Sahara Reporters Latest News Thursday 18th April 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 18/04/19
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E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98crass-ignorance-and-incomparably-low-level-wretched-illiteracy%E2%80%99 target=_blank>Atiku Blasts INEC’s ‘Crass Ignorance And Incomparably Low-Level Wretched Illiteracy’
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for exhibiting “crass ignorance and incomparable low level wretched illiteracy” in its assessment of Dr. Livy Uzoukwu’s qualifications, in the petition challenging the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as winner of the February 23 election.
In a counter-affidavit, INEC had challenged the choice of Uzoukwu as counsel in the petition, claiming the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) was not on the roll call of lawyers called to the bar and therefore ineligible to practise in the country.
The counter-affidavit specifically referred to documents signed by the learned SAN as Dr. Livy Uzoukwu as against one Dr. Livinus Uzoukwu, which INEC acknowledged to be on the roll call yet argued that both names could not be referring to one and same person.
Reacting to the claim, Atiku said INEC exhibited “crass ignorance” as the use of abbreviations by counsel has been settled by the Supreme Court.
In a statement signed by Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant on Public Communications and Strategy, the PDP flagbearer said as in the case of the dubious WAEC certificate paraded by Buhari, the APC and INEC has assembled a team of lawyers intent on misleading the courts and Nigerians in general.
“It’s either INEC is not aware or chose to maintain a blind eye as far as this issue is concerned,” he said. “How can you say a former Attorney General of Imo State and a SAN is not qualified to practise law in Nigeria? This is a clear case of crass ignorance and incomparable display of low level of illiteracy intended to mislead the court and Nigerians.”
The former Vice President referred Nigerians to a judgment of the Supreme Court permitting counsels to use abbreviations as well as their full names, adding that the use of Livy as against Livinus in the roll call of lawyers called to the bar does not in any way diminish from the qualification of his counsel.
To cement his argument, Atiku reproduced a previous Supreme Court judgement on the matter as follows:
In the case of DANKWANBO v ABUBARKAR (2015) LPELR-25716(SC) the Supreme Court in a unanimous judgment comprising of a full court of 7 Justices( normally the number is 5) held:
Whether an abbreviated name of counsel is permissible for endorsement on court processes I must say clearly, that an abbreviated name is legal and permissible. It does not cease to be a person’s name or render it to lose its juristic personality. In other words, an abbreviation of the ?rst name of any person whose name is on the Roll of Legal Practitioners does not render the abbreviated name to become unregistered or unknown to law as argued by the appellant. This is a di?erent situation from the use of two names that are on the role as a Legal Practitioner’s name to ?le processes in court. There is no doubt that two persons or personalities cannot become, except in marriage when the Statutory law of marriage treats husband and wife of two di?erent personalities as one as far as the relationship exists.? In Amos Oketade Vs. Olayinka Adewunmi & Ors (2010) NWLR (Pt.1195) 63 at 74, this court opined as follows: “There is a big legal di?erence between the name of 3 ?rm of legal practitioner and the name of a legal practitioner simpliciter. While the name of Olujinmi and Akeredolu is a ?rm with some corporate existence, the name of a legal practitioner is a name qua solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria which has no corporate connotation. As both carry di?erent legal entities in our jurisprudence of parties, one cannot be a substitute for the other because they are not synonyms. It is clear that Olujinmi and Akeredolu is not a name of a Legal Practitioner in Nigeria….. There is no such name in the roll of legal practitioners….”There is no doubt that the court came to the above conclusion in that case because it was not disputed that the name Olujinmi and Akeredolu are two di?erent names of two distinct personalities. The two names with the conjunctive word cannot make it one name of a legal practitioner on the roll of Legal Practitioners. Such name cannot be found on the roll. But the name of Samuel Peter Kargbo which is on the roll remains a legal practitioner who is entitled to practice law in the Nigerian Courts by that name either with abbreviated ?rst name or initials of his other names other than the family name – Kargbo. It cannot be said that the name “Sam Kargbo” is either a ?ctitious or false name. I agree that it is the same name of Samuel Peter Kargbo – a Legal practitioner on the roll of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. I agree entirely with the court below when at p.2226 of the record the court, per Ogunwumiju, JCA stated beautifully, inter alia, as follows: “…….The purpose of Sections 2 and 24 of the legal Practitioners Act is to exclude anyone from practicing as a Barrister and Solicitor who had not been called to the Bar and whose name had not been enrolled as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. There was no doubt that the counsel who appeared before the tribunal was a Barrister and Solicitor duly enrolled to practice law before the courts in Nigeria. Counsel’s a?davit to that e?ect was never countered.” I cannot agree more with the court below. The trial tribunal was wrong to have held that the counsel to the petitioner who is the 1st respondent herein cannot practice law with his abbreviated name. The court below was perfectly right and put the point straight.There are many Senior Legal Practitioners and Judicial O?cers whose ?rst name as it appears on the roll of legal Practitioners of the Supreme Court of Nigeria has been abbreviated as it stands today, yet that abbreviation has not robbed and could not rob them of their status as legal practitioners nor can it be said that they have contravened the Legal Practitioners Act. Many ?rst names such as Oluwole, Olukayode, Akinlolu, Christian, Okechukwu, Joseph, Samuel, Emmanuel, Omotayo, Olajide, Oladele, Olabode appear in the Roll but today stand abbreviated as ?rst name of legal practitioners as Wole, Olu, Akin, Chris, Okey, Joe, Sam, Emma, Tayo, Jide, Dele, Bode. Until the contrary is proved, abbreviated ?rst name or initials before family name used on documents for ?ling processes in court or announced as appearing for litigants remain valid and proper forever.” Per ARIWOOLA, J.S.C. (Pp. 66-70, Paras. E-A)
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target=_blank>EFCC Explains Reasons For Rearresting Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia
Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia in court
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it rearrested Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, a former judge of the Federal High Court, in order to file a fresh criminal charge against her.
Ofili-Ajumogobia was rearrested right on the premises of an Ikeja High Court, Lagos, by operatives of the EFCC on Tuesday just after Justice Hakeem Oshodi had struck out corruption charges against her.
In his ruling, the judge struck out the 31-count charge bordering on an alleged perversion of the course of justice, unlawful enrichment and forgery filed by the EFCC against Ofili-Ajumogobia and Godwin Obla, on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit.
Oshodi also said the EFCC violated the procedures set by the National Judicial Council (NJC) in disciplining erring judicial officers
Citing the case of Nganjiwa V FRN as precedent, he ruled that the High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the suit as the EFCC “jumped the gun” in filing the first amended charge.
“As at Monday, December 11, 2017, the EFCC was aware of the decision reached by the court of appeal in Nganjiwa vs FRN,”
“As of that date, the amended information was yet to be filed and the 12 prosecution witnesses were still giving evidence.”
However, in a statement on Tuesday, Tony Orilade, EFCC’s spokesperson, said in view of Oshodi’s ruling and having complied with the NJC procedure, the commission is set to prefer fresh criminal charges against the 59-year old judge.
A statement released by the EFCC read in part “The Commission rearrested Ofili-Ajumogobia in line with the decision of the Appeal Court, Lagos Division, in a case involving Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, where it said that a judge could not be prosecuted until he or she had either been dismissed or compulsorily retired by the National Judicial Council, NJC.
“Consequent upon the fact that the Commission had presented Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia before the NJC for disciplinary action and that the NJC had taken a position, the Commission would now approach the court to prefer fresh charges her.”
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target=_blank>Atiku Releases Details Of INEC Server ‘Proving’ His Victory Over Buhari In Presidential Election
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has released further details about the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to back up his claims of his victory over President Muhammadu Buhari, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the February 23 presidential election.
INEC had declared Buhari winner of the election, saying he polled 15,191,847 to defeat Atiku, who scored 11,262,978 votes. However, Atiku has since claimed he actually polled 18,356,732 votes to Buhari’s 16,741,430, citing figures from INEC’s server.
In his submission to the Presidential Election Tribunal, the former Adamawa State Governor-Elect had given the “unique MAC address and Microsoft product ID of the INEC server” from where the results were obtained. INEC, though, said the result being paraded by Abubakar is fabricated and not from its website.
But responding to the INEC’s submission in a document seen TheCable, Abubakar and the PDP said the address of the server from which the results were obtained is unique to INEC.
“The Servers from which the said figures were derived belong to the first Respondent (INEC). The figures and votes were transmitted to the first Respondent’s Presidential Result’s Server 1 and thereafter aggregated in INEC_PRES_RSLT_SRV2019, whose Physical Address or unique Mac Address is 94-57-A5-DC-64-B9 with Microsoft Product ID 00252-7000000000-AA535. The above descriptions are unique to the 15t Respondent’s Server,” they said.
“There is no conjecture in the votes and scores in the table pleaded by the Petitioners. The figures are factual. The Spokesperson for the 2nd Respondent’s Campaign Organization openly admitted that the data in question was in the first Respondent’s Server when he wrote and submitted a petition to the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) asking the Security agencies to investigate the 2nd Petitioner herein for allegedly hacking into the Server of the 1St Respondent and obtaining the data in question.
“Specifically, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, the Spokesperson of the 2nd Respondent claimed in the said petition that it was the first Petitioner who smuggled the data into the Server.”
Atiku and the PDP also alleged that Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chairman, “committed grave errors in the final collation exercise” for the election by “falsely crediting” some persons with political parties, including “Okotie Christopher, Reverend Dr. Onwubuya and Ojinika Jeff Chinze”.
“The grave errors referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 above were under the hands and signature of the first Respondent’s Chairman, (who was also the Returning Officer) in the conduct of the final collation of the results of the Presidential Election,” they added.
“The Petitioners state that the final results as declared by the first respondent are those that were transmitted online to the website of the first Respondent (www inecnigeria).”
While Atiku continues building his case on his access to the INEC server, the APC has already taken a different course, instead telling the tribunal Atiku shouldn’t have been eligible to contest the election in the first place because he was not born a Nigerian but a Cameroonian.
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target=_blank>BREAKING: INEC Suspends Further Action On Inconclusive Imo North Senatorial Election
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is suspending “all further proceedings and actions” on the Imo North senatorial election, which it earlier declared inconclusive in March.
According to Mallam Mohammed Haruna, National Commissioner and Member, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC made the decision in compliance with an ex-parte order mandating it to do so.
“Further to our statement of 4th April 2019 on the setting up of a committee by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to investigate the veracity or otherwise of allegations of misconduct in the Imo North Senatorial Election, the Commission wishes to inform the public that the Committee has completed its assignment,” the commission said in a statement.
“However, the Commission has been served with an ex-parte order halting further action on the matter.
“The order, issued by the Federal High Court Abuja on 9th April, specifically ordered the permission to stay ‘ALL FURTHER PROCEEDINGS AND ACTIONS by the Respondents (INEC) pertaining or relating or connected with the declaration of Imo North Senatorial District election results of 23 February and 9- March, 2019 pending the determination of the application for prohibition’.
“The case, which was instituted by Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, against INEC a day after it set up committee, has been adjourned to 30th April 2019 for hearing.”
In February, two days after the INEC office in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area in Imo North Senatorial District was set ablaze by persons suspected to be political thugs, INEC declared the senatorial election inconclusive, citing allegations of ballot box snatching, kidnapping of electoral officers and manipulation of the process.
A rerun was held on March 9, but INEC still hasn’t declared a winner.
Before the rerun, Ndubueze Patrick, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was leading Uwajumogu, his closest challenger who is also the incumbent senator and the APC candidate.
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E2%80%94-canada-tells-nigerians-shine-your-eyes-well target=_blank>‘We Didn’t Beg Buhari For One Million Immigrants’ — Canada Tells Nigerians To ‘Shine Your Eyes Well’
The Canadian High Commission in Nigeria has warned Nigerians to “shine their eyes” concerning reports that Canada is voraciously seeking millions of Nigerians to take up permanent residency in the North American country.
Newspaper and magazine publisher Dele Momodu had tweeted the link to a story by CBTV claiming Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to allow one million Nigerians enter Canada under a new Employment and Migration Programme designed for immigrants. Canada’s Prime Minister begs Nigeria President for one million immigrants via @Latest News— Dele Momodu Ovation (@DeleMomodu) April 15, 2019
The report quoted Trudeau as saying “we can’t undermine or overlook the contribution of immigrants in Canada’s development especially our brothers and sisters from Nigeria”, and a spokesperson for the Canadian Labour Department, Shadrack Scott, as adding: “The programme’s website will be launched next week and all available jobs will be listed. Currently there are over 6 million vacancies and we are hoping that Buhari allows at least one million people from Nigeria.”
However, the Canadian High Commission has denied the report.
To Momodu’s tweet, it wrote: “This particular story is FALSE. Nigerians are welcome to apply to immigrate to Canada. For the real information on how to apply, go to .”This particular story is FALSE. Nigerians are welcome to apply to immigrate to Canada. For the real information on how to apply, go to Canada in Nigeria (@CanHCNigeria) April 16, 2019
And on other online reports, it said: “If you’ve seen this link on your social media timeline, don’t fall for it. This story is not true. For REAL information about travelling to Canada, go to .
“Over 4,200 Nigerians were approved for permanent residency in Canada in 2017, which is almost double the number from the year prior. Nigerians in Canada make important contributions to both countries.
“If you see a story online about moving to Canada that seems too good to be true – shine your eyes well-well o!!!”If you’ve seen this link on your social media timeline, don’t fall for it. This story is not true. For REAL information about travelling to Canada, go to . pic.twitter.com/ct2CIqaj05— Canada in Nigeria (@CanHCNigeria) April 16, 2019
Over 4,200 Nigerians were approved for permanent residency in Canada in 2017, which is almost double the number from the year prior. Nigerians in Canada make important contributions to both countries.— Canada in Nigeria (@CanHCNigeria) April 16, 2019
If you see a story online about moving to Canada that seems too good to be true – shine your eyes well-well o!!! @PremiumTimesng @MobilePunch @vanguardngrnews @daily_trust @HOTFMNIGERIA— Canada in Nigeria (@CanHCNigeria) April 16, 2019
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target=_blank>Nigeria: How Not To Fight Corruption By Godwin Onyeacholem
Between fighting corruption with bare knuckles in an inspired manner and wearing well-padded gloves to do half-hearted battle with a monster that has literally crippled the country, the Buhari administration has to make up its mind on which style to adopt. And because time is not on its side, it had better do so now.
Although Buhari says he is fighting corruption, the question to ask is, how is he fighting it? It is true that waging war against corruption was at the top of his agenda in 2015 and he set up a think-tank of seasoned eggheads as well as introduced a couple of novel anti-corruption strategies to match the resolve. But it is also true that in spite of these supposedly virtuous schemes, corruption in various shades, propelled by its more virulent evil partner, impunity, is still rampaging through the land.
A more dispassionate scrutiny of the ongoing anti-corruption campaign would undoubtedly reveal a huge gap between the performance of government and perception. Such awkward disproportions should not be the case in this matter of prosecuting the anti-graft war. What ought to be happening—at least as an enduring index of the promised change—is that citizen perception would largely correspond with the government’s side of the story. That is, government should be seen to be genuinely dealing hard blows on corrupt people and corrupt practices in the country. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Government says it is winning the war, but a large segment of the populace doubts this assertion.
The problem is that the political will mobilized to fight corruption is itself severely enfeebled by the corruption it is summoned to confront. There is no way corruption can be defeated when Buhari seems to be engaging with it wearing blinkers. In all honesty, his fight is puerile; lacking all the firmness, decisiveness and, more importantly, the even-handedness required to secure confidence and belief.
Given Buhari’s reputation for toughness, who could have thought that reports of investigation of alleged corruption would be lying on the desk of whosoever in the presidency or outside of it for ages, gathering dust in a Buhari presidency? Has he, all of a sudden, forgotten that his lead campaign promise to fight corruption to the bitterest end, not to mention his acclaimed integrity, is the major reason the people elected him in 2015?
Sometime in October 2017, Abdulrasheed Maina, the civil servant who absconded after being declared wanted for corruption, suddenly surfaced and was reinstated and promoted to a higher position in the civil service. The news of the recall reverberated across the country and was accompanied by widespread condemnation. Seemingly furious, Buhari, on October 23, directed Winifred Oyo-Ita, Head of Service of the Federation, to submit a report of the circumstances of Maina’s recall to the office of Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President, before the end of that day. That report indeed got to the table of Abba Kyari before the end of that day.
In another six months, it will be two years since the report of that investigation was received at the presidency. But, up till now, no word has come from the presidency regarding the report. It must be on somebody’s desk or shelf, submerged in cobwebs perhaps. No one needs be told that this sends a wrong message about the fight against corruption.
The fury of what the media aptly dubbed “Mainagate” promptly spread to the National Assembly where the House of Representatives launched its own investigation by setting up a 10-man ad hoc committee headed by Aliyu Sani Madaki, a member of the ruling APC from Kano State. At the end of two weeks, the committee laid a report at the plenary which indicted Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. The report said Maina’s recall was “fraudulently masterminded” and that Malami “pressured all that mattered” to force Maina back into the service.
As the Senate was also plunging into an investigation of the scandal, Malami rushed to court to stop the probe, showing clearly that he had something to hide. But what do you make of Attorney General, the chief law officer of a country who held secret meetings with a wanted citizen outside the country? Ordinarily, anyone would think this is a fugitive whose extradition Malami should be working hard to perfect.
Even Itse Sagay, professor of law and chairman of Presidential Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), was horrified by Malami’s action and urged Buhari to do something about it. Nothing happened. Not one person among all those found culpable by the House of Reps probe in the reinstatement of a fugitive into the civil service has been punished by this government. From the AGF, to officials of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, and the permanent secretary, all are still sitting pretty in their cozy positions, none visited with the consequences of such grievous wrongdoing. Again, a wrong signal in the fight against corruption.
And there is yet another. Also in six months’ time, it will be the first anniversary of the presidency’s announcement of investigation into allegations of infraction and financial malfeasance levelled against Usman Yusuf, professor and head of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), by the governing council. Yusuf, according to a statement by the presidency, was directed to proceed on administrative leave November 5, 2018, to make way for an investigation by a 7-man panel headed by Hassan Bukar.
Although the panel had two weeks to submit its report to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the report was not turned in until seven and a half weeks later on December 24, 2018. It is about four months now since that report was submitted but nothing has been heard about it. Recently, one top official of the office of the SGF said government was unable to release the report because of the general election that was just concluded. Pray, what does election have to do with making public the report of an investigation into allegations of corruption against the NHIS boss?
There are many allegations of corruption involving top government officials, including those very close to the presidency, among them a serving governor and even Buhari’s chief of staff, where the president blatantly refused to take action, or reluctantly did so after intense public outrage, as in the case a former secretary to the federal government, Babachir Lawal. This, certainly, is not how citizens expect that corruption would be fought anywhere in the world, least of all in Nigeria under a Buhari presidency.
Only recently, at the request of Ade Ipaye, deputy chief of staff in the presidency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) sent to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo a preliminary report of its findings on allegation of corruption against Marilyn Amobi, MD/CEO of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. (NBET). Limited as it was in its findings and conclusion, the report dated March 6, 2019 indicted the NBET boss and said the Commission would prosecute her and others for violating the Procurement Act 2007 and ICPC Act, 2000. Significantly, the report stated that two whistleblowers who reported Amobi’s corrupt practices—Waziri Bintube, former head of finance and Abdullahi Sambo, former head of audit, were wrongfully dismissed.
Since December 2017 these officers have not been paid their salaries and entitlements even after Raji Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing whose office supervises NBET, had directed Amobi to reinstate the officers and pay their salaries and entitlements. That is just one of the many instances of insubordination she had shown to Fashola.
It is more than five weeks since the presidency received the Commission’s report on the NBET boss but nothing has been done. You would wonder why the presidency is still sitting on the damning report. With it, a government that is really committed to fighting corruption would promptly direct Amobi to step aside as MD/CEO and encourage the Commission to begin prosecution. In addition, that government would also immediately direct that the whistleblowers (Sambo and Waziri) return to work and all their outstanding salaries paid without any further delay.
Clearly, this government realized, and rightly so, that it can never make meaningful headway in the fight against corruption without the input of the citizens. That must have informed the introduction of the whistleblower policy in December 2016. Yet, it cannot claim to be seriously fighting corruption when whistleblowers are not protected; and so far, there is no demonstrable political will to hold wrongdoers accountable.
Godwin Onyeacholem, a journalist, is with the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL).
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target=_blank>University of Ibadan, Are you Guilty or Not? By Olabiyi Richard Aremu
A big mark – a big question that lands students in trouble in the disciplinary council: the senate would turn down the explanation if the defendant says “no my Lord, with explanation” or even “yes my Lord, with explanation”.
There have been cases of crime committed by an individual based on several incidents, and in a University where a disciplinary committee is grounded, it has been confirmed that this committee does not go out of its way to make any finding but feels cool at punishing students with any stereotypical method that fits in.
When a student is being summoned to the students’ affairs division by the University of Ibadan Central Students’ Disciplinary Committee, it is rare for the panelists to ask him to explain his case, rather they ask him a polar question without giving him a fair hearing. There have been cases of unjustly withdrawing a student’s certificate, punishing students for protesting, and for writing articles which could have challenged the institution to be better, but all seem like a war between the tongue and the throat. The tongue exposes the ills while the throat swallows the tongue and the ills. It is gainsaying that students of University of Ibadan have blanketed into silence because of an untold fear. Since the judgment had been passed on the recently rusticated students, silence has been the only defensive which we think is the right weapon. No one wants to be indicted anymore and it seems like this school management is not worth fighting. We should appreciate the institution for planting fear in her students.
For years, it has appeared that the school anthem of the institution should be reviewed or covered for a while until repentance takes dwelling at the Senate arm. When the school speaks about character and learning, it becomes a question of who should disciple who, because even the touts believe in social justice and equal chance order than those in the gown. Leadership and followership shouldn’t be measured by age but by the level of rationalization, level of ability to lead without a title and level of trust by the people.
The polar question to be asked a student summoned by the management is – are you guilty or not? Such student can pick one, but his questions that will deal with his conscience await him. For example, in 2017, a student was invited by the Disciplinary committee to defend himself from a case of rape. After exonerating himself from the case, the school still dealt with him. The lady that was affected pleaded that he wasn’t among the culprit, but it was too late. The victim of injustice stayed in the next room to the room where the incident occurred and was asked why he acted as if he wasn’t concerned.
In November 7, 2015, two halls of residence on campus engaged in a hate, Zik Hall and Queen Idia Hall were not agreeing. From Zik Hall, girls were molested with songs of what they call “Aro”, but during a program at the female hall, Zik Hall went to witness the program and from there, hullabaloo was the atmosphere. Meanwhile, on the second day on this event, Philip Olatinwo – A Zikite, who wasn’t in the Hall anymore at that time, went to a place called Idia Village for a shopping. Succintly, he was roped into the case, dealt with, and this made him to reach out to the Dean of Students was invited by the disciplinary council. What led to his expulsion was his fault because whoever is justified does not raise collar but waits till the end of n argument to be heard clearly.
During the protest of 2017, it started from the administration of an erstwhile President of the Students’ union, Ojo Nifemi. While students were on vacation, a students’ meeting was called where the media also got their way into the Students’ Union Building. Several issues were discussed and among were the issue of half back graduate that the institution is producing. In University of Ibadan, a first class is most vulnerable than others because this one faces his book squarely without even seeing the world and hence many of them become half baked. This administration transferred the resolution of the conference to the incoming administration which was taken up after 24 days in office, when Ojo Aderemi became the President. The school management met with the elected executive members where the Vice Chancellor and the Dean of students said they would be available at the congress to be called by the union. Unfortunately, these ones didn’t appear, thereby forestalling the impossibility of protest to come up. Those that knew expected these two to be around, but they were not. Are you not guilty? In 2016, the interim process audit report of the University of Ibadan – a six years financial report (2010 – 2015) presented by the OS Professional services – a firm hired to conduct it according to a report by Saharareporters. The audit was done in November 10, 2016 and it was said that there was an overfunding of #5.95 billion for 2010 – 2013 carried out by the management without relevant government approvals. The report also stated that “despite spending #12.5 billion between 2010 and 2015 on capital assets financed through federal government budgetary allocation, Tertiary Education Fund and Internally Generated Revenue, the University could not boast of a fixed asset register for its fixed assets”. The OS Professional services also explained that the University’s asset register was not updated and asset evaluation was never carried out – all these in a school that ranks the best (any school can be the first).
Starting from March 2018, private hostels in the University of Ibadan: CMF, AOO, 77 Palms, A Six 2 Bedroom flats – Senior Staff quarter have been commissioned, but “despite the impact on students-related income and the IGR generation of the institution, despite the fact that these PPPs would say “it was their contribution to the institution in appreciation of what it has offered them in the past, the Auditor said “the Bursar of the institution failed to make available any of the Public Private Partnership agreements for review. The OS Professional Services emphasized that what was found during the review of financial information was overspending on a number of vote items. Meanwhile, after this finding was made, the only solution was to kill the kindling under the carpet armpit even though the investigation was ordered from the office of the Account-General of the Federation.Recently, another scam of #1.98bn rocked for a good time on campus which out the University Bursar in a hot run. Anyone that enters University of Ibadan today would feel how the system has rot: from the laboratory equipments in the sciences to other facilities that are archaic and not presentable to the Times Higher Education that ranks the institution blindly. It is a crime for the University to expect the students to always speak well of it when their lives are getting knottier each day, when the only focus of the institution is to camp everyone to only follow the la cram la pour technique and pass excellently. Anyone can visit the institution and access her properties for rating, and whoever succeeds from the citadel of learning was his own effort to beat the reach. The Postgraduate school complains, medical school despite the increment of professional levy still complains, and even the interactive boards are placed in some classes, they have always been there useless and wasting.
Are they not guilty?
Here is a University that punishes a student because he is not worthy in character and learning. It is still questionable as to who should improve his character and learning, but who cares? Even parents would tell their children to end their education in peace and come home, such a futuristically insolent conclusion. In a bid to defend herself, the Vice Chancellor has always beaten the drum that the students broke the glass of a lecturer’s care. How is it possible for students protesting peacefully along the school gate to break a glass at a physics department very far from the protest take off point? Are you not guilty?
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target=_blank>20 Elderly SANs Warn Buhari: Onnoghen’s Resignation Is Not Enough
A 20-man group of aged Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) under the aegis of the Justice Reform Project (JRP) on Tuesday said Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen’s resignation is not enough in view of “the grave nature of the allegations” against him.
The group said justice should run its course in the Onnoghen matter, and also urged the Nigerian Government to sanction other judges whose legitimate earnings are not commensurate with their wealth,
According to JRP, extending the anti-graft exercise to other judges will restore confidence in the Judiciary and debunk the impression that the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) was being victimised.
The group, set up to push for reforms in the judiciary/legal profession, is led by one of the oldest SANs, Ebun Sofunde, with Jibrin Okutepa, Dr Babatunde Ajibade, Prof Ernest Ojukwu, Osaro Eghobamien, Mrs. Funke Adekoya, Kayode Sofola, among others, as members.
In a statement, JRP said it noted Onnoghen’s resignation “with concern”, but added that the matter should not end there.
The group said “his resignation/voluntary retirement is not an answer to these allegations”, adding that it expects that justice, which is no respecter of persons or position, will be allowed to take its course”.
JRP urged the Federal Government to look beyond Onnoghen for three reason main reasons.
It said: “Beyond Honourable Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, however, the JRP believes the revelations that have been made in the course of this affair necessitate that urgent steps be taken to identify and sanction all other Nigerian judicial officers who are found to possess inexplicable wealth that cannot be reconciled with their legitimate income or their asset declarations, two of the allegations made against Justice Onnoghen.
“These steps are necessary for a variety of reasons. First, to restore public confidence in the judiciary and disabuse the notion that all judicial officers in Nigeria are corrupt and that justice is for sale.
“Second, to disabuse the notion that Justice Onnoghen’s travails are a mere witch-hunt motivated by ethnic and political interests rather than the result of a genuine concern for sanitising and reforming the Nigerian judiciary.
“Third, to eliminate the suspicion that the Executive arm of government is using the information it has access to by virtue of its control over the apparatus of the state to take selective action only against those judicial officers that fail to do its bidding.”
Besides, the group said Onnoghen’s response to allegations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the National Judicial Council (NJC) raises significant questions about how heads of courts manage judiciary’s funds.
“Without prejudice to the legitimate clamour for increased budgetary allocation to the judiciary, its financial independence and improvement in the working conditions of service of judicial officers, all of which JRP wholeheartedly supports, there must be better management of that which is currently allocated.
“The JRP calls on everyone with a stake in our judicial system (the public, the Bar, and the bench), to report their concerns, if any, to the relevant regulatory agencies so that they are investigated.
“The legal profession is a self-regulating one, so it behooves all its members to take an active interest in maintaining the standards of rectitude and integrity expected of judicial officers and legal practitioners.
“In making this call, the JRP merely exhorts every member of the legal profession to act as they are expected to act. If the profession does not regulate itself effectively, incidents such as those involving Justice Onnoghen will remain a fixture in our judicial system.”
On Thursday, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) will give judgement in the trial of Onnoghen for a six-count charge of fraudulent declaration of assets.
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target=_blank>Ekiti Assembly Bans Former Deputy Speaker For Six Months For Interrupting The Speaker
The Ekiti State House of Assembly on Tuesday banned Segun Adewumi , a former Deputy Speaker and the Peoples Democratic Party member representing Ekiti West Constituency 1, for six weeks for unduly interrupting Speaker Adeniran Alagbada.
The suspension followed a heated verbal exchange between the Speaker and the former Deputy Speaker at the plenary, prompting the Speaker to exercise his powers with which he banned him in accordance with Section 17 of the House Standing Order.
Following the suspension, the Speaker said Adewumi would be prevented from participating in any plenary session, but could only be involved in off-plenary activities of the House.
Alagbada said: “I am still the presiding officer of this House and it constitutes an infraction for any member to interrupt me when I preside, except you have an observation to make.
“But with what transpired today, it seems Hon. Adewumi did not make any observation, but only wanted to stall this proceeding and he is hereby banned for six weeks.”
Other lawmakers, in their submissions regardless of political parties, agreed with the action, saying the Speaker did not breach the Constitution and standing order in arriving at the punitive measure against Adewumi.
Also at the plenary, the Assembly passed a bill to repeal Ekiti State Official Logo Amendment Law No. 28 of 2014, as well as the bill to re-enact Ekiti State Government Official Logo Law 2011.
The lawmakers also considered Ekiti State Development and Investment Promotion Agency Bill 2019 and fixed another legislative day for further legislative processes.
However, the screening and confirmation of some political appointees earlier fixed for Tuesday was shifted on the request of the Executive.
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‘I Was The First To Flag It’ — Nnamdi Kanu Claims Credit For ‘Atiku Is Not A Nigerian’ Debate
Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), says the resurgence of the argument that Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is not a Nigerian but a Cameroonian, is proof that whatever he says on Radio Biafra is nothing but the truth.
One of the hottest topics of Nigerian politics of the moment is last week’s claim by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that Atiku should have been ineligible to contest in the first place because he is not a Nigerian by birth.
The party made this argument in its reply to the 139-page petition filed by Atiku and his party before the presidential election petition tribunal in Abuja.
In the reply, filed by Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), its lead counsel, the party said Atiku was born in Jada, now Adamawa State but then in Northern Cameroon as of his birth in 1946, and is therefore a citizen of Cameroon. It accused the PDP of fielding a non-Nigerian as its candidate, and also faulted the competence of the petition.
Atiku discussed the matter in a somewhat tenuous response, saying: “The fact that the APC chose to base its defence on the ridiculous assertion that the Waziri Adamawa is not a Nigerian should show to Nigerians the type of characters we have in the APC and its government, whose legitimacy runs out on May 29, 2019.
“The position of the APC is so pedestrian and shows such straw clutching desperation on their part, that I shall not dignify it with an answer. Our lawyers would, of course, do the needful in court. But the point I want to draw the attention of Nigerians to is that both the APC and its candidate have by this infantile logic admitted to the fact that they trampled on the will of Nigerians and that their only defence is to attempt an unconstitutional redefinition of the term ‘Nigerian.’”
Contributing to the talk via his latest Radio Biafra broadcast, Kanu said, “The headline ‘Atiku Is Not a Nigerian, APC Tells Tribunal’ is vindication that everything I say on Radio Biafra is the truth. It may appear outlandish and unbelievable at first, but eventually history always vindicates me.
“As everyone can see very clearly, it is unambiguously stated that for you to become the President of Nigeria, you must be born a Nigerian. Simply put, your birth certificate or any official notation must say clearly that you are a Nigerian. As at the time Atiku was born, his citizenship on his birth certificate read Cameroonian.
“The incontrovertible truth is that His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar the former Vice President of Nigeria for eight years, became a Nigerian by virtue of the referendum of the 11th of February 1961. He was not born a Nigerian and as such he became a Nigerian as a result of the British organised plebiscite held in British Cameroons to give the people of Adamawa, where Atiku comes from, the opportunity to choose where they would like to belong.
“When I first raised this issue, which incidentally has been ignored by all arms of government including INEC whose duty it is to ensure that candidates meet all stipulated constitutional requirements, it was not to insinuate or imply that Atiku is not a Nigerian, but rather to highlight the very constitutionally critical point at the heart of IPOB agitation for Biafra independence; which is that asking for a referendum is never a crime in any law known to man.
“Therefore if Adamawa people can be allowed to freely choose where they wish to belong, then justice and equity dictates that we the people of Biafra must be allowed to do the same. This point that is lost on Justice Binta Nyako and numerous other semi-literate judges handling IPOB cases today in Nigerian courts.”
Kanu criticized Atiku’s defence team over its “weak and porous argument” that if Atiku was not a Nigerian he wouldn’t have become the country’s Vice-President, while living, investing and paying tax in Nigeria. He argued that by virtue of relevant sections of the Constitution, anybody born in Adamawa between 1946 when Atiku was born, and 1960, was not qualified to contest election as President of Nigeria.
“This is a wholly unnecessary digression that failed to address the constitutional question of place of birth as key qualification for anybody seeking to become the President of Nigeria,” he said.
“That Atiku was the Vice President is not the issue at hand but rather his suitability as defined by the constitution of Nigeria. With this ridiculous born in Nigeria requirement, nobody born in present day Adamawa before 1961 or those of us born in Biafra from 1967 and 1970 can ever vie for the office of the president of Nigeria.
“Atiku Abubakar was born on November 25, 1946 in Jada, now Adamawa State, then in Northern Cameroon, was a citizen of Cameroon but now a Nigerian by plebiscite. This information has always been in the public domain. What I did was just to flag it. The only part that can be said that I pioneered is that Atiku became a Nigerian citizen by the sheer force of Referendum which is what I want for Biafra. I wanted to prove to some ignorant Nigerians and their quack judges that asking for a referendum is not treasonable felony.”
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