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Kogi: Wada Floors Echocho As Court Of Appeal Dismisses Appeal Nnamdi Felix / Abuja A court of Appeal siting in Abuja on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by Alhaji Jibrin Isah Echocho challenging the nomination of Governor Idris Wada as the candidate of the People's Democratic Party for the December 3rd 2011 governorship elections in the state. In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson, the court held that the federal high court was right to have dismissed Echocho's suit and held that the trial court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the but pointed out that the court should have closed the matter at that stage by simply striking it out if its cause list. The appellate court noted that further proceedings or orders made by the trial court is tantamount to a nullity in law. "Any defect in competence is certainly fatal as it renders the entire proceedings null and void. However it appears to be well conducted and decided. An incompetent proces...

$620,000 Bribe: Farouk, Emenalo For Arraignment Friday Nnamdi Felix / Abuja As the deadline given to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice by Mr. Festus Keyamo, to prosecute Hon Lawan Farouk, the AGF finally filed charges against Farouk Lawan and Mr. Emenalo Boniface through the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC. The lawmakers will be arraigned on Friday before Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi of an Abuja High Court on a seven counts criminal charge. Farouk Lawan, currently chairman of the House of Representatives' Committee on Education, was formerly the chairman of House of Reps Ad-Hoc committee on fuel subsidy which probed the administration of the fuel subsidy regime. He will be arraigned alongside Hon. Emenalo Boniface, who served as the Secretary of House of Reps Ad-Hoc committee on fuel subsidy regime. Their scheduled arraignment followed the leave granted the ICPC to file a seven counts criminal charg...

Nnamdi Felix / Abuja Former deputy director at Nigerian Police Pension Office, Mr. John Yakubu Yusuf, who was recently convicted for stealing about N24 billion belonging to the Police Pension Office was on Wednesday arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before a Federal High Court siting in Abuja on a four count charge of assets declaration related offences. The anti graft agency alleged that Mr. Yusuf, had on 14th February, 2012, knowingly failed to make full disclosure of his assets and liability in the Declaration of Assets Form which he filled by not declaring his interest in a company known as SY-A Global Services Limited, incorporated by him and solely owned by him and members of his immediate family. The offence is said to be punishable under section 27(3) of the EFCC Act, 2004. He was also alleged to have failed to declare his interest in a N250 million fixed deposit which was fixed in the name of the said company in an account it maintains ...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, January 29, 2013 arraigned Aliyu Gebi of Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives before Justice Abba Mohammed of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja on a thirteen (13) count charge bordering on issuance of Dud cheques to one Usman Mustapha to the tune of N125million. Among the counts was that he also gave Musty Petroleum Ltd, a UBA cheque of N10million, which which when presented within three months was dishonored on the ground that there was insufficient fund in the account. The accused person pleaded not guilty to all the charges. The defense counsel then pleaded with the court to admit the accused person to bail as he was already on EFCC administrative bail. He further told the court that apart from the fact that the offence was bailable, the accused person presented himself to the Commission for interrogation. EFCC counsel did not oppose the bail application. Justice Abba Mohammed granted the a...

Nnamdi Felix / Abuja Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed a new charge against a former director of Nigeria Police Pension Office, John Yakubu Yusuf, convicted by a Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday after admitting stealing pension money. Yusuf’s sentence by Justice Mohammed Talba to a two year jail term or a fine of N750,000, on the three counts he admitted guilt, triggered a national uproar and questions about the noble intention of the Federal government in fighting graft. Last night, the EFCC re-arrested Yusuf in his home in Abuja. In a four count charge filed at Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, the Federal Government alleged that Mr. Yusuf, had on 14 February, 2012, knowingly failed to make full disclosure of his assets and liability in the Declaration of Assets Form which he filled by not declaring his interest in a company known as SY-A Global Services Limited, incorporated by him and solely owned by him and members of his immediate...

Nnamdi Felix / Abuja The scheduled arraignment of a suspect alleged to have masterminded the bombing of SOJ Plaza in Nigeria’s Kaduna state occupied by ThisDay, The Moment and The Sun newspapers, was stalled on Tuesday as the suspected terrorist told the court that he does not have any lawyer to represent him. The alleged bomber, Mr. Mustapha Umar, who is charged with one count of terrorist related act told the court that since he was arrested and detained in April, 2012, he has not been allowed any visitor, including family members. He requested from the Federal Government a lawyer for his defence. He was alleged to have driven a white Honda Academy car with registration number AL 306 MKA with improvised explosive devices into the premises of SOJ plaza and detonated same. Over ten persons were reportedly killed as a result of the attack. The trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola adjourned the arraignment to 5 February to enable the suspect engage a lawyer for his defence an...

N8b contract tears company directors apart Nnnamdi Felix / Abuja A multi billion Naira contract awarded by Nigeria’s Sokoto state government for the construction of proposed Sokoto State University has torn the directors of the company to which the contract was awarded apart. The shareholders of the company are at each others throat with allegation and counter allegation of impropriety in the conduct of the affairs of the company. The company, McNamara Nigeria Limited, co owned by a Nigerian promoter, Mr. Uzoma Nwakuche and an Irishman, Jack Burtler, was awarded the contract for the construction of the state university at the cost of N8 billion. Mr. Nwakuche who dragged the company before a federal high court siting in Abuja alleged that following the consideration of the Sokoto state government for the award of the mouth watering contract to the company, that persons closely connected to the Governor, Aliyu Wamako, approached the company with a proposal that he relinquish ...

Court reinstates Odah as NLC secretary Published on Tuesday, 22nd January, 2013 by pmnews Nnamdi Felix / Abuja Reprieve came the way of embattled former Secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade John Ejoha Odah, who was suspended from office since June, 2011, as the National Industrial Court siting in Abuja on Tuesday ordered that he be recalled and reinstated not later than January 31 with his full rights, benefits and privileges appertaining to the office from June, 2011 up to the time of reinstatement paid in full. Odah had dragged the NLC and its President, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar and two others before the court on November, 2011, challenging the termination of his employment and seeking reinstatement with full benefits. The President of the court, Justice Babatunde Adejumo who presided over the matter prevailed the parties to settle the matter amicably. The parties later came with terms of settlement which the court adopted as its judgment in the suit. ...

Alleged Money Launderer Denies Earlier Gulty Plea Nnamdi Felix / Abuja An alleged money launderer, Abdulrasheed Ibrahim, who was slated for sentencing on Monday having pleaded guilty to an alleged attempt to launder $188, 858 out of Nigeria through a Dubai/United Arab Emirates bound Ethiopian Airline, stunned a federal high court sitting in Abuja when he denied his earlier admittance of guilt. The court presided by Justice Adamu Bello, subsequently deferred the scheduled sentencing following the development. Ibrahim had on January 17, pleaded guilty to a one count charge that was preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, only to tell the trial court at the resumed hearing that he did not properly understand the charge on that day. He accused the anti graft agency of misrepresenting the facts about the case and claimed that contrary to the allegation that he concealed some money on him on the day he was apprehended, he told the court that he had duly d...

Senator Ugbane, Elumelu for retrial Nnamdi Felix / Abuja Former Chairman, of Nigeria’s Senate Committee on Power, Senator Nicholas Yahaya Ugbane and his counterparts at House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu and Jibo Mohammed, who are standing trial for their alleged involvement in the multi billion Naira Rural Electrification Agency scam are to be re-arraigned before another Federal Capital Territory High Court. The re- arraignment follows the re-assignment of the case by the Chief Judge of the Abuja High Court, Justice Lawal Gummi to Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi, after the voluntary withdrawal of former trial judge, Justice Adebunkola Banjoko. P. M. News findings indicate that the former trial judge, Justice Banjoko, voluntarily withdrew from the matter over some undisclosed reasons which were personal. Ugbane and his co- accused were first arraigned on October 30, 2009 on a 130 counts charge together with six senior officials of the Rural Electrification Agency. The charg...

20 January 2013 Sudan releases prisoner of conscience Global body, Amnesty International, on Sunday in  a press release indicated that the Sudanese government had released Jalila Khamis Koko who had been held for expressing negative sentiments against the government. Jalila Khamis Koko, an activist teacher,  was arrested by the National Security Service in March 2012, but was released from detention after a court hearing on Sunday. Jalila was acquitted of all charges except those related to “spreading false news”, a vague provision of the criminal code often used by the government to silence dissent. It is punishable by six months in prison, but the court released her since she had already spent nine months in pre-trial detention. “Jalila’s release is victory for justice but the nine months that she has spent in detention simply for expressing her opinions cannot be ignored,” said Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty International’s Africa program director. “The Sudanese...

Suspected bombers of Nigeria's military base paraded Published on Friday, 18th January 2013 by pmnews Nnamdi Felix / Abuja Eighteen year old Ibrahim Mohammed Alilullah of Ilobu village in Ilobu council Area of Nigeria’s state of Osun and 50 year old yam hawker from Jalingo in Taraba state,Mohammed Ibrahim Idris, were on Friday paraded by the Department of State Security Service, SSS, as being part of the masterminds of the bomb attack at St. AndrewsProtestants Military Church in Jaji, Kaduna state, Northern Nigeria, on the 27th of November, 2011. The suspects who were arrested in Rafin Gusa, a suburb in Kaduna metropolis confessed to being members of the Boko Haram sect. The teenager stated that he was indoctrinated into the dreaded sect by Late Bashir Madalla who trained him in the use of fire arms as well as production and priming of improvised explosive devices, IEDs. The youngster told journalists at the SSS Headquarters in Abuja that he was introduced to the la...

NAFDAC denies Natachi Consulting Published by pmnews on Wednesday 16th January, 2013 By Nnamdi Felix Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, on Wednesday in Abuja denied any involvement with a private company operating as Natachi Consulting Limited, over sms being circulated to members of the public by the company, purportedly in conjunction with the agency, to pay the sum of N40,000 into the company’s account domiciled at Guaranty Trust Bank with account number 0024569106 and sort code 058083231. Stakeholders who received the sms told PM News that they were happy when NAFDAC recently advertised that it is going to register consultants who would provide regulatory services to companies regulated by the agency, a development which they had hoped would ordinarilly be a good thing, since it will bring order and sanity to service provision to manufacturers and marketers of food, drugs and cosmetics. However, they claimed that when the info...

N2b Fraud: Former Bayelsa Gov Asks Court To Quashed Charges Nnamdi Felix / Abuja Embattled former of Bayelsa state, south-south Nigeria, on Tuesday commenced a legal process calculated to stop his trial before a federal high court siting in Abuja. The former governor had been standing trial before the court on a six counts charge relating to an alleged N2 billion loan secured by the state under his time in office from Union Bank of Nigeria Plc purportedly for the augmentation of the salary of the state's civil servants. He was alleged to have connived with some of his commissioners and state officials to convert the said sum into foreign currencies and frittered away. Mr. Sylva had pleaded not guilty to the charge. The former governor's lawyers led by Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, a senior advocate of Nigeria while moving his application for the quashing of the charges brought against the former governor by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, told the court that the charg...

FG, Lagos state clash over control of hotels Published by pmnews on Tuesday, 8th January, 2013 By  Nnamdi Felix / Abuja The battle for the control of Nigeria’s hotels, travel agencies, eateries and tourists centres resumed at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The Federal Government is challenging Lagos State’s competence to enact the Hotel Licensing Law Cap H6, 2003; Hotel Licensing (Amendment) Law No 23 Volume 43 of July 20, 2010 and Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Law No 30 Volume 42 Lagos State of Nigeria official gazette of June 23, 2009. In the suit filed pursuant to Order 2 Rule (2), 6(1)(2) and (3) of the Supreme Court as amended 2008, and Section 4(2)(3), item 60 (D) part 1 of the second schedule of the 1999 Constitution, the Federal Government urged the apex court to restrain the state from exercising control over tourist and hospitality centres. Further more, the federal government wants the court to restrain the state from promulgating, passing into...

INEC's Absence Stalls Oni's v Fayemi Published on Tuesday, 8th January, 2013 By Nnamdi Felix / Abuja Hearing of an appeal instituted by former Governor of western Nigeria’s Ekiti state, Mr. Segun Oni, against Governor Kayode Fayemi was stalled on Tuesday over the former governor’s failure to serve the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, with the court processes. The former governor wants the apex vourt to set aside an Appeal Court’s judgment which removed him from office and declared Fayemi as the elected governor of the state. The court consequently adjourned till 5th March to hear the matter. Oni is challenging his removal on the ground that the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, who constituted and presided over the panel and wrote the judgment of the Appeal Court that sacked him from office had close affinity with Senator Bola Tinubu the alter ego of Fayemi’s party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Oni contended th...

Groups want PDP chairman suspended Published by pmnews on Monday, 7th January, 2013 By  Nnamdi Felix / Abuja The struggle for the control of the Adamawa state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, exacerbated on Monday as some civil society groups converged in the Nigerian capital of Abuja and called on the party’s leadership to suspend the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, for allegedly violating his oath of office. The groups led by Kalu Onyedikachi, gave the Bamanga Tukur led faction of the party in Adamawa state, 48 hours ultimatum to cancel the Ward Congress held in the state. There have been different factions of the PDP in Adamawa state fighting for the control of the party machinery in the state. In their resolutions made at the meeting, the group called for the immediate cancellation of the Ward Congress conducted by a faction loyal to the National Chairman of the PDP. Onyedikachi stated that it is disheartening that some respect...

Oshiomhole knows Fate on Friday Published by pmnews on Monday, 7th January, 2013 By   Nnamdi Felix/Abuja Nigeria’s Supreme Court on Monday fixed Friday 11 January, 2013 to deliver judgment on whether Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole has an explanation to make before the State Election Tribunal regarding his qualification for election as governor. Oshiomhole had argued through his lawyers, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, a senior advocate of Nigeria, that the Peoples Democratic governorship candidate, Major General Charles Airhiavbere (retired) did not specifically plead the issue of qualification in the petition challenging his victory at the state’s gubernatorial election conducted by the Independent National Election Commission, INEC in February, 2011 . A Court of Appeal sitting in Benin, the Edo state Capital, had held otherwise and had ordered the parties to return to a newly constituted tribunal for the determination of whether Oshiomhole had the basic educational ...

Ex-governor Sylva fails to repossess homes By Nnamdi Felix / Abuja Published on Friday, 4th January, 2013 by pmnews Former governor of Nigeria’s Bayelsa state, Mr. Timipre Sylva whose 48 landed properties in Abuja were confiscated on Thursday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, approached an Abuja High Court on Friday seeking to enforce an order earlier granted by the court restraining the anti graft agency from taking possession of the properties. The effort was however futile as the EFCC vehemently opposed any move by the court to enforce the order which the agency claimed it ought not to have granted in the first place. Mr. Oghenovo Otemu who represented the EFCC in the matter told the court that the earlier restraining order which it granted was later in time after a Federal High Court, also in Abuja, had given the anti graft agency the permission to confiscate the former governor’s landed properties in Abuja which is believed to have been acquired with...