Mamman Daura quarantined in London, speaks with Buhari [Nation]
From self- quarantine in London, former managing director of the New Nigerian newspaper, Mallam Mamman Daura, has spoken with his cousin, President Muhammadu Buhari, to say he is well and okay.
Daura was reportedly flown out of the country sick, but a video recording of his telephone chat from London with the President shows a physically well man as he walks round a living room, speaking in Hausa into a mobile phone.
He later sits down, continuing his conversation.
Personal Assistant to the President on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, posted on his verified Twitter handle, @BashirAhmaad, the video of Daura in a room chatting with Buhari.
A translation of Daura’s end of his telephone conversation in the video attached to the tweet read as follows: “The Governor came the day before I left. He came on condolence visit in respect of Samaila Isa (Funtua). Yes, the day before. Yes, it’s true. Amin.”
Mallam Daura, 79, was reported to have been hurriedly flown abroad on Wednesday to receive medical attention for conditions resembling Covid-19.
Ahmad tweeted: “No iota of truth in the earlier story that Mallam Mamman Daura was flown to London for an emergency medical attention. He is hale and hearty. Nigerians should disregard that story.”
UK mandates new arrivals from certain countries, including Nigeria, to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Real reasons Mamman Daura travelled – Family source
Reliable family sources told The Nation that contrary to speculations about his health, Daura left the country hale and hearty.
“Our father, contrary to all the noise out there, was not rushed out as an emergency. He was not packaged as a health emergency as being insinuated by some fake news peddlers,” a relative said.
It was reliably gathered that Daura actually left the country for the United Kingdom for the purpose of spending time with his children and grandchildren residing there as it has been his practice for many years now.
The family source also said Daura will use the opportunity to “submit himself to routine medical check-ups and also spend a lot of time resting.”
The Nation gathered that but for the Covid-19 pandemic that necessitated the closure of airports globally, he would have embarked on the trip earlier than now.
Daura attended a funeral at Gudu Cemetery in Abuja on Tuesday, the day before he travelled, in company of many prominent Nigerians.
The source said: “Ask those who saw him in Abuja on Tuesday if he looked like somebody critically ill. It is easy for media people to find out the truth if they want to do so. But for some sorry reasons, they prefer to report lies and misinformation as news. As I speak to you, our father is spending good time with his family abroad,” a source said.
“There is no single truth in the reports out there. It is painful for us as his children and relatives to read such news about our old father. How can anybody say he was rushed out as an emergency?
“I can tell you, just like many people who saw him at the airport when he was leaving, that he walked, agile and brisk as ever, with his own legs to the plane.
“He was not carried or stretchered as being reported. Mamman Daura is not sick and he is not dying. Those writing such about him are not being fair to him and his family.
“Our father is an old man. He is not too young. But people should stop wishing him dead for whatever reason. If it is the will of God for him, nobody can hold him down.
“But to say he is critically sick and dying at a time he is in very high spirits eagerly looking forward to spending time with his loved ones abroad, is unimaginable.
“Even before he travelled, he was up and doing, attending public functions here and there. He was also receiving visitors all through the time before he embarked on the trip,” our source added.
Speaking further, our source insisted that Mamman Daura has not flouted any law or regulation locally or internationally by embarking on the trip.
She advised those peddling negative rumour and lies about the Katsina-born elder statesman to always remember that “the Mamman Daura you take delight in running down and abusing as well as wishing sick or dead, is some people’s father and relative.
“In his own way, he has contributed to the development of this country. It is unnecessary to wish him dead. He is an old man enjoying God’s favour.”
El-Rufai to NBA: I didn’t get fair hearing [Nation]
- Pressure mounts on association to disinvite Obasanjo, Wike
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State lashed out at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Saturday for de-inviting him as guest speaker at the association’s 60th Annual General Conference (AGC).
He called the action of the NBA scandalous, strange, politically motivated and a violation of his right to fair hearing.
A group in the NBA, Radical Agenda Movement, asked the association to withdraw the invitation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State as speakers at the AGC for the same reasons it is keeping El-Rufai out, while more lawyers threatened to boycott the conference unless the Kaduna governor’s invitation was restored.
El-Rufai, in a protest letter to the NBA through his counsel, Mr. A.U. Mustapha (SAN), said the association which ought to serve as the conscience of the nation had descended into the realm of partisanship.
He said: The news of the withdrawal by the Annual General Conference Planning Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association its earlier invitation to Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai as a guest speaker in the forthcoming NBA 60th Annual General Conference was received by my humble self with rude shock and bewilderment.
“It is utterly scandalous, to say the least. My response is principally dictated by the strange circumstance leading to and surrounding the said withdrawal of the invitation, which is based on one-sided allegations contained in a petition by the so-called Open Bar Initiative, which was believed and acted upon by the Annual General Conference Planning Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association without any reference to Governor El-Rufai.
”The decision taken by the NBA to withdraw their invitation to Governor El-Rufai on the basis of the wild and unsubstantiated allegations contained in the Open Bar Initiative petition without any reference to the governor is not only a naked affront on the rule of law but also a contradiction of the NBA’s motto which held itself out as the custodian, defender and guardian Angel of the rule of law in Nigeria.
”The implications of this grievous decision by the NBA demonstrate a total disregard for the basic constitutional provision of fair hearing which is the foundation and bedrock of the rule of law designed for the safeguard of fundamental right and freedom in any civilised and democratic society.
“It therefore beats all imagination that an elitist professional body like the NBA could take a decision that negates the very essence of this fundamental constitutional provision, no matter how tempting or appealing the reason may be.”
He said NBA’s decision negated the Rule of Law, especially the right to fair hearing for El-Rufai.
He said it would not be out of place to insinuate political motives behind the de-invitation.
He added: “Going further, it is also instructive to note that the NBA sat down, constituted itself unto a court and adjudged Governor El-Rufai guilty of all the allegations contained in the said petition without hearing a word from the governor and thereafter proceeded to apply the sanction requested by the petitioners, which is a withdrawal of the invitation. What a “court!”
“Can this be called justice and fairness? Is this exemplary? It would certainly not be out of place to insinuate political motives behind this unfortunate decision as the NBA as a professional body, which is supposed to be in the forefront of the protection and promotion of the rule of law in Nigeria, should know better than this.
“After all, members of the NBA Executive and Annual Conference Planning Committee as constituted can be counted among the brightest legal minds in Nigeria.”
He advised NBA to remain apolitical instead of taking actions that can cause discord.
“This attitude of the Association drives home the point that our beloved country still has a long way to go. The Nigerian Bar Association is not just an association; it is an association that is expected to serve as the conscience of the nation.
“If such an association now descends into the realm of partisanship, parochialism, unfounded hearsay and one-sided justice, then the country is lost indeed.
“I consider it important to advise that the Association maintains its hitherto apolitical nature. It should not lend itself a tool of vendetta in the hands of unscrupulous people who want to use the NBA to fan the embers of discord.”
Pressure mounts on NBA to disinvite Obasanjo, Wike
A group in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is putting pressure on the association to withdraw the invitation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State as speakers at its 60th Annual General Conference (AGC).
The Radical Agenda Movement in the Nigerian Bar Association (RAMINBA) claims that Obasanjo and Wike have at one time or the other acted against the rule of law.
The group apparently took a cue from another group of lawyers Open Bar Initiative, whose petition against Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State led to the withdrawal of the invitation extended to the governor as one of the guest speakers.
Open Bar Initiative had accused the governor of representing the very antithesis of what they profess to defend.
Kaduna Muslim Lawyers and the Damaturu branch of the NBA yesterday joined the Jigawa and Bauchi branches in threatening to boycott the AGC unless the treatment given El-Rufai was reversed.
In a statement yesterday, RAMINBA chairman, Adesina Ogunlana, and the secretary, Ayo Ademiluyi, alleged that Obasanjo masterminded the1999 Odi massacre and attempted to tamper with Nigeria’s constitution for a third-term agenda.
Wike, on the other hand, it said, destroyed some properties during the COVID-19 lockdown in his state despite a court order against his action.
“He is the same governor who ordered the demolition without a court order of two hotels in Rivers State recently. The Rivers States task force under the control of Governor Wike is an agency notorious for violation of the human rights of citizens in carrying out their tasks,” the lawyers said.
Wike himself is a lawyer.
The group said it was “baffled” that the list of speakers at the conference still retains the names of Ex-President Obasanjo and Governor Wike.
It added:”We are persuaded that these men, by their antecedents vis-a-vis respect for and promotion of the rule of law and due process, are not fit for an invitation as speakers in a function such as the conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, whose mantra remains promoting the rule of law.
“Balogun Obasanjo is known in Nigeria’s most recent history to have launched some of the most brutal assaults on the concept of rule of law. Kindly recall that it was Obasanjo, who swore to uphold the constitution of the land, who refused to obey the Supreme Court order for the release of the N21 billion Lagos State local governments funds illegally and oppressively withheld by his administration.
“Despite the popular outcry that the Supreme Court is obeyed, President Obasanjo arrogantly declined obedience. He remained adamant all through his administration and it was President Yaradua who later complied with the judgment.”
NBA Damaturu rejects El-Rufai snub, threatens boycott
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Damaturu Branch, yesterday rejected the decision of the national body to withdraw the invitation of Governor El-Rufai as guest speaker at the AGC.
The Damaturu NBA said through its Chairman, Barr. U.N Lukman, that the invitation of the governor be restored immediately, failing which members of the branch would boycott the forum.
It also asked that an apology be sent to the governor.
It said: “The decision of the NEC is against the pillars of natural justice on the presumption of innocence and fair hearing as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and equal opportunity to all citizens of this country.
”At no time during the meeting were our NEC members from Damaturu branch afforded the right to vote on this resolution which we consider as thin air, lies and deception against the person of Mal. Nasir El-Rufai.
“The purported NEC meeting is a somber affair that is a mockery of professionalism and equal treatment which our resolution is sincerely concealing hatred and disunity amongst the Association.
Kaduna Muslim lawyers also to boycott conference
In a similar protest, the Kaduna State Chapter of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) yesterday directed its members to boycott the AGC over the withdrawal of Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s invitation as speaker at the conference.
The group, at a press conference in Kaduna, also asked Muslim lawyers across the country to boycott the conference, saying the decision of the NBA NEC smacked of what it called parochialism, favouritism and ethno-religious considerations.
The Vice Chairman of the association, Abbas Ma’sanawa, who read MULAN’s position, said the same NBA had kept mute over the “genocide going on in the North East, banditry and kidnappings in Katsina, Zamfara, Niger, and Kebbi States, and Giwa and Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State,” while also ”giving surreptitious ethnic cover to Southern Kaduna as if lives matter more in some parts of the country over the others.”
The group said: “Lives lost in Batsari, Katsina State far outnumber that of eight local governments of Southern Kaduna put together. This isn’t to say MULAN Kaduna justifies loss of lives anywhere and in any guise. MULAN Kaduna wonders where was the posturing of NBA at the many lives Iost in Borno State.
“Without mincing words, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 precisely, Section 10 states in clear terms that “the Government of the Federation or of any state shall not adopt any religion as a state religion.
“We are witnesses to how Governor Nyesom Wike demolished a mosque and came out openly to say, ‘I repeat once again without apologies, Rivers is a Christian State. That is why nobody can touch us.’
“We believe that NBA NEC deemed these utterances glorious, hence the lofty invitation to Nyesom Wike to use our hallowed platform to propagate his governance inklings and dis-invitation of Governor El-Rufai.
“MULAN Kaduna Branch believes that what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander.
“The President of the Nigerian Bar Associaticn, Paul Usoro, SAN said NEC’s decision yesterday had no ethnic or religious colouration or connotation howsoever and whatsoever.
“MULAN Kaduna Branch asks Mr. President if the topic: Who is a Nigerian? has anything to do with Southern Kaduna. An honest answer in this direction would reveal the clandestine motive of the NBA.
“Paragraph 7 of the letter of Mr. President requesting the Governors’ Forum to communicate the dis-invitation to His Excellency, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai is certainly sinister as MULAN Kaduna wonders if the letter inviting him was routed through the Governor’s Forum in the first place!
“What stops Mr. President from sending the letter of dis-invitation to Governor El-Rufai directly?
“There is certainly more to it than meet the eye in the circumstances, and to be modest, the NBA President’s assertion as contained in the letter to the NGF cannot be far from the truth as to the ethnic-religious drive in the whole of what have played out.
“In view of the unfortunate decision of the NBA NEC, MULAN Kaduna Branch is left with no option but to instruct its members to withdraw their participation in the forthcoming NBA AGC and enjoins all Muslim lawyers in Nigeria to join in the boycott.”
Also reacting, the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria described the action of the NBA as irresponsible.
Secretary General of the council, Nafi’u Baba-Ahmed, also a lawyer, said: “The unfortunate development has cast a terrible smelly smear on the NBA, which until recently, was controversially regarded as representing the best ideals of justice, equity the good conscience of the society.
“The decision taken by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to delist Mal. Nasiru Ahmad El-Rufa’i, the Executive Governor, Kaduna State, as one of the speakers at its virtual annual national conference is, to be charitable, regrettable and irresponsible of an institution of which I had hitherto been a proud member for over 40 years.
“We want to believe that the decision is not representative of all its right thinking members. For clearly, it has already taken sides in the Southern Kaduna crises, contrary to its members’ training and what it loudly preaches, without listening to the narrative from the other side.
“Clearly, lowly, narrow political and religious sentiments have beclouded the judgment of the leadership of the NBA, forgetting the most basic principle of their training and that its members cut across all sides of the divide.
The virtual AGC is scheduled to run from Wednesday to Friday.
It has the theme, ‘Step forward.’
It is expected to have Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), among others, in attendance.
El-Rufai was initially listed as one of the guest speakers in a session entitled ‘Who is a Nigerian?… A Debate on National Identity.’
Others billed to speak at the session are Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike; former Anambra State governor Peter Obi and a cleric, Tunde Bakare; former minister Oby Ezekwesili, and immediate past ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Salamatu Suleiman.
How COVID-19 scare, ministers’ complaints halted Reps probes [Nation]
- PDP: Shutdown aimed at stopping disclosures at ongoing investigations
The decision of the leadership of the House of Representatives to suspend over 30 ongoing probes by standing and ad hoc committees was largely caused by COVID-19 scare and five other factors, according to an investigation.
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are also said to have inundated the House leadership with complaints of alleged high-handedness by committee chairmen.
Other untoward allegations against some committee chairmen and members similarly went to the House leadership.
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila and other leaders, sources told The Nation, were worried that the committee instrument was being abused by some members, prompting a stay of action on all the probes on August 19.
No official explanation was given at the time.
The Peoples Democratic party (PDP) yesterday deplored the suspension of the probes and claimed that the action was meant to stop further disclosures at the hearings.
Investigation however revealed that the House took the step for the following reasons:
“Covid-19 scare;
“constant complaints by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of high-handedness by committee chairmen;
“growing inter-committee rivalry;
“overlapping of functions;
“proliferation of committees without deriving powers from the floor; and “arbitrary extension of committee timeline beyond six weeks.
A top source said: “We received intelligence report that some of our members who had Covid-19 infections/ symptoms had been attending public hearings because of sitting allowance.
“A few others had been secretly keeping COVID-19 manifestations to themselves and they had participated in committee activities as if all was well. We decided to put the interest of all members and Nigerians coming to the National Assembly above any other thing.
“The safest thing was to suspend all committees’ activities so that all members would have time to rest and those with Covid-19 symptom could have time to treat themselves.”
The source also said the House leadership was “disturbed by constant complaints of high-handedness by some chairmen of the standing and ad hoc committees.
“In fact, the committee instrument is being abused in a manner that some MDAs have not been able to do anything other than to appear before committees. We opted to apply the brakes to avoid the House reputation being dragged in the mud.
“We believe the committee activities ought to be better managed than the case at present.”
A principal officer said: “We have uncovered inter-committee rivalry and overlapping of functions between Standing Committees and Ad Hoc Committees.
“This development is also creating division in the House to the discomfiture of our leaders. We cannot continue to operate in this uncoordinated manner.
“In the House alone, we have more than 30 ad hoc committees investigating some MDAs and companies outside the standing committees saddled with such responsibilities.
“For instance, there was an ad hoc committee investigating DSTV and others on high subscription rates in the House of Representatives with Standing Committees on Information and Communication. This is creating bad blood.”
“It has reached a ridiculous stage that some ad hoc committees just sprang up in the House without deriving powers from the floor. There was no House resolution that such ad hoc committees be set up.”
A ranking House member said the leadership acted on the complaints of some members who were worried that things were getting bad.
He said: “Some ad hoc committees had exceeded their timelines of either four weeks or six weeks, and they continued to operate without recourse to the floor for extension of their sitting period.”
Some members were allegedly getting more distracted by committee assignments which they have accorded priority.
At press time, findings confirmed that the House leadership was working on “strict regulations for the conduct of the committees.”
Another principal officer said: “We will fine-tune the committee system before we return from recess. I can assure you that things will change.”
Announcing the suspension of the probes on August 19, House Leader Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said: “The Leadership of the House of Representatives recently met and resolved that henceforth all activities of standing and ad-hoc committees be put on hold while the House is on its annual recess.
“Accordingly, all standing and ad hoc committee chairmen are hereby directed to suspend with immediate effect all committee meetings, public hearings and other engagements until the House resumes from its annual recess.
“The Clerk of the House should also ensure strict compliance with this circular by all committee clerks and other relevant staffs of the House of Representatives.”
He was silent on why the House decided to put committees’ activities on hold.
PDP chides Reps for halting probes
An unimpressed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday kicked over the suspension of the various investigations.
The party, in a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, asked Speaker Gbajabiamila to stop circumventing the statutory duties of the House and desist from obstructing the fight against corruption by the legislature.
The party described the shutdown order by the leadership of the House as a clear example of corruption fighting back from within the government circle, which it said must be condemned by all Nigerians.
It said: “It is clear that the shutdown directive is targeted at frustrating revelations from ongoing investigations on the $500 billion foreign loan from China, particularly as it relates to the mortgaging of our nation’s sovereignty to China.
“This is in addition to the investigations into the humongous corruption in government agencies including the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), the N300 billion unremitted revenue to the federation account as well as allegations of corruption in government earnings and the expenditure in Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA’s) under the APC.
“It is therefore unfortunate that under the Gbajabiamila-led leadership, the basic responsibility of the House of Representatives, which is its oversight on the executive, has just been maimed through a forced holiday on the members of the respective committees and their Chairmen.
“It is equally distressing that the APC leadership of the House of Representatives is breaching parliamentary rules, practices and procedures to shield APC leaders and their cronies who have been fleecing our nation.
“Our party therefore holds that any parliament that deliberately frustrates its statutory responsibility to call the activities of the executive to question has lost the essence of its own existence. The leadership that led it into such constitutional suicide must be held culpable.
“Indeed, never in our parliamentary history has committee activities been suspended or shut down on the ground of holiday or suspension of plenary.
“For us in the PDP, it is shocking that the APC leadership of the House of Representatives could by any consideration shut down, its legislative investigation, which is exclusively vested on it under sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), on the guise of being on break.
Such an action is calamitous to our democracy.”
The PDP however commended members of its caucus and other minorities in the National Assembly for standing against corruption and striving to ensure that the APC did not sell Nigerians into slavery with its reckless foreign borrowings.
It urged its lawmakers not to be “deterred but continue in their assignments as they are only answerable to the Nigerian people.
“The PDP therefore charges the Hon. Gbajabiamila-led APC leadership of the House of Representatives to immediately reverse itself as Nigerians expect nothing but seamless investigations without unnecessary interferences and incursions.
“If the Honorable Speaker is inclined towards allowing the covering of corruption, against the purpose for which he was elected to lead the House, then he should take a bow and step aside.”
15 high-profile corruption case files missing — Investigation [Punch]
The case files of 15 high-profile individuals, including the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, Senator Peter Nwabaoshi, and others facing graft and other criminal charges have disappeared, findings by Sunday PUNCH have revealed.
The missing files also included the non-declaration of assets and possession of foreign accounts cases against Anambra North senator, Stella Oduah; the President of the Nigerian Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick; and four other NFF officials as well Akwa Ibom North-East Senator, Bassey Akpan, among others.
The case against Uzodimma involved alleged contract fraud to the tune of N26bn. He reportedly received $12.5m from the Nigerian Ports Authority in 2014 to dredge the Calabar channel, but he allegedly failed to execute the contract.
Sequel to the disappearance of the files, the Ministry of Justice has written to the former head of the legal unit, Special Presidential Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property, Dr Cletus Ukpong, seeking information on the case files.
The files were said to be among the 23 high profile cases listed in a handover note by the chairman of the now defunct SPIP, Okoi Obono-Obla, to the Solicitor-General of the Federation, Dayo Apata (SAN), in August 2019, after Obono-Obla was suspended by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on August 14.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, subsequently directed Apata, who is the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of justice, to take charge of the panel.
But one year after Apata took over the panel, the whereabouts of the files were said to be unknown, prompting the Solicitor-General to write to Ukpong for information on the cases, the parties and the courts handling them.
The Solicitor-General, in a letter with reference number, SGF/PS/SPIPRPP/733/1, dated July 27, 2020, asked Ukpong to furnish the AGF’s office with information on the 15 court cases and the parties involved.
The letter was titled, ‘Re: Request for case files and demand for accurate information regarding certain unverifiable suit numbers.’
The letter read in part, “Please refer to my letter reference no. SGF/PS/SPIPRPP/733/1 dated May 6, 2020, wherein I requested that you furnish the office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice with accurate information detailing the suit numbers, parties and the courts where the matters listed below are pending:
“Suit nos. FHC/ABJ/CR/108/2018 (FRN vs Stella Oduah); FHC/ABJ/1392/2018 (Sen Hope Uzodinma & Anor vs SPIP); FHC/ABJ/CS/290/2018/ (FRN vs Access Bank Plc); FHC/CR/453/2019; FHC/ABJ/CR/1107/2017 (Chinedu Udora vs ACP Suleiman Abdul & 2 others);
“FHC/ABJ/CR/709/2019 (FRN vs Access Bank); FHC/ABJ/CR/570/2019 (D.B. Mangal Ltd V.SPIP & 3ors.); FHC/ABJ/CR/1360/2018 (Cyril Chima Agbele V. FGN & 2 ors.); FHC/ABJ/CR/862/2019(FRN vs Dr Goddy Nnadi & 10 ors); FHC/ABJ/CR/896/2019 (FRN V. Mrs Aisha Fanya Usman & 10 ors); FHC/ABJ/CR/ 928/2019 (FRN Senator Albert Bassey Akpan & 6 ors);
“FHC/ABJ/CR/407/2019; FHC/ABJ/L/820/2018 (FRN vs George Nkanta & 4 ors earlier taken over by the AGF for prosecution); FHC/ABJ/L/1727/2018 (FRN vs Senator Peter Nwaoboshi) and FHC/ABJ/CR/93/2019 (FRN vs Amaju Pinnick & four others).”
The letter added, “This reminder letter is to further inform you that the office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is yet to receive any response till date.”
The Solicitor-General further explained that none of the listed cases were recovered from the SPIP office or traceable to any court, hence the request for information on them. He noted that prompt response to the demand would enable the AGF to see the cases “to their logical conclusion.”
But the former head of the SPIP legal unit, in his response dated August 9, 2020, said he was not in a position to supply the information being sought by the ministry.
He explained that he had earlier handed over all the cases he was handling for the SPIP on receiving Apata’s demand letter dated August 15, 2019, noting that he did not handle some of the cases listed in his (Apata) most recent letter.
Ukpong stated, “I believe I did not handle some of the listed cases in your letter and it is difficult to ascertain such now with respect to records available to me now.”
Security operatives broke into my office, cart away files – Ukpong
He explained that he was informed that security operatives broke into his office and carted away the files, including his personal files.
He said, “I was informed by the security personnel at the panel’s office that men from your office entered my office in my absence and carried away all the case files, computer and other documents, including personal files and documents kept in my office for safekeeping.
“I had earlier requested in writing for the release of my personal documents and property carted away in the process but I have yet to receive any response.”
The ex-SPIP prosecutor added that some of the missing case files might have been “farmed out to external solicitors who were yet to brief me on them.”
“I was not in a position and I did not farm out any of these cases to any external solicitor to handle for the panel. Therefore, I am not in a position to supply some of the requested information or attach meaning to the listed suit numbers,” Ukpong noted.
The lawyer, however, mentioned the case involving Senator Akpan, which he said was before the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, adding that it was being handled by the AGF’s office.
On Uzodimma’s case, the ex-SPIP prosecutor stated that “it appears the matter was farmed out in my opinion,” adding that the same goes for the suit involving Access Bank.
Speaking to our correspondent on the phone on Saturday, the lawyer said the AGF had refused to release his personal effects, including credentials that were taken away over a year ago.
“They broke into my office and carted away all the files, and my personal files, books, and credentials are missing; that’s the power of the government, there is nothing I can do about it,” he said.
Files’ disappearance calls for thorough probe – Sagay
But commenting on the alleged missing files, the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof Itse Sagay, said the situation called for a thorough investigation, adding that the Federal Government should set up a panel to quiz the ministry of justice and the former SPIP officials staff to ascertain the whereabouts of the files.
He said, “This deserves to have a fact-finding panel set up because it is a major issue in the anti-corruption war; that files opened with regards to prominent people who are suspected of huge corruption disappeared. It is important that government sets up a fact-finding panel and to invite the two parties (ministry of justice and ex-SPIP officials) together so that whoever has the files can be traced.”
Malami not aware of missing files – Aide
The Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations to the AGF, Dr Umar Gwandu, said his principal had no prior knowledge of the high-profile cases listed by the Solicitor-General in his letter, stressing that Malami equally had no idea of the missing case files.
He said, “The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice does not have any prior knowledge of the 15 case files of the prominent Nigerians you were referring to.
“The AGF is not aware of any report, formal or informal, emanating from or being brought to the AGF office on the purported incidence. No orders were made by the AGF and no such orders could have been made in the office legitimately without his sanction, and no such sanction was made.”
Gwandu further dismissed the allegation that the AGF directed his staff to break into the SPIP office, describing it as ridiculous.
Investigation reveals more about missing files
Meanwhile, findings have shown that some of the SPIP cases whose files were listed as missing were withdrawn from court following the claim by the AGF office that they were to be reviewed for better handling. Some were struck out by the court after the AGF office claimed that the files were missing.
On November 5, 2019, the AGF office withdrew the corruption charges instituted against five officials of the Nigeria Football Association, including its President, Amaju Pinnick, over alleged misappropriation of $8.4m and N4bn belonging to the NFF.
A lawyer from the AGF office, Mr Abubakar Musa, informed Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja that the office decided to withdraw the case in order to review it and decide the appropriate action to take on it.
Justice Ojukwu struck out the case when the application for withdrawal was not opposed by the defence lawyer, Mohammed Katu.
The SPIP case against Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State was also struck out by the Federal High Court in Abuja on similar grounds.
But some of the SPIP’s high-profile cases, such as the one instituted against a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, have been struck out by the court on the basis of the AGF office’s claim that the files were missing.
For instance, on February 24, 2020, Justice Binta Nyako struck out the case involving Senator Ike Ekweremadu after the prosecuting counsel from the AGF office, Mr Pius Akutah, told the court that the former lawyer handling the case for the SPIP had disappeared with the case file.
Akutah had at the proceeding pleaded with the judge to order the former counsel to release the file to the AGF office
But Ekweremadu’s lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), urged the judge to either strike out the case or adjourn it indefinitely.
Responding, Justice Nyako, alluding to the enormous power of the AGF office, noted that the prosecutor representing the AGF “should not be waiting for me to make an order against an individual.”
Justice Nyako added, “So, as it is today, you don’t know the case against the defendant since you don’t have the file. I am going to strike out the case, when you are ready you can come back.
“The case is hereby struck out for want of diligent prosecution. The prosecution is allowed to come back whenever they are ready to proceed with the case.”
The SPIP had filed two counts against Ekweremadu on May 11, 2018, alleging that he failed to declare nine landed assets in Abuja; two in London, the United Kingdom; eight in Dubai, the United Arab Emirate; and three in Florida, the United States of America.
The defunct panel alleged that the offences which he allegedly committed were contrary to and punishable under section 3(3)(1)(a) of the Recovery of Public Property (Special Provision) Act 2004.
Corrupt persons spared on account of party allegiance – TI
Commenting on the development, the Chairman, Transparency International Nigeria, Musa Rafsanjani, said the current regime’s anti-graft campaign lacked coordination, noting that many corrupt people were being spared on account of their allegiance to the President and some senior officials.
“That is why the cases against many people in leadership positions today, from governors to federal lawmakers, have been completely silenced because they are in the same party and are loyal to the president and some people in government. You can’t fight corruption that way.”
The Executive Director, Civil Liberties Organisation, Ibuchukwu Ezike, said the government had never been serious with the anti-graft war, despite the establishment of two anti-graft agencies, noting that it was a gimmick to deceive Nigerians.
He added, “They are taking individuals to court but they would not investigate the cases properly. What we have seen is that when you are a poor person, you continue to suffer, but if you are rich, the law would protect you. The fight against corruption has not been justified; the corrupt are walking freely. We have never trusted the fight against corruption by any government in this country.”
Also, the President, Campaign for Democracy, Mr Usman Abdul, said for a government that came with the promise to fight corruption, this was unacceptable. We look at the fight against corruption as mere rhetoric if we are talking about missing case files.
He added, “This calls for a probe. The President must order a probe and clean up the mess in the Ministry of Justice. With this, one will begin to doubt the capacity of the ministry to prosecute corruption cases. The AGF and other actors should step aside pending the outcome of that probe.”
Also, the Executive Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Mr Debo Adeniran, said, “This shows that some of the people working with the President are sabotaging the anti-corruption efforts. The Ministry of Justice under Malami and Apata has not shown adequate commitment to the fight against corruption. There should be a probe to recover the files.”
My Dubai return flight turbulent –Aisha Buhari [Punch]
Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, and the flight crew of the Nigerian Air Force experienced air turbulence while returning from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
Despite the suspension of international flights, Aisha was flown to Dubai on August 7 to treat severe neck pain.
A top presidential aide had told The PUNCH that the First Lady started having severe neck pain during the 2019 presidential electioneering and had sought treatment abroad.
Two weeks after she jetted out of the country, Aisha on Saturday revealed that she and others encountered air turbulence on their way back from Dubai.
In a series of tweets via her verified Twitter handle, @aishambuhari, she wrote, “I want to use this opportunity to thank all Nigerians for their prayers and well-wishes while I was away for medical treatment. I am well now and fully recovered and have since returned back home, Nigeria.
“On our way back, the Nigerian Air Force flight encountered violent clear air turbulence which was navigated safely and professionally by the captain and crew of the flight.
“I want to commend and appreciate the courage and professionalism of the captain and his crew, the wonderful gallant servicemen and women of the entire Nigerian Air Force for their dedication to duty and the quality of maintenance of its fleet.”
The First Lady also called on private health care providers in the country to boost their capacity to reduce medical tourism.
Violence, apathy mar Ondo council polls [Sun]
…PDP condemns process
Ondo State local government election conducted yesterday by the state independent electoral commission was marred by violence in some parts of Akure, the Ondo State capital.
In unit 19, ward 04, Omolere area of Akure, there were cases of ballot box snatching. The women leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mrs Bisi Aderemi, alleged that some agents of the All Progressive Congress (APC) were responsible for ballot box snatching at the polling centre.
She said that a known political thug snatched the ballot box when it became clear that the SDP was leading in the election, adding that some APC stalwarts in the area made attempts to bribe leaders of the SDP with N30,000 each, but they resisted, insisting that they would work in line with their conscience.
The election, which took place in 18 local government areas in the state also recorded low turnout of voters. It was observed that many residents of the state stayed indoors while election lasted.
The two major opposition political parties in the state – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), boycotted the election on the ground that they had no confidence in the State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC), which organized the election.
In many of the polling centres visited by Sunday Sun in Akure, Owo, Ondo, Idanre, Ibulesoro and Isarun, only security operatives and adhoc staff of ODIEC were seen.
However, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who voted at his Ijebu unit 06, ward 05 in Owo, said the election was free, fair and credible. He commended ODIEC for transparency of the process.
Edo guber: INEC at crossroads over deregistered parties [Sun]
… SANs weigh implications of non-inclusion of names in ballot paper
Barring any untoward development, Edo State governorship election will hold as scheduled on September 19, despite the apprehensions about the threat of violence and the speculation of possible postponement.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had to recently reaffirm its position on the September 19 timeline earlier released for the conduct of the election to douse the anxiety generated by the comment made by Governor Godwin Obaseki, alleging plot by the ruling All progressive Congress (APC) to coerce the umpire to defer the polls.
The National Commissioner for Information and Chairman of Voters Education, Festus Okoye, speaking on Channels Television, said that there would be constitutional crisis if the election is not conducted as Section 178 (2) already states the timeline for the conduct of the election. He assured that political parties had complied with INEC’s notice over threats of violence, adding that 14 items in the preparation for the poll out of nine had been met by the participating political parties.
His words: “INEC is progressively moving ahead with the September 19 Edo State governorship election. There are 14 items for the election and nine of them have been implemented and non-sensitive materials have been deployed. We are proceeding with the election as planned.
“The political parties on their own are complying with the commission’s warning on violence and we have also observed a change from the threats of violence. So, we are moving ahead with the election.”
Despite the assurance, confusion still reigns over the likely legal implication of exclusion of the deregistered political parties from the ballot papers. This is bearing in mind the subsisting judgment of the Court of Appeal over the power of INEC to deregister political parties. Though the commission has already indicated its intention to appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court, there are varied opinions on the possibility of another round of constitutional crisis in the post election period.
One of the spokespersons of the Conference of United Political Parties (CUPP), Mr Charles Adebayo, in a quick reaction blamed the INEC for creating unnecessary confusion, threatening that the matter would be contested in court after the election.
Speaking with Sunday Sun in a telephone interview he said: “We are holding the INEC responsible for the confusion. I am sure political parties will contest these matters in court, especially those political parties restored by the Appeal Court because they have been clamouring for participation in the election.
“Kowa Party, for instance, which was deregistered by INEC, won a councillorship election in Amosi ward in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State. If the party now gets a court judgment reinstating it, it will still miss two elections. Even the 22 parties that have been reinstated can no longer participate in Edo and Ondo elections.
“So, it is a very difficult dilemma for everybody. We hold INEC responsible for all these crises. It is a crisis activated by the INEC itself because it did not do its due diligence in deregistering those political parties. They had sued INEC to court since last year not to deregister them, but still they went ahead to deregister them. That was a contempt and it is one of the reasons the Appeal Court reversed the de-registration of those parties. By the time the parties were reinstated by the Court of Appeal, the time table for the election had almost run its course and the primaries had passed.
“Unfortunately, the INEC does not have the powers to reverse the timetable. But definitely, it will have legal implications. If the parties decide to go to court, it will be another round of tortuous legal journey. INEC should have been more circumspect or follow due process in deregistering political parties. INEC has not been diligent enough in exercising its powers. So, our conclusion is that these crises were created by the INEC.”
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, Ebun Adegoruwa (SAN), lent credence to Adebayo’s sentiment about the dilemma INEC had created, warning that non-inclusion of the deregistered political parties in the ballot papers would have grave legal implication on the validity of Edo and Ondo elections.
He submitted: “In the coming elections in Edo and Ondo states, if the ballot papers have not been printed, the names of all political parties that have been asked to be deregistered by the court should be included so that INEC doesn’t waste money in conducting elections that will be nullified. The budget of INEC runs into N132 billion. We cannot be wasting public resources at this period of COVID-19 to conduct an election they know will not stand the test of time.
“For me, INEC is the one playing itself into problem. Now, we are in a quandary. If INEC decides to obey the decision of the Court of Appeal and put the names of all political parties that were otherwise deregistered on the ballot papers, and eventually the Supreme Court affirms the judgment of the High Court, which confirms the power of INEC to deregister them, it will mean that those parties become deregistered. But if their names were added on the ballot, they would have taken one or two votes from other candidates that should have been there, If they had not been on the ballot papers, and that would be a grand to nullify the election, if eventually the court rules that they ought not to be on the ballot. At the same time, if INEC decides not to include their names, because it has filed an appeal against the judgment of Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court affirms the decision of the Court of Appeal; it will also be a grand for nullifying the elections. So, we are really in a serious constitutional problem as far as Edo and Ondo states elections are concerned.
“If I were in the position of INEC, I will err on the side of surplus. It will be a calamity for them to exclude the candidates of those parties and the Supreme Court eventually affirms the decision of the Court of Appeal.”
Asked to clarify further his position as to whether or not the decision of the Supreme Court could have retroactive effect on the outcome of the elections, he responded: “That will be an express nullification. If the Supreme Court confirms the judgment of Court of Appeal, it will go back to the day the suit was filed in the High Court. The case did not originate from the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court. Both are appellate courts which determine the judgment of the High Court. If you want to enforce the judgment, you take it back to the day the suit was filed at the High Court. INEC had been given notice that they were contesting the de-registration. So, if it goes ahead to do anything while that suit is pending, it does so at its own risk. You cannot say they will not enforce the judgment of the Supreme Court because it came after the election since the suit had been filed before the election. It is between the devil and the deep blue sea.”
However, a renowned legal luminary, Yusuf Ali (SAN), in difference to this submission, stated unequivocally that all the affected political parties remained deregistered for so long as they failed to meet the timeline stipulated for the conduct of their primaries as contained in the Electoral Act.
He argued: “There are requirements under the law for a party to take part in an election and the Electoral Act has set a time limit for the conduct of an election. They must conduct primaries; results of the primaries must be witnessed by the INEC. Did these political parties have their primaries? Once you don’t conduct a primary, you are not entitled to take part in an election. That is what the Electoral Act says.
“So, the way it is today, I do not think that any party that has not conducted its primaries duly witnessed or authenticated by the INEC can take part in the election. For those that had their primaries, at the point they were deregistered, until the court says otherwise, they do not exist as a party. The constitution is very clear; only political parties can sponsor candidates. At the point INEC deregistered those political parties, until there is a contrary pronouncement by the court, they remain deregistered.”
In the same vein, Dr Tunji Abayomi, a constitutional lawyer, also weighed in on the argument, saying that “INEC needs not to include them in the ballot papers.”
Explaining his position, he said: “My understanding is that INEC has appealed to the Supreme Court and I suppose it will be against the decision of the Court of Appeal. Until there is a decision by the highest court in the land, you really cannot affirm any position as unchangeable under law. My thinking is that INEC will not include other political parties in the ballot papers except those political parties that were certified prior to the decision of the Court of Appeal. The final decision of the Supreme Court will only affirm the position of the existence of those parties from that day of the decision. If the Supreme Court affirms the decision of the Appeal Court, it will only mean that for future elections those political parties have to be included in the ballot papers.
He, however, stressed the provision of the constitution which states that exclusion of a political party will nullify an election.
“And I think it is a common knowledge that you cannot disenfranchise those who intend to vote for the party that was excluded. It has been stated time and again that when you exclude a political party, it is automatic annulment of that election. When you exclude a political party, you are indirectly excluding its supporters and you are denying such candidate the right to contest. In a democracy, the issue is not that people must vote, but they must be given the opportunity to vote. They can then decide to vote or not to vote. That opportunity to vote is sacred and it must be granted. That has been the line of division all over the world,” Abayomi added.
Senator Anthony Adeniyi, a lawyer and member of the APC, also joining his voice to the debate, and said: “Not until the appeal is upturned by the Supreme Court, the affected political parties stand deregistered. Besides, the Supreme Court is already on vacation and there is nothing very urgent about the appeal. Anyhow it goes, it cannot affect the validity of the election because the position now is that they have been deregistered. The only thing the Appeal Court said is that the procedure through which the parties were deregistered was faulty.”
August 29: Excitement as airlines, other operators get set for international flights [Sun]
■ Lufthansa, British Airways, Emirates target September 1
August 29 is just six days away. Stakeholders in the aviation industry are waiting for the day with bated breath. They want it as soon as nature can allow.
In the next six days, international flights will resume at select Nigerian airports again after well over five months in limbo due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nigeria shut down its domestic and international airports on March 23 as a measure to curtail the spread of the novel Coronavirus disease. It allowed only evacuation flights and those ferrying essential supplies.
But now, operators of international flights have been asked to resume. Already, the operators have expressed readiness to return to their trade. They have been missing the skies just like the flying public.
Since the shutdown of the airports, the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos has lost its hustle and bustle.
From the taxi park on approach to the facility, it is obvious the beehive of activities, which used to be a common feature in the area, was gone.
Ajayi Temitayo Joseph, a cab driver, who has been plying his trade at the airport for long told Sunday Sun that it had been an interesting job plying the route. But he lamented that the COVID-19 pandemic had messed up everything.
“We have no passengers anymore; we just come out to see small, small things to feed only ourselves and not even our families because there are no passengers. A lot of us drivers are now lazy because we have nothing to do.
“Before the pandemic, our job was very good; it was an interesting business, shuttling between international and local airports,” he said.
Just before our reporter entered the main lounge of the airport, it was obvious that there were virtually no activities going on. Only Chinese citizens were seen outside; all dressed in white PPEs as they waited to be checked in to return to their country.
At the Public Affairs office of FAAN, our reporter observed that a lot of work was going on in the premises as efforts were geared towards putting the appropriate things listed by the government in place. A staff of the agency, who pleaded anonymity said that the few passengers noticed were awaiting their evacuation flights.
“They are not for the regular flight you knew. The people you are seeing are returning to their countries. They came before COVID-19 and for one reason or the other they were trapped here.
“People have not been coming to work; it was even this week that a few of us came around. What would you come to do? Nothing! There is lockdown.”
Works were seen earnestly in progress as a contractor working for FAAN continued building a 192m ‘Donbalon Shelter’ raised with normal poles to protect passengers from both rain and sun while observing the COVID-19 protocols.
The site engineer who pleaded anonymity said that “FAAN contacted us to build a ‘192 meter Donbalon Shelter’ to protect passengers who used to walk into the airport directly from their cars before the pandemic. Now, with this shelter, it protects the passengers and airport officials as they physically distance themselves from one another; they now have a protective shelf where they would queue up without the rain or sun disturbing them while they wait for their turns as COVID-19 protocols might take some seconds.
On the first floor of the airport building, two engineers, one taking care of the cooling system at the airport and the second attending to the lighting system told Sunday Sun that they were happy resuming on the August 29.
“Since March, we have not been around. I’m happy that we are here; that means all of us around will do the work and share the responsibility.
“There will be division of labour, but very few hands have been available doing the work since the lockdown because they didn’t want too many people in the office. Even if when are starting there will be no crowd outside.
“Things are not going to be the same again even after the lockdown. Even if you are a minister, your entourage would stay outside; only the person travelling is expected to come inside the airport lounge. That is to ensure that the main lounge is not packed full as it used to be.”
Close to the office of a cleaning contractor at the airport, five ladies dressed in yellow polo T-Shirts and black skirts, staff of the company, were seen.
“We come to work everyday even in the heat of the lockdown because we have to tidy up the airport. If not, this place would have been a dirty place, but you could see that everywhere is still sparkling.
“We are redoubling our efforts now that the airport is fully opening on August 29, because we need to wash many places.
“Even in your house when you close some parts of it for too long, everything inside it would be dirty.
“From Monday we will start cleaning those areas. We have about five to six cleaners here at the airport taking care of different sections.”
An official of the Nigerian Drug, Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) who asked for anonymity told our reporter that “we are very glad to see ourselves as workers in the same community come August 29.
“In the last four-five months of the lock down, so many people have been at home and have not seen one another, therefore, it is a welcome development.”
He also said that it was important for the international flights to begin operations again because the long closure had affected the economy of the country.
He noted that some countries like USA, Germany, China and UAE that have opened their airports even though not to all, but some selected countries.
He added that people were taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic and evacuation flights to peddle drugs to other countries; but their duty as NDLEA official at the airport is to make sure drugs do not leave Nigeria to other parts of the world, and vice versa.
He also said that even while the lockdown persisted, their duty calls for 24hours services and that was how two drug offenders were apprehended on evacuation flights.
One was arrested with 2kg of drugs while travelling to Dubai while the other was arrested with 3kg of drugs while on his way to London.
At Ethiopia Airways counter, some passengers were getting set for evacuation to China. Some of their pilots and ground crew members and those of Kenya airlines were seen supervising operations.
One of the airlines officials on ground told Sunday Sun that “at NCAA, we have filed all our documents; we are waiting for them to give us approval. If they give us approval before that August 29, or 30 – because they are not going to give everybody approval at the same time – the flights will be alternated. Meaning that if Ethiopian Airline flies today, we will not fly tomorrow, another set of airlines will fly; then, we will fly next day. They want to try that for now and watch. We have not been approved. The approval is on August 29.
“The passengers you see here are for evacuation flights. Everybody was asked to send the guideline given to us which we have to meet; for now, I’m not sure any airline has met it, except maybe the local ones.
“For flights that have been operating for a long time they want a restart; that’s why they requested for those documents.”
Also at Air France counter, passengers were seen waiting for their evacuation to Angola.
The passengers were unwilling to talk as they were afraid they might contract COVID-19 as they move away.
On Monday, August 17, Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Mr Hadi Sirika broke the good news as he announced that international flights would commence on August 29.
He, however, said that the physical distancing, wearing of masks, washing of hands, temperature taking, and other COVID-19 protocols would continue to be observed.
While explaining that the international flight resumption procedure would be similar to that of the domestic flights, he said the operations would only be allowed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
“In the beginning, there will be four flights into Lagos and four flights into Abuja daily, we will give further details on that in due course,” the minister said.
We are ready –Aviation operators
While most of the regulatory bodies like the NIMET, FAAN, NAMA declined to comment on their readiness for the resumption, a source at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said that the agency is ready.
“We are ready as a regulatory body to work while taking all the precautionary measures as expected and as we have been acting since the resumption of the local flights. All the protocols would be adhered to.”
MALI COUP Jonathan-led ECOWAS Delegatioin Meets Keita, Goita [Leadership]
ECOWAS delegation led by special envoy to Mali and former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday met with Mali’s military junta and ousted president, Ibrahim Keita, in a bid to push for a speedy return to civilian rule after a coup in the troubled nation.
The delegation held talks for half an hour with soldiers who seized power on Tuesday, including head of the junta, Colonel Assimi Goita.
Three envoys from the regional ECOWAS bloc then met with ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita at an undisclosed location, Jonathan told AFP, adding that the “negotiations are going well”.
Rebel soldiers seized Keita and other leaders after a mutiny on Tuesday, dealing another deep blow to a country already struggling with a brutal Islamist insurgency and widespread public discontent over its government.
Keita is being held with Prime Minister Boubou Cisse in the Kati military base outside the capital Bamako where the coup was unleashed.
Mali’s neighbours have called for Keita to be reinstated, saying the purpose of the delegation’s visit was to help “ensure the immediate return of constitutional order”.
Jonathan further said, “ECOWAS appreciates what is happening in Mali and ECOWAS wants the best for the country.
“We’re going to discuss with all stakeholders and I think at the end of the day we’ll come out with something that is good for the country, good for ECOWAS and good for the international community.”
A source close to the junta said that the ECOWAS delegation had made a “good impression”.
“We understand that heads of state, like Ivory Coast’s Alassane Ouattara, are working for an easing of tensions, for a peaceful solution, even if they have firmly condemned our seizing power. We are open to discussion,” the source told AFP.
Adding to the international pressure, the United States on Friday suspended military aid to Mali, with no further training or support of the Mali armed forces.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended Mali from the regional body following the military coup that culminated in the ouster of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
Miffed by the coup d’état, ECOWAS in a statement asked all its members to close land and air borders to Mali.
It said sanctions will be meted out against “all the putschists as well as their partners and collaborators”.
But the mutinying troops troops remained adamant, with Assimi Goita, a Colonel in the Malian Army, declaring himself head of the “National Committee for the salvation of the People”, a group created by rebels in that country.
Goita who is one of the five soldiers who announced the formation of the salvation committee announced his new position after a meeting with top civil servants.
Amid condemnation from the international community, the rebel soldiers, who overthrew Keita in a coup d’etat that drew, pledged yesterday to restore stability and oversee a transition to elections within a “reasonable” period.
Colonel-Major Ismael Wague, a spokesman for the coup plotters calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, said they acted to prevent Mali from falling further into chaos.
Students Groan As Strike Threatens Reopening Of Tertiary Institutions [Leadership]
Industrial actions embarked by both academic and non-academic staff of most public tertiary institutions in the country have dashed hopes of students who are eager to return to classes after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Tertiary institutions in the country have been shut since March after the government ordered their closure to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
But the National Universities Commission (NUC) revealed recently that preparations were ongoing to reopen universities in the country.
Confirming this, the federal announced yesterday that tertiary institutions in the country will reopen “very soon”.
Speaking during a programme aired on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the minister of state for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said the federal government was also working to end the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) before schools reopen.
Nwajiuba said, while private universities have requested to be allowed to reopen, vice-chancellors want those in exit classes to resume in earnest.
He stated: “Tertiary institutions across the country will open very soon. Private universities have written us, requesting that they are allowed to reopen ahead of public institutions. Vice-chancellors have also requested that we allow them to reopen for their students in exit classes.
“We have also a lot of calls from bodies who want us to resolve the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities before reopening because some public schools which are not ASUU-prone want to take the advantage of the strike to move ahead, but that would destroy our public schools. So, we are working on all these calls.”
The minister said the National Universities Commission (NUC) would have to do an appraisal of the state of tertiary institutions ahead of the reopening.
“We are waiting for the same from other tertiary institution bodies so I can situate them and present the PTF on COVID-19. I can’t give the NUC a deadline on this because our job at the ministry is to wait for their inputs. This is not a political decision alone. If you open the university system, you have opened the country,” he noted.
Nwajiuba urged ASUU to call off their strike because their grievances “have more or less been resolved.
“The body is making efforts to situate the visitation panel, though that has to be gazetted and we are on it,” he said.
The news from the government may sound good to only to private university students, but for public university students, it is not for them following looming strikes in the country.
Academic and non-academic staff had embarked on strike after alleging that the federal government refused to meet the demands of the various unions in the tertiary institutions.
Decrying the situation, president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Danielson Akpan, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the utmost demand of the students is for schools to reopen with safety modalities in place.
Akpan said, “We are very much concerned that tertiary institutions are not being considered coupled with strikes. It has been our outmost demand that schools should reopen with modalities in place to help in the reopening process. The entire leadership of NANS wants schools to reopen,” he said.
“The thing is in two phases, one is allowing schools to reopen for academic activities to commence and the second is safe schools where the safety of the students will be guaranteed, where it will not be a spreading ground for coronavirus.
“Now, the first is the expectations and the demands of students and that of their parents for it is the responsibility of the government. Now, as much as students and their parents want schools to reopen, has government shown commitment in handling the safety?”
But president of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, (COEASU), Nuhu Ogirima told this paper that the lecturers will embark on strike if government failed to bring to the fore the prevailing rapid and awful condition of both staff and infrastructure in public Colleges of Education (COEs).
He said, “The paltry fraction of N15bn pledged to us as palliative, out of N486 billion required as at 2017, to cushion the effects of the non-implementation of Needs Assessment, and others has not been fulfilled till date.
“Also, the imposition of IPPIS on the COE system bedeviled the payment of emoluments of staff with anomalies, infractions and deprivations. Third party-deductions are not being effected in most colleges. A number of our members on Sabbatical and Study Leaves have not been included on pay-roll; and worst of all check-off dues have been withheld, unremitted to the Union since February, 2020, ostensibly to stifle the Union of funds and cripple her activities.”
LEADERSHIP Sunday reports that on March 9, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had commenced a warning strike, which eventually led to an indefinite strike on March 23 in protest against government’s refusal to pay their members who defied the order to enroll in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPIS).
With the strike still on, the fate of university students returning to classrooms remain uncertain.
The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) at the weekend also issued government a fresh 14-day ultimatum to address their grievances at the expiration of an earlier 21-day ultimatum which government failed to address.
With all the strike actions, students in tertiary intuitions would not go back to classrooms even if government decides to reopen schools.
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) had also said they would withdraw their services the day universities would be directed to reopen for activities after the COVID-19 lockdown.
The unions are protesting what they described as haphazard implementation of the IPPIS and non-implementation of the 2009 agreement entered into between them and the Federal government.
More than four months since coronavirus outbreak forced educational institutions across the country to shut down, Nigerian government recently began the process of reopening schools by directing exit classes in secondary school to resume.
The major issue this time was the deadlock over the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS).
ASUU recently revealed that the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) which is being developed by the union as an alternative to IPPIS is ready for integrity tests, meaning that when its efficacy is tested and verified, the issues that led to the declaration of the ongoing strike action on March 17, 2020 may be called off, but the union has insisted that salaries owed its members must be paid before paving way for any discussion.
ASUU said, “As we speak, five months salaries of our members at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) and Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUAU) were still withheld by the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) on account of non-registration on IPPIS.
“Thousands of other academics across the universities are suffering the same fate. So, while we counsel that the federal and state governments must meet the Taskforce specified guidelines for reopening of educational institutions, we insist that all the arrears of the withheld salaries of our members in federal and state universities must be paid immediately to pave for further discussion on the outstanding issues in the Memorandum of Action of February 7, 2019”.
The ,inister of state for Education, Nwajuiba, recently spoke on ASUU strike and the fate of tertiary institutions, saying the union is right and meant well for Nigeria but getting all the money to meet their demands becomes challenging because of the effect of COVID-19.
“While ASUU may mean well, some of the things we are contracted to do, like the amount of money to be released to the universities every year are not actually available, but we are still seeking their understanding,” he was quoted as saying.
That hope was, however, dashed by ASUU’s recent declaration that public universities would not resume until the union’s demands were met, signifying that resumption might eventually be their weapon to further put pressure on government to meet its demands.
There are growing concerns that tertiary institutions, especially the federal universities, may not reopen even after COVID-19.
This has necessitated students in the country to also call on government and the unions to seek ways out so that students can go back to classes.
Like university students, students of Colleges of Education and Polytechnics across the country are still uncertain even if their schools are reopened.
COEASU, in a letter to the minister of Education, gave government 14 days to address their demands or face nationwide strike.
The letter titled, ‘Re: Neglect Of Colleges Of Education In Nigeria; An Ultimatum,’ copied minister of Labour and Employment, the executive secretary of National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), chairman of Committee of Provosts, Colleges of Education in Nigeria, NCCE and the chairman, Committee of Federal Provosts, NCCE, was to get positive response to forestall a possible industrial action.
The union previously issued a 21-day ultimatum to the federal government to address lingering and emerging issues concern, vide a memo with reference no. COEASU/NS/01/19, dated July 13, 2020.
“We are, however, irked by the fact that your office till date is yet to pay attention in any form to our demands and ultimatum. This further qualifies government insensitivity to issues bordering on the advancement of the nation’s teacher education industry”, it stated.
FCT Disinfects School of Nursing, Gwagwalada Ahead Of Resumption
Meanwhile, the Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) yesterday disinfected the FCT School of Nursing, Gwagwalada, ahead of the institution’s resumption for general examinations.
The acting director, Nursing Department, HHSS, Mrs Grace-Leo Musa, said the students were only expected to resume for their examinations scheduled to hold between Aug. 25 and Aug. 29.
Musa told journalists during the exercise that the disinfection of the classes and offices was to ensure that the institution was safe from the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said that the FCT School of Midwifery would also commence its examinations in September, immediately after the general examination for nurses.
The acting director explained that the school would fully resume when further directive was given by the federal government.
She continued: “We feel that it is necessary the environment and classes be decontaminated and fumigated, for it to be safe for the examination to guide against the spread of infection.
“So the Acting Secretary of the HHSS gave this approval for decontamination of the environment, this is to allow the environment to be conducive for the students, teachers and examiners who are expecting the students”.
She said various measures to guide against the spread of COVID-19 would be put in place as the students resumed for the examinations, adding that approval to this effect had been put forward to the authority and had been approved.
She added that HHSS and the school management were well prepared for the resumption, and that students who had carry-overs would also be joining in writing of the examination.
The principal of the school, Mr Lakereks Kwali, expressed happiness over the exercise and the commitment of HHSS, saying that the secretariat had provided all what was needed to aid the resumption of the students.
He noted: “The HHSS has provided all that is needed for the prevention of COVID-19, what we are waiting for now is a directive of the Federal Government to allow us to resume fully.
“My feelings about this exercise are too evident; I am very happy about the exercise, the HHSS is really in support of the preventive measures of COVID-19.
“This school is a pilot place, all eyes are on the school, so everybody is going to be on ground by Monday, ready and set for the exam”.
Mr Abana Lawan, the vice principal, Administration, FCT School of Midwifery, stated that the exercise had further shown the seriousness of the government to curtail spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lawan, however, appealed for the provision of a Solar Panel to help in the improvement of lighting in the school and to ensure adequate security for students.
He added that more structures like school auditoriums and others were also needed to make for ample space when students write their examinations, especially now when admission for students had increased.
Mrs Safiyya Uthman, the Hostel Matron, School of Nursing and Midwifery, also appealed for adequate supply of water, adding that the school was short of water supply. (NAN)
Kogi Gov Signs Confluence University, Reference Hospital Bills Into Law
Meanwhile, Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, at the weekend assented to the bills for the establishment of the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara and the Central Reference Hospital, Okene which were recently passed by the State House of Assembly.
The governor, while performing this statutory function in his office, said the importance of education and health to the society cannot be overemphasized.
Governor Bello said his administration is people-driven and would devote the much needed resources, time and dedication to ensure that the people-oriented project is commissioned before the expiration of his tenure.
The governor also signed the bill for the establishment of Central Reference Hospital Okene as part of his administration’s efforts towards boosting healthcare delivery in the state.
Bello said he had earlier signed into law the Kogi State Health Insurance Scheme which he said would guarantee every citizen of the state access to quality health services within the state.
Earlier, the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Mathew Kolawole, said the two bills were of immense value to the people of the state, just as he commended the governor for assenting to the bills while thanking members of the assembly for meticulously working on the bills for swift passage.
Nigerians Adamant On Severe Punishment For Rapists [Leadership]
In the past three months, Nigeria has witnessed growing incidences of rape. It is not justifiable to blame victims in anyway or insensitively trivialise the matter. Rape is a crime and should be punished, Blessing Bature and Adegwu John write.
Nigerian law stipulates that rape is “Unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent, or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by force, or by means of intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm.” Sections 357 and 358 of the Nigerian Criminal Code stipulates life imprisonment for the offence of rape.
Despite this punitive measure, the recent rising cases of rape in Nigeria is generally worrisome. At the June 12 Democracy Day address, President Muhammadu Buhari said he was upset with the recent cases of rape in the country and assured of his administration’s determination to fight gender-based violence through available resources.
“A rapist is worse than an animal; he has no moral rectitude. He throws overboard the limit of his legal right and can shamelessly deprive another person (more painfully, female children of underage) of their God-given rights to protect the chastity and sanctity of their body and mind; he has no respect for human beings and has become a cancer in the society.”
Sexual violence against girls and women is a sad reality in Nigeria, they go mostly unreported to law enforcement agencies due to trust gap, associated stigma against the victim, intimidation, cultural barrier, religious sentiments and powerlessness of victim in seeking justice.
Rape is not the fault of the victim and we need to educate our neighbours, friends and colleagues who vilify victims for their dressing, being at the wrong place, and at the wrong time, or probably not putting up enough resistance against the attacker. Time has come to stop the victim blaming and shaming.
A significant number of rape takes place inside the victim’s abode, the dimensions, as we have seen now, forbids none – women, girls, teenagers, toddlers and infants are raped. Everything is used including drugs, weed and voodoo and money to lure, control and dominate the victim.
The red line of death has been breached in several cases of rape in Nigeria as was the case of Uwa Omozuwa in Benin City, who was bludgeoned to death in a church. Nigerians have also not forgotten the case of Ochannya Elizabeth, a 13-year-old student of the Federal Government Girls College, Gboko, who also was allegedly raped to death by a father and his son. The country also heard of 29-year-old Shomuyiwa Azeezat, who was raped and killed in her Ibadan apartment, and in the same Ibadan, Bello Barakat was raped and stabbed to death by her attackers.
Also in Benin, a pregnant wife of an Edo State politician was raped and murdered in her home.
In Warri, the police have confirmed the arrest of a bishop who allegedly drugged and raped a girl that was brought to him for deliverance.
Sokoto State Hisbah recorded over 600 cases of rape in 2019. About 80 cases of rape was recorded in Anambra State during the lockdown alone. Most of them are father-daughter rape (Incest). This is to mention but a few. Even grandmothers are not spared.
This does not capture the unreported cases of those violated and killed in dark alleys, buried in septic tanks in remote areas yet undiscovered, those cases handled as family issues out of public glare. How many more girls have to be raped and killed before we know we have a pandemic in our hands? How many have to be violated and raped?
Mrs Rebecca Ogah, mother of three and a civil servant, said: “Anytime I hear of rape incident, I get so angry at the rapist. I think of the trauma, stigma and the whole burden these girls and women victims will have to carry through their lives.
“It is like their future is ruined. There are laws against rapists, but those laws are not enough to speak for the victims, especially the law of providing evidence against rapists, which seems to make it impossible for rape victims to get justice.”
“I appeal to the government to enact more stringent laws that will address this long and debased issue befalling this generation. I mean frightful and a kind of two-edged law that can make people think about momentary sexual gratification of rape at the detriment of their lives. Perhaps death sentence should be the remedy,” she said.
Ironically, to prove rape in a Nigerian court, victims must provide evidence, there must be witnesses, and the most near impossible of the evidence is “the fact of penetration,” beyond the “labia majora,” which must be proved in the court before rape case can be established.
However, owing to the indignity of this evidence, it is near impossible for adult women to submit themselves for any medical proof that is potent to debase their personalities.
“Even if it is difficult for victims to establish cases in the court against rapist, there is a way out that we can gradually use in fading out rape from our society.
That is, every parent should bring up their children in the ways of the Lord, because if they do, the children will live a moral and acceptable standard of our society and crimes such as rape won’t be here.
“Before the law of our country, there is a law of God that guides against immoralities such as rape. Moral behaviour will help inculcate good character and conscience in them and deter them from doing evil,” Rebbecca said.
Also Mrs Felicia Danladi, mother of two who trades in baby items and lives in Jikwoyi Abuja, said Nigeria’s extant laws of rape criminalises only a female raped by a male and does not consider lesbian and gay rape or even women raping men.
With this, many are calling for review of the existing laws on rape and sexual assault in Nigeria, in order to halt the rise.
Research shows that one in four girls and 10 per cent of boys have been victims of sexual violence in Nigeria. This is apart from adult women and reported cases of aged women who have been raped across Nigeria. The number keeps increasing by day.
“The recent rise in rape cases is disturbing and could be as a result of the unfortunate lockdown which has made many people to remain idle, because there is a popular maxim that ‘an idle man is a devil’s workshop’.
“Rape inflicts so many psychological pains on the victims and I feel for them. I hardly see rapists going to jail, Maybe because of the nature of rape laws I think they are not stringent enough,” she added.
To Mrs Felicia, nothing should be less than a death sentence or castration for the offender of rape in Nigeria; however, the Nigeria House of Representatives, earlier this month, voted against seeking to recommend castration for rapists.
“It’s time to amend laws on rape and block the loopholes that seem to be favourable to these rapists, or perhaps a special court should be setup to speed up trials of accused rapists. Rape is a more serious crime than financial crime, because of the inhumane and barbaric nature of it. So it should attract death sentence or even castration as many people are suggesting.
This disturbing situation has put a lot of the women folk in fear.
According to Mrs Maryam Abubakar, mother of five and a civil servant who resides in Karu, Abuja, rape is against Islamic tenants and rapists deserve to be punished according to the established laws of the land and Islamic law.
“Allah forbids such an act like rape, and anyone found guilty of such offence should face the wrath of law – both the government and Islamic laws. The recent rise of rape cases has put women in fear and I am afraid for the lives of women and other rape victims in Nigeria.
“Though it’s never happened to any of my family members before, but I am afraid because it’s a collective problem. It can happen to anyone and no one knows who the next victim would be. Everybody should support the fight against rape with whatever means because we all have daughters, sisters, mothers and even friends who are female and could be victims,” Mrs Maryam told LEADERSHIP Sunday.
“My advice for the government is that death sentence should be the punishment for rapists, because laws are meant to stop people from committing crimes; if the laws are weak, criminals will take advantage and keep hurting people in the society.
“I am calling on the relevant authorities to prescribe death sentence for the rape offenders, because the agony of rape is too much to bear and as a mother, I understand this,” Mrs Maryam added.
Recently the director general of NAPTIP, Dame Okah Julia-Donli, urged state governors to resolutely pursue the adoption of the VAP Act and the Child Rights Acts in their domains, before it’s too late.
She said: “As at today, only about five states have laws against sexual and gender based violence. Lagos and Ekiti are top of the class. This is a clarion call for states to domesticate the Violence Against Persons Act in their states, to deepen the protection of women and children from predators in our society.
“ Let me remind us that state governors and assemblies that are delaying in domesticating this act are inadvertently promoting sexual violence in their domain, noting that in many rape trials, the guilt or innocence of the accused hinges on whether or not the victim consented to sexual intercourse.
She said the determination of consent often can lead to distressing cross examinations of rape victims in court. As a result, many rape victims choose not to report the crime to the police or refuse to press charges against their assailants.
Those charged with rape have a higher than average rate of acquittal mainly because it is difficult to prove a crime, for which there are usually no third party witnesses (doctors report). Rape is, thus, both under reported and under prosecuted.
The psychological reactions of victims include feeling of shame, humiliation, confusion, fear, and rage.
She said the first road block and urgent intervention is for parents to take up their parental responsibilities and actively check the engagements of their children.
The victim blaming/shaming must stop and the culture of silence broken. “I call on all of us, to start grooming the boys. Tomorrow’s rest begins from today, let the boy grow into a responsible and accountable gentlemen.”