PMB Appoints Dongban-Mensem Acting Appeal Court President [LEADERSHIP]
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday approved the appointment of Justice Monica Bolna’an Dongban-Mensem as the new acting president of the Court of Appeal.
She is to serve in acting capacity for an initial period of three months with effect from today, March 6, 2020, when the incumbent president of the appellate court, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, will statutorily retire from service.
A statement by presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, to this effect noted that Justice Dongban-Mensem, who is the next most senior judge of the Court of Appeal, will be acting pending when a substantive appointment to the position of the president of the appellate court would have been made by President Buhari subject to the confirmation of the Senate.
Shehu said Buhari’s approval of the appointment of Justice Dongban-Mensem followed the recommendation of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Muhammad Tanko, in line with the provisions of section 238(4) & (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa yesterday officially bowed out as the president of the Court of Appeal after the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.
In her place, Justice Dongban-Mensem of the Enugu division of the appellate court is expected to preside over the affairs of the court.
At the valedictory session in honour of the retired appellate court president, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called for the immediate appointment of more justices for the Court of Appeal, noting that some divisions of the court do not have the quorum of five justices for the constitution of a full panel.
The president of the NBA, Mr Paul Usoro (SAN), in his remarks on the occasion, noted that out of 86 justices that are currently on the bench of the appellate court, only 23 of them, which is barely 30 per cent, are females.
Telcos To Invest $1trn on 5G Networks – GSMA [LEADERSHIP]
Mobile telecommunications operators are expected to make significant investments of over $1.1 trillion in capital expenditure (capex) between 2020 and 2025, 80 per cent of which will be on fifth generation (5G) networks.
According to the latest Mobile Economy report from the GSM Association (GSMA), 5G is gaining significant traction since launch, with the technology maturing past its development stage, as it forecast significant operator investment in the coming years.
Mats Granryd, GSMA director general, said hype surrounding 5G had given way to reality, as “millions of consumers are already migrating” to next generation networks and “enterprises are beginning to embrace” innovations including “network slicing, edge computing and low-latency services.”
The industry group predicted industries including manufacturing, utilities, professional and financial services would reap the greatest benefits from 5G, potentially adding $2.2 trillion to the global economy at the close of 2034.
By end-January, it said commercial services had been commenced by 46 operators in 24 countries following a spate of launches in 2019. It forecast one-in-five mobile connections would be on 5G networks by end-2025.
Despite the progress of 5G, 4G remained the most popular technology at the close of 2019, accounting for 52 per cent of global connections at that point and being tipped to increase its share to 56 per cent by end-2025.
PMB Will Complete Legacy Projects In South-East – Presidency [LEADERSHIP]
President Muhammadu Buhari will complete ongoing legacy projects in the South-East before the expiration of his tenure in 2023, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, assured yesterday in Abuja.
Receiving the Editorial management of Orient Daily Newspaper, led by veteran journalist and Editor-in-Chief, Stanley Egbochuku, the presidential spokesman in a statement issued by the deputy director Information in the State House, Attah Esa, said several ongoing federal projects in the five south-eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo were at different stages of completion.
He recounted that in 2018, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had listed 69 ongoing projects in the region, mainly roads and bridges, funded from budgetary allocations, the Sukuk Bond and the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund.
‘‘Last December, I had reason to travel to Onitsha, Anambra State and onboard the flight to Asaba, I remember the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, asking me to ‘thank the President profusely for us on the second Niger Bridge.’
‘‘The good thing is that the project will be completed by February 2022, as promised by the contractor handling it,’’ he said.
Adesina welcomed the initiative by the media group to partner with his office to uphold professionalism in the media industry.
In his remarks, Egbochuku, a former Vice President of African Capital Alliance, who worked variously with Daily Times of Nigeria Plc, Concord Press Nigeria Limited, Business Day Media Limited, said:
‘‘Journalism is a profession that must be respected and we believe that the President’s media handlers (Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu) have done so much to promote this.
‘‘You have not disappointed us in the media industry and must be assured of our strong support.”
Minister Denies Knowledge Of Peterside’s Sack [LEADERSHIP]
Following the report of appointment of Bashir Jamoh as the new director-general (DG) of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), to replace Dakuku Peterside, whose tenure expires on March 10, 2020, the minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi said he is not aware of the alleged Peterside replacement.
There were unofficial information yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the appointment of Jamoh, an executive director of administration and finance in NIMASA, as the new DG of NIMASA.
In a television programme yesterday monitored by LEADERSHIP, the minister, while reacting to the alleged sack of Peterside and his replacement by Jamoh, said: “I am not aware. As of yesterday when I spoke to the DG of NIMASA, he was in the office and they had a board meeting and he was present at the meeting. I am not aware that he has been removed. I spoke to him at about 3 pm to 4 pm. I should know if he has been sacked. If I am the minister of transportation, I should know.
“Maybe we need to call him (Peterside) this morning to know whether he is in the office but the government does not take an arbitrary decision. If he were to be sacked, the minister of transportation would be told to formally intimate the DG of his sack and I am not aware that the president has directed me to intimate anybody of his sack.
“His tenure expires on the 10th of this month. When it expires, you can then approach the president to either reappoint him or replace him. The president has the appointing authority. All the minister has by law is the recommendation authority.”
Reacting to the alleged refusal of Peterside to attend National Assembly summons, he said: “I attend National assembly summons because they have the authority to summon a minister or the head of parastatals. I would be surprised if Peterside does not honour summons because he was once a member of the House of Representative.”
Obasanjo: A Belated Love Affair [LEADERSHIP]
If words could make the dead turn in their grave, the founder of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Faseun, would have rolled over last week, caught between amusement and surprise at a remarkable statement during the first anniversary lecture of his passing.
On that occasion, former President Olusegun Obasanjo warned that the country risked another civil war if President Muhammadu Buhari’s government continued to ignore the demands for restructuring. That statement, its timing and place were extraordinary.
Faseun would be amused that it took Obasanjo 20 years to get to this point, and at the same time surprised that the man he once publicly accused of betraying the cause, has now received the gift of hindsight and was personally present at his memorial lecture to honour him with this gift.
Restructuring – or true federalism, as it was once called – has many enemies and Faseun died believing that Obasanjo was one of the strong enemies. It wasn’t just what Faseun believed; more important was what Obasanjo did to OPC or anyone remotely connected with the call to restructure the country.
The rise of OPC, the call for a sovereign national conference/true federalism, predated Obasanjo’s second coming. Yet Obasanjo, who perhaps had the greatest opportunity to strengthen the foundation of restructuring, and who in fact profited from it in some way, did more than any president after him to attack and undermine the idea. But what is hindsight, if not the chance to eat humble pie without shame or regret?
I didn’t know the day will come when Obasanjo would be in Faseun’s corner. But there he was, defending him with a vigour and tenacity that would have left the first-class surgeon and acupuncture specialist shaking his head in disbelief.
When Faseun started OPC in the early 1990s, there were many genuine concerns about the direction of what appeared at the time to be the emergence of a wild pseudo-military wing of Yoruba political resistance following the annulment of the June 12 election.
But Faseun did his best to curb the excesses of the group (before it splintered), as did a number of the Yoruba political elite who argued, justifiably, that the politics of exclusion was worsening the level insecurity in the country and leaving large sections of the country and millions of young people in despair.
Initially, it appeared that Obasanjo’s government would listen and take steps to address the genuine grievances. But that didn’t happen. Instead, Obasanjo demonised those who expressed the view that his government had been captured by those who installed him. He called the opposition names and rejected any suggestions of a sovereign conference or the prospects of true federalism.
While he bluffed his political enemies or treated them with contempt and indifference for demanding true federalism, he reserved an iron fist for the OPC – the same OPC whose leader he was full of praise for last week.
Obasanjo personally ordered the police to shoot OPC members on sight, brushing aside calls for restraint by Human Rights Watch at the time. At a point, the late human rights activist and one of Faseun’s strongest allies, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, was genuinely worried that Obasanjo’s government would eliminate Faseun.
In an interview with The Niche before he died, Faseun spoke about the pain of Obasanjo’s betrayal as if it happened yesterday: “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was one of the factors that made the OPC come into existence.
“We fought for him, fought for his regime and he ruled this nation for eight years of the constitutional prescription. It was surprising that the same Obasanjo that we protected was the one that said if you see any OPC member, shoot on sight.”
Faseun’s OPC was not the only victim of Obasanjo’s betrayal. The former president sussed out and attacked the Alliance for Democracy (AD), perhaps the most organised political expression of the will to restructure the country at the time.
Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and a remnant in Lagos were the only survivors in the South west. The former president crushed dissent in his government, regularly purging his party rank and file of contrary voices, and whipping the National Assembly in line.
In a spectacular travesty of federalism, he declared emergency rule in Ekiti and Plateau states and suspended the houses of assembly. On top of that, he instigated a few state houses of assembly to remove governors he didn’t particularly like. Under Obasanjo, the country descended into insecurity that left a trail of violent killings, including the murder, without recompense, of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Bola Ige.
In spite of the spiraling violence on his watch and suggestions that a decentralised police could stem the tide, Obasanjo stonewalled. The same man who is rooting for Amotekun today, describing it as the best invention since the Royal Niger Company’s constabulary force, would not even brook community police when he was in power.
It was Ok, he seemed to say, for Abuja to use the Federal police to rig elections or intimidate its enemies in the states, but wrong for states to have any security arrangement with sufficient local knowledge to protect their own communities.
His most memorable token to the call for true federalism was a national political reform conference set up on the eve of his departure and whose report he later dumped among the chickenfeed in his farm.
But listening to Obasanjo last week, it’s obvious that all things have become new. Amotekun – the regional policing arrangement by the South west – is suddenly a brilliant idea, not in and of itself, but because one of the governors has offered to give the former president special attention in all discussions regarding the formation of the security network. In order words, it’s not about Amotekun, but Obasanjo being Obasanjo, it’s about Obasanjo.
Which is fine. We’re all entitled to the gift of hindsight. If you have led your country not once but twice, and even attempted a third, after which you have remained the busiest former president at 83, and you still can’t shame others with your ego and gift of hindsight, then it’s your fault.
We now know that Obasanjo never opposed true federalism, fiscal federalism, restructuring or whatever baptismal name you choose for it. On the contrary, he said he supported any political tampering that could prevent another civil war but only did not have a name for it!
Yet, Buhari would do well to leave the messenger and face the message. In spite of his best efforts, the country is still in trouble. It is still deeply divided along tribal and religious lines. Widespread feelings of alienation and discontent continue to rise, and current structures are woefully inadequate to contain them.
Change is a moving train. Over the years, states (especially Lagos), have through litigation, managed to wrest from the centre some areas of control, such as land, certain taxes and levies, legislation on sports and lottery, and control of physical planning, among others.
But as human rights activist and senior advocate Femi Falana pointed out, the items on the Exclusive List have been expanded from 45 in the 1963 constitution to 67 in the current one.
The irony, however, is that while states are demanding greater autonomy and castigating the centre for appropriating 52 per cent of federal revenue, these same states insist on treating local governments just as cruelly as they are being treated by the centre.
President Buhari appears uncomfortable with any suggestions of restructuring partly because he belongs to the era that imposed a unitary system on Nigeria, and also partly because he is suspicious that it is a nebulous agenda for mayhem.
But he’s wrong. Necessity, especially economic necessity, is already driving the restructuring that Buhari’s party promised but which it has so far failed to deliver on.
Obasanjo’s latter-day love affair with restructuring should be a parable to those who resist change simply because they think they have a temporary advantage.
If Faseun could give a vote of thanks to Obasanjo at the memorial lecture last week, he would have been delighted that the former president has, finally, seen the light. But then, he might have added in his forthright manner, that even hindsight has its expiry date.
Ishiekwene is the MD/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview
APC Exco Crisis: Confusion As Kano High Court Upturns Oshiomhole’s Suspension [PUNCH]
- Embattled party chair blames minister, Obaseki, other govs
- Plaintiffs dismiss Kano order, say ex-Edo gov remained suspended
There was confusion on Thursday as two courts of equal jurisdiction, in a space of 24 hours, gave contradictory orders on the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole.
Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa, sitting at the Federal High Court in Kano on Thursday, voided the suspension of Oshiomhole as a member of the APC.
He also held that the Independent National Electoral Commission should not recognise anybody, except Oshiomhole, as the APC national chairman.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa’s ruling came a day after Justice Danlami Senchi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Jabi, made an order suspending Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the APC.
Justice Senchi had premised his order suspending Oshiomhole as the APC national chairman on the November 2, 2019 resolution of the Ward 10, Etsako West Local Government Area.
Justice Senchi held that Oshiomhole could not continue to function as the APC national chairman when he had been suspended by his ward.
The Abuja judge ordered Oshiomhole to stop parading himself as the APC national chairman, and ordered the APC to deny him access to the party national secretariat
But on Thursday, Justice Lewis-Allagoa held that the November 2, 2019 “purported resolution of the Ward 10, Etsako West Local Government Area, Edo State APC,” suspending Oshiomhole as a member of the APC was of no effect.
The judge, who ordered that the status quo ante bellum should be maintained, directed all parties to the suit before him on the subject, not to give any effect whatsoever to the “purported resolution” suspending Oshiomhole as a member of the APC.
He made an interim order, directing the APC; the INEC; the Inspector-General of Police; and the Director General, State Security Service “either by themselves, servants, privies, assigns or any other officer, howsoever described and by whatever name called, from giving effect to the purported resolution of Ward 10, Etsako West Local Government Area of 2nd November 2019 suspending the 2nd defendant (Oshiomhole) as a member of the 1st defendant (APC) pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”
The judge also restrained INEC from “dealing, communicating or howsoever recognising any person other than the 2nd defendant (Oshiomhole) as the national chairman of the 1st defendant (APC) for any party business or carrying out any duties in the commission by the Electoral Act.”
The ex parte application leading to Justice Lewis-Allagoa’s orders was filed by one Aliyu Muhammad Rabiu.
The judge adjourned till April 8 to hear the motion on notice filed by Rabiu.
Oshiomhole’s men flaunt Kano court order at party secretariat
The two court orders worsened the crisis in the APC on Thursday. The embattled national chairman’s supporters flaunted the order of the court in Kano at the party’s national secretariat.
A statement by Oshiomhole’s media aide, Mr Simon Ebegbulem, read, “A Federal High Court Kano, set aside the ruling of the FCT High Court upholding the suspension of the APC National Chair, Oshiomhole from the party. Order police, DSS to provide security to the National Chair to resume office.”
Oshiomhole had invited journalists to his private office for a press conference on Thursday, but changed his mind when reporters arrived at the venue.
He said he was on his way to the Presidential Villa, stating, “Someone will speak to you, but if you are here by the time I return I will speak to you.” He went into his waiting vehicle and left.
His media aide and other associates, gave copies of the Kano Federal High Court injunction to journalists, saying a press conference might be held on Friday.
Senate Okays Buhari’s $22.7bn Loan Request Amidst Protests [PUNCH]
The Senate on Thursday approved the $22.79bn loan request of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
The process of approval, was not however, without protests from the opposition senators led by the Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Loans, Senator Clifford Ordia, laid the report and was about to read the executive summary when trouble started.
Senator Adamu Aliero asked the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, to postpone deliberation on the document until next week to enable them study the report very well.
Lawan rejected the suggestion warning that the report may have become a public debate before next week because the press would definitely get copies and publish the contents.
The coast was then clear for Ordia to present the executive summary of his report but his conclusion generated another heated argument among senators.
The senators faulted the two-item recommendation proposed by the Ordia-led panel without furnishing them with details of the projects, the beneficiaries and the amount allocated to each of them.
Lawan, however, disagreed with them, stressing that by the Senate rules, the report should not be subjected to line by line consideration.
He said, “We are not doing second reading on this. We have recommendations which we will vote on but before we reach that stage, what is here is what is to finance our capital budget.
“It is important we are conscious that we need the capital aspect of the budget funding.”
Senate Okays Buhari’s $22.7bn Loan Request Amidst Protests [PUNCH]
The Senate on Thursday approved the $22.79bn loan request of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
The process of approval, was not however, without protests from the opposition senators led by the Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Loans, Senator Clifford Ordia, laid the report and was about to read the executive summary when trouble started.
Senator Adamu Aliero asked the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, to postpone deliberation on the document until next week to enable them study the report very well.
Lawan rejected the suggestion warning that the report may have become a public debate before next week because the press would definitely get copies and publish the contents.
The coast was then clear for Ordia to present the executive summary of his report but his conclusion generated another heated argument among senators.
The senators faulted the two-item recommendation proposed by the Ordia-led panel without furnishing them with details of the projects, the beneficiaries and the amount allocated to each of them.
Lawan, however, disagreed with them, stressing that by the Senate rules, the report should not be subjected to line by line consideration.
He said, “We are not doing second reading on this. We have recommendations which we will vote on but before we reach that stage, what is here is what is to finance our capital budget.
“It is important we are conscious that we need the capital aspect of the budget funding.”
But Abaribe faulted the position of the Senate President.
Again, Herdsmen Attack Benue Community, Rape Monarch’s Wife, Others [PUNCH]
Suspected Fulani herdsmen in the early hours of Thursday attacked the Mbanyiar community in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State and raped three women including the district head’s wife.
According to a native of the community, who simply identified himself as Terka, the suspected herdsmen headed straight to the residence of the community head and attacked the household.
The herdsmen allegedly raped the traditional ruler’s wife and two of his in-laws and destroyed crops stored in the barn.
Confirming the attack on his community, the traditional ruler, Tyoor Chado, said the herdsmen numbering 11 attacked his residence around 2am.
According to him, his wife and two of his in-laws were tortured and raped by the marauding herdsmen who also destroyed his farm.
“Since the incident happened, I have not seen my wife and the two other in-laws, but the Livestock Guards who have gone to the area told me they were tortured, raped but were not killed.
“I have reported the matter to the police and sent vehicle to go and convey them back to Daudu where I am now taking refuge,” the traditional ruler said.
He further said the herdsmen used cassava, melon and yam from his barn to feed their animals.
But when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Benue State Command, Catherine Anene, said he had not been briefed about the attack.
Minister, Govs Behind My Ordeal – Oshiomhole [SUN]
Embattled National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, has blamed a serving minister and some governors for his ordeal. Oshiomhole also described himself as a child of light who would always defeat darkness.
He stated this after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
He though he had given his all to the party, even at the expense of his family, with results to show, a few elite were bent on seeing him go.
He said: “You will recall that I was here two days ago to brief Mr. President, as I always do on matters affecting the party. Just yesterday (Wednesday) morning, suddenly, I saw in the news that an FCT high court has suspended me as national chairman. And that the person who went to court includes one of my vice chairmen, North-East, one Mustapha (Salihu, APC national vice chairman, North-East) and four others. I was taken back because in the same suit they joined the APC, the police and the DSS.
“I am not an officer of my ward. I am the national chairman of my party, elected at a national convention by over 7,000 delegates, So, how could nine persons sit down somewhere and purport that they have removed a national chairman? And the court, contrary to all logic, all judicial precedence, finds comfort in granting an interim interlocutory order to stop me from functioning, pending when the matter is determined. In other words, he has given the order without the facts being laid before him and in the process adjourned the case to 7th of April.
“The calculations are clear that between now and April 7, my opponent in the system would have had ample time to do all the mischievous plans they have in place to destabilise the APC because some of them have membership of more than one political party. But, happily, this afternoon, a federal high court that I believe has jurisdictions on federal issues because the DSS, the police are not state institutions but federal institutions, has given an appropriate order to restrain the so-called suspension that was allegedly imposed on me by my ward in Edo State.
“I thought that I had a duty to brief Mr. President as the overall leader of our party about this development. Incidentally, when I requested for the audience yesterday, I wasn’t sure what has happened today would happen. But I had a duty to inform him about the court order. But, happily, before coming here, the order from a Federal High Court that has made nonsense of what the FCT court purported to have done has already settled the question.
“And I showed to the President the resolutions of my ward even though a ward executive does not have the powers to remove a national chairman, just to say that the document that we have says clearly that my ward passed vote of confidence on me. How the court can hold vote of confidence and twist it to mean vote of no confidence, only that judge can explain it to himself. But the good news is that this is not a final court nor is it the only court. Incidentally, it is just the court that didn’t have the jurisdiction even to listen to this matter. And our lawyers so pointed it out but the judge was determined to oblige those who want to destabilise the All Progressives Congress.
“Let me also say that those behind this plot, the hands you saw, which include, as you saw yesterday, the Edo State governor and his people jubilating … but that is the irony of life that you will help give birth to a child and the child looks for cutlass to want to chop off your neck. It has happened in history, it has happened in this country; so, I won’t be only person. But there are other forces who see me for whatever reason as a threat to them. And those leading this anti-Oshiomhole campaign, some of them I emphasise, cannot even boast of a councillor in their state even as they lay claim to leadership position in our party.
“I am proud to say that I have done my best not only when I was a governor, I have done my best as chairman of this party. I have worked not only along members of the party and with support of the good people of Nigeria for the President to be re-elected, for us to have majority in the two chambers of the National Assembly. I also worked hard to deliver my unit, my ward, I worked hard to deliver my local government, I worked hard to deliver my federal constituency three of them in my senatorial zone, I also worked hard to deliver my senator. Those fighting me couldn’t deliver even a councillor of a local government in their unit. And they just feel that, if they cannot give me orders then they must do everything to embarrass my person; but I believe that he who God stands with, no man born of a woman can bring him down. I can’t say more than that.
“Those who are parading themselves, holding meetings at night, my prayer to my God is that let them meet at night, what they do at night will be destroyed my light in the daytime. I don’t go for night business, I do day business. They know themselves, they know me and I know them.”
Buhari Approves Justice Mensem As Ag. President Court of Appeal [SUN]
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Justice M.B. Dongban Mensem as acting President of the Court of Appeal.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said Mensem is to resume his new position today when the incumbent president of the appellate court, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, would retire from service.
Justice Mensem, who is the next most senior judge of the Court of Appeal, will be acting for an initial three months pending when a substantive appointment to the position of the President of the Court of Appeal would be made by President Buhari subject to the confirmation of the Senate.
“The President’s approval of the appointment of Justice Mensem followed the recommendation of the Chief Justice of Nigeria in line with the provisions of Section 238(4) & (5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended,” Shehu said.
Senate Passes Buhari $22.7bn Loan Request Amidst Protests [SUN]
- N’Assembly won’t allow diversion of funds –Lawan •PDP berates APC senators
The Senate, yesterday, approved the report by its Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, empowering the federal and state governments to access loans estimated at $22.798, 456, 773 from the World Bank, Islamic Bank, the African Development Bank and Chinese Export and Import (EXIM) Bank.
The approval was reached after a closed door session which lasted about 45 minutes.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said the loan was approved in the interest of the nation and the economy.
The closed door session was, however, preceded by a battle of wits between Lawan and Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe.
The two principal officers relied on the Senate Standing Rules to convince their colleagues on the need to make for wholesale approval or item by item of the report by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts chaired by Ordia Ordia.
Abaribe had accused Lawan of muzzling the opposition as he was repeatedly prevented from seeking to make the Senate buy into item-by-item consideration of the report as against its wholesome approval. He said there were some items in the report that required reconsideration.
The argument by both leaders led to a stalemate which compelled Gabriel Suswam to call for a closed door session for the senate to address grey areas sequel to which the Senate Leader, Abdullahi Yahaya moved a motion for a closed door session.
Meanwhile, Lawan has assured that the National Assembly would take full responsibility for the application of the loan request to the projects domiciled with federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
He expressed the optimism that the loan would turn around the economic fortunes of the nation, saying its strict application to relevant projects would be supervised by committees of the National Assembly.
However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, berated All Progressives Congress (APC) senators for the approval.
The PDP, in a statement, said the senators have shown that the ruling APC did not have the interest of Nigerians at heart.
“The fact that the $22.7 billion loan request brimmed with unexplained, obscure, over-bloated and questionable subheads, such as the scandalous $500 million dollars (N180 billion) smuggled in under the guise of upgrading the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), shows that the APC and a cabal in the Presidency are in a huge financial racket, for which they are ready to plunge Nigerians into more suffering.
“In approving the loan, even after it was clear that Nigerians are averse to it, the APC senators have confirmed that they are in league with other APC leaders to fleece our nation and bring more hardship to Nigerians.
“The party notes as disheartening that under the Buhari Presidency our foreign debt has continued to accumulate with nothing to show other than excruciating unemployment rate, decayed infrastructure, a worsening governance system, escalated insecurity and unprecedented poverty.
“The party however, commended the PDP senators for standing with Nigerians in fearlessly rejecting the loan as it will bring more hardship and further mortgage the future of our nation.
“The PDP therefore calls on Nigerians to unite in defence of our nation by raising their voices to demand that Senate reverses this unpatriotic approval, which is completely against our national interest,” the opposition party said.
Saraki Kicks As EFCC Seeks Final Forfeiture Of Ikoyi Property [SUN]
Immediate past Senate president, Dr. Bukonla Saraki, yesterday opposed an application before a Federal High Court, Lagos seeking final forfeiture of two of his Ikoyi properties.
The said properties are located at 17 and 17A McDonald Road, Ikoyi, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had obtained an interim order of forfeiture on the properties in November 2019.
Justice Mohammed Liman had then adjourned the case for any interested party to appear and show cause why a permanent order should not be made.
The court had also ordered that the interim order be published in a national newspaper to alert such interested parties.
EFCC applied to court to forfeit the properties to the government, on the grounds that they were obtained with loans from GTBank and repaid back with Kwara State fund.
Saraki’s counsel,Mr Kehinde Ogunwunmiju, SAN, informed the court that he was already a successful businessman with properties worldwide before he became senator.
He said that the EFCC must satisfy the court that such properties formed part of proceeds of any unlawful act by the respondent.
Respondent’s counsel informed the court that both the interim and the attempted permanent forfeiture of the two properties was an abuse of court process.
Counsel further argued that the EFCC was also stopped from re-litigating on the same properties because it had litigated on same before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) up to the Supreme Court but lost.
He said that Justice Taiwo Taiwo had made an order restraining EFCC from filing such a case, adding that the order was still subsisting.
Meanwhile, some of the facts presented by the EFCC before the court are that Saraki while serving as governor of Kwara was deducting N100 million from security votes to defray the loan.
EFCC counsel, Mr Nnaemeka Omenwa, argued that the judgment of the CCT dismissing the case, did not vest property right on Saraki.
He urged the court not to be persuaded by the argument of counsel but hold in favour of applicant.
Liman has adjourned until April 24 for judgment.
They Are After Me Because Of 2023, Says Oshiomhole [THE NATION]
Federal High court: maintain status quo
Party chair goes to Appeal Court
Fayemi, Buhari meet at Villa
Those behind the plot to remove me from office are those angling for the Presidential seat in 2023, All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman Adams Oshiomhole said on Thursday.
He spoke to reporters at the State House in Abuja after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
On Wednesday, a Federal Capital Territory High Court Judge granted an interlocutory injunction restraining him from functioning as national chairman of the APC.
Security operatives immediately took over the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
The President also on Thursday met with Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi at the Villa.
Fayemi did not brief reporters after his visit to the Villa but it is believed that he visited to lobby the President on why Oshiomhole should be forced out of office.
Fayemi is one of the arrow heads of the attempt to oust Oshiomhole from office.
Oshiomhole said besides the “blacklegs”, “there are other forces who see me for whatever reason as a threat to them. “He accused those “leading this anti-Oshiomhole campaign” of being weak politicians who cannot boast of winning a councillorship seat let alone “lay a claim to leadership position in our party.”
He added: “I’m proud to say that I have done my best not only when I was a governor, I have done my best as chairman of this party, I have worked not only along members of the party and with support of the good people of Nigeria for the president to be re-elected, for us to have majority in the two chambers of the National Assembly, I also worked hard to deliver my unit, my ward, I worked hard to deliver my local government, I worked hard to deliver my federal constituency three of them in my senatorial zone, I also worked hard to deliver my senatorial district.
“Those fighting me just feel that if they cannot give me orders, then they must do everything to embarrass my person, but I believe that he who God stands with no man born of a woman can bring him down.
“I can’t say more than that. Those who are parading themselves, holding meetings at night, my prayer to my God is that let them meet at night, what they do at night will be destroyed in the day time. I don’t go for night business I do day business. They know themselves, they know me and I know them.
“It is just unfortunate that if you have out of 100, 90 people are happy with you, who will call and say well done, those 10 who are not happy are the ones that will call news conference to denounce you, they are the ones who will hold midnight meetings in a minister’s house to say how do we bring him down.
“They are the ones who will plot how do we get rid of him because they want to be president in 2023 even when their hold on their state at the moment is doubtful If they were to go for referendum in terms of their approval rating.
“But as for me, I live my life as the Christians say live it as if there will be no tomorrow, on day by day basis. But God will see me through, He knows my heart, He knows my conscience and He knows the wishes of the overall majority of our members and to them I remain ever grateful”, he said.
S’East, S’South To Get Security Outfits [THE NATION]
The Southeast and Southsouth are set to have their regional security outfits, the governors said on Thursday.
Southsouth Governors Forum Chairman/Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, told reporters that the six governors had agreed to set up a regional security outfit.
Also on Thursday, Southeast Governors Forum Chairman/Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi said the zone was set to launch its security outfit.
Okowa, who briefed reporters in Asaba, the state capital, said: “We have agreed as a region to constitute a regional security outfit.
“We have mandated the BRACED commission to work out the details and to brief us at the next meeting.”
BRACED is the acronym for Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta states.
The commission was formed 10 years ago by the states to strengthen economic ties.
Okowa said the next meeting of the Southsouth Governors Forum would hold in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Umahi spoke while addressing Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Ecumenical Centre Abakaliki, the state capital.
Prof Osinbajo was in the state to launch the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Clinics.
Umahi said the governors and other leaders were doing everything possible to secure the zone.
He said: “We have been challenged so much in the Southeast by security problems.
“Our people are mainly traders and farmers and when movement is not free, it is a problem.
“So, security is the problem of everybody. I want to assure that we are doing everything possible together with you and Mr. President to secure our people.
“We will not break the Constitution to satisfy our people. We have our own Amotekun with us and we will soon unveil it within the limit of the Constitution.”
INEC Targets E-Voting From Next Polls [THE NATION]
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday unfolded plans to kick start electronic voting with the 2023 general elections.
Its chairman, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, said should the Electoral Act is amended, based on its proposals, the 2019 elections would be the last mainly manually conducted election.
He spoke in Lagos at a retreat on the review of the Electoral Act. The retreat, which was declared open by Deputy Senate President and Chairman of National Assembly Committtee of Constitutional Amendment Ovie Omo-Agege, was witnessed by members of the Senate Committee on INEC, led by Senator Kabiru Gaya, and House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, led by Dr. Sishati Dukku.
Omo-Agege reiterated the commitment of the National Assembly to electoral reforms and the deepening of democracy through constitution review.
He said the recent Supreme Court judgments on electoral litigations have made the review of the Electoral Act more compelling.
The Deputy Senate President said the anti-graft body may have a role to play in the prosecution of electoral corruption cases in the future.
Yakubu noted that the retreat marked the first time that the Commission and National Assembly members came together to discuss issues relating to the electoral legal framework.
He recalled that, last year, the electoral agency received from the Senate Committee on INEC “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act (No. 6) 2010 and for Related Matters, 2019.”
Yakubu said the 26 clauses in the Bill sought to amend many sections of the Electoral Act, ranging from the neutrality of electoral officials to the compilation, display and storage of the voters’ register; legal recognition for electronic accreditation of voters; party primaries and the nomination of candidates for elective offices by political parties.
He also said a new provision was proposed to address the recurrence of the “Kogi conundrum” where a governorship candidate died between the commencement of polls and the declaration of winner, a situation not envisaged and clearly without any legal remedy under the Constitution, the Electoral Act and the Commission’s regulations and guidelines.
Yakubu said the new amendments also sought to empower the Commission to deepen the deployment of technology in the management of the voters’ register, voting and result collation processes.
The INEC boss, who said the commission was drawing lessons from post-election litigations, a remedy was also needed for involuntary result declaration by returning officers.