do the right thing,” he added.

The Nigerian government has signed a landmark agreement with the United Kingdom to fast-track the deportation of failed asylum seekers, visa overstayers, and foreign criminals.

The deal was formalised during President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to the UK by Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

This was announced by the UK Home Office on Thursday.

The agreement was made during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visit to the UK this week.

According to the Daily Mail, there are about 961 Nigerian asylum seekers in the UK who have used up all their appeal rights.

This means they have been officially decided not to qualify for refugee status in the UK.

There are also 1,110 Nigerian nationals who are offenders and the Home Office is waiting to send them back.

The agreement will also help send back Nigerians who stayed in the UK longer than their visa allowed.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit to revoke the citizenship of Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, a Nigerian national previously convicted for his role in an $11 million (and in some reports linked to up to $91 million) wire fraud and identity theft scheme.

The United States Department of Justice says it has filed a lawsuit seeking to revoke the citizenship of a Nigerian, Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, who was jailed in 2018 over an $11m fraud.

PUNCH Metro learnt from a statement obtained on the DoJ website on Thursday that Kazeem was convicted on 19 counts bordering on wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

According to the statement, in May 2013, a victim in Medford, Oregon, notified the Internal Revenue Service that false federal and Oregon state tax returns had been filed electronically using her and her husband’s personal identifying information, including Social Security numbers and dates of birth.

The statement noted that an IRS investigation led to the execution of search warrants at residences in Illinois, Maryland, and Georgia, as well as multiple email and instant messaging accounts used by Kazeem and other co-conspirators.

It continued, “At a Chicago residence, agents seized approximately 150 prepaid debit cards and $50,000 in money orders. In Maryland and Georgia, agents seized more than 50 electronic devices, 40 money orders exceeding $29,000, $14,000 in cash, and numerous prepaid debit cards containing over $12,000 in fraudulent tax refunds.

The search warrants helped agents identify Kazeem as the leader and mastermind of the scheme.

“The scheme resulted in the conspirators possessing stolen personal identifying information of more than 259,000 victims. Kazeem purchased more than 91,000 identities from a Vietnamese hacker who originated from an Oregon company’s private database.

“The company provided pre-employment and volunteer background checks for thousands of clients. Kazeem divided the identities into batches and shared them with other co-conspirators, which were then used them to file fraudulent tax returns between 2012 and 2015.”

The statement added that investigations revealed that Kazeem trained and directed other co-conspirators, including his younger brother, Michael Oluwasegun Kazeem, to use stolen identities to obtain thousands of electronic filing PINs to bypass IRS authentication procedures.

It added that Kazeem and his accomplices acquired over 19,500 E-File PINs during the conspiracy and used taxpayers’ identities to gain unauthorised access to IRS transcripts, while stolen prepaid debit cards were used to receive tax refunds.

It further stated, “In total, Kazeem was linked to 10,139 fraudulent federal tax returns attempting to obtain over $91m in refunds and successfully receiving over $11.6m.

“Refunds were withdrawn from the debit cards, and at least 2,000 wire transfers totalling over $2.1m were sent to Nigeria. Over 700 of those transfers, amounting to more than $690,000, were directly linked to Kazeem.

“Kazeem used the proceeds to make a nearly $200,000 down payment on a newly constructed house and to purchase a $175,000 townhouse, both in Maryland. His average monthly credit card payment between 2012 and 2015 exceeded $8,300. He also attempted to use the funds to develop a $6m four-star hotel in Lagos.”

The statement added that in May 2015, Kazeem transferred the townhouse to his sister in Nigeria for $10 and also added her to the deed of his Maryland residence for the same amount before his arrest the following day.

The DoJ said Kazeem was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in 2018 and ordered to pay more than $12m in restitution, but his sentence was later commuted and he was released from prison by former US President, Joe Biden.

In the fresh suit, the department alleged that Kazeem’s actions disqualified him from lawful naturalisation.

“The complaint alleges that Kazeem’s fraud scheme, committed before and after his naturalisation, along with the concealment of his crimes, precluded him from obtaining citizenship lawfully.

“It also alleges that Kazeem engaged in a sham marriage to obtain permanent resident status and later married a second woman, further disqualifying him from naturalisation,” the statement added.

The move comes amid renewed immigration enforcement under the administration of Donald Trump, which has reiterated its stance against criminal migrants through crackdowns and deportations.