A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday invalidated the appointment of all Service Chiefs by President Goodluck Jonathan.

On October 4, 2012; the President announced through his special adviser on media, Reuben Abati, the appointment of O.S Ibrahim, a vice admiral as the new chief of defence staff; D.J Ezeoba, a rear admiral as chief of naval staff and A.S. Badeh, an air vice marshal as the chief of air staff.

However,  Festus Keyamo, a human rights lawyer challenged the appointments in a suit against the President, the Attorney-General of the Federation and all the service chiefs.

Keyamo asked the court to determine whether by the provisions of Section 218 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Section 18 of the Armed Forces Act, Cap. A.20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the President (1^st Defendant) can appoint the Service Chiefs without the confirmation of the National Assembly.

He also sought to know: “whether Section 18 (1) & (2) of the Armed Forces Act, Cap. A.20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 is not in conformity with the provision of the 1999 Constitution so as to fall within the category of existing laws under Section 315 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, that the President, may, by Order, modify its text, to bring it into conformity with the provisions of the Constitution”.

The court however, answered both questions in favour of the plaintiff.

The presiding judge, Adamu Bello, in his ruling, said such an appointment without the approval of the National Assembly is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.

He further restrained the President from further appointing them without the approval of the Senate.

A pension funds thief, Shaibu Teidi, who is standing trial with others for stealing nearly N20 billion practically sent himself to jail Monday as he tied the trial judge’s hands from hearing his bail application, leading to his indefinite remand in Kuje prisons.

Teidi, director of pension accounts in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, is being prosecuted along with UdusegbeEric Omoefe and their companies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for defrauding the Head of Service pension office to the tune of N18.3 b.

The twenty two count charge against them allege obtaining money by false pretence, conspiracy to commit fraud and concealing the illicit origin of stolen pension funds and they had been remanded inKuje Prisons since June 7 pending hearing of their bail applications.

However at the resumed hearing Monday, Justice Adeniyi Ademolasaid he could not rule on Teidi’s bail application because he had petitioned Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, alleging that the court was biased in the handling of his case.

The trial judge averred that by law, “when there is allegation of bias against a judicial officer, a matter can’t proceed, all proceedings has to be suspended until the allegations are cleared.

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To the shock of Teidi and his counsel, Sunday Ameh JusticeAdemola adjourned the case sine die, (indefinitely).

Ameh said he was stunned by the development as he did not know that his client had written such petition to the CJN.

Nigeria has been urged to implement and enforce the tenets of the UN Convention Against Corruption by strengthening its anti- graft policies, laws and enforcement mechanisms.

At an extractive business dialogue on corruption with the theme:  “Corporate action for transparency in the hydrocarbon industry in Nigeria” organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group in Port Harcourt, the head, Transparency and Anti-Corruption, United Nations, UN, Global Compact, Olajobi  Makinwa, said many resource-rich countries like Nigeria were not receiving benefits from their natural resources because of graft.

She said that in 2002 the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, EITI, was formed as a global transparency standard to ensure transparency and accountability in the extractive industry by requiring extractive companies operating within EITI signatory nations to disclose their payments to the government and the signatory to disclose such receipts.

Makinwa, however, noted that owing to corruption and lack of transparency, citizens of many resource-rich countries like Nigeria were not feeling the positive and developmental impact from foreign investments in the extractive industry.

She advised that government should be more committed to reducing corruption risks from procurement and contract processes of large-scale projects that are designed to support sustainable development.

On his part, the chairman of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, Ledum Mitee, said the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, before the National Assembly provides the excellent opportunity for Nigeria to align its extractive industry governance to international best practices and ensure that revenues from its oil, gas and mining sectors support national development.

He said this could only be possible if the government is able to muster the political will to ensure the early passage of a PIB that weighs heavily on the scale of transparency, accountability, competition and corporate governance.

A deadly confrontation over the weekend between the Joint Task Force, JTF, and the insurgent group, Boko Harm, in Zabarmari, Borno State has left at least 50 of the sect members dead.

A military source disclosed to journalists on Sunday that the attack was launched following intelligence gathered that some fleeing members of the sect had found abode in Zabaramari ward of Jere Local Government Area, few kilometres from Maiduguri.

“We received an intelligence report that several number of Boko Haram terrorists have regrouped and were residing and hiding in this ward. We mobilized our troops to the area and on reaching the place the suspects upon noticing our presence began to chant: “Allahu Akbar,” (God is Great) and started shooting sporadically at us,” he said.

According to the source, the JTF was left with no option than to repel the attack and 10 insurgents were killed in that gunfire exchange, while another 40 were reportedly killed at the burial of the first batch of casualties.

“We decided not to take away any of their corpses as we left them in the area, but the following day; when we mobilized our men to the area, we found out that hundreds of the terrorists were at one of the grave yards burying their dead ones, and when we approached some of them started shooting at our troops which led to the exchange of gun fire for half an hour that led to the killing of 40 of them,” the source said.

He added that JTF is still in Zabarmari hunting for more of the terror suspects who might have escaped the encounter.

Three suspected members who were on their way to Jigawa State reportedly for a suicide mission, have also been arrested by the civilian JTF youths who later handed them over to a JTF unit.

“One of them is now dead…the deceased before his death told us that, already, all their weapons of massive destruction have been transported to the targeted areas; waiting for their arrival,” the source said.

Zabarmari ward has been one of the identified black spot areas of the Islamist sect.

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has commenced a nationwide three-day warning strike over unfair labour practices by some oil companies.

As a result, fuel scarcity looms as the union has directed petroleum tanker drivers not to load products in all fuel depots and tank farms across the country during the period of the warning strike.

Already some leading filling stations like Total and Oando in the nation’s capital were shut Monday and some transporters have begun to increase their fares, while others have commenced panic buying.

The national president of NUPENG, Achese Igwe, explained that Agip Oil Company recently promoted 96 of its contract workers to the level of senior staff casual workers, instead of first converting them to full staff employees of the company.

“The law states that beyond six months you should convert them to employees. If you don’t want to convert them, then you leave them as contract workers till you are ready. But promoting them to senior staff level (PENGASSAN) is to do what? Is it to still serve as contract staff or slaves for more years? So this country must change in culture of job regulations,” he said.

Chevron too is accused of converting workers from contract labour to service labour and the Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC is said to have refused a collective bargaining agreement with casual workers and also denied them the right to join a union, among others.

“We want to see a serious commitment on the side of government on this issue. A situation where a company like Agip will want to promote NUPENG contract workers to PENGASSAN contract workers has never happened anywhere in the world.”

Achese said the union initially issued an ultimatum to the company but since then, there has not been any improvement.

Agip is also accused of sacking 93 contract workers that had put in between 25 and 35 years, without benefits despite directives by the ministry of labour and productivity.

He argued that if the agreements reached with the multinational companies at a meeting called by the labour minister, Emeka Wogu, in May 2012, was implemented, these issues would have been resolved.

NUPENG is also protesting the alleged refusal of National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, to implement the signed collective bargaining agreement with tanker drivers and the impassable state of the Nigerian roads.

It warned that should government and other stakeholders fail to address its grievances after the three-day warning strike, it would declare an indefinite strike.

The union therefore, called on the federal government to summon an all-stakeholders’ national conference on oil and gas to address, among others, labour issues in the sector before the expiration of the three days strike to avert a national crisis.

No fewer than 175 inmates were let loose Sunday as unknown gunmen attacked the Olokuta medium security prison in Akure, shooting sporadically into the air and setting off bombs in strategic places.

This is the third record of prison break this year alone, the others being Ganye Prison in Adamawa state where 127 were set free and a prisons office in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno state, where one civilian was killed and all the inmates released.

The trend many say is worrisome. Speaking to reporters shortly after the incident, the comptroller of prisons in the state, Tunde Olayiwola, said some of the inmates who escaped during the jail break have been re-arrested.

He confirmed that one officer was seriously injured, and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.  He did not disclose the officer’s name.

Altogether, at least four persons were injured in the gun battle, but nobody was reported to have been killed.

Olayiwola said some of his men were on the trail of the escapees, saying that those who were caught were lured through a mobile-talking device as signals were sent out immediately to the police. He however did not state how many of the prisoners were recaptured.

Eyitayo Jegede, the Ondo State attorney general  and  commissioner for justice after his visit to the scene described it  as pathetic and said the state government would summon the top officials of the prison.

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“With what we are seeing here, the state government will look into the incident and if need be, we will summon all the security chiefs and top prison officers,” he said

A large detachment of men and two armored personnel carriers have been deployed to the prison to ensure security in the area.

The police have also dispelled rumours that the attack on the prison was carried out by Boko Haram insurgents.

No reason was however given for that position.

The Nasarawa Police Command has on Friday at the police headquarters, Lafia, paraded 20 suspected criminals, including armed robbers, who were arrested at different locations in the state.
The commissioner of police, Umaru Shehu, while parading the suspects said since he resumed work in May, the force had embarked on a clampdown on armed robbery which has led to the massive arrest of armed robbery suspects and the nipping in the bud of several crimes in the state.

The commissioner said on June 8, a combined team of police and local vigilante while on patrol arrested one Umar Mohammed of Waterside, Masaka and recovered one locally made pistol with five rounds of live ammunitions.

The suspect, Shehu said, confessed that he belong to a gang of criminals that specialises in snatching women’s handbag and handsets.
The commissioner of police also pointed out a case where his men arrested one Monday Anthony of Asokoro, Abuja and one Fedelis of same address who conspired with another suspect popularly known as Dan-Nasarawa, to lure a lady to a party at Laminga inNasasarawa State, with the intension of killing her using her for rituals.

The criminals had agreed to sell her head for N3 million and according to Shehu named an Alhaji who resides in Nasarawa local government as their sponsor.

Another of the paraded suspected criminals was Baba Sule of Lafia, who was caught vandalizing a transformer located at Tudun Larabaarea, Doma local government area of the state.

Sule said he usually sold the wire and armoured cables he stole fromvandalised transformers to receivers whom he named as GamboMusa, Mustapha Tahir, Awalu Umar, Muttaka Abdullahi all of SabonPegi, Lafia.

All of them had been arrested to the police and confessed to receiving stolen cables from Sule.
While parading the suspects, the commissioner called on citizens of the state to be law abiding and accord the force the needed support in carrying out its legitimate duties while assuring that the police would continue to do its best to provide security for the people.

The federal government says it is ready to defend the recent execution of four convicts in Edo State, which ended a seven-year moratorium on death penalty in the country.

The minister of foreign affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, gave the indication in Abuja on Friday at a consultative forum on the forthcoming review of human rights in Nigeria under the United Nations Universal Period Review, UPR.

Ashiru acknowledged that the executions in Edo would likely come up when the country appears before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this October for a periodic review of its human rights.

The June 24 execution in Edo had been criticised by the government of United Kingdom, the United Nations, UN and the European Union high representative, Catherine Ashton.

According to the top EU diplomat, the execution negates recent commitments repeatedly made by Nigerian officials, most recently in May, to maintain the de facto moratorium on executions.

Ashiru told reporters that the execution would not act as an impediment to “tremendous improvements” by government on human rights issues in the country. He reminded countries accusing Nigeria of human rights violations to remember that the criminal code was inherited from the ‘colonial powers.

The minister said state governments are autonomous in Nigeria and for the execution in Edo State, governor Adams Oshiomhole acted within the confines of the law.

“I agree that there was an unwritten code that we should have a moratorium pending the time when our Constitution is reviewed.

“But don’t forget that the constitution we follow is supreme but the criminal code that we use is still the same handed over to us by the colonial powers. So, until the statute books are reviewed, there is nothing anybody can do and I think the governor of Edo acted within his constitutional powers,” he said.

The minister recalled that the governor gave reasons why he signed the death warrants “because the circumstances under which the crimes were committed were really heinous and in itself a crime against humanity.”

Earlier, the minister told the forum reviewing the draft national report before its submission to the UN Human Rights Council not to be “apologetic” on the country’s stance on same sex marriage.

“We should not shy away to defend what is right, what is correct and what is in our Constitution,” he said.

He also told the forum to strongly defend the records of Nigeria’s armed forces on human rights.

“They have been tested and trusted and they have distinguished themselves in numerous peacekeeping operations across the world,” he said.

The solicitor-general of the federation, Abdullahi Yola, recalled that Nigeria underwent the first cycle of UPR in 2009 during which a number of recommendations were made to the country.

“Nigeria accepted 30 recommendations out of 32 and rejected recommendations 12 and 13 of UPR 2009 on same sex marriage and abolition of death sentence,” he said.

Bem Angwe, the executive secretary, National Human Rights Commission, said the country was conscious of its obligations to the international community under different human rights instruments.

“Our obligations to the international community will not be dictated by the dictates of particular nations. The obligations will be dictated by the dictates of humanity and what we as a people continue to agree and observe.

Participants at the two-day event include government officials, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups and members of the academia.

Owners of about 500 houses in Emmanuel Estate along Airport Road in Abuja have accused the minister of the Federal Capital Territory,FCT and the administration of demolishing their homes so as to reallocate the land to powerful Nigerians.

The owners of the houses told an Abuja High Court that the estate was demolished illegally and for no just cause causing untold hardship and losses running into billions of naira just so that the land can be allocated to federal lawmakers and other government officials.

At the resumed hearing of the suit filed by the home owners, their lawyer Chris Uche, invited the court to visit the demolished site after arguing over the survey map submitted by the town planners who admitted not visiting the site before, during and after the demolition.

The trial judge, Justice Danlami Senchi after listening to arguments and counter arguments adjourned the suit to Monday 1st July to enable parties in the matter visit the demolished site before fixing a judgment date.

The development control department of the Federal Capital Development Authority had embarked on the demolition of several estates, including Emmanuel Estate, early this year claiming that it did not have proper building approvals.

Spokesman of the department, Josephine Mudashiru said, “These structures do not have valid land documents or building plan approval. Announcements were made last year warning people not to patronize these fraudsters and at that time the estate had not been developed”.

However, the home owners in the estate insist that they saw FCTland approval documents on the land before they bought their houses. They claimed that they were told that the approval was revoked and that it had been given to members of the National Assembly for a new legislative quarters project.

The Senate on Thursday began investigating the alleged disappearance of $27 million from the sale of Nigerian property in New York, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.

A former permanent representative to the United Nations,  former ambassador to the United States and the incumbent have appeared before the Senate committee on foreign affairs in Abuja.

They are George Obiozor, ambassador to the U.S. (2004 to 2006); Joy Ogwu, permanent representative to the UN (2006 to 2007), and the incumbent ambassador, Ade Adefuye, who assumed duty in March 2010.

The probe followed a petition by Transform Nigeria Citizen Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, over alleged misappropriation of funds by the officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Washington D.C. The petition was signed by one Daniel Elombah.

Elombah had urged the Senate to investigate why the proceeds from the sale of some Nigerian government property in the U.S. between 2004 and 2007 were not accounted for.

“Available records showed that between 2004 and 2007, the Embassy of Nigeria sold four prime properties of the Nigerian Government located in Washington D.C and Maryland,” he said.

“It also commenced sale of a fifth property located in San Francisco, California.

“For the sale of those properties, the government of Nigeria retained the services of ECULAW Law Firm. Out of those sales, Nigeria realised the sum of 27 million dollars.

“All funds realised from these sales, except those set aside as fees, were remitted to the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington D.C,” the petitioner alleged.

He alleged that all the funds and transactions were duly confirmed in June 2007 by ECULAW Law firm when it met with embassy officials at the embassy premises in Washington D.C.

He alleged that instead of remitting the proceeds to Nigeria, the funds were lodged in M&T Bank Washington which he said the embassy used for other transactions and with which it had about three different.

“It was confirmed in clear terms that their bank was holding huge deposits comprising the proceeds of the sales of these properties”Elombah stated, adding that “this remained the position after Dr George Obiozor had returned to Nigeria upon completing his service in Washington.”

The petitioner alleged that the money was not repatriated home but left in the bank “partly because it yielded substantial monthly interests, which the embassy officials would never have to account for.”

Surprisingly, he said, the money disappeared without trace in March 2012.

“This became clear when the M&T Bank was forced to close the accounts of Nigerian Embassy and to terminate all banking relations with the embassy at the beginning of 2012,” he said.

According to him, since March 2012, no explanation had been given as to the whereabouts of funds which were in the bank accounts when the incumbent assumed office.

The chairman, Senate committee on foreign affairs, MatthewNwagwu, confirmed that the committee received the petition alleging embezzlement of funds in Nigeria’s embassy in Washington.

“There is a petition before the committee on the issue. We have the petition and we are taking it on the face value.

“We are giving this opportunity to the minister and ambassador to explain what happened. It is alleged that the resources were squandered by embassy officials.

“Ours is to give you a chance to address the committee, to tell us what you know about the administration and management of the fund within your tenure from 2004 till date.

Journalists were, however, ordered out of the committee room before the testimonies of the three envoys were taken.