Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Monday 15th March 2021
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 15/03/21
Read also
Ex-Militant Leader, Asari Dokubo Dares Buhari, Declares Biafra Government
A former militant leader, Asari Dokubo, has dared President Muhammadu Buhari as he has constituted a Biafran government after declaring same.
Buhari had in 2017 said his government would not allow dismemberment of Nigeria.
”We cannot and we will not allow such advocacy. As a young army officer, I took part from the beginning to the end in our tragic civil war costing about 2 million lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering.
“Those who are agitating for a re-run were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous consequences of the civil conflict which we went through.
“I am very disappointed that responsible leaders of these communities do not warn their hot-headed youths what the country went through. Those who were there should tell those who were not there, the consequences of such folly.
“At all events, proper dialogue and any desired constitutional changes should take place in a rational manner, at the National and State Assemblies,” he had said.
However, Dokubo on Sunday declared himself the leader of the new Biafra defacto Customary Government (BCG).
In a statement signed by Uche Mefor, BCG’s Head of Information and Communications, the former militant leader named those who would serve as leaders in the government alongside himself.
He said, “We as people have resolved that as Biafra, it’s time for us to take our destiny in our hands and bring freedom to ourselves and our children and the generation of Biafrans yet unborn. I hesitate a little but I thank God that it’s time for us to do our duty and our service to motherland, I have accepted this role. I have dedicated my life hundred percent to play this role.
“My first act today in taking this position is to name those who would be on the driver’s seat to navigate through this period of tempest, this period of uncertainty with me. I want to call on our brother, George Onyibe to come on board to join as the secretary of the defacto customary government of the State of Biafra. He will take care of the administrative, day-to-day administration of the Biafra State.
“I also call on our brother Emeka Emeka Esiri to take care of the legal needs of this nascent government. My brothers and sisters, the four of us will kick start the process, others will come on board. We want volunteers who are committed. We want volunteers because there is nothing anymore. We are the people who have volunteered to salvage ourselves and the rest of us.
“I also call on Biafrans in the various provinces of the Biafra nations in Aba, Abakiliki, Anang, Awka, Calabar, Degema, Eket, Enough, Nsuka, Ogoja, Oji River, Okigwe, Onitsha, Opobo, Orlu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Umuahia, Uyo and Yenegoa province. We are going to proceed to set up provincial structures of government starting with provincial assemblies and provincial governance and administrators.”
Dokubo also mentioned education and agriculture as key areas of focus. He condemned the stoppage of food transportation to the South.
“You are all aware of the recent plot where they decided to stop food from the North. They failed woefully, they will continue to fail. The Government of Biafra State will look to make sure that we only eat what we can produce.
“Nobody can stop us. Nobody can blockade us as they did in the first war. We’re not going to fight any war with anybody, we’re walking to freedom. We will not shoot any gun with them, they will prepare their weapon but they will have nobody to kill with their weapon,” he added.
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Ex-Convict Re-arrested For Robbery Four Months After Prison Release
Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have re-arrested a robbery suspect four months after he was released from Kirikiri Correctional Centre.
The suspect, Taiwo Sunmonu, 23, was arrested while he and his gang members were allegedly robbing unsuspecting Lagosians at Ajayi Street, Oto Awori in Ijannikin.
The statement read, “The Lagos State Police Command has arrested one Taiwo Sunmonu, m, 23, on 13th March, 2021 at 11.30 pm, for armed robbery after he was released from the Kirikiri Correctional Centre in November 2020, having served a five-year jail term.
“The suspect was arrested by the police operatives attached to Ijaninkin Division, while responding to a distress call, as the suspect and his gang members were robbing unsuspecting Lagosians at Ajayi Street, Oto Awori, Ijannikin in Lagos State. But other members of the gang escaped.
“The suspect has confessed to the crime and other crimes he had participated in. After the arrest, one locally-made pistol and live ammunition were recovered from him.
“In another development, a brave victim of armed robbery attack, George Bankole, male, of Fadal Cooperative Estate, Ikorodu, struggled with some armed robbers that robbed him in the area on 12th March 2021, at 8 pm and recovered a locally-made pistol with live cartridges from them.
“The victim informed the police that the armed men dispossessed him of his mobile phones and bags before they eventually escaped. He summoned the courage to proceed to Ikorodu Division, Igbogbo, to report the incident and hand over the arms for further investigation. The police operatives have however embarked on a discreet investigation into the matter.”
CRIME
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Nigeria On The Brink Of Collapse, Says Borno Senator, Ndume
The Senator representing Borno South District, Ali Ndume has lamented the rising insecurity in the country, stating that Nigerians don’t seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.
Ndume also said the clamour for a northern Presidency in 2023 would amount to the North seeking a third term in office, describing such a move as unconstitutional.
Speaking at a media briefing on Saturday, the Senator opposed the call for amnesty for repentant bandits, insisting that criminals and bandits should be brought to justice.
“The fundamental thing that keeps the country going is security and welfare of the citizens. That’s why our constitution clearly states that the purpose of government is the security and welfare of the citizens. You know these two key things are now under threat in Nigeria.
“At the beginning, it started like a joke, starting from small stealing and all that. That culminated in armed robbery. In the early 70s in this country, you hardly hear of armed robbery. I remember when we were in secondary school. One of the first armed robbers that were executed at the beach in Lagos was Oyenusi; they called him ‘rob and kill’. Over 30,000 people gathered at the beach to watch his execution with his colleagues. The next one that was famous was that of Anini. But other than that, before today, armed robbery was a small crime in Nigeria.
“You see people involved in banditry, kidnapping, and of course, the insurgency that has bedevilled the North-East for the past 11 years now, to the extent that in Maiduguri now, once it’s 5 o’clock, you cannot go in or come out of Maiduguri. From all angles. By 10 o’clock, Maiduguri is shut down. You can’t go anywhere. In fact, this is even an improved situation.
“We hear of kidnapping, banditry, and all sorts of crime these days. The nation is on the brink of collapse. The unfortunate thing is that Nigerians, from top to bottom, still trivialise, tribalise, or give the situation religious colouration, and we’re now in this sorry state.”
Insurgency
Terrorism
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%99s-grant-application-template-gimba-kakanda Sokoto’s Grant-Application Template, By Gimba Kakanda
Gimba Kakanda
Last year, a friend of mine who works at an international financial institution pointed me to the reason various state governments in Nigeria have failed to access grants and secure a lasting development partnership. “We have so many grant opportunities available,” he said, “but the conditions appear like a huge sacrifice for them.” He was in Nigeria along with a team to meet with various government officials, and discuss the eligibility criteria for the financing and partnership programmes rolled out by the organization, but the visit left him utterly confused. He couldn’t understand the reluctance to open up government processes and allow for an independent audit of public accounts.
Gimba Kakanda
My friend, however, didn’t immediately get the dilemma before the politicians. As tempting as the “free” dollars intending donors were offering was, opening up the government’s financial records for public assessment is an invitation to intense scrutiny and barrage of questions for which intelligent answers, from those in charge, may not be available. So, these state governments, specifically those who operate off the book, settle for the convenient options of dodging such partnerships to squander federal allocations which come with minimal or no supervision at all. Strangely, the most ambitious of them still apply for such grants despite their poor credentials, having been misled by well-paid consultants and, thus, end up with a ton of rejections and updated application guidelines from the donor organizations.
In January, when Sokoto state emerged as the topmost beneficiary of the World Bank-assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme, it instigated conversations in public policy circles. It came to many policy analysts with some shock. No one seemed to know what reforms were going in the state to warrant topping such an important index. Sokoto state received N6.612 billion through the Ministry of Finance, topping the list, with the Kano state, which has the most number of people in the country, attracting N1.710 billion, which was the lowest grant. The logic of this distribution of N123.34 billion performance-based grant to eligible states may elude onlookers, but it’s based on the extent to which the states opened up their book and adhered to measurable transparency tools.
Having surpassed states with a larger revenue base and population, Sokoto state’s SFTAS story made news headlines and drew the curiosity of Nigerians who must’ve had enough of the secrecy with which bureaucracy functions in Nigeria. This is even more so because the state has been mostly quiet in the news, and so its emergence at the top of the index caught the Nigerian public, especially those with no keen interest in government beyond Abuja, unaware.
However, SFTAS, as designed in the collaboration between Nigeria and the World Bank, is adopted to “strengthen the fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability in participating Nigerian states”. But qualifying for this grant isn’t just based on accountability alone, applying states are expected to present verifiable records of their revenue mobilization, public procurement procedures, and debt sustainability. I was personally intrigued by how the state, which scored a lowly 2/5 in 2019, strove to achieve 14/15 in 2020. I had to read up and ask questions to properly understand how a state considered as the heart of the conservative system would overtake “modern” Nigerian states in a race like this one.
I’ve remembered that at the onset of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal’s second tenure, he busted a salary-racketeering cartel and announced the state would, thenceforth, save about N500 million monthly from erasing ghost-workers. Two years down that line, with the automation of payment and revenue-collection platforms by the government, it’s unsurprising that the state’s fiscal reforms paid off, and had become an example of the open government for states in search of development grants.
When, late last year, Sokoto featured in my private conversation with Seun Onigbinde, the co-founder of BudgIT, a civic organization that breaks down government spendings, he observed that “Sokoto has been doing well on our index.” With an automated financial management information system that allows for real-time reporting of government inflows and outflows, the state has made easy any intending foreign or external partner’s efforts to verify its expenditures.
Sometime in January, at a roundtable discussion tagged “Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability of Nigerian States” by the Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS), the Sokoto state model was projected for praise and emulation. Urging states to prioritize revenue generation and fiscal transparency, the participating public finance experts asked other states to “learn from Sokoto State that was able to lead the table of performing states”. Rotimi Olarewaju, profiled as a financial analyst in the report, “noted that Sokoto state must be praised and used as an example for other States since it is showing others that winning the World Bank performance-based grant is possible.”
Along with his team, Sokoto state’s hardworking Commissioner of Finance, Abdussamad Dasuki, has demonstrated the practicality of fiscal responsibility in a system with largely frail institutions of governance and attendant corruption. Like a typical Nigerian state, Sokoto has been a haven of ghost-workers and has a minimal revenue base to drive a jamboree among the politicians. But, despite these glaring disadvantages, the state still opened its books to subject its spendings and earnings to public examination.
Beyond this search for a template, an open government stirs up the interest and participation of even the politically apathetic in policymaking. The Freedom of Information (FOI) bill exists to drive these practices, but that’s not activated the response required to sustain transparency. The choice to treat governments as secret organizations is a culture that has kept money in the pockets of too many politicians and public servants, and the fiscal reform measures demonstrated by the Sokoto government, is a template worthy of emulation. One that all state governments would do well to replicate.
In a democracy, transparency should be given, not a favour to be negotiated. The point must be driven in the minds of those in public office that being accountable to those who entrusted one in the office should be seen as part of the job, not some extra cost, on the part of officeholders. It’s commendable now that the SFTA project is helping us underscore the importance of this element of democracy.
Kakanda is an Abuja-based public affairs analyst
Opinion
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Gimba Kakanda
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%98you-are-ingrate-liar-you-admitted-being-caught-cheating%E2%80%99%E2%80%94-ffk%E2%80%99s-third-wife-regina ‘You Are An Ingrate, Liar, You Admitted Being Caught Cheating’— FFK’s Third Wife, Regina Counters Precious
Fani-Kayode and Precious Chikwendu
Regina-Hanson Amonoo, the third wife of Femi Fani-Kayode, has defended the former Minister of Aviation over allegations of abuse levelled against him by Precious Chikwendu.
Fani-Kayode and Precious, his fourth and estranged wife, have continued to make the headlines since their marriage of seven years collapsed last year with the pair currently in a heated tussle for the custody of their four children.
Fani-Kayode and Precious Chikwendu
INSTAGRAM/@REAL_FFK
Precious had accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain of having mental health challenges.
She claimed that Fani-Kayode was abusive to her during her pregnancy due to his mental health challenges.
Precious also alleged that the former minister called the triplets in her womb cockroaches while punching her stomach.
Fani-Kayode, had, however, fired back in a statement. He had also dismissed the allegations and described his former wife as “a pathological liar and a slanderer.”
Speaking in defence of the ex-minister, Regina asked the public to disregard Precious’ abuse claims.
In a statement on Saturday, the Ghanaian also said it was unfortunate that the mother of four would make such allegations against the former minister despite the fact that he helped her in several ways.
The statement read, “My name is Mrs. Regina Fani-Kayode and I am the first wife of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. We were married in 1997 and we are still married up until today. Precious Chikwendu, a strange woman that he took under his roof, married under law and custom and lived with for seven years has written things about my husband which are not only untrue but also downright defamatory and scandalous and I will respond to her with the following as a first salvo.
“Precious, you are just a sick woman and a big liar. I know you collected over half a million US dollars from Femi within the first few months of meeting him for a fake investment. We have witnesses to prove it and remember that you even asked me to thank him for it. I also know he set you up in one business or the other four times in 7 years and got you offices, etc. but you squandered it all.
“When you came to my husband and took over my home, you and your family were like hungry refugees. You had nothing but rubber slippers and you were desperate for help. My husband sent three of your siblings to tye hest schools for seven years and took care of their every need yet you now slander him and insult him not minding the effect it will have on your own children. That in itself proves that you are insane.
“You say he has mental issues; meanwhile, you were the one that was locked up in a mental hospital for one month after trying to kill him and his children. You stayed in the home of a man with mental problems for six years and allowed your mother, aunty, two brothers and sisters to stay there too? Who are you trying to fool? You are nothing but a wretched ingrate and, like Madame Kemi Olunloyo said, a pathological liar. And God will punish you and all your siblings for your ingratitude and lies.
“You knew he was still married to me because you and I spoke countless times on the phone and you even stayed in my room and wore my clothes . You had nothing when he took you in, you are so ungrateful. Six of your relatives lived in my house for 6 yrs and they were all depending on Femi for food, upkeep, medical bills and school fees. Even your sister’s wedding was paid for by him.
But that didn’t stop you from plotting with your gang to kill him. You admitted to me about being naked in the hotel room with a man on the night FFK caught you.
“I know the huge amounts of money he spent on you and your family and I’m sure you can’t deny that, that’s why his friends tagged you as a gold digger.
“Your inability to love your children which you attributed to a medical condition was well tolerated by FFK and twelve nannies and nurses were working round the clock to keep you from harming them but you still got to beat up Aragon badly and bleached their skins till they broke out in sores. You are a mother from hell and a horrible woman. In one of your dramatic fits, you pulled knives to stab Femi and the children and the police were called in stop you.
“FFK never laid hands on you, even on the day he caught you in the hotel room with your lover. Is that the act of a violent man? All his male friends you have been offering your body to have already confessed so please stop trying to blackmail them. Stop working for those criminals who are just using your body to rip off rich men. There is so much more to expose about your wickedness but I really don’t have time for your drama this year.
“I am the reason Femi tolerated your nonsense for so long but enough is enough, I will not allow you to kill him because of your greed. He’s too busy to answer your stupid tantrums and fantastic lies; your media rants lack facts and the powerful truth will always prevail.
“Your constant threats to kill the children is why Femi is afraid to leave them with you. You can’t even find the time to call them till now. You think raining insults daily on their nannies is the best way to encourage them, instead of talking to your babies. And why were you stealing half their salaries when you had your own allowance? All the evidence will be presented in court soon.”
Scandal
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%94group Buhari Shoot-on-sight Order On Possessors Of AK-47 Dangerous To All Nigerians —Group
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari
The Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to security agents to shot anyone illegally bearing an AK47 rifle is dangerous to all Nigerians.
The group in a statement by its National President, Dr Osagie Obayuwana urged the President to have a rethink, even while combating the insecurity challenge in the country.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari
REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON
Obayuwana argued that such order could lead to serial extrajudicial killings of innocent Nigerians, as overzealous security agents could take the law into their hands by shooting anyone they have issues with.
The statement read, “Not a few people have complained about what had become the silence of Mr. President for a long time especially over issues where his voice should be heard loudly. Over a long time, in matters of national concern, people of all categories have repeatedly called on Mr. President to speak; most of the time, he did not oblige the call. At a point, his handlers argued that Mr. President is entitled to his style, which left many people wondering whether what we have in Nigeria is a constitutional democracy, founded on the principle of accountability of public office holders to members of the public.
“Even the way the invitation of the President to address the House of Representatives on the security situation, which was once accepted, was shortly thereafter turned down, left more questions, than answers in the minds of many. To close observers of the media policy of the Buhari Regime, it seems like centuries ago that Mr. President had a media chat. This graveyard silence, that does beyond taciturnity give some credence to the speculation as to whether our President is alive or not. “It is as if Mr. President felt compelled to speak out, when the security situation had clearly gotten out of hand, especially following the repeated nature of mass abduction of schoolchildren in different parts of the country. But what the nation heard was a reported speech, through Mallam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Adviser on Media that Mr. President had ordered that any person found with AK-47 rifle should be shot on sight. “Trust the ever boisterous Nigerian media; many queries immediately surfaced; did the President actually say so, did he mean shoot to kill or shoot to maim and disable? Did he actually mean that a holder of an AK-47 wherever found should be shot dead? Must the holder of the AK47 rifle be alone or more than one? “How do we distinguish policemen who adorn torn jeans and T-shirts while flaunting their AK-47 in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria’s inner cities and on highways or is the order intended only for those who wear turban? Is the order limited to AK-47? What about AK-49 and deadlier machine guns we have seen menacingly flaunted on numerous video clips on the internet? Finally, to whom is the President’s order directed? Only soldiers which include the Army, Navy and the Airforce, or the police? What about Customs, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps? “As if to clear all doubts, as to the source of the directive, on Thursday 11 March, 2021, the presidency released a 12-second video clip, where President Buhari at a meeting with the National Council of Traditional Rulers held at the State House, Abuja, personally reinforced the directive, that anyone carrying an AK-47 Rifle illegally, should be shot, because according to him, “AK-47 is supposed to be registered and only given to security officials’. The Oni of Ife and the Sultan of Sokoto were in attendance. Hurrah!!! was the expected response from the Nigeria People; our President has indeed woken up and risen to the occasion. “The first point of call has to be the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) which is Section 33, protects the right to life. Subsection 2 of Section 33 provides that a person shall not be regarded as having being deprived of his right to life if he dies as a result of the use of such force as is reasonably necessary for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property.
Additionally, force that could lead to death has been justified to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person from lawful custody; and finally use of such force is also permissible under the Constitution for the purpose of suppressing a riot, insurrection or mutiny.
“This section of the Constitution has been criticised for not being in conformity with international standards, especially where it allows for the taking of life in defence of property. The exceptions created under Section 33 of the Constitution, it is argued, appear to trivialise the sanctity of life, whereby defence of property under circumstances where no threat is posed to the life of another, appears to be justified. “Section 73 of the Criminal Code applies in matters of dispersal of unlawful assemblies. Under the section, any police officer may use such force as is reasonably necessary for dispersing or overcoming resistance to dispersal. But there are pre-conditions contained in the law, which require that there must have been a proclamation made for dispersal and the expiration of a reasonable period and the number of those assembled must be 12 or more persons, and there must have been resistance to being dispersed by those continuing in the assembly. “It seems clear that the Shoot-on-Sight Order given by Mr. President has no bearing with Section 73 of the Criminal Code. Police Force Order No. 237 is the rule that guides the use of fire-arms by the Police, and stipulates the circumstances under which a Police Officer may use fire-arms. The group said the directive failed to consider some important factors.
He said, “Again, there is no doubt that the shoot at sight order proclaimed by Mr. President did not take into consideration the Revised Force Order 237 on the use of firearms and lethal force by the police.
“The point to be made is that there is in existence Basic Principles on the use of force and fire arms by law enforcement officers, which emphasises proportionality and mandates that the use of lethal force should be as an absolute last resort and only when strictly unavoidable, in other to protect life.
“Placed by the above standards, President Buhari’s Shoot-on-sight order clearly has no basis in the law. The famous dictum is that even in times of war, the law is not silent as there are laws of wars. “No doubt, the security situation Nigeria’s contend with at this time is grave, but the rational handling of the situation calls for circumspection and not knee jerk reactions. One would not want to believe that Mr. President in making his order is playing to the gallery of public expectations. No matter the gravity of the situation, the law is that a citizen is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law and can only be punished and stipulated in law. All members of the society are exposed to danger in a situation where Mr. President by casual order confers powers of life and death to a policeman or soldier, who accuses, judges and executes punishment in spite of the standard set in the law.
“After all, Mr. President has not declared a state of emergency under Section 305 of the Constitution. Were Mr. President to have done so, a formal proclamation would be necessary and the stipulations and preconditions outlined in the Constitution would be complied with; the duration will be as spelt out in the law, and the National Assembly would have played its role in the process. “Shoot-on-sight orders pose a danger to us all and Mr. President should have a rethink, even while combating the insecurity challenge frontally.”
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%9420-year-old-suspect I Always Have Urge To Rape Any Girl I See —20-year-old Suspect
Illustration
A rape suspect, Quadri Azeez, 20, disclosed that he is always overcome by the urge to rape each time he sees a girl.
Azeez described the problem as spiritual when he was arraigned before Magistrate Olusegun Ayilara of an Osogbo Magistrates’ Court in Osun State.
Illustration
He was arraigned on two counts bordering on rape and assault.
Azeez said, “I always feel like raping girls that come my way, I always feel uneasy when I sight any girl. My parents had been going about for spiritual solution to my problem before I raped this girl. That was the first girl I would ever rape.”
The charge sheet presented before the court by the prosecutor, Inspector Elisha Olusegun, said Azeez on March 6, 2021 at Ara area, Ede, unlawfully had sexually assaulted one girl (name withheld) thereby committed an offence punishable under sections 358 and 360 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol. II Laws of Osun State of Nigeria 2002.
The plea of the defendant, who was represented by Mr Olatunbosun Oladipupo, was however not taken.
The magistrate ordered that he should be remanded in correctional custody.
The matter was adjourned till March 15, 2021 for further hearing.
CRIME
Legal
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
2023: INEC Working For Nigerian Ruling Elite To Cause Crisis In AAC, Ademiluyi Says
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu
A human rights lawyer, Ayo Ademiluyi, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of working for the Nigerian ruling elite to cause a crisis in the African Action Congress ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
The lawyer stated this in a statement on Sunday, in which he called on INEC “to immediately hands off the AAC”.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu
SaharaReporters Media
According to Ademiluyi, human rights activist and founder of the party, Omoyele Sowore remains the extant National Chairperson of the party.
He said, “My position is premised on the extant provisions of the Electoral Act (as amended). I am of the view that the purported emergence of one Leonard Ezenwa as the National Chairperson of the party without a Majority support of the National Executive Committee and working in cahoot with a minority in the National Working Committee is in flagrant violation of the Electoral Act (as amended).
“I condemn the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in particular in proving purported legality to a purported National Executive Committee convened by Leonard Ezenwa. I am concerned that it has been the consistent pattern of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide false legality to factional NEC Meetings or Conventions with its statutory attendance.
“I recall the circumstances of the purported removal of Omoyele Sowore as National Chairperson of the African Action Congress (AAC) which coincides with his arrest and incarceration for the August 5, 2019 #RevolutionNow protests and the purported National Convention which purportedly validated it.”
He also identified the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Television Authority as being of part the grand scheme to cause problems in the AAC ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“The purported National Convention was uniquely aired on government-owned owned Nigerian Television Authority. I condemn the role of the Department of State Services, the Nigerian Television Authority, and indeed the Independent National Electoral Commission in this charade.
“What is clear as noonday is that there is a grand plan on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission, actually working out the script of the entire ruling elite to shut out the working people from the electoral arena, come 2023 general elections.
“The National Assembly, more or less a gathering of ruling class ambassadors, surreptitiously inserted into the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
Last week, Nzenwa claimed that Sowore, who was the party’s presidential aspirant in the 2019 elections, had been expelled by the party.
But Ademiluyi blamed INEC for the situation, saying it was in the habit of providing “false legality to factional NEC meetings or conventions with its statutory attendance”.
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%99s-trial-uk-wants-take-recovered-loot-says-falana-led Nigerian Govt Frustrated Ibori’s Trial In UK, But Wants To Take Recovered Loot, Says Falana-led Coalition
James Ibori
The Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), a coalition led by Femi Falana (SAN), has said the Nigerian government frustrated the trial of former governor of Delta, James Ibori, in the United Kingdom (UK) but now wants to receive the recovered loot.
In 2012, a UK court sentenced Ibori, who governed Delta from 1999 to 2007, to prison after convicting him of fraud and money laundering.
James Ibori
He had pleaded guilty to 10 counts bordering on fraud involving sums amounting to about $66 million.
He was slammed a 13-year jail term but returned to Nigeria in February 2017 after serving part of his term.
Ibori later filed an appeal against his conviction which was dismissed by a UK court, paving the way for confiscation of his assets in the UK.
On Tuesday, the UK government made a commitment to return £4.2 million loot recovered from the former governor to the Nigerian government.
Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the federation, had said the recovered loot would be channelled into federal projects.
This led to a controversy over whether the loot should be returned to the Nigerian government or the government of Delta state.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Falana said the Nigerian government was not supportive of the prosecution of Ibori in the UK.
The statement read, “In opposing my position on the legitimate right of the people of Delta State to the sun of £4.2 million confiscated and recovered from the Ibori loot some colleagues have argued that the fund should be forfeited to the Federal Government on the grounds that the (Emmanuel) Uduagban regime (the administration that succeeded Ibori’s) had said that no money was missing from the coffers of the state government.
“No doubt, the former Delta State Government had denied any loss of money during the proceedings of the Federal High Court for the confiscation of the $15 million bribe given to Mr. Nuhu Ribadu by Chief James Ibori. Hence, the presiding judge, Kolawole J. (now JCA) directed that the fund be paid into the Federation Account for distribution in line with the provisions of the Revenue Allocation Act.
“But the Delta State Government never said that the over £100 million confiscated from Chief Ibori in the London trial did not belong to the people of Delta State. However, it is on record that the Federal Government openly opposed the trial of Chief Ibori in the United Kingdom. In fact, in utter breach of the provisions of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between Nigeria and the United Kingdom the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Michael Aondoakaa SAN rejected the request to make relevant documents available for the trial in the United Kingdom on the ground of sovereignty.
“In particular, Chief (Michael) Aondoakaa refused to entertain the request of the UK Metropolitan Police and made under bilateral mutual assistance to Nigeria on the ground that the request was not made by the Home Office. The request was to question Chief Ibori about his involvement in corruption and money laundering that occurred in the United Kingdom.
“Aondoakaa said: ‘I think Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, deserves some respect. They the Metropolitan Police knew they were wrong, otherwise why did they now write through the Home Office requesting mutual assistance to quiz a prominent Nigerian. … I cannot compromise the sovereignty of this country, if they make incompetent requests I will turn them down 20 times. Any request from Metropolitan Police would be refused by this office, period.’ See Kolawole Olaniyan, Corruption and Human Rights Law in Africa, Oxford: Hart, 2014, p 15.
“‘Dr. Olaniyan criticised the use of ‘Sovereignty, technicalities, and small details’ as justifications for refusing requests for mutual cooperation and assistance in cases of corruption involving high-ranking state officials.
“Similarly, African representatives who participated in the negotiation of the UNCAC insisted that any reference to protection of sovereignty should not be interpreted in a way that would undermine the efforts of countries seeking to recover illicit assets. Article 51 of UNCAC on asset-recovery explicitly states that the return of stolen assets is ‘a fundamental principle of the Convention’. The effectiveness of the asset recovery provisions of UNCAC depends to a large extent on the measures for mutual legal assistance. Thus, states are required to establish a legal framework to enable them to provide assistance to other states in the recovery of assets acquired through corrupt practices recognised under the convention. To ensure effective international cooperation in the fight against corruption and money laundering, the UNCAC in article 60 requires states ‘to consider’ various potential methods to provide technical assistance to each other in their plans and programs to prevent and combat corruption.
“As far as international law is concerned the recovered fund belongs to the people of Delta State who are the victims of the corrupt practice of Chief Ibori. Having ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) both Nigeria and the United Kingdom are bound by Article 35 thereof which states that: ‘Each State Party shall take such measures as may be necessary, in accordance with principles of its domestic law, to ensure that entities or persons who have suffered damage as a result of an act of corruption have the right to initiate legal proceedings against those responsible for that damage in order to obtain compensation.’
“The British Government is releasing the stolen money to Nigeria in strict compliance with international law and not out sheer generosity as erroneously argued by some lawyers. According to the travaux préparatoires to the UNCAC,’ ‘this article is intended to establish the principle that States Parties should ensure that they have mechanisms permitting persons or entities suffering damage to initiate legal proceedings, in appropriate circumstances, against those who commit acts of corruption.'”He continued, “From the foregoing, it is undoubtedly clear that the huge success recorded in the prosecution of the case was anchored on the collaboration between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Metropolitan Police. To that extent, the Federal Government which had set out to frustrate the trial of Chief Ibori cannot turn round to lay claim to the fund confiscated on the orders of the British courts. Having regards to the facts and circumstances of the case the the Ibori loot belongs to the people of Delta State in toto under domestic and international law. After all, the Federal Government had handed over the fund stolen by two former governors, in similar circumstances, to the people of Bayelsa and Plateau States.
“It is common knowledge that Nigeria through the EFCC has consistently returned huge sums of money recovered from local criminal elements convicted by Nigerian courts for swindling foreigners including European and Americans. Sometime in November 2005, the EFCC returned US $17 million to a Brazilian bank – the first instalment of $242 million siphoned by a group of Nigerian scammers to William Richey, a lawyer representing the defunct Banco Noroeste of Sao Paolo, Brazil. On that occasion, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu said that ‘by making this restitution to the victim of the scam we also want to send a strong, unequivocal message that we will no longer harbour such fraudulently acquired funds no matter where the victim is.’
“The return of the huge fund was based on the orders of forfeiture made by Olubunmi Oyewole J. (now JCA). But out of sheer colonial mentality, some lawyers are asking the Nigerian people to clap for the British Government for returning £4.2 million out of Ibori loot of over £100 million warehoused illegally in the United Kingdom in defiance of the money laundering laws of that country. It is interesting to note that many Nigerian lawyers are not aware that banks and other financial institutions in the United Kingdom have recently been ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars as damages for aiding and abetting corrupt public officials and drug barons who live in foreign countries.
“Finally, no doubt, the former Delta State Government was irresponsible to have denied that Chief Ibori looted the treasury of the State at the material time. But such denial cannot be a justification for the confiscation of the Ibori loot of over £100 million that is expected to be repatriated to Nigeria by the British Government. After all, before his assumption of office as President in May 2015, General Mohammadu Buhari had repeatedly maintained that the late General Sani Abacha did not steal a dime from the account of the Federal Government. But the Federal Government under the President’s watch has continued to recover the remaining Abacha loot and no one has suggested that such recovered loot be paid to the account of the United Nations or African Union on moral grounds.”
Money Laundering
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Two Kidnappers Shot Dead In Abuja
File photo used to illustrate story.
The police have gunned down two kidnappers in Anguwar Hausawa, Naharati community in Abaji Area Council, Abuja.
According to Daily Trust, the kidnappers were killed during an exchange of gunfire between the police and members of the vigilante group guarding the area.
File photo used to illustrate story.
A resident, simply identified as Suleiman, said around 1am on Sunday, gunmen in their large numbers swooped on some houses in Anguwar Hausawa.
He said before the arrival of security operatives, the gunmen had broken into some houses and whisked away four persons.
The persons kidnapped were identified as Abdullahi Umar, Abdulkarim Yusuf, Abubakar Umar and 13-year -old Abdulrahman Isah.
“They started shooting sporadically into the air to scare residents after they kidnapped four people,” he said.
The chairman of the council, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya, confirmed the abduction of the residents and killing of two kidnappers.
Journalists who visited the police station, saw the corpses of the kidnappers lying on the floor.
Some residents rushed to the scene to take photographs and videos of the corpses.
Among the items reportedly found on them were SIM cards, charms and phones.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the FCT police command, Maryam Yusuf, confirmed the incident.
She said the police repelled the attack, narrating that the kidnappers, who sustained gunshot injuries, died while being taken to the hospital.
CRIME
Police
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Read also
You can also check
