Home Blog Page 2929

Walter Onnoghen May Be Next Chief Justice of Nigeria

Editorial
-
0
Walter Onnoghen May Be Next Chief Justice of Nigeria
CJN Mahmud Mohammed will retire on November 10, after attainig the compulsory retirement age of 70 years
CJN Mahmud Mohammed will retire on November 10 on the attainment the compulsory retirement age of 70 years

The Federal Judicial Service Commission has recommended a new Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, to the National Judicial Council for further recommendation to President Muhammadu Buhari.

He is Justice Walter Onnoghen, who is expected to replace Justice Mahmud Mohammed when his tenure ends on the attainment of the compulsory retirement age of 70, on November 10.

Sources within the NJC said the recommendation was made on Wednesday night, as part of efforts to ensure that the office of the CJN does not remain vacant at the end of Mahmud’s tenure.

Justice Onnoghen, born on December 22, 1950, is a native of Biase Local government area of Cross Rivers State.

After his primary education in his hometown, he proceeded to Ghana for his secondary and University education, graduating from the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1977, with a second Class Upper Division.

He attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, between 1977, and worked in the Lagos Justice ministry between 1978 and 1979.

Onnoghen became the Principal Partner and Head of Chamber of Walter Onneghen and Associates in Calabar in 1988 before he was appointed a high court judge, under the Cross Rivers state judiciary a year later.

In 1998, he was made a Justice of the Court of Appeal and was there till 2005 when he became Judge of the Supreme Court.

He is member of the Supreme Court’s body of benchers and a life bencher, as well as a fellow of the Chattered Institute of Arbitrators.

Striking Bayelsa Teachers Reach Truce With Gov. Dickson

Editorial
-
0
Striking Bayelsa Teachers Reach Truce With Gov. Dickson
striking-bayelsa-teachers-reach-truce-with-gov-dickson
Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson

Teachers of government ‎owned primary and secondary schools in Bayelsa have agreed to call off their ongoing industrial action and return to their classrooms, after a meeting with Governor Seriake Dickson on Thursday.

At the meeting, the state government and the striking teachers agreed on the modalities of payment of the salaries.

Jonathan Obuebite, the state’s commissioner of information, said in a statement that governor Dickson is saddened that students in public schools were still at home.

He noted that the meeting between the teachers and the state government was in commemoration of the 2016 World Teachers Day and it was used to address some of the challenges faced by teachers in the state.

“At the meeting solutions were proffered and the governor also thanked the principals for their show of understanding and support  to his administration,” The commissioner stated.

“Dickson after listening to complaints by some principals assured them that henceforth teachers would be paid first every month.

“To achieve that he said a new bank would be used for teachers alone to avert any form of delay in payment and he used the meeting to recognise and congratulate some honest and dedicated principals like Mr Hitler the principle of CSS Elegbegbiri who refunded money that was over paid to his school.”

Obuebite said the teachers were full of commendations for the governor at the end of the meeting, saying that his sincerity in ensuring that the strike was called off tells a lot about his commitment to education.

Appeal Court Reserves Judgement In Saraki’s Trial

Editorial
-
0
Appeal Court Reserves Judgement In Saraki’s Trial
Sarakiiii
Senate President, Bukola Saraki

The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has reserved its judgement in the appeal filed by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, against his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.

Saraki is insisting that he should have been invited by the Code of Conduct Bureau to make clarifications on his asset declaration before charges were filed against him at the tribunal.

When trial resumed on Thursday, counsel to Saraki, Kanu Agabi, a senior advocate, told the court that the statement of his client must be part of an indispensable evidence before the tribunal.

“If you bring an accused to court without his statement, it can do damage to his case. A pre-action notice is not unconstitutional,” Agabi told the panel of appeal court justices led by Justice Abdul Aboki.

“The tribunal had been told to apply the same procedure it adopted in similar cases. If you sanction the attitude that inferior court can depart from their decisions, it will be a bad precedent.

“Legislation is subject to judicial challenge. If it is a precedent, my client can’t be treated differently.

Agabi also pointed out that “This action was filed 13 years after the case was filed. It is not in the interest of justice that you bring a man to court 13years after he had left office.”

He also noted that “only the CCB can file action at the CCT and not the EFCC or ICPC.”

Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the federal government, urged the court to dismiss the appeal.

He argued that once the CCB finds an infraction in an asset declaration form, the onus is on the defendant to prove his innocence before the tribunal adding that “the issue of fair hearing does not appear in this case.”

After the parties had adopted their written addresses, Justice Aboki announced that the date of the judgment would be communicated to them.

The notice of appeal was filed on March 24 after Saraki’s motion challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal was dismissed.

APGA Suspends National Chairman

Editorial
-
0
APGA Suspends National Chairman
Apga's National Chairman, Ike Oye
Apga’s National Chairman, Ike Oye

The National Working Committee, NWC, of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Ike Oye, for alleged gross misconduct.

The decision was reached at the NWC monthly meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

Deputy National Secretary of the party, Jerry Obasi, told newsmen that the action was in keeping with the provisions of the party’s constitution, following alleged constitutional breaches and inordinate practices by the chairman and some other national officers.

He added that the NWC had to act so as to save the party from impending destruction and reposition it to greatness.

Also suspended alongside Oye were: the deputy national chairman (North), Abubakar Adamu and deputy national chairman, Chief Uchenna Okogbuo, both of whom were also accused of several constitutional breaches.

Some of the allegations levelled against them include not involving the NWC in making electoral regulations as well as not involving the NWC in the day to day running of the party, which violates article 12 (3) of the party’s constitution among others.

National Assembly To Summon Buhari Over Economy

Editorial
-
0
National Assembly To Summon Buhari Over Economy
President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari

The Senate has passed a motion to invite President Muhammadu Buhari to address a joint session of the National Assembly on efforts being made to take the country out of recession.

The motion was passed during plenary on Thursday in agreement with a similar resolution by the House of Representatives.

A short statement posted on the social media handle of the Senate read: “The Senate just concurred with House of Representative to invite President Muhammadu Buhari to Appear before a Joint Session of National Assembly, Abuja to explain steps being taken to end recession.”

Read also:

Nigeria Says Europe Blocking Efforts To Boost Electricity

Editorial
-
0
Nigeria Says Europe Blocking Efforts To Boost Electricity
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun

The Nigerian government is accusing powerful western countries of blocking its efforts to boost electricity generation through the use of coal.

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, made this known during the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, IMF, General Meetings, on Wednesday, in Washington, U.S.A.

Speaking on the need to address infrastructure gaps in developing countries, Adeosun said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration takes the issue of improved power supply very seriously in order to boost the country’s economy.

She added, however, that Nigeria was not getting the much needed support from western nations.

She said: “We want to build a coal power plant because we are a country blessed with coal, yet we have power problem. So it doesn’t take a genius to work out that it will make sense to build a coal power plant.”

“However, we are being blocked from doing so, because it is not green. This is not fair because they have an entire western industrialisation that was built on coal-fired energy.

“This is the competitive advantage that was used to develop Europe, yet now that Nigeria wants to do it, they say it’s not green, so we cannot.

“They suggest that we use solar and wind, which is the more expensive. So yes, Africa must invest in its infrastructure, but we must also make sure that the playing field is level.”

The finance minister said that though there was the need for foreign borrowing to finance Nigeria’s infrastructure gap, the strategy was to get the cheapest money.

Adeosun pointed out that the debt to GDP ratio in Nigeria is low but that the cost of servicing those loans was high.

“Right now, we are being very conservative about our debt and we are trying to get the cheapest money possible from multilateral agencies,” she said.

“We are working very hard to make sure that we get multilateral funds first before we go to the euro bond market, which is a little bit more expensive.”

 

Another Indigenous Company Threatens To Leave Nigeria

Editorial
-
0
Another Indigenous Company Threatens To Leave Nigeria

another-indigenous-company-threatens-to-leave-nigeria

An indigenous food company has threatened to move its business out of Nigeria if the government does not put policies in place to encourage the manufacturing sector.

Eric Umeofia, the Chief Executive Officer of Erisco foods limited issued the threat when he addressed a press conference on Wednesday in Lagos, accusing Nigerian authorities of favouring foreigners to the detriment of indigenous manufacturers.

He specifically mentioned the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, as government institutions whose policies do not promote local manufacturing.

Umeofia said about 1,500 workers of the company may be sacked in the next 30 days if the situation remains the same.

The CEO pointed out that his business was doing well in Dubai and Angola before he decided to move his investment worth over $150 million down to Nigeria.

“We brought our investment down to Nigeria, worth over USD150 million and invested it in our only country – Nigeria to process 450,000 metric tons of tomato paste and ketchup annually.

“Presently, we have over 2,000 workers but producing below 20% capacity utilization of our plant since inception,” he lamented.

Umeofia alleged that the CBN allocated foreign exchange to foreigners to import frozen fish and paste that could be produced locally while it refused to allocate any forex to Erisco for the past three months to bring in raw materials.

He added that an Indian firm was recently allocated USD15.1m at N280.00/1USD while Erisco continues to run its factory with forex sourced from the parallel market at over N450/USD1.

The visibly unhappy CEO said that his workforce presently stands at 2050 while another 50 would have resumed by next Monday but the recruitment exercise had to be suspended.

Journalists at the conference witnessed a peaceful protest by more than one thousand workers of the company, calling on the federal government to save their jobs as the CEO threatened to relocate.

Kidnapped Former Minister, Husband Regain Freedom

Editorial
-
0
Kidnapped Former Minister, Husband Regain Freedom

kidnapped-former-minister-husband-regain-freedom

Former Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam and her husband, who were kidnapped by gunmen along Kaduna-Bwari highway on Monday, have regained their freedom.

Aliyu Usman, spokesman of Kaduna State Police Command, confirmed the development to journalists, saying that the couple were rescued at about 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

He however declined to give more details on how they were rescued, saying only that both of them were in stable condition.

It was not clear whether a ransom was paid, as the kidnappers were reported to have demanded a N10 million ransom.

According to the police spokesman, the former Minister and her husband were abducted along Bwari-Jere road on their way to Kaduna from Abuja.

Kidnapping has been on the increase in different parts of the country, especially at this period that the nation is facing its worst economic situation in decades.

Last week, the wife of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, was kidnapped in Edo State, though she was later rescued less than 24 hours later.

Read also:

FEC Approves N3.5 Billion Vehicles For Prisons

Editorial
-
0
FEC Approves N3.5 Billion Vehicles For Prisons

fec-approves-n3-5-billion-vehicles-for-prisons

The Federal Executive Council, FEC, has approved the sum of N3.5 billion for the purchase of 320 operational vehicles for the Nigeria Prison Service, NPS, as part of efforts to decongest prisons across the country.

Minister of Interior, Abdulrahaman Dambazau, made this known while briefing state house correspondents after Wednesday’s FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister noted that the vehicles would be bought locally in line with the government’s policy of patronising local vehicle assembling companies.

He said: “In our efforts to strengthen the Criminal Justice System, to also contribute towards decongesting the prison system, we presented a memo for the procurement of 320 operational vehicles for the prison service at the cost of N3.5 billion.

“This procurement will be from local manufacturers, assemblers and vendors within Nigeria, and the effort is to follow through government policy to ensure that most of the procurement for equipment and vehicles are done locally.

“That will also provide opportunity for job creation and things like that.”

Dambazzu also said that interior ministry was looking at the best way it could improve the conveyance of inmates to courts so that their chances of getting justice would not be jeopardised.

According to him, many prisoners remain in prison longer than necessary because of the lack of operational vehicles that will convey them to courts.

Dambazau revealed that there were about 65,000 prisoners across the country with over 70 per cent awaiting trial.

ECOWAS Court Adjourns Kanu’s Case Till November 8

Editorial
-
0
ECOWAS Court Adjourns Kanu’s Case Till November 8

ecowas-court-adjourns-kanus-case-till-november-8

The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice has adjourned till November 8, the case filed by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB, against the federal government of Nigeria for alleged illegal detention.

Presiding judge, Micah Wright, on Wednesday, adjourned the case for definite hearing following an application by the defendant.

The Federal Government was not present at Wednesday’s proceedings but had written to the court to adjourn the case because it had conflicting case in another court.

Counsel to the plaintiff, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, opposed the application for adjournment and requested for a cost of one million naira, a request that was turned down by the judge.

Kanu is asking for a compensation of $800 million from Nigeria, for the alleged violation of his human rights and an order directing his unconditional release and that of his personal belongings.

He also wants the ECOWAS court to direct the defendants to respect, protect and promote his rights to life, liberty, freedom of movement, assembly and expression.

The plaintiff prayed the court to declare that his arrest and detention since October 14, 2015 by the defendant was in flagrant disobedience to several orders of courts of competent jurisdiction.

He also prayed the court to declare that his continued detention was a violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter of 1970.

1...2,9282,9292,930...3,441Page 2,929 of 3,441