The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has rearrested former Imo State Governor, Achike Udenwa, over alleged campaign scandal committed during the 2015 presidential election.
The former governor had been enjoying administrative bail but has reportedly failed to meet his bailed condition which included presenting himself to the anti-graft agency whenever needed, thereby necessitating the withdrawal of the bail.
Udenwa, who acted as the Imo State coordinator for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential campaign organization, was accused of collecting the sum of N3.5 million from Nenadi Usman, the then director of finance for the PDP presidential campaign.
In his statement to the EFCC, Udenwa admitted receiving the money in three separate installments from a company named Joint Trust Dimension Limited.
The company had been joined in a money laundering suit by the EFCC before a Federal High Court Lagos, alongside Nenadi Usman and Femi Fani-Kayode, the media director of the PDP presidential campaign.
Achike Udenwa was a governor of Imo State under the flagship of the PDP between 1999 and 2007 and became Minister of Commerce and Industry between 2008 and 2010 under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday re-affirmed the sack of Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Justice Nwamaka Ogbonnaya, held that an earlier judgment given by Justice Valentine Ashi, which nullified Modu Sheriff’s appointment on June 29, has not been set aside or vacated and is therefore subsisting.
Ogbonnaya ruled that all actions taken by Modu-Sherif are null, void and of no effect since the earlier order of Justice Ashi remains binding
The judge restrained Modu-Sheriff from further parading himself as the National Chairman of the PDP.
Recall that Justice Ashi had in his judgment on June 29, nullified the 2014 PDP Constitution amendment upon which Modu-Sheriff was said to have been appointed as PDP Chairman.
Ashi voided the said amendment on the basis that there was no compliance with mandatory provisions of Article 66 (2) and (3) of the PDP constitution.
“By reason of the above, the purported amendments introduced to the constitution on the aforesaid dates, are hereby set-aside.
“All persons, individuals, servants or agents of PDP parading themselves as national officers of the PDP pursuant to the purported amendment which has now been nullified are hereby restrained from further parading themselves in these capacities “, Justice Ashi said.
However, there had been several other court orders for and against the removal of Modu-Sheriff as PDP chairman and the formation of a caretaker committee led by Ahmed Makarfi.
The latest of the judgments was given by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal high court in Abuja, ordering the Makarfi-led faction of the PDP not to go ahead with its proposed national convention which was scheduled to hold on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The Nigeria Police, acting on the order, sealed off the venue for the proposed election, forcing the party delegates to return to the Party’s secretariat in Port Harcourt, where they unanimously agreed to extend Makarfi’s chairmanship of the Caretaker committee by 12 months.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has paid a condolence visit to the family of Justin Abuah, the Director of Information in the state house, who passed on recently.
The minister was accompanied on the visit by top management of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture including Bayo Onanuga, the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria; Emmanuel Agbegir, State House Director of Public Communication; and Peter Dama, the Director, Protocol and Public Relations.
Mohammed described the late Abuah as a dutiful and highly effective worker who spent a greater part of his career in the State House. He appealed to his colleagues to emulate his legacy of service to the nation.
He noted that Abuah’s death was painful but urged the family to put their trust in God and to find consolation in the fact that the deceased left behind a rich legacy.
The minister said to the deceased wife: “After a few days, nobody will come here again but God will remain with you and the children and He will guide you aright and he will provide for your needs.
“Put your faith in God and be strong. God will be with you. You will reap from his (Abuah’s) goodwill.”
Elder brother to the deceased, Arnold Abuah, thanked the Minister and his delegation, on behalf of the family, for identifying with them in their most difficult period.
Abuah, was born on January 29, 1959, and died on Sunday, August 14, 2016, in Abuja after a brief illness.
Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has explained the reason for setting up a judicial commission of inquiry into the administration of former governor, Jonah Jang, saying that it was not a witch hunt.
Governor Lalong gave the explanation while inaugurating the six-man panel in government house, Jos, the Plateau state capital.
He said he was only heeding the “deafening calls” by the people to hold the previous administration accountable to the people.
“It is also not a witch-hunt but a hunt for that which has probably been hidden from our citizens. As a responsible government, we cannot afford to ignore this deafening call, which for all intents and purposes are justified,” Lalong said.
He added that the commission’s report will aid his administration in taking the necessary steps to recover government’s monies and property being withheld by past public office holders in the state.
The governor stated that he will be ready to be probed after his time in office.
He said: “It is the belief of my administration that only after facts are publicly obtained and tested, will the truth be brought to bear on the issues agitating the minds of patriotic Plateau people.”
This will “also serve as a caution and clarion call on political office holders and civil servants as well, to know that we will at the end of our term be called upon to also give account of our stewardship.”
“And by the same parameter with which we assess others, we also are setting the parameter upon which we will be assessed,” Lalong said.
He urged the panel to discharge their responsibilities diligently.
Stephen Adah, chairman of the commission, assured the governor that all parties would be given fair hearing, while also calling on him “to come up with facts and relevant information required for this inquiry.”
Members of the commission include Bibiana Bawa, Aliyu Sangei, Ekoja Ekoja, Simon Agamah, and Sani Yahaya.
The commission has three weeks to submit its report.
Following protests by some aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State, security operatives were on Wednesday deployed to the party secretariat to prevent break down of law and order.
Protests had erupted on Tuesday after former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu reportedly declared his support for one of the governorship aspirants, a move some APC members described as an attempt to impose a governorship candidate on the people of the state.
But Tinubu, a national leader of the party, had stated that he had the right to have a preferred candidate as a member of the party, and that those questioning his right to do so are not democrats.
Tinubu also assured the aggrieved members that the governorship primary election of the party in Ondo would be free and fair, and advised those fighting him to concentrate their energies on fighting for “support and votes” of party members.
The aggrieved members had driven out party officials from the secretariat and locked the gates, refusing entrance to the state party chairman, Isaac Kekemeke.
But on Wednesday, some of the party supporters loyal to the chairman, arrived the party secretariat and broke the padlocks with which the gate was locked, before taking positions across the area as policemen took control.
The armed policemen were also joined by men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.
Leader of the group, Amoda Bello, said it was illegal for any group to have locked up the secretariat premises, adding that if any group feels aggrieved, it should channel its grievances through the appropriate quarters.
Rahman Rotimi, the APC State Secretary, also condemned the action of the people that locked the party secretariat, which he described as a symbol of the party.
Also, Ajayi Boroface, a senator and one of the 25 governorship aspirants of the party, had in a statement absolved Tinubu of any plan to impose a candidate on the party.
The legislator called the allegation against Tinubu as a “baseless distraction” that will not help those “spreading the rumour.”
The Federal High Court in Abuja, has refused to hear a fundamental rights enforcement suit brought before it by the former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Jibrin Abdulmumin.
Jibrin had approached the court, begging it to shield him from being arrested or interrogated over his allegation that Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara and three other lawmakers, surreptitiously padded the 2016 budget with about N40billion.
Counsels to Jibrin, led by Mohammed Abdulhamid and Chukwuma Nwachukwu, told the court that Jibrin’s colleagues were plotting to implicate and make him “a scapegoat” after he revealed how N40bn out of N100bn allocated to the entire National Assembly, was diverted.
Joined as respondents in the suit are Speaker, his Deputy, Yusuf Lasun, the Chief Whip, Alhassan Doguwa and the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor.
Others are the Nigeria Police, the Inspector General, the Commissioner of Police for the FCT and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
However, Justice Okon Abang who is currently sitting as a vacation judge, refused to hear the suit, saying that Jibrin ought to have obtained leave that would enable the court to hear his matter during vacation.
Justice Abang said that “A matter filed during court vacation is not heard as a matter of cause.
“The applicant is expected to apply and obtain the leave of court to have his matter heard during the court vacation in line with the provisions of Order 46 Rule 5 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2009.
“This applicant did not do so. I do not have jurisdiction to even grant an adjournment of this suit. “It is expected that the applicant will do the needful to comply with the provisions of the rules of this court.”
In the suit, Jibrin also sought an order directing the Respondents, jointly and severally, to pay him N500 million as aggravated and exemplary damages for violating his rights, and to also publish a written apology to him in two prominent national dailies.
He alleged that the respondents, did not only deny him the opportunity to substantiate his allegations before other members of the House in plenary, but had sponsored an invasion of his home where a seven-month old baby and a convalescing mother were greatly harassed and humiliated.
Jibrin asked for “An order of mandatory injunction restraining the Respondents whether by themselves, officers, servants, agents, privies or howsoever named from further attempting to arrest, arresting, intimidating, threatening or infringing on the Applicant’s fundamental rights except in strict compliance with the Constitution”.
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the financial spending of the two tenures of former governor Jonah Jang.
This was contained in a press statement by Emmanuel Nanle, Director of Press and Public affairs to the governor.
Nanle stated that the Commission of Inquiry will be chaired by a Justice of the Port Harcourt division of the Court of Appeal, Stephen Adah while Sani Mavo is to serve as Secretary.
Other members of the commission are Bibiana Bawa, Ekoja Ekoja, and Samuel Agamah.
The Commission’s Terms of Reference include : “To ascertain all financial transactions, done or entered into by the Government of Plateau State of Nigeria or through any of its Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), or official acting in its name from the 29th day of May 2007 to 29th May 2015.
“To ascertain and establish all financial allocations, funds, grants or monetary interventions and revenues which accrued to or in the name of the Government of Plateau State of Nigeria. Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Officials or Agents from the Federal Government of Nigeria or any International Institutions or Donor Agencies from 29th May 2007 to 29th May 2015.
“To ascertain and establish all loans granted to or obtained by the Government of Plateau State of Nigeria through any of its Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), and the purpose for which such loans were obtained and whether the loans were used for such purpose.
“To ascertain whether any property belonging to the Government of Plateau State or any of its Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals and Institutions which were sold or in any way concessioned to any person(s), or institution(s), by any Government Ministry, Department, Agency (MDAs), or officials between 29th May 2007 and 29th May 2015, followed due process or procedure and whether the proceeds of such sale or concession were paid into appropriate Government coffers.
“To ascertain whether any property or properties purchased or acquired for or in the name of the Government of Plateau State were purchased in line with due process and procedure.
“To ascertain all contracts awarded by the Government of Plateau State or any of its Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals or Officials between 29th May 2007 and 29th May 2015, the process or procedure followed in the award of such contracts, the value of each contract (including any variations and whether such variations were necessary and done in good faith), the level of execution or completion of each of them and the amount paid to the contractor as at 29th May 2015.
“To ascertain the total amount paid by the Government of Plateau State as salaries and allowances of serving and retired State Civil Servants, Local Government Employees and Political Appointees from 29th May 2007 to 29th May 2015; And to further establish whether any person or employee of Government received multiple payments of salaries or pensions, and the role played by any person(s) toward such payments.”
It would be recalled that almost immediately after Jang handed over to Governor Lalung, there were calls from various quarters in the state for the former Governor to be probed.
Among those that called for the probe was a senator of the 4th assembly, Venmak Dangin.
Dangin had insisted that if Lalung’s administration refuses to probe Jang, the people of the state would be heavily disappointed.
Also on June 1 this year, it was reported that a group known as “Buhari Integrity Group’, BIG, called on Governor Lalong to institute legal action against the immediate past governor of the state, over what they described as misappropriation of public funds.
The group, led by Alhassan Aliyu, as part of activities to mark the one year in office of the All Progressives Congress, APC government, had submitted a communiqué to the state chairman of the, APC, Lateb Dabang, saying that public resources should not be pocketed by a few.
Governor Aminu Tambuwal has set up a task force that will mobilize Sokoto’s unemployed graduates and other qualified individuals to ensure full participation of the state in Federal Government social intervention programmes.
A statement issued in Sokoto on Wednesday by Tambuwal’s spokesman, Imam Imam, said the task force is expected to develop strategies on how the state will participate and benefit from the various employment plans introduced by the FG.
Among such schemes include the 500,000 teachers to be recruited into the civil service, the 100,000 extension workers to be employed to boost the agricultural sector in the country, among others.
The high-powered task force is headed by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Bashir Garba, a professor, while Lawal Kebbe will serve as the Secretary.
Other members include the state commissioners of Justice, Usman Sulaiman; Budget and Economic Planning, Bala Kokani; Finance, Saidu Umar; Health, Balarabe Kakale and Women Affairs, Kulu Sifawa.
Also to serve in the task force are commissioners of Agriculture, Umar Nagwari; Basic and Secondary Education, Jabbi Kilgori; Information, Jeli Abubakar, Local Government and Community Development; Mannir Iya and Environment Bello Sifawa.
The rest include Secretary of the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Farouk Shehu; representative of the state office of the National Orientation Agency, NOA; businessman Buhari Dasuki, Nasiru Daniyan, Fabian Okoye and Bashir Gidado.
The statement added that considering the fact that the closing date for many of the FG programmes is approaching, the task force should immediately get to work to ensure no qualified and interested Sokoto indigene is left out.
Kano state government plans to establish a pharmaceutical products market in the state capital, as part of initiative to curb the sale and consumption of unwholesome drugs.
The state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, who announced this on Wednesday in a speech during the opening of the Pharmacy Week 2016, organized by the state branch of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, at Tahir Guest Palace, said the aim is to significantly control proliferation of hard and counterfeit drugs and medicament s.
According to him, at the moment, it is difficult for government to control drug vendors in the state who own shops all over the place and prescribe pharmaceutical products indiscriminately, saying such activities must be stopped to save the lives of the people.
His words: “Representatives of professional bodies like Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and law enforcement agents would be stationed in the market so that all products are safe, effective, and of good quality, and are prescribed and used sensibly”.
Ganduje noted that it is more difficult to check and regulate the rampant use of herbal substances because most of the herbalists are not certified and sell their products anywhere giving wide room for abuse.
The governor tasked the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria to assist the government to control the use of herbal products.
Ganduje also assured that his administration would pay attention to manpower development in the area of Pharmacy and promised to complete all capital projects in the health sector in the state.
On his part, the National President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Ahmed Ibrahim Yakasai, thanked the federal government for its determination to regularize doctorate degrees for pharmacists in Nigerian universities, describing the initiative as a significant milestone in moving the nation forward.
He described Kano state government as a pacesetter in the fight against the sale and consumption of hard drugs, assuring that the pharmaceutical society in the state would support the government effort.
Earlier, the chairman, Kano state branch of the Society, Malam Ghali Sule, explained that the week was convened to demonstrate the role of pharmacists in the health care sector, their challenges and efforts to raise funds to build a state secretariat for the association.
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that the unity of Nigeria is more threatened now than even during the Civil war.
He expressed this opinion in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during a National Summit organized by the Nigerian Union of Journalists.
Obasanjo, who was represented at the event by Peter Okebukola, a professor, said that the activities of various armed groups across the country have continued to threaten the disintegration of Nigeria.
The former president, while criticizing those calling for the breakup of the country, also charged the media to take the lead in the efforts to achieve greater national integration and development.
He said: “At no time in our history, except probably during the civil war, has Nigeria been so fractured in the feeling of oneness and belongingness by the citizenry.
“In the last four months, we have an average of twenty hotspots across the country with huge potential for national disintegration.”
Obasanjo stressed that “Our strength as a nation lies in our unity and national cohesion.
“I want to entreat you (the media) to begin to preach the gospel of unity in diversity and unity of purpose and cohesion.
“The press should mobilise the masses to strengthen the democratic process and play a crucial role in promoting a culture of tolerance, non-violence and mutual co-existence.
He added that “the Summit will only be successful if we find a niche for the press in our march to ensuring greater national cohesion, especially at this time in our history.”
Nigeria recently has witnessed resurgence in militant activities in the Niger Delta region with the destruction of oil and gas infrastructure, resulting in a drop in the nation’s revenue generation.
The Nigeria Air Force, not long ago, had to deploy fighter jets to flush out militants that were terrorizing coastal communities in the Southwest.
Also the issue of Biafra had resurfaced in the Southeast, following the arrest, detention and prosecution of Nnamdi Kalu, the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB.
