The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed, yesterday, decried what he termed “lack of political will to prosecute high-profile corruption cases” by the executive. In what seem like a reaction to an earlier statement by President Muhammadu Buhari, the CJN made his position known during a meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), in his conference room. He said the lacklustre attitude of government towards the prosecution of criminal cases, “especially those involving politically exposed persons or political party family members,” was a major factor that has stalled trial…
Author: Wale Adebayo
No fewer than 10 suspected armed robbers have been killed in the last 12 days in different parts of Lagos State during an exchange of gunfire with the police. The State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, made the disclosure on Monday while addressing journalists. Mr. Owoseni said that while some of suspects died exchanging gunfire with the police during gridlock robbery, others died robbing some residents in different areas. He said that 19 other robbery suspects and 11 cultists were arrested and 15 ammunition, eight guns and two vehicles were recovered within the same period. According to him, other exhibits…
Chairman of Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Health, Mr Segun Olulade, has said that no fewer than 470,435 residents of the state have been infected with HIV. Olulade said this on the floor of the House as part of activities to commemorate the World AIDS’ Day. However, he urged the House to support the people living with HIV/AIDS. According to him, there is the need for all to pull efforts together to fight the disease. “There is the need to show support to those living with AIDS; today gives us the opportunity to identify with the people living…
The Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has described Tuesday’s arrest of the immediate-past National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) by men of the Department of State Services (DSS), as continuation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime of vengeance. According to Fayose, “disobeying court order and later arresting and detaining the same person the court ordered to be allowed to travel abroad for medicare is the peak of dictatorship.” The governor reiterated his support for the fight against corruption, but maintained that it must be done within the ambit of the law and must not be used to…
An American lawyer who specializes in constitutional and international law, Bruce Fein has written President Muhammadu Buhari over the manner his anti-corruption crusade is playing out. In the open letter published by Huffington Post, Fein told President Buhari that law must not be something that is given to punish enemies and withheld to favour friends.” He also highlighted instances where the Nigerian president has erred. Read the letter below: President Muhammadu Buhari Aso Rock, Abuja Nigeria Dear President Buhari: When you visited the United States Institute of Peace last July, you pledged that you would be “fair, just and scrupulously…
The management of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile Ife, Tuesday night shut the institution indefinitely following continued students protest on the school campus. The students had on Monday held a peaceful protest at the entrance of the institution over poor condition of their hall of residence. During the protest, the students also called for probe of the management of the institution, whom they accused of paying lip service to their welfare. However, when contacted, the university Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, did not confirm that the students were sent home because of the protests. According to him, students…
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo says the Federal Government was focused on implementation of Niger Delta Masterplan to drive development of the region. Mr. Osinbajo stated this at the inaugural meeting of Partners for Sustainable Development Forum organised by Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in Port Harcourt on Monday. He said President Muhammadu Buhari had also expressed concern with the current degradation of the environment with a view to addressing challenges faced by the region. “Niger Delta remains a priority of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government with a view to attending to current devastation and environmental degradation in…
A former Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, and a number of top officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), have been picked up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). They were picked up for their role in the controversial arms procurement scandal surrounding the former NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.). According to a PREMIUM TIMES report, the ex-minister was arrested by the anti-graft commission on Monday afternoon and was currently undergoing interrogation by a crack team of detctives. It was learnt that huge amount of money “running into billions” was allegedly traced to…
The Bayelsa State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has read the riot act to foreigners resident in the state, warning them to keep off from the December 5 governorship election. The NIS Comptroller in the state, Mr Sule Wunti, told newsmen in Yenogoa, the Bayelsa capital on Monday. According to Wunti, the command would deal decisively with any defaulter particularly nationals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) resident in the state. He said that as part of security measurements put in place ahead of the polls this Saturday, the command had convened a stakeholders’ forum to…
An Abuja High Court on Monday reserved judgment in a case filed by Mr Ahmed Gulak seeking to compel the National Working Committee of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to fill its chairmanship position. Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf reserved the judgment after conclusion of arguments by counsel to the parties in the suit. The judge said the Registrar of the court will communicate the date he will deliver the judgment to the parties to the suit. Gulak, former Political Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, sued the PDP over “deliberate delay to conduct election to the party’s substantive chairmanship position”. Specifically, he said…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday said that as at November 26, the nation’s foreign reserves had dropped to 30.04 billion dollars. The apex bank made this disclosure on its Website. It said that the figure dropped by $7 million from $30.11 billion recorded in Oct. 26. The CBN noted that the $30.04 billion represented the ‘gross’ amount, $29.33 billion was ‘liquid’, while $719.32 million was ‘blocked’. Nigeria’s foreign reserves in the last one year has ranged between $28 billion and $36 billion. In October 2014, it rose to $36.3 billion but dropped to $32.4 billion in January…
Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonaya Onu, says the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable. Onu, who spoke on Sunday night in Abuja at a dinner organised in his honour by Ebonyi Elders’ Council, said he was committed to the unity of the nation. “I am committed to the unity of our country. If Nigeria did not exist; Africa would have looked for a Nigeria. Nigeria is not just important for Africa, but it is important for every black man and black woman all over the world. There is a very important job that Nigeria will do for black…
The Supreme Court has picked Thursday, December 3 to hear the appeal filed by Senate President Bukola Saraki challenging the Code of Conduct Tribunal’s decision to try him over alleged false asset declaration charges. The apex court’s decision to hear the appeal this week was contained in hearing notices sent to parties in the case. It would be recalled that the Court of Appeal in a split decision of two-to-one, upheld the CCT’s jurisdiction to hear the charges brought against by the Code of Conduct Bureau, a decision he appealed at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had on November…
The insinuation in some quarters that former President Goodluck Jonathan handed over power to President Muhammadu Buhari as a result of external pressure brought to bear on him has been debunked by a former Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, even as he said the move saved the lives of many Nigerians. The ex-minister also disclosed that Jonathan could have sacked the then Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, over clear evidences of partisanship in the build-up to the 2015 general elections, but chose not to. Delivering a paper on the 2015 power transition…
A former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Alhaji Idi Mohammed Farouk, has warned that if the All Progressives Congress (APC) does not handle the contentious issue of inconclusive governorship elections in Kogi State, the party risks experiencing the implosion that led to the fall of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr. Farouk, who made this known in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust on Monday, said in the spirit of fair play, Hon. Abiodun James Faleke, the running mate to late Prince Abubakar Audu, should be allowed to become the APC candidate in the supplementary election slated for December…
The Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that all looted funds recovered by his administration are accounted for. The NDBMG is a civil society group in the oil-rich Niger Delta region and has been involved in programmes to engender resource accountability in the region. In a statement Sunday by its Executive Director, George-Hill Anthony, the Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group faulted the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, for saying “looted funds would be returned to where they were stolen from”. The group expressed the belief that the minister must have been misquoted on the…
Amid lingering fuel scarcity across the country, the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Limited will this week activate all its process in a bid to ameliorate the problem. This development was sequel to the successful completion of repair work at the PHRC crude distillation unit, where one of the columns collapsed last month and forced a shutdown of the 210, 000 barrels per day refinery. It would be recalled that the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had recently given indication that any refinery that does…
A prominent Nigerian bishop has said Muslims need to stop denying that Boko Haram terrorists have nothing to do with Islam. In the last five years, Boko Haram has killed over 10,000 people in Nigeria and has since overtaken Islamic State to become the deadliest terror group in the world. Prominent Nigerian Muslims and elites from the terror-torn North insist Boko Haram terrorists know next to nothing about Islam. Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, thinks those who simply denounce the terrorists are living in denial. “A hypocritical elite continues to believe that it can claim the benefits of democracy but…
The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai at the weekend held a Town Hall meeting with stakeholders to deliberate on the proposed 2016 budget, just as he disclosed that political appointees in his administration would take a pay cut for change. The proposed budget is about N166 billion with capital expenditure taking the larger chunk of N104 billion while recurrent takes N62 billion. Addressing stakeholders at General Hassan Katsina House, El-Rufai described previous administrations’ budgets in the state as ‘fictographic’ art, with scarcely any relationship to reality. He further said political appointees would take pay cuts as sacrifice for…
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday urged the Federal Government to decentralise loading of petroleum products to make for effective loading at depots across the country. “The government approach, where marketers across the country are expected to load petroleum products from only depots in Lagos state, is counter-productive,” Chief Lawson Obasi, national president of IPMAN told reporters in Port Harcourt, as he asserts that spreading of petroleum products to other coastal depots across the country would end the scarcity. “To solve the scarcity of fuel, government must decongest Lagos by sending petroleum products to coastal depots in…