A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja has adjourned ruling on the “no case” submission by the Chairman of Bi-Courtney Limited, WaleBabalakin, to September 23, 2013.

Babalakin and four others are charged with conspiracy to commit felony laundering about N4.7 billion.

At the last adjourned date, Babalakin’s counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, prayed the court to quash the charge against his clients on the grounds that the fiat issued by the attorney general of Lagos State in 2004 on which basis the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC preferred the charges, had become obsolete as the Criminal Procedure Law 2003 which was relied on in granting it had been repealed.

Tayo Oyetibo who appeared for the second defendant also informed the court of an application dated January 20, 2013 and a written address of same date, in which he prayed the court to quash the charges against his client.

Like the first defendant’s counsel, Oyetibo also challenged the use of the fiat to institute the case, adding that the proof of evidence did not support the charge against his client.

However, the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, in a counter-affidavit dated February 12, 2013 told the court to disregard the submissions made by Babalakin’s counsel that the fiat used to initiate charges against his client was obsolete and so was unreliable.

“It is not the Criminal Justice Law that governs who can prosecute criminal cases in Lagos state but sections 174 and 211 of the 1999 Constitution,” Jacobs argued.

This section, he argued, did not give a monopoly right to institute a criminal suit against any person to the attorney General of the federation or a state.

Jacobs said that agencies such as the EFCC, the Police, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have powers to prefer criminal charges against anyone in any court of law within the federation.

At the resumed hearing of the case today, A.A. Layonu, counsel to the defendant, told the court that the first defendant was not present in court, citing “serious” ill-health.

When the presiding judge, juctice  Adeniyi Onigbanjo asked ifBabalakin was within the court premises, his counsel replied that he was within the vicinity of the court but could not attend the sitting owing to a mobility challenge that would require the use of a wheel chair for him to be brought into the court room.

Tayo Olukotun, who held brief for Rotimi Jacobs said the prosecution was not informed about Babalakin’s absence until thedefence counsel told the court.

Justice Onigbanjo then adjourned ruling on the no case submission to September 23, 2013.

Babalakin was arraigned by the EFCC, alongside Alex Okoh and three companies: Stabilini Vision Limited, Bi-Courtney Limited andRenix Nigeria Limited on January 17, 2013, on a 27-count criminal charge.

The Yobe State government has ordered the closure of all secondary schools across the state, following the massacre of 29 students and a teacher by suspected Islamist extremists on Saturday.

Visiting the school on Sunday, governor Ibrahim Gaidam described the attack as “cold-blooded murder…callous and devoid of any shred of humanity”.

He ordered that all secondary schools be closed until the start of a new academic term in September, to allow state and federal government officials as well as community leaders to work on ways to guarantee the safety of schools.

According to him, all boarding schools in the state will be fenced, even as the Joint Task Force will provide the needed security in all the schools in the state.

Gaidam also called on the Chief of Defense Staff to consider the restoration of GSM services in the state, to enable those willing to give relevant information have access to security agents.

“Lack of (Global System for Mobile Communications) service has prevented patriotic citizens who have hitherto been collaborating with security agents from reporting suspicious movements in theirneighbourhoods,” he said.

The governor said that residents saw the insurgents who carried out the last two attacks in Damaturu, the state capital but could not reach security forces to alert them.

Earlier, the state education commissioner, Mohammed Lamin, briefed the governor that the casualty figure of those slain in the attack had risen to 33, as two more students and another person who were receiving treatment at the Potsikum General Hospital, later died.

The Government Secondary School, Mamudo, was torched by men believed to be members of the Boko Haram sect, at about 3:am last Saturday.

Survivors said the attackers stormed the school’s premises with gallons of petrol while students were still asleep and set their dormitories afire, burning alive many students. They also shot at some who tried to escape.

Several of these kinds of unprovoked attack on students have occurred in Borno and Yobe states since 2010.

The Boko Haram sect blamed for the attacks have an Islamic name which when translated means: “Western education is forbidden”.

By: Juliet Alohan

The European Union has promised to commence an investigation into the Malabu oil deal scandal. This follows a letter by international extractive industry advocacy groups, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) and Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC) have written the Italian and the Netherlands governments urging them to urgently institute an investigation into the Malabu oil deal scandal,LEADERSHIP has learnt.

Copies of the letters dated July 5, 2013, and exclusively obtained by LEADERSHIP, were addressed to Italian Prime Minister, Mr EnricoLetta, and copied the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Emma Bonino, Minister of Economy and Finance, Fabrizio Saccomanni, as well as the Minster of Justice, Annamaria Cancellieri, with the caption “Urgent Need for Italian Investigation and Diplomatic Engagement.”

A similar letter was also addressed to the Netherlands Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, and copied the Minister of Foreign Affairs,Frans Timmermans and the Minister of Security and Justice, IvoUpstelten, with the title “Urgent Need for Investigation and Diplomatic Engagement.”

The letter to the Italian Prime Minister which acknowledged Italy’s championing of essential transparency initiatives, noted that companies involved in questionable and obscure deal-making are not being held to account for their role in the loss of hundreds of millions of pounds of revenue to Nigeria, money that should be used for development.

In particular, the advocacy groups informed the Prime Minister that Nigerians are highly concerned about the role of ENI, an Italian oil company, in the purchase in 2011 of the OPL-245 oil block in Nigeria.

“As a result of this deal made by ENI with Shell and the Nigerian government, US$800 million of ENI/Shell money has made its way through JP Morgan Chase to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company substantially owned and controlled by Chief Dan Etete, a convicted money-launderer and former Minister of Petroleum of Nigeria, Eteteawarded this company the oil block in 1998 in opaque circumstances when he was in office,” the letter read in part.

The letter jointly signed by the National Coordinator, PWYP Nigeria, Faith Nwadishi, and the National Coordinator Zero-Corruption Coalition,      Babatunde Oluajo, further reads: “We ask that the Italian government follows up on its worthy commitment to counter corruption by supporting a full and thorough Italian investigation of the OPL 245 case as it concerns an Italian company and one in which the Italian Government holds shares.

“We also ask that Italy supports, encourages and cooperates with Nigerian investigations into the case. In the course of an effective investigation in Nigeria, Italy or elsewhere in the world, a request for mutual legal assistance would be very likely. Italy should commit to providing that assistance if asked and seek an assurance from Nigeria that any request from Italy would be responded to promptly and that there would be no political interference from any Nigerian officials.”

In the letter to the Hague, the advocacy groups also raised concerned about the role of Shell, the Dutch oil company, in the purchase in 2011 of OPL-245 oil block in Nigeria.

Requesting the Dutch government to support a full and thorough Dutch investigation of the OPL-245 case as it concerns a Dutch company, the group also urged the Netherlands to support and cooperate with Nigerian investigations into the case in the course of an effective investigation.

“Your leadership on this issue is essential and would represent a strong and specific complement to Netherlands’s transparency agenda. We also believe that combating corruption is essential to efforts to undermine recruitment by terrorist groups, whose numbers are reportedly being swelled in countries such as Nigeria in a reaction to corruption,” the letter stated.

In a meeting with the EU delegation to Nigeria, in Abuja, Nwadishipointed out that the new EU accounting directive, if complied with in Nigeria, will further improve transparency in the payments by oil companies and other multinationals to Nigerian government.

She told the Delegation of their determination to demand for the implementation of key outstanding remedial actions highlighted in the various oil and gas audit reports of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to enable Nigeria block gaps that currently allow theft and opacity in the oil industry.

In his response, First Secretary, Trade Counsellor, EU Delegation To Nigeria, Massimo De Luca, who promised to support investigation into the Malabu oil deal, said “investigations would be necessary to either establish the complexity on the part of ENI and Shell in the deal or exonerate them.

Luca said the EU will support the implementation of the Dodd Frank Law in Nigeria, a law mainly to support transparency in the extractive industry, with a view to boosting transparency in the countries oil sector.

While noting the need to pursue best practice across the oil and gas value chain, he said “an investigation will reveal whether or notENI/Shell acted corruptibly or aided and abated corruption in theOPL 245 oil block deal.”

Fred Ajudua has filed an interlocutory application at the Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, seeking for his case to be transferred to another judge, thus, causing a setback in his on-going trial.

His counsel, Charles Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, expressed fears on Monday at the resumed hearing of the case that his client may not get a fair trial if the presiding judge, Justice Olubunmi Oyewole was left to handle the matter.

He accused the judge of being biased towards Ajudua.

The prosecuting counsel, Oluwemimo Ogunde, asked the court for seven days to respond appropriately to the application, as he only received the request last Friday.

Justice Oyewole expressed displeasure at the delay in the commencement of trial before adjourning the case to September 24, 2013,

The court had at the last hearing dismissed Ajudua’s application for bail and his motion to quash the charges on the grounds that one of his victims had announced his intention to discontinue with the case.

He has since been remanded at the Kirikiri prison.

Ajudua was re-arraigned on June 11, after eight years of absconding from trial on charges of defrauding two foreigners,Messrs Remy Gina and Pierre Vijgen, of $1.69million.

The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has condemned a claim by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that its governors shunned last weekend’s flag-off of the reconstruction of the Lagos-IbadanExpressway by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The ACN’s national publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday explained that only the governors of Lagos, Oyo and Ogun were invited to the ceremony.

He said that it was therefore inaccurate to give the impression that all the ACN governors were expected to be there.

‘How then could anyone who believes in the truth, and nothing but the truth, infer in a public statement that the Governors shunned the ceremony because of politics? How difficult is it for a self-respecting party spokesman to check the veracity of the information at his disposal before feeding such to the public? Mohammed asked.

The party said the acting national publicity secretary of the PDP, Tony Okeke, had  embarrassed his party and its leadership by now verifying facts before issuing statements.

READ ALSO:

• Senate Reject 6 Years Single Term For President
• Court Defers Ruling On Babalakin’s No Case Submission
• Boko Haram: Yobe Shuts Secondary Schools
• EU, Italy, Netherlands To Probe Malabu Oil Deal – Leadership
• Fred Ajudua Accuses Judge Of Bias, Stalls Trial

”Is it possible that a spokesman for a ruling party does not know that deputy governors can stand in for their principals even at statutory meetings like the National Council of State and the National Economic Council?” The ACN queried.

Throwing more light on the issue, Mohammed said while Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, personally attended the flag-off, the governors of Lagos and Oyo sent their deputies to represent them because both of them were out of the country at the time.

Human rights lawyer, Festus Keyamo,  has filed a suit at the  Federal High Court Lagos against the West African Examination Council, WAEC, over its refusal to produce the certified true copy of the result of Hope Uzodinma, the chairman, Senate committee on aviation.

Keyamo said that he had written to WAEC on May 14, 2013, requesting the body to produce an original copy of Uzodinma’s result in pursuance Section 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), which states that: “Where information is applied for under this Act, the public institution to which the application is made shall…make the information available to the applicant.”

Uzodinma claims to be an alumnus of the Mgbidi Boys High School, Imo State from where he allegedly obtained his West African Senior School Certificate in 1982.

However, Keyamo said inquiry and investigation into the names and persons that graduated in that year has revealed that Senator Hope Uzodinma was not a graduate of the school in 1982.

It is this discovery that has necessitated the need to verify the claims of HopeUzodinma, which only a Certified True Copy of his West African Senior School Certificate can prove.

In an application before the court, Keyamo is asking the court for “an order granting leave to the applicant to apply for Judicial Review for an Order of Mandamus compelling the respondent (WAEC) to produce the Certified True Copy of the West African Senior School Certificate of Hope Uzodinma to the Applicant, in accordance with Section 1(1), (2), & (4) of The Freedom Of Information (FOI) Act, 2011,” and for any such order as is deemed fit by the court.

Uzodinma had previously been involved in a forgery scandal where he was accused of claiming to have graduated from the Washington University, St. Loius, Missouri, United States, from where he said he bagged a degree in Arts/Criminology.

But the Hope Uzodinma Campaign Organisation, HUCO, debunked the allegation; saying that contrary to media reports, its principal, attended Washington International University in the United States and obtained a degree in InternationalStuies and Diplomacy.

“Senator Hope Uzodinma did not attend Washington University, St. Loius, Missouri, United States and did not obtain any certificate from the said university. For clarity and avoidance of doubt, the distinguished senator attended Washington International University in the United States on a part time basis and obtained a Bachelors of Arts Degree in International Studies and Diplomacy,” the director-general of the Campaign Organisation, Nze Ignatius Umuna said.

Find below some particulars of the suit by Keyamo

IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA
HOLDEN AT LAGOS

SUIT NO: FHC/L/CS/921/2013

IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR  JUDICIAL REVIEW  BY FESTUSKEYAMO FOR AN ORDER OF MANDAMUS

BETWEEN:

FESTUS KEYAMO                                                              …….                APPLICANT

AND

WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL                  ……..              RESPONDENT

MOTION EXPARTE
BROUGHT UNDER:

1.    ORDER 34 RULE 1 (1)(a) AND RULE 3 (1) AND (2) OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2009
2.    SECTION 1(1) ,(2), (3) & 4 OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) ACT, 2011.
3.    UNDER THE INHERENT JURISDICTION OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT

TAKE NOTICE that this Honorable Court will be moved on …… day of ………. 2013 at the hour of 9 0’clock in the forenoon or so soon thereafter as counsel may be heard on behalf of the Applicant for the following reliefs:

1.      AN ORDER granting leave to the Applicant to apply for Judicial Review for an Order of Mandamus compelling the Respondent to produce the Certified True Copy of the West African Senior School Certificate of Hope Uzodinma to the Applicant, in accordance with Section 1(1), (2), & (4) of The Freedom Of Information (FOI) Act, 2011.

2.      AND FOR SUCH FURTHER ORDER OR OTHER ORDERS as this Honorable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this Application.

Dated this 1st day of July, 2013

IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA
HOLDEN AT LAGOS

SUIT NO: FHC/L/CS/921/2013

IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR  JUDICIAL REVIEW  BY FESTUSKEYAMO FOR AN ORDER OF MANDAMUS

BETWEEN:

FESTUS KEYAMO                                                              …….                APPLICANT

AND

WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL                  ……..              RESPONDENT

STATEMENT PURSUANT TO ORDER 34 RULE 2 (a) OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2009.

1.            NAMES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE APPLICANT
FESTUS KEYAMO.
FESTUS KEYAMO CHAMBERS
1, FESTUS KEYAMO LANE
OFF ADEBAYO MOKUOLU STREET,
OFF GBAGADA EXPRESSWAY,
BEHIND HOTEL NEWCASTLE,
ANTHONY VILLAGE,
LAGOS STATE.

2.        RELIEFS SOUGHT BY THE APPLICANT

a.  AN ORDER granting leave to the Applicant to apply for Judicial Review for an Order of Mandamus compelling the Respondent to produce the Certified True Copy of the West African Senior School Certificate of Hope Uzodinma to the Applicant, in accordance with Section 1(1), (2), & (4) Of The Freedom Of Information (FOI) Act, 2011.

b.  AND FOR SUCH FURTHER ORDER OR OTHER ORDERS as this Honorable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this Application.

3.            GROUNDS UPON WHICH THE RELIEFS ARE SOUGHT:

a.  The Applicant pursuant to Section 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2011 has with a letter dated 14th May, 2013 applied to the Respondent to produce the Certified True Copy of the West African Senior School Certificate of Hope Uzodinmato the Applicant.

b.    The Respondent has ignored and/or refused to produce the Certified True Copy of the West African Senior School Certificate of Hope Uzodinma to the Applicant in accordance with Section 4 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011.

4.            FACTS LEADING TO THIS APPLICATION:

a.    The Applicant is a legal practitioner, solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, who is passionately involved in legal activities for the protection of human rights and in the fight against corruption in public places in Nigeria.

b.    Hope Uzodinma, a Senator of the Federal republic of Nigeria has always claimed to be an Alumni of Mgbidi Boys High School, Imo State from where he allegedly obtained his West African Senior School Certificate in 1982.

c.    The said Hope Uzodinma claimed to have graduated from the Mgbidi Boys High School, Imo State in 1982.

d.    That inquiry and investigation into the names and persons that graduated in that year has revealed that Senator Hope Uzodinma was not a graduate of the school in 1982.

c.  Consequent upon the legal activities of the Applicant, there has arisen a need to verify the claims of Hope Uzodinma by the Certified True Copy of his West African Senior School Certificate.

d.  The Applicant is an active legal practitioner and a senior member of Nigeria Bar Association that has resolved to fight and expose corruption in public places in Nigeria and is passionately involved in legal activities for the protection of human right.

e.  By a letter dated 14th day of May, 2013 served on the Respondent on the 24thday of June, 2013  the Applicant has applied for the production of the Certified True Copy of the West African Senior School Certificate of Senator Hope Uzodinma. Attached a marked exhibit “A” is the acknowledged copy of the said letter dated 14thMay, 2013.

f.    On the 1st day of July, 2013 at 10.00am Festus Afeiyodion, a Counsel in Chambers visited the Respondent’s office with a view of collecting the Certified True Copy of the West African Senior School Certificate of Senator Hope Uzodinmabut he was left unattended to till the close of work.

g.  The Respondent has ignored and/or refused to produce the Certified True Copy of the West African Senior School Certificate of Hope Uzodinma.

Dated this 1st day of July, 2013

At least 51 people had been killed and more than 435 injured in Cairo, the Egyptian capital on Monday, in a shooting spree between the country’s military and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood who were demanding the reinstatement of President Mohamed Morsi who was ousted five days ago.

Protesters said shooting started as they performed morning prayers outside the Cairo barracks where Mursi is believed to be held.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Gehad Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, said that at around 3.30 in the morning, army and police forces started firing at sit-in protesters in front of the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo.

“We have people hit in the head, we have bullets that exploded as they entered the body, cluttering organs and body parts. Every police force in the world understands how to disperse a sit-in. This is just a criminal activity targeting protesters,” Haddad said.

The army’s version of what happened is however different. Military spokesman, Ahmed Ali, said that armed men attacked troops in the area around the Republican Guard compound in the northeast of the city around 4.00 am.

“The armed forces always deal with issues very wisely, but there is certainly also a limit to patience,” the uniformed Ali told a news conference.

He said a terrorist group tried to storm the Republican Guard compound and one army officer had been killed and 40 wounded

“Soldiers returned fire when they were attacked by armed assailants,” he added.

Speaking at the same press conference, Hany Abdel Latif, Egypt’s interior ministry spokesman, said that “the Egyptian police is the force of the people. They are operating for all the Egyptian people, with all their affiliations.”

“The Egyptian security forces are working to safeguard the freedom of the Egyptian people following the January 2011 revolution,”  he said, adding that the police and security apparatus will not protect any particular regime, not “the former, the existing, or the upcoming”.

“The Egyptian police is out of the political equation. It cannot be part of any political process in any way, shape or form,” Abdel Latifsaid.

The Egyptian health ministry said Egypt’s interim administration has expressed “deep regret” for those killed in today’s violence and that the transitional administration has also formed a judicial committee to investigate the events.

Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood urged people to rise up against the army, which they accuse of a coup to topple the president. The movement’s leaders are calling for peaceful resistance.

The chairman of the All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP, in BornoState, Mala Othman, has been arrested by the military Joint Task Force.

Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF,  in Borno State, SagirMusa, a lieutenant colonel confirmed to journalists that Othman is presently in the team’s custody undergoing interrogation.

He declined making further comments on the issue, saying: “Investigation is ongoing and the press will be briefed accordingly at the end on the investigation.”

The ANPP chieftain’s arrest is believed to be linked to accusations of his involvement with Boko Barak activities.

Borno youths, who formed a group known as the “civilian JTF” to assist in the clampdown of Boko Haram terrorists in the state, had accused the ANPP chairman of sponsoring insurgents.

Last Monday, the youths stormed Othman’s residence in the state and set it ablaze after several unsuccessful attempts to get him arrested.

The angry youths accused Othman of gun running and sponsoring terrorist activities in the state.

The task force spokesman commended the efforts of the youths, while urging them to continue to act in an orderly manner and within the ambit of the law.

Meanwhile, the Borno state chapter of the ANPP, has condemned the burning of their state chairman’s house by the youth vigilante over alleged involved in activities of Boko Haram sect, insisting that the attack was politically motivated.

The party in a statement signed by its secretary, Bakura Shettima, that the accusation against its chairman and the burning of his house were politically motivated by extraneous forces that have infiltrated the youth vigilante.

“Our party chairman, Othman, is an accomplished politician who has the interest of the people and the development of the state at heart. Accusing him of such behaviour is witch hunting,” he said.

Shettima argued that there are records to show that 99 percent of politicians killed since the Boko Haram insurgency began in the state are members of the ANPP, which is the ruling party in Borno state.

He therefore appealed to the Youth Volunteers to be careful not to take the law into their hands, neither to allow themselves to be used by politicians against their perceived opponents, “in order to score cheap political goal”.

The Party has also called for full investigation into the burning down of their leader’s house.