The Minister of State for Health, Muhammed Pate, has resigned from office to take up the position of professor at the Duke University’s Global Health Institute, USA.

He would also serve as senior adviser to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation based in Washington DC and participate in a university-wide Africa initiative.

In his resignation letter dated July 22, which was addressed to the President, Pate said he would continue to serve on part-time basis as the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on polio eradication and the public-private coalition for saving one million lives initiative.

“I wish to offer the continuation of my service on part-time basis as chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Polio Eradication and the public-private coalition for Saving One Million Lives Initiative, if you agree, in fulfilment of my previous commitments to see to conclusion of these important national priorities. This may entail an honorary advisory role reporting directly to you progress at least on quarterly basis,” he stated.

Responding to his resignation, the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Reuben Abati, said President Goodluck Jonathan is highly delighted that members of his cabinet were attracting global attention.

He said the President views the appointment as a plus for the administration and the country and commends the minister for the  integrity and competence which he brought on board while carrying out his duties first as the chief executive of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and later as a minister.

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Abati also noted that another cabinet member, the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was one of those shortlisted for the position of the World Bank’s President last year.

Pate who was appointed minister in July 2011, is an American Board-Certified medical doctor in both internal medicine and infectious diseases, with an MBA, Health Sector Concentration) from Duke University, USA.

He is also a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts, SAGE, on Vaccination and Humanitarian Emergencies at the World Health Organisation, WHO, in Geneva.

A Federal High Court judge sitting in Abuja, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, has asked for an amendment of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 to ensure that information supplied in compliance with the Act is done on a need to know basis.

Justice Kolawole said that unless adequate statutory safeguards are embedded in the Act, the underlying intention of government for enacting the law may be undermined or sabotaged as “irate individuals or busy bodies will abuse the rights which it has created with regard to information on public administration.”

According to him, the Act as it stands has created legal rights without a corresponding legal responsibilities and would lead to a situation where scarce public resources, time and energy are squandered in attending to requests which the applicant does not need.

He insisted that the responsibility to use the Act by Nigerians as an instrument to ensure transparency in governance “should not be left so loose and at large without any form of checks and, perhaps, balances”.

“It is my view that it is also part of transparency that rights created by enactments such as the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 are themselves not abused by irate litigants or those one may describe as ‘busy bodies,” the judge said.

He called on the National Assembly to undertake a review of the Act so as to ensure that access to information is only made available to such applicants who genuinely need it for specific purposes.

Kolawole expressed these views while delivering judgement in a suit instituted by Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, PIN, a non-governmental organization, seeking an order of mandamus to compel presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, to provide detailed information on the multi-million dollar contract awarded in April 2013 to an Israeli company, Elbit Systems, to monitor Internet communication in Nigeria.

The Stop Impunity Nigeria, SIN, Campaign had filed a ex-partemotion on behalf of PIN on June 5, 2013, seeking leave of the court to apply for: “a declaration that the denial of access and refusal to make available to PIN detailed information on the contract awarded to Elbit Systems, a company based in Haifa, Israel,  for the supply of the Wise Intelligence Technology  System for Intelligence Analysis and Cyber Defence for Nigeria by Dr Abati without an explanation constitutes an infringement  of PIN’s rights  guaranteed and protected  by section 1 (1) of the Freedom Information Act, 2011,” among other reliefs sought.

Ruling on the motion, Justice Kolawole stressed that there is no country in the world where access to all forms of public records are thrown open even to an applicant who is not required to show any specific interest in the information requested from a public body.

The judge noted that reading through the processes filed on behalf of PIN in the case, the applicant merely stated that the respondent is the “Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity” but did not state that the respondent in that capacity was being sued as one who awarded the contract in issue.

The judge also questioned whether it was sufficient for Abati to be sued for being a “Special Adviser” to the President on media and publicity, when he has not been shown under any law to be involved in the award of the contact on which information is being requested.

He said he was not aware of any legislation by which the “Office of a Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity” was created as to make “the Respondent as sued in the Motion Ex-parte to be seen as a public body, authority or officer who is prima facie amendable to prerogative orders of mandamus which are judicial instruments to enforce the performance of public duties, Justice Kolawole struck out the motion.

The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, on Monday banned for life players and officials of four Nigerian amateur clubs involved in two promotional play-off games into the Nigeria Nationwide League that produced scandalous 79-0 and 67-0 score lines.

The four clubs, Plateau United Feeders, Akurba FC, Babayaro FC and Police Machine FC, have also been banned from the game for 10 years.

Addressing the journalists in the board room of the NFF secretariat in Abuja, the first vice-president of the NFF board who also doubles as the chairman of the organising and disciplinary committee, MikeUmeh, said after due deliberation that followed the debriefing of all the actors involved in the saga, the only option was to seriously sanction the culprits because of the disrepute they had brought the game to.

“It will be recalled that the two fixtures have given the football world a record goal of 146 with Plateau Feeders accounting for 79 of the goals while Police Machine scored 67 goals against BabayaroFC of Gombe.” Umeh said.

Lamenting the global embarrassment the teams have caused theNFF, Umeh stated that the investigating committee was not able to confirm any exchange of money or material inducement, but determined that the winners were desperate to win and losers were desperate to lose.

One of the board members of the  Nigeria Nationwide League found  wanting in the discharge of his responsibilities, Tanko Bawa Maiyaki, has not been sanctioned but was referred to the league’s board for appropriate action.

A statement by the head of national competition of the football federation, Sanusi Mohammed, stated that photographs of the culprits have been forwarded to all relevant security agencies to forestall further scam.

“… as we are talking to you people now, we are already sending I mean scanning their pictures to the Inspector General of Police, theSSS, CAF and FIFA, we know they could go ahead to change names and other particulars but on our part we intend to tie up all loose ends with this act,” Mohammed said.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, today charged members of the new board of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to make the rule of law and due process their guiding principle in the discharge of their functions.

Adoke who gave this charge while inaugurating the board of the commission at his office, also admonished the chairman of the anti graft agency, Ibrahim Lamorde, to bring his wealth of experience and expertise to bear and uphold the virtues of integrity, commitment and dedication which are essential tools for success.

Adoke bemoaned the unbaiting incidence of economic and financial crimes in the country and noted that the board was inaugurated to ensure that the agency discharges its mandate effectively and in line with Nigeria’s obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, UNCAC, and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, UNTOC.

“There is no doubt that Nigerians have long come to the realization that high prevalence of economic and financial crimes are antithetical to our development objectives as a nation. Government has therefore enacted appropriate legislation and approved policies and programmes designed to tackle the menace of economic and financial crimes in the country,” the minister said.

Lamorde, who also serves as chairman of the new board, thanked the government for the opportunity to serve and assured that the board will not disappoint the nation.

“We will try to discharge our responsibility to the best of our knowledge. To whom much is given, much is expected,” he said.

Members of the newly inaugurated board are Emmanuel AdegboyegaAremo, the secretary to the commission; EmmanuelIbitolu, Uwasomba Udochukwu, Ismaila Mohammed Dukku and Michael Ebong.

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday lauded the Supreme Court’s ruling granting state governments the right to regulate hotels, restaurants and tourism.

The Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, said in a statement that the judgment was a “resounding victory for states”.

The apex court had on July 19 dismissed a suit filed by the attorney general of the federation seeking the control of the hospitality industry by the National Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC.

The court upheld the contention of the attorney general of Lagos State that the 1999 Constitution only empowered the National Assembly to regulate tourist traffic and not hotel registration or licensing.

The Lagos State government and the federal government had been embroiled in a controversy over the proper authority to license and grade hospitality establishments.

This resulted in the NTDC and the state government setting up parallel registration and regulation structures in the state.

Ikuforiji said: “I commend the ruling of the justices of the Supreme Court which gave a unanimous victory to the Lagos State Government for the Hotel Licensing Law and the Restaurant Consumption Law.”

He said with the judgment, the issue of separation of powers between states and the federal government has now been finally settled.

“It is pertinent to put on record that the Supreme Court has been proactive and consistent in discharging its enormous statutory responsibilities,” the statement added.

The speaker added that the country must return to the path of true fiscal federalism and the rule of law in order to uphold its democracy.

The former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has described his suspension from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as an outright destruction of the entire PDP in Ekiti State.

“Fayose is an institution that cannot be excised from a party likePDP,” he said.

Earlier, the state chairman of the party, Makanjuola Ogundipe, suspended the former governor for the roles he allegedly played in the invasion of the state secretariat by hoodlums last week.

Also suspended are: the state secretary of the party, Tope Aluko; state women leader, BusolaOyebode; as well as state public relations officer, Kola Oluwole.

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Ogundipe said investigations conducted by the party indicated that the suspended persons were connected to the crisis in the party.

The chairman denied allegations that he collected N5 million from an aspirant based in Abuja to help him emerge as the party’s consensus candidate. He said those suspended would appear before the party’s disciplinary committee at a date to be announced soon.

But Fayose who was brought back to the PDP by the national chairman, BamangaTukur and is widely believed to be eyeing the governorship ticket of the party in 2014, dismissed his suspension.

“This is not only laughable but ignoble. Suspending Fayose is like suspending PDP in Ekiti. It is the national leadership of the PDP, notOgundipe, that can suspend Fayose who toiled to make the party occupy its present position as major opposition party in the state today,” he said.

One person died on Saturday in a stampede that followed an attempted attack on a mosque in Maiduguri by suspected BokoHaram insurgents.

Pandemonium broke out at the l-Amin Daggash Mosque in the GRAas worshippers fled for safety upon hearing the sound of gunshots near the mosque.

Eyewitnesses said that an unspecified number of men suspected to be Boko Haram members had approached the mosque shooting into the air to scare away worshippers..

However, when they tried to gain entrance into the mosque, apparently to launch an attack, they were reportedly repelled by heavily armed vigilante youths who were providing security there.

In an attempt to flee the scene and the escape the crossfire, a stampede ensued in which one person was trampled to death and many others injured

An eyewitness said the attempted attack took place at about 4:30pm during a Ramadan sermon at the mosque.

However, the Joint Task Force, JTF,  in Borno State, tagged Operation Restore Order, gave an entirely different account of what happened at the mosque, denying that it was an attempted attack by insurgents.

Although it confirmed that one person died near the mosque in GRA, the JTF in a statement signed by its spokesman, Sagir Musa, a lieutenant colonel, said there was no terrorist attack at the mosque.

“The incident was not a terrorist attack as no worship centre inBorno was attack in recent time,” the statement said.

Musa explained that what happened was that a policeman was pursuing somebody who had stolen a tricycle and shot in the air near the mosque leading to a melee during which one person died.

“It was an error of judgement by a policeman on duty that pursued someone who allegedly stole a tricycle and a bag of rice and drove off. The policeman was in mufti, wore NPF Reflective Jacket, pursued the alleged thief and fired two shots,” the JTF spokesman stated.

“The incident happened very close to Al-Amin Mosque when Ramadan preaching was on. The firing by the policemen attracted the attention of worshippers including Youths vigilante that were within and around the mosque. As a result, there was pandemonium that led to the death of one minor and three others sustained injuries,” he further explained further.

According to Musa, youths guarding the mosque lynched the policeman, burnt the Toyota Carina belonging to him and the tricycle, adding that “the JTF patrol team rescued/took away the policeman, calmed the youth and restored normalcy to the area.”

The federal government has been dragged before a Federal High Court, Ikoyi by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, for failing to provide information on the spending of the N700bn borrowed between December 31, 2012 and April 30, this year.

On May 28, SERAP’s executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, had asked President Goodluck Jonathan to provide information on the spending of N700 billion borrowed between December 31, 2012 and April 30, 2013, and to introduce a moratorium on borrowing.

The rights group in a letter to the Accountant-General of the Federation,  gave the government 14 days within which to supply the information or risk a legal action.

“… we fear the money could have been mismanaged, diverted or stolen. Despite this huge borrowing, the same period also witnessed decreased spending on basic social services such as roads, electricity, health, education, and thus explaining in part why the government has lagged behind in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals,” the group stated.

Having waited nearly two months without compliance, SERAPdecided to institute a legal case against the federal government relying on provisions of the Freedom of Information, FoI, Act 2011.

Joined as defendants in the suit are the Accountant-General and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.

Among the reliefs sought in the suit are:

“A declaration that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4 (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the 1st Defendant is under a binding legal obligation to provide the Plaintiff with up to date information on the spending of N700bn borrowed between December 31, 2012 and April 30, 2013 and details of projects on which the money was spent.”

“A declaration that the failure of 1st Defendant to provide the Plaintiff with the information requested is a breach of section 4(a) of the Freedom of Information 2011.”

“An order of mandamus directing and/or compelling the 1stDefendant to provide the Plaintiff with up to date information as requested.”

According to the organization, by the clear provisions of section 2(3)(d)(V) of the FOI Act, documents containing information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds of a public institution constitute part of the information which a public institution is obligated to publish, disseminate and make available to members of the public.

It also argued that the 1st defendant is legally mandated by the provisions of section 4(a) of the FOI Act to comply with a request for access to public information except where the FOI Act exempts a public official from so disclosing.

The organization further argued that the 1st defendant “has no legally justifiable reason for refusing to provide the plaintiff with the information requested” and urged the court “to compel it to comply with the provisions of the Act by providing the plaintiff with the information requested.”

A date is yet to be fixed for the hearing of the application.

In a curious ruling reminiscent of the suspended Justice IbrahimTabla saga, a judge sitting at the Kano State High Court has has sentenced a former bank manager who stole N65 million to a six month sentence or an option of a N2 million maximum fine.

The convict, Usman Salifu, who was arraigned on a four – count charge of pilfering,  allegedly stole the  N65 million fron the fixed deposit account of a customer of Oceanic Bank, now Ecobank, Yusuf Sale Dunari.

Upon arraignment, Salifu pleaded not guilty but he later changed his plea and admitted his guilt to all the four counts of the charge brought against him

In his ruling, Justice Dije Abdu Aboki convicted and sentenced Salifu, who was the  branch manager of the bank to six months imprisonment with option of N2 million fine on the first count; six months with option of N500, 000 fine on counts 2 and 3 and four months imprisonment with option of N500, 000 fine on count 4.

The judge ruled that all sentences are to run concurrently, meaning that the most that the convict would suffer is six months in prison. And if he can pay a fine of N2 million, then he can walk home free after stealing a depositor’s N65 million.

During the trial defence counsel pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy, saying that the convict is a first offender with aged parents and many dependants.

But the prosecuting counsel, M.M Gambo, urged the court to make orders regarding restitution in sentencing the convict.

The case is reminiscent of an earlier one in which Justice AbubakarMahmud Talba granted a former director in the Police Pension Office, John Yusuf, a two year jail term or an option of payingN750,000 fine after pleading guilty to stealing N1.3 billion.

Talba’s curious judgement elicited enormous controversy and a petition to the National Judicial Council, NJC, which eventually suspended the judge from office for 12 months.

After investigating the matter, the NJC ruled that the judge did not exercise his discretion judicially and judiciously with regard to the sentences he passed on Yusuf.

The wife of Prince William, Kate Middleton, also known as the Duchess of Cambridge, has been delivered of a baby boy at the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, central London, where Prince William was born 31 years ago.

The Duchess of Cambridge chose to follow in Princess Diana, William’s late mother’s footsteps by planning a natural birth and the new royal baby is the Queen’s third great-grandchild.

Royal birth announcement said the boy was born at 4:24 p.m. weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces.

“Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight,” the statement said.

William also issued a brief statement, saying “we could not be happier.”

Cries of joy erupted from the waiting crowd amassed near Buckingham Palace as the news came through, and hundreds of onlookers, some of whom had camped outside for hours, struggled to catch a glimpse of the bulletin formally announcing the birth placed outside the palace’s forecourt.

The delivery was performed by the Queen’s former and current gynecologists, Marcus Setchell and  Alan Farthing respectively.

Kate was brought to the hospital from the Kensington Palace with her husband by her side at 6:00 am Monday and by 7:30am, a statement was released saying she was experiencing early stages of labour.

The world’s press has been camped outside the hospital for well over a week to catch first glimpse of the royal newborn.

The media siege outside the hospital began on July 1. Photographers and cameramen vied for prime positions, with some erecting step ladders.