News
A major trouble-shooting effort was launched last night to halt the imminent showdown between the Executive and the Legislature.
On the agenda were:
the controversial election sequence reordering, which is a subject of litigation;
the 2018 budget, which is stuck at the National Assembly— four months after it was presented by President Muhammadu Buhari; and the worrisome security situation.
Last night President Buhari met at the Presidential Villa with the leadership of the National Assembly.
The meeting, which started around 9p.m, was attended by Senate President Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Lasun Yussuff, Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan and House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, among others.
After the meeting, Saraki told reporters that the frosty relationship between the Executive and the Legislature was discussed. The budget was also discussed, he said.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha confirmed that the threat by the lawmakers to override the President’s veto on the Electoral Act amendment was discussed. He gave no details.
On the budget, the lawmakers were said to have complained that some ministers were yet to defend their inputs.
Buhari was said to have directed the SGF to write the ministers, directing them to defend their budgets.
Earlier in the day, Senate during plenary decided to write to Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to protest the ruling stopping lawmakers from overriding the President’s veto on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
It was also learnt that based on legal advice, which suggested that the President’s reasons for declining assent was not watertight, the lawmakers had decided to override the veto next week.
The controversy trailing the rejection of the Electoral Act 2018 amendment by President Muhammadu Buhari may be far from over.
National Assembly yesterday listed “flaws” in the constitutional provision relied upon by President Buhari to withhold assent to the Bill.
The leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly is said to have met Wednesday night to consider submissions from the legal department of the Assembly.
It was gathered that the legal advice dismissed the constitutional provisions cited by President Buhari as basis for his action “as baseless and of no effect to form the basis of withholding assent to the Bill”.
Senate and House Representatives leadership “accepted the submissions received from the legal department,” a source said.
The implication of the acceptance of the submissions of the legal department, the source said, “is that the two chambers may go ahead to override the veto of Mr. President to the Bill.”
The source hinted that “the two chambers appeared to be poised to do battle with Mr. President by exercising their power to override the president on any issue they feel strongly about”.
He added that the amendment of the Electoral Act which altered the sequence of elections, seems to be one of the issues the lawmakers are convinced was done “in the best interest of the country”.
The legal advice obtained by our reporter states: “The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria vetoed the 2018 Amendment of the Electoral Act of 2010 passed by the National Assembly in the exercise of its constitutional powers under Section 58(4 oi) Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended following reasons.
“Each of the legal and constitutional reasons advanced by the President as a basis for the veto were examined in details below.
“1. The President claims that the Amendment introducing a specific sequence for elections under Section 25 of the Principal Act 2010 infringed the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission to “organise, undertake and supervise elections.” This argument is flawed because correct legal position however is that by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 First Alteration Act 2010, Act No. 1, specifically, Section 5 provides that “Section 76 of the Principal Act is altered thus
“(a)subsection (1) in line 2, by inserting immediately after the word ’commission’ ’the words’ ’in accordance with the Electoral Act. “
“From the above amendment, it is crystal clear that the power to regulate the principal elements of all Federal Electoral process was expressed by the above amendment, removed from the Independent National Electoral Commission and vested in the Assembly (N.A) which has the power to make laws for peace, order and good government” of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and any part thereof.
“Furthermore, the phrases ‘organize, undertake & supervise’ elections under Section 15(a) of the 3″ Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, according to the President, allegedly infringed the discretion guaranteed” to lNEC by Section 25 of the of the Principal Act.
“1. The argument of the President that the sequencing of the elections under Section 25 infringed the discretion of INEC without expressly pointing out what specific aspects or ways and manner cannot be a basis for legal or constitutional argument or decision. With due respect, the opinion expressed is too general to establish a basis for the exercise of a legal or constitutional power, more so because “discretion” is a principle governed by the rules of Administrative Law and not that of Constitutional Law, on which the President claimed to have anchored his arguments.
“2) .Thirdly, the terms “organise, undertake and supervise” may have conferred a wide discretion on lNEC in matters of all logistics in the preparation and conduct of elections, the issue of discretion only comes to fore in the actual details of the preparation, organizing and conducting elections.
”It is respectfully submitted that the sequencing of the elections in a Bill as to which was scheduled as first or last in the conduct does not in any way hamper or affect the discretion and capacity of INEC to organise, undertake and conduct these elections into various constitutional offices provided.
“3) The new subsection (3) introduced into Section 138 of the Electoral Act, which the President argued repealed two crucial grounds upon which elections could be challenged, is not entirely correct and the view could be misplaced for the following reason:
“a. The new Subsection (3) to section 138 actually clarifies the ambiguity contained in subsection 1 of the Principal Act and reinforces the constitutional standards specified in Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. In addition, it further provides that no person shall be qualified to contest elections in breach of any of the ‘Sections 66, 107, 137 or 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
“The amendment to Section 152 (3)-(5), which collectively imposed an obligation on the State independent Electoral Commissions to apply the standard of ‘free, fair and credible elections in the conduct of Local Government elections’ is within the competence of the National Assembly to make laws in respect of the procedure regulating elections into the Local Government Councils in accordance with item 11 (Eleven) of the Concurrent Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution as amended. What specific aspects or ways and manner cannot be a basis for legal or constitutional argument or decision. With due respect, the opinion expressed is too general to establish a basis for the exercise of a legal or constitutional power more so because “discretion” is a principle governed by the rules of Administrative Law and not that of Constitutional Law which the President claimed to have anchored his arguments.
“Thirdly, the terms “Organize, undertake and supervise” may have confer a wide discretion on lNEC in matters of all logistics in the preparation and conduct of elections, the issue of discretion only comes to fore in the actual details of the preparation, organizing and conducting elections. It is respectfully submitted that the sequencing of the elections in a Bill as to which was scheduled as first or last in the conduct does not in any way hamper or affect the discretion and capacity of INEC to organize, undertake and conduct these elections into various constitutional offices provided.
“3) The new subsection (3) introduced into Section 138 of the Electoral Act, which the President argued repealed two crucial grounds upon which elections could be challenged is not entirely correct and the view could be misplaced for the following reason:
“a. The new Subsection (3) to section 138 actually clarifies the ambiguity contained in subsection 1 of the Principal Act and reinforces the constitutional standards specified in Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. In addition, it furthe provides that no person shall be qualified to contest elections in breach c any of the ‘Sections 66, 107, 137 or 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.”
“The amendment to Section 152 (3)-(5) which collectively imposed an obligation on the State Independent Electoral Commissions to apply the standard of “free, fair and credible elections in the conduct of Local Government elections” is within the competence of the National Assembly to make laws in respect of the procedure regulating elections into the Local Government Councils in accordance with item 11 (Eleven) of the Concurrent Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“It is therefore not entirely correct, with all due respect, for the Mr. President to argue that the amendment may raise constitutional issues over the competence of the National Assembly to legislate on Local Government elections. The Supreme Court of Nigeria has decided on this issue in the famous case of Attorney General of Abia State & Ors v Attorney General of the Federation & Ors.
The Nation
A groundbreaking research project by Amnesty International has exposed evidence of serious negligence by oil giants, Shell and Eni, whose irresponsible approach to oil spills in the Niger Delta is exacerbating an environmental crisis.
Through the Decoders network, an innovative platform developed by Amnesty International to crowdsource human rights research, the organisation enlisted thousands of supporters and activists to collect data about oil spills in the Niger Delta.
Their findings were then analysed by Amnesty International’s researchers and verified by Accufacts, an independent pipelines expert.
According to this publicly available data, Amnesty International found that Shell and Eni are taking weeks to respond to reports of spills and publishing misleading information about the cause and severity of spills, which may result in communities not receiving compensation.
“Shell and Eni claim they are doing everything they can to prevent oil spills but Decoders’ research suggests otherwise. They found that the companies often ignore reports of oil spills for months on end – on one occasion Eni took more than a year to respond. The Niger Delta is one of the most polluted places on earth and it beggars belief that the companies responsible are still displaying this level of negligence,” said Mark Dummett, Business and Human Rights Researcher at Amnesty International.
“Adding insult to injury is the fact that Shell and Eni seem to be publishing unreliable information about the cause and extent of spills. The people of the Niger Delta have paid the price for Shell and Eni’s recklessness for too long. Thanks to Decoders, we’re a step closer to bringing them to account.”
Amnesty International is now asking the Nigerian government to re-open investigations into 89 oil spills.
What Decoders did
Decoders collected information about the contents of the reports that Shell and Eni publish each time they visit the site of an oil spill. These reports detail the likely cause, location and extent of the damage, and are often accompanied by photographs. They are important because companies pay compensation to affected communities based on this information.
Previous research by Amnesty International has revealed that the information in these reports is often inaccurate. For example, Shell massively understated the amount of oil spilt in the fishing town of Bodo between 2008 and 2009. With the help of Amnesty International, the Bodo community eventually took legal action, forcing Shell to admit the real amount and pay £55 million in compensation.
To help other communities like Bodo, Amnesty International needed to analyse masses of publicly available data about oil spills, and enlisted activists from around the world to help. A total of 3,545 people, from 142 countries, took part in Decode Oil Spills. They answered 163,063 individual questions about reports and photographs and worked 1,300 hours – the equivalent of someone working full-time for eight months.
PT
For the umpteenth time, suspected herdsmen, this disguised time in military uniforms, were reported to have invaded yet another community on Wednesday in the North-central geopolitical zone, killing no fewer than 25 persons in the process.
The latest attacks, which took place in the Oganienugwu and Ikende communities in Dekina Local Government Area and Abejukolo in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State, came two years after a similar onslaught when sectarian violence led to the death of four herders and an unspecified number of their livestock.
In the Wednesday attack, the herdsmen were said to have fled from Benue State where they were being overwhelmed by the security forces.
It was alleged that the herdsmen arrived in boats via the River Benue with firearms such as AK47 rifles, machetes and other dangerous weapons, and embarked on a shooting and killing spree. They also razed houses in the communities.
An eyewitness, who spoke to THISDAY thursday, said the suspected Fulani herdsmen dressed in military uniforms took the Oganenigu community by surprise, adding that the herdsmen numbering in hundreds, burned down over 20 houses in the community.
He alleged that they slaughtered people, including the four family members of a police officer, and shot at those who tried to escape into the nearby bush.
Another community in Dekina Local Government Area, Iyale, was also attacked by the herdsmen. Two persons were reportedly killed during the invasion on Iyale.
Also, in Omala LGA, the herdsmen invade Abejukolo community killing an unspecified number of persons. It was gathered that in Abejukolo, one Joshua Angulu, was slaughtered by the assailants during the attack.
There were also reports that another set of suspected herdsmen had crossed into Omala through the River Benue from Nasarawa State.
They were said to have camped in the Obakume Forest, preparing for the attacks on Abejukolo and adjoining villages.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Monday Bala while speaking with reporters yesterday, confirmed the attacks, but said they could not give a number on the casualties.
He said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Aliyu Janga, deployed mobile policemen in the troubled communities to restore law and order.
Senate Condemns Killings
Reacting to the gruesome attacks, the Senate thursday condemned the killing of at least 25 persons in Dekina and Omala Local Government Areas of Kogi State by suspected herdsmen.
It also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to issue an order to the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris and heads of other security agencies to quickly move in and apprehend the perpetrators of the attacks.
The lawmakers also demanded stronger action from Buhari and his security chiefs to tackle the insecurity ravaging different parts of the country.
Senator Ali Aidoko (Kogi, APC), in a motion at plenary, said the security agencies were informed when the herdsmen were camped nearby before the attacks began, but no action was taken
“Whole communities were razed, villages evacuated and the new dimension to it now is that people are being maimed. They would catch women, cut their hands and let them go,” he said.
Aidoko expressed shock that there had been no reaction from the Kogi State Government.
“Of course they will say issues of security are the responsibility of the federal government. This is why I am calling on the president, as he has the power to deploy troops,” he said, insisting that the situation was beyond the capacity of the police.
Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi, APC) said the level of attacks had shown gross incompetence at both the federal and state levels.
“We expected this to happen when the governor (Yahaya Bello) said anywhere they chase a Fulani man away, he should come to Kogi. So today, some criminals capitalised on the verbal diarrhoea of the governor,” Melaye said.
Melaye, who has been engaged in a running battle with Bello, called on the president to summon the governor over the situation in Kogi.
“He (Buhari) must show aggressive capacity, this normal approach cannot work. Whether they are Yoruba or Fulani, a criminal is a criminal and should be treated that way,” Melaye added.
Senator Emmanuel Paulkner (Bayelsa, PDP) said Buhari must not be complacent and must take decisive action.
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia, PDP) was much more critical of the president when he described Buhari as a “president that does not know anything”.
“I agree that we should work with the executive arm of government, but this executive has it accepted responsibility? We have a president that says, ‘I didn’t know my IG did not follow my order. I didn’t know that this happened,” he said.
At this point, Abaribe was interrupted by the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, who said his colleague had digressed from the subject matter and was talking about the president who “has shown concern by visiting Taraba, Benue and Dapchi”.
Abaribe, however, maintained he could speak about the president who is in charge of security.
“I am keeping my contribution to security and the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) is in charge of security, but the C-in-C says he does not know anything, then we have to wonder if the issue of security is in the right hands.
“Let us beg this president to take responsibility for one thing so that we can be safe in Nigeria,” Abaribe added.
Adopting the prayer of the motion, the Senate urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief for the persons displaced by the attacks in Kogi.
Benue Holds Mass Burial
Also in neighbouring Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom yesterday decried the level of bloodshed in his state due to the atrocities of the herdsmen.
He spoke at St. Bernard’s Primary School, Ugwu-Okpoga in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State, during the mass funeral held in honour of 26 victims of herdsmen attacks on Omusu and Okana communities last week.
The state on January 11 held a mass burial for 73 other victims of herdsmen attacks on new year day.
He reiterated his call on the security agencies to arrest the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, whom he said were the sponsors of the killings in the state, based on the comments credited to them and published by various media houses.
The governor, while condoling with the bereaved families, said the arrest of the herdsmen would bring an end to the massacre of Benue people.
He stated that the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law had come to stay in Benue, noting that there was no land for open grazing and crop farming to go on concurrently.
Ortom assured Benue people that his administration would continue to respond swiftly to the security challenges, adding that data was being gathered for compensation for damages caused by herdsmen attacks in Benue.
In separate remarks, the deputy governor, Mr. Benson Abouno, deputy speaker of the state assembly, Mr. James Okefe, and the representative of Bishop Apochi, Rev. Fr. John Attah, among others, conveyed their appreciation to Ortom for his support to the bereaved families and pledged their support for the ranching law.
On their part, the three socio-cultural groups in the state, represented by Mr. Omele Amali, and the representative of Movement Against Fulani Occupation (MAFO), Mr. Dave Ogbole, said they saw the attacks coming and reported to the relevant authorities but nothing was done to avert the massacre.
While expressing disappointment with the federal government over its inactions towards the killings, Ogbole called on the international community to rise up and stop a repeat of Rwanda in Nigeria, adding that the decision by Benue people to remain law-abiding should not be mistaken for cowardice.
In his sermon, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Benue State chapter, Rev. Akpen Leva, prayed to God to grant the governor and the entire Benue people the strength to overcome the menace of herdsmen attacks.
The chairman of Okpokwu Local Government Council, Mr. Olofu Francis Ogwuche, while condemning the killings, called on well-meaning Nigerians and international bodies to assist those who have been displaced by the attacks.
He called for more security forces to be deployed in Benue in order to secure all the local government from further attacks.
‘Declare Them Terrorists’
Also reacting yesterday to the incessant gruesome attacks by suspected herders of livestock in several parts of the country, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka called on the president to declare the marauding herdsmen terrorists just like he did to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Soyinka wondered why Buhari has not declared the herdsmen responsible for the recent killings across Nigeria terrorists.
Speaking during a dialogue organised by Ripples Nigeria in Lagos, the Nobel laureate said if IPOB could earn the terrorist organisation tag from the Buhari-led federal government, there was no reason why the Miyetti Allah, the umbrella body of herdsmen in Nigeria, should not be slapped with a similar label.
“Our Minister of Defence shot himself in the mouth when he made excuses for the herdsmen by saying, ‘What do you want them to do when squatters are sitting on their land?’ It is very shameful that the Minister of Defence is still serving in Buhari’s government,” Soyinka said.
In an hour-long speech titled, “Miyetti to Haiti; Notes from a Solidarity Visit,” Soyinka could not hide his disgust over what he considered excuses being made for the killer herdsmen.
The drying up of the Lake Chad has been blamed for the violent inclinations of the herdsmen, but Soyinka was having none of it.
“When I read of untenable explanations like Lake Chad is receding… water is drying up… I don’t want to hear about all these ridiculous excuses. Nature has been kind to us. We don’t have earthquakes in Nigeria,” Soyinka lamented.
The Nobel laureate said during a visit to an earthquake-ravaged Haiti, herdsmen had neither sticks nor AK-47s. He wondered why the herdsmen roaming Nigeria have been allowed to bear arms.
“I used to wonder whether to call them Fulani herdsmen or not. But now I can call them Fulani herdsmen because they have identified themselves as Fulani herdsmen,” Soyinka said.
Soyinka also took on Buhari for attending a wedding in Kano just days after terrorists abducted 110 schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe State.
Soyinka has been very critical of the Buhari administration and its handling of the security challenges bedevilling the country in recent times.
Other speakers at the event included former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi and Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi of the Transition Monitoring Group.
Thisdaylive
The House of Representatives says having passed a vote of no confidence on the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, it no longer has any business with him and does not regard him as a ‘Honourable Minister’.
The House also mandated its ad-hoc committee on Ajaokuta Steel Complex to consider the possibility of a Bill for an Act to provide for the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Company and prohibit its concessioning before the completion.
The lawmakers took these decisions on Thursday after resolving to probe the engagement of PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PwC) by the minister to audit the steel complex towards concessioning it.
The decisions arose from a motion by Ahmed Yarima (Bauchi-APC) and 24 others.
Moving the motion, Mr. Yarima said the firm engaged to audit the steel company, PwC, is globally discredited, having been sanctioned in many countries, including India which banned it for two years for infractions of over $1 billion.
He said the firm was also sanctioned in Brazil and paid $50 million as fine, as well as being fined £5.1 million in the United Kingdom in the largest ever sanction imposed by the UK regulator.
“They paid $225 million and $25 million respectively as fines to TYCO shareholders in the U.S and Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi, where it was implicated for money laundering for Iran, Sudan, and Myanmar, blacklisted for roles in terrorism and human rights abuses; among other infractions and irregularities in their operations, which has left its reputation in tatters,” he said.
Mr. Yarima said there were allegations that the company was informally engaged by Global Steel to assist and advise it on how to recover Ajaokuta Steel Company and National Iron Ore Company, (NIOMCO) Itakpe from the Nigerian government in 2012 at the onset of negotiations.
He added the company’s antecedents suggest it was engaged to audit and prepare a skewed report in favour of parties the Minister has interest or of its former clients, GINL.
“The Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission both mandated by law under the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act, 2005 and the Public Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act 2004, respectively have not been involved or engaged in the audit and concessioning process adopted by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development,” Mr. Yarima stated.
He alleged that Mr. Fayemi also appointed as transaction adviser, Greenwich Trust Ltd, a firm he said is headed by the wife of the minister’s political mentor, without the input of BPE and ICRC.
He said the minister also turned down other options suggested for the steel complex other than concessioning.
“Almost two years since NIOMCO, Itakpe was again handed over to Global Steel in the so-called modified concession agreement for a seven-year period with an option of a further 10 years, the plant which is integrated with Ajaokuta Steel Complex has remained moribund, which signposts the likely failure of yet another concession,” the lawmaker stated in his motion.
Adopting the motion, the House mandated its ad-hoc committee on Ajaokuta Steel Complex to include the urgent consideration of the possibility of a Bill for an Act to Provide for the Completion of Ajaokuta Steel Company and Prohibit the Concessioning thereof prior to its Completion.
It also resolved to expand the mandate of the ad-hoc committee to further inquire into why Mr. Fayemi engaged a globally-discredited firm, in auditing Ajaokuta Steel Complex without due process and in spite of the fact that the firm had been indicted and punished in many jurisdictions.
The committee was also mandated to inquire into the nature of the conflict of interest that may have arisen on account of the minister appointing a firm headed by wife of political mentor to serve as transaction adviser for the complex.
The House urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop Mr. Fayemi from proceeding further with concessioning processes of the steel complex, pending a review ordered by the House.
The minister and the House of Representatives have repeatedly disagreed on government’s plan to concession the oldest uncompleted steel company in the country.
The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, after visiting Ajaokuta said the reason the steel company had not been completed was leadership problem, saying sourcing about $500million estimated to be required to complete the company should not be a problem.
Mr. Dogara said the required fund could be sourced through the Sovereign Wealth Fund, Excess Crude Account and recovered financial crimes loots.
He said even if it means borrowing the money, the House would give its approval.
The House recently organized a sectoral debate on the steel industry in Nigeria but Mr. Fayemi did not participate.
The minister, through his spokesperson said he duly notified the house of his inability to attend prior to the debate.
But the House described the notice as a ‘deliberate boycott’ of the event and passed a vote of no confidence on Mr. Fayemi and the minister of state in the ministry, Bawa Bwari.
In another statement on Thursday, Mr. Fayemi responded to the decision of the lawmakers.
“Whilst the ministers are convinced the honourable members mean well as patriots concerned about an important national asset, it is also a fact that they have grossly misunderstood the ministers and other stakeholders working with the ministry on this exercise,” the minister’s spokesperson, Olayinka Oyebode, said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES.
“In view of this and the need to set the record straight for the sake of the general public and the investing community, it is important to state as follows:
· The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has not contracted any transactional adviser for the concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company, as wrongly asserted by the House.
· The process for the appointment of a Transactional Adviser is on, but cannot be completed until it gets the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
· The Ministry has not spent a dime from the N2,096,500.00 (Two billion, ninety six million, five hundred thousand naira ) appropriated by the House for the concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company (in the 2017 Appropriation Law).
· The mediation process that led to the amicable settlement of the legal encumbrances on Ajaokuta Steel Complex has not ended. There are still a few more steps to be taken as outlined in the terms of (out of court) settlement. And the Ministry is following up on this.
· It is also important to state that no one has been hired.
· We find it rather worrisome that the House of Representatives could devote an entire day to an issue that has not even arisen.
“The ministry remains committed to making Ajaokuta Steel Plant function effectively, convinced that steel remains the most important engineering material and backbone of industrialisation in any economy.”
PT
The National Judicial Council, NJC, has recommended the compulsory retirement of the Chief Judge of Abia state, Theresa Uzokwe, after it was discovered that she received N825,000 to rule in favour of a litigant and subsequently signed a garnishee order for N109, 612, 500.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the spokesman of the NJC, Soji Oye, stated that the council also recommended the retirement of a judge of the Abia State High Court, Obisike Oji.
He disclosed that “stern warnings” were issued to Justice SE Aladetoyinbo of the FCT High Court and Justice Olusola Ajibike Williams of the Lagos state High Court.
According to the statement, “Hon. Justice Theresa Uzokwe was recommended for compulsory retirement following the findings of two investigative committees set up by the council.
“The committees investigated petitions against her by Umeh Kalu, SAN, attorney-general/commissioner for justice of Abia state, alleging illegal constitution and working with a parallel judicial service commission instead of the one constituted by the state governor and confirmed by the house of assembly.
“Hon. Mr Justice Uzokwe was also found to have misconducted himself in Suit No. HU/131/2005, wherein he delivered judgement in the sum of N825, 000 only in favour of a litigant, but subsequently signed a garnishee order of N109, 612, 500.
“Hon. Mr Justice Obisike Oji was earlier queried by the Council for allowing himself to be sworn-in as acting chief judge, and thereby colluding in, and aiding an unconstitutional process. His reply was unsatisfactory and the Council recommended his compulsory retirement.
“The NJC reprimanded, seriously warned and placed on the Watch List Hon Justice S. E. Aladetoyinbo of the FCT High Court for impropriety in a case between U.L.O. Consultants Ltd v BIL Construction Nigeria Ltd, sequel to a petition by one Uche Luke Okpuno. Council would have sanctioned the Judge more severely but had to take into account the fact that aspects of the case are appealable.
“Council also seriously warned Hon Justice Olusola Ajibike Williams of the Lagos State High Court for grave errors of judgment in her level of involvement in a family business. Council found that the Judge, as a judicial officer, should have been more circumspect and conscious of her office. Council’s sanction was as a result of a petition by Chief Ladi Rotimi-Williams, SAN.”
The NJC, according to Oye, also resolved to set up three investigative committees to consider petitions written against one justice of the Supreme Court and two state chief judges.
The spokesman added that the council dismissed various petitions written against 31 judicial officers.
“Council decided to refer a petition by prince Adesina Okuneye against Hon. Mr. Justice Mwada Balami of the FCT High Court to the Police to investigate the allegation of N5 million bribe to the Judge for granting bail to an accused person.
“Council decided that the petition should be put in abeyance until the outcome of the investigation by the police.
“Council at the meeting also recommended 60 judicial officers to governors of 24 for appointment as high court judges, Sharia court kadis and customary court of appeal judges,” the statement read.
Recalls that the NJC had stated that the, “purported voluntary retirement” of a Federal High Court judge, Adeniyi Ademola, was an afterthought as Council had taken action before his decision to forward any voluntary retirement letter.
DailyPost
Acting Executive Secretary of the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) Mrs Victoria Tayo Odumosu is still in service because she falsified her date of birth in 2016 by changing it from July 6, 1956 to July 6, 1960, according to a report sent to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo by BCDA’s former Executive Secretary, Engr. Numoipre Wills.
In the memo, dated November 9, 2017, Wills said Odumosu should have retired from the federal service in 2016 but that she used her position as BCDA’s Head of Administration “to falsify, alter and or manipulate her records in order to attain her purported directorship and seniority in this agency.”
The furore began in November last year when Wills vacated office that month following the expiration of his second term in office. He handed over the agency to Alhaji Faruk Maiturare, Deputy Director and Head of Project Development and Implementation Department.
Two days later, Dr. R.P. Ugo, Permanent Secretary, General Services Office wrote to Engr Wills on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and directed him to hand over instead to Mrs Odumosu “who is the only Director in the agency based on your Nominal Roll as at October 2017.”
In his reply to the Vice President through the SGF dated November 9, 2017 Wills said, “I was constrained to hand over to Alhaji Maiturare, a fellow of NIOB who is a builder by profession with the requisite expertise, experience, and core competencies is necessary for the leadership of an organisation such as BCDA whose primary mandate is the provision of socio-economic infrastructure to border communities.
“In addition, it was recently discovered that Mrs Victoria Tayo Odumosu being paraded as the most senior in the Agency has been involved in falsification of records which is a serious misconduct punishable by dismissal under Sections 030401-030402 of the Public Service Rules 2008 Edition.”
Copies of BCDA’s Staff Nominal Roll for 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014, all of which our reporter saw, listed 6/7/1956 as her date of birth. Mrs Odumosu went to work at BCDA from the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Jos in 2010. ITF’s Seniority List with Qualification for 2009, which our reporter also saw, as well as the officer’s Record of Service in File 02817 at ITF both listed her date of birth as 6/7/1956.
Dramatically however, according to Wills, Odumosu’s date of birth changed to 6/7/1960 in BCDA’s Staff Nominal Rolls for 2016 and 2017, which she prepared as Head of Administration, and which our reporter also saw.
Daily Trust further learnt that Mrs Odumosu tried to change the date of birth on her international passport but this was rejected by the Nigeria Immigration Service [NIS]. A letter addressed to the Chairman, Senate Committee on States and Local Government Administration dated January 2, 2018, signed by NIS Comptroller General Muhammad Babandede, which our reporter saw, said “(Odumosu) applied for change of date of birth from 1956 to 1960 based on her purported record of service presented for her request. However, a document presented proved that she could not be born in 1960 because she sat for her WASC in 1973 and her Grade Two Teachers Certificate in 1975 which should have been 13 and 15 years respectively.”
Babandede said “in the light of the above, this fraudulent attempt to change her date of birth did not also conform to her previous MRP passport No AO4389378 which confirmed her date of birth to be 1956. Thus, the request was rejected and the reissue was done with the same date of birth.”
Daily Trust learnt that even though she was not issued with an appointment letter, Mrs. Odumosu has since taken over from Alhaji Faruk Maiturare as BCDA’s acting Executive Secretary pending the appointment of a substantive head for the agency.
Another source at the Accountant General’s office told our reporter that Odumosu must have succeeded in changing her date of birth at the AG’s office because the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) of the Federal Government automatically stops a civil servant’s salary as soon as he or she clocks 60 years of age.
For over a week, Daily Trust had tried to obtain a comment for the story from Mrs Odumosu, but without any success. Last week, when our reporter called her, she said she was away. Immediately after speaking to her on phone Saturday, a lawyer called Daily Trust threatening litigation should we go-ahead to publish the story.
The lawyer came back on Monday and said the lady was on tour but she will be back on Thursday. Thereafter, the lawyer took our reporter to the agency’s office and met Mrs Odumosu.
Despite the meeting, Mrs Odumosu declined to respond to the story. On Tuesday, our reporter sent a text message to her mobile phone as a reminder, but without any response.
The next day, BCDA’s chief press officer Mrs Akpohwaye R. Atarhe visited Daily Trust’s head office and promised to provide their reaction before the close of work yesterday. But the spokesperson never did as of last night. However, the director of information in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Mr Lawrence Ojabo, told Daily Trust the matter has been resolved amicably.
He said, “I have found the allegations to be false. The matter was amicably resolved between the accused and the accuser, who (the accuser) apologized over his role in the unwarranted and fabricated scandal.”
DailyTrust
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) was scared of going into the 2019 election.
He declared that the ruling party knows it was staring at defeat.
Secondus said this when Bayelsa Governor Seriake Dickson and his reconciliation committee submitted their recommendations to him in Abuja on Thursday.
He said the APC had become a threat to national security and declared the resolve of his leadership to galvanise Nigerians to displace the APC.
The chairman boasted that the PDP under his leadership has been rebranded and repositioned, stressing that the recent PDP rally in Jigawa, an APC state was a testimony to the fact that Nigerians now own the PDP.
“The APC is a threat to national security. The APC-led Federal Government is broken. The APC has so disunited our people and Nigerians no longer trust it.
“Only the PDP rekindles hope; the party represents the labour of our heroes past; only PDP can secure and keep this country united.
“That is why our emphasis is on returning the party to Nigerians especially women and youths and I want to seize this opportunity to call on all Nigerians including those who have left us to return to the party.
“PDP belongs to all Nigerians and our party is the only party that is not owned by an individual or a cabal. We shall provide level-playing field for all aspirants to actualise their ambitions unhindered.
“We are ready to bend backward to accommodate everybody including those who have left us. The PDP is ready for a robust arrangement to lead other political parties to form government at all levels to banish hunger, insecurity, nepotism and clannishness from Nigeria!
“The 2019 general election is a referendum on the survival of the country. APC and INEC will try to rig but they cannot succeed. Nigerians will resist them,” he said.
Senators yesterday told the Federal Government to take immediate steps to tackle increasing insecurity in parts of the country to avoid unpleasant consequences to the corporate existence of the country.
The lawmakers specifically warned that the country may become a failed state if speedy measures were not taken to address the wanton destruction of lives and property in parts of the country.
The visibly angry senators’ remarks followed a motion of national urgent importance by Senator Atai Ali Aidoko (Kogi East) on the killing of over 32 people in Omale and Dekina Local Government Areas of Kogi State.
Aidoko told his colleagues that the victims were slaughtered on Wednesday in most gruesome manner.
The Kogi East lawmaker said that 20 people were killed in Ogane-Enugu community in Dekina, while 12 others were killed in Agbejukolo, Agbenema communities in Omala Local Government Area of the state.
He lamented: “Despite continued condemnation of killings in many parts of the country, perpetrators of this dastardly act have not been arrested. I want this Senate to urge President Muhammadu Buhari to direct security agencies to bring the situation under control by arresting the perpetrators and ensure that they are prosecuted. This killing is taking another dimension as the killers also amputate peoples’ hands and leave them to go. That is purely genocide which has crept into the killings.”
Senate Emmanuel Paulker (Bayelsa) in his contribution noted that there was no doubt the country was gradually descending a failed state.
Paulker added that there was equally no doubt that the government has lost count of the number of Nigerians killed everyday by armed herdsmen.
The lawmaker warned that if urgent measures were not taken to address the grave situation, the country would surely run into serious crisis.
Paulker said that policing of communities should be taken serious in the interest of Nigerians.
Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, who also contributed noted that the Senate should worked closely with the executive to salvage the situation.
Lawan who just returned from Zamfara State where he toured crisis hit areas said that the effectiveness of security agencies in combating crime in the country shoul.d be worked on and improved
The Yobe State lawmaker, who also posited that security agencies in the country were overstretched, insisted that it was a matter of concern that the number of policemen guarding communities in the country were grossly inadequate.
He wondered how effect security could be in a population of about five million, “you have only 300 policemen guarding the area in the same area over 300 bandits will attack a particular place”
Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, in his contribution blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for alleged inaction.
The Abia South lawmaker said that it was obvious that the President is not in charge.
Abaribe also frowned at the President “frequent bulk passing and trading in blame game.”
He said that President Buhari does not take responsibility whenever anything goes wrong in the country.
Abaribe noted that as Commander-In-Chief, President Buhari should coordinate the fight against activities of herdsmen.
He said, “The President is always passing blames. He blames every other person, but himself. He tells us every times that he does not know what is happening in the country. How can a President utter such words?
“If the President does not know what is happening in a country like Nigeria, how can we be safe? We should call the President to order and tell him to do his job he was elected to do. He should stop claiming that he does not know what is happening and do the needful.”
It was obvious that Abaribe’s remarks did not go down well with some of his colleagues, especially members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Abaribe was interjected in the course of his contribution twice.
The interjection led to a near upheaval on the floor of the upper chamber.
Senators Lawan and Gbenga Ashafa raised Point of Order to pray the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki to call Abaribe to order.
Lawan and Ashafa pointed out that Abaribe left the substance of the motion under consideration to attack President Buhari.
Senator James Manager on his part blamed the killings on non-arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators.
Manager said, “Societies have evolved and there is law and order, when somebody who commits a crime is caught, he should be punished to serve as deterrent to others.”
Senator Adamu Aliero sought the immediate implementation of recommendations of the National Security summit recently organised by the Senate, in conjunction with the Presidency.
He said that a meeting with security agencies some weeks ago revealed that the police is overstretched.
He said that the need to recruit more hands as well as increase the funding of the police was raised.
Saraki in his remarks condemned the killings. Saraki noted that prevailing situation was completely unacceptable.
He said, “The Senate would work towards finding solutions to insecurity in the country. Let us be patriotic because this situation is unacceptable.’’
The Nation
The Kremlin on Thursday termed Britain’s raft of punitive measures against Russia on the alleged nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent “absolutely irresponsible.”
“The position of the British side appears to us absolutely irresponsible,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
He added that Mr. Putin’s retaliatory steps would soon follow and he will choose the option that “most suits Russia’s interests.”
On Wednesday, Britain said it would expel 23 diplomats and suspend high-level contacts with Russia, with other measures to follow.
The announcement came after British authorities said Russia was “culpable” of the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a Soviet-designed nerve agent called Novichok on March 4.
Mr. Peskov reiterated Moscow's position that Britain's accusations were unfounded and that the attack on Mr. Skripal had “all the signs of a provocation.”
“The accusations are not backed up by anything and have been voiced before any information about the used substance could appear,” Mr. Peskov said.
AFP
Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak has admitted receiving US$100,000 from the state spy agency while still in office, reports said Thursday (Mar 15), after he faced a marathon interrogation by prosecutors over corruption allegations.
Lee returned home on Thursday after lengthy questioning as he became the last of the country’s living ex-leaders to be embroiled in a criminal inquiry.
He denied most corruption charges but admitted taking the off-book funds from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) via a presidential aide, Yonhap news agency said, citing a prosecution official.
Allegations of graft involving the conservative 76-year-old’s relatives and aides during his term have mounted in recent weeks as prosecutors investigate multiple cases of bribery amounting to millions of dollars.
The probe means that all four living former South Korean presidents have been convicted, charged, or investigated for criminal offences.
Lee spent more than 21 hours at the prosecutors’ office in Seoul from Wednesday morning, and did not reply to questions from journalists outside as he left.
“President Lee denied most of the charges,” the prosecutor was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
“But he accepted some facts. For example, he acknowledges the fact that he received US$100,000 (106 million won) of the (1.7 billion won of secret) funds” Lee allegedly pocketed from the NIS, the prosecutor told Yonhap.
The news agency added that Lee refused to explain what he did with the US$100,000. He denies receiving the rest of the money.
A prosecution official contacted by AFP declined to comment on the report.
One of Lee’s former aides Kim Hee-joong has told the Hankook Ilbo daily that he himself delivered the US$100,000 to Lee’s wife in 2011 when Lee visited the United States.
Lee, who was head of state from 2008 to 2013, has previously denounced the inquiry as “political revenge” and said on Wednesday he hoped it would be the “last time in history” that a South Korean ex-leader was summoned for questioning by prosecutors.
“As a former president, I have a lot to say about this but I will spare my words,” he told reporters when he arrived for the interrogation.
Prosecutors are thought likely to ask a court for an arrest warrant for Lee in the coming days.
The allegations against Lee include claims that the Samsung Group bought a presidential pardon in 2009 for its chairman Lee Kun-hee, who had been convicted of tax evasion and given a suspended jail sentence.
Both Samsung and Lee have denied the allegations as groundless.
In addition to allegedly pocketing 1.7 billion won from the NIS, he is accused of receiving 400 million won in bribes from a lawmaker and embezzling millions of dollars from DAS, an auto parts company he is said to own under the names of his relatives.
South Korean presidents have a tendency to end up in prison – or meet untimely ends – after their time in power, usually once their political rivals have moved into the presidential Blue House.
Conservative Park Geun-hye was ousted last year over a massive corruption scandal that emerged in 2016, and the verdict in her bribery and abuse of power trial is due next month, with prosecutors demanding 30 years in jail.
Lee’s own predecessor, the liberal Roh Moo-hyun, committed suicide by jumping off a cliff after being questioned over corruption allegations in 2009.
After the South embraced democracy in the 1990s former dictator Chun Doo-hwan and his friend and successor Roh Tae-woo were handed sentences of death and life imprisonment respectively for their involvement in a 1979 military coup and for receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes from businesses.
Both their sentences were reduced on appeal, and they were eventually pardoned and released after serving about two years each.
ChannelNewsAsia
More...
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission will on April 3, 2018 commence the enforcement of its recently unveiled Meter Asset Provider Regulations, 2018, a policy that seeks to bridge the widening metering gap in the electricity supply industry.
It was gathered that the country’s metering gap had increased to about 4.74 million, as power consumers welcomed the new policy, describing it as a panacea for meter unavailability.
“The provisions of these regulations shall be enforced by the commission from the 3rd day of April, 2018.”
On Monday, The PUNCH reported a declaration by NERC that power distribution companies no longer had the sole responsibility of providing meters to electricity consumers.
The commission also announced the introduction of a new regulation that brought another class of operators in the power sector called Meter Asset Providers.
The Commissioner, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, NERC, Dafe Akpeneye, had explained that the MAPs would now take up the duty of providing meters to customers, among other functions.
Buttressing the objectives of the MAPR 2018, the commission stated that the main objective of the regulations was to provide standard rules to encourage the development of independent and competitive meter services in the electricity supply industry and eliminate estimated billing.
Other objectives are to attract private investments to the provision of metering services, close the metering gap through accelerated meter rollout, and enhance revenue assurance in the power sector.
On metering gap and obligations to power distribution companies, the MAPR 2018 stated that Discos were responsible for meeting their metering targets as specified by the commission from time to time.
A crew member of an Emirates Airlines aircraft due to depart Uganda's Entebbe International Airport has sustained serious injuries after jumping out of the emergency door, Kenya’s Daily Nation reported.
Passengers were boarding the flight preparing to fly to Dubai on Wednesday when the woman jumped with speculation that suicide might have been behind her behaviour as she was involved in a verbal altercation with colleagues shortly before.
She was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
African News Agency
Non-teaching staff of Nigerian universities have suspended their strike.
The staff, members of three unions, NASU, SSANU, and NAAT, announced the suspension of the three month and 10 days old strike on Wednesday.
Mr Samson Ugwoke, national chairman of Joint Action Committee of the three unions announced the suspension on Wednesday at a press briefing.
He said members of the three unions have been directed to resume on March 15, 2018.
“We shall not hesitate to resume the strike if government reneges on the agreements reached or delays in any aspects,” he said.
The workers commenced the strike on December 4, 2017.
PT
A major crack has emerged in the ranks of All Progressives Congress in Niger state as one of the senators from the state declared that governor Abubakar Sank Bello does not deserve a second term in office.
Mr David Umaru representing Niger East in the National Assembly gave the thumb down for the governor while speaking with some newsmen in Minna on Wednesday.
Both the governor and senator were elected on the platform of APC but have been at each other’s throat since 2016 over some of the policies of the governor which the senator felt were against people of the state and in particular his constituency.
APC had recently endorsed Mr Bello for a second term in office. Umaru was absent at the endorsement rally.
Umaru said the performance of the governor in the last three years did not qualify him for such endorsement.
According to him, the governor had not performed to the expectation of the electorate that voted him into office in 2015 to deserve such endorsement.
Umaru said the poor performance of the governor did not "justify his rush for second term".
"The APC administration in Niger state has performed terribly bad to the extent that we should not be talking about second term. There is virtually nothing on ground to justify second term for the administration.
"Today I feel ashamed for working to enthrone this administration because of its highest level of un-seriousness”.
The federal lawmaker emphasised the need for APC to "make amends and give the people the deserved developments instead of preoccupying itself with endorsement galore which does not have the support of the electorate".
Umaru criticised the party for "embarking on unrealistic endorsement of some elected persons including the governor" adding that “the party can give ticket but the people will do the voting in 2019”.
“I do not need the endorsement of the governor; he needs my endorsement. I need the endorsement of the people not that of the governor”.
He also decried what he described as "the use of ethnicity and religion to cause confusion in the state’s political landscape" in the face of serious underdevelopment saying "we should all come back as a united force and rescue the state in 2019”.
The lawmaker said that he was "waiting on God to decide whether to contest for any position including the senate in 2019" pointing out that: “contesting in 2019 should not be my priority now.
"As you know I do not have any poster out. I believe it is not how long I stay in office but what I have been able to do for the people that will determine if the people want me back or not".
NewsScroll