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Nigerian prosecutors on Monday widened charges against three Lebanese nationals accused of links to Hezbollah as their trial began with access to the courtroom restricted and the identities of witnesses concealed. Mustapha Fawaz, 49, Abdallah Thahini, 48, and Talal Ahmad Roda, 51, have been accused of having ties to the powerful Lebanese Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah and plotting attacks against Western and Israeli targets in Nigeria. Prosecutors brought fresh charges related to money-laundering and illegal importation of goods among crimes. These came in addition to the terrorism-related offences filed last month after a massive supply of weapons was found at a business in the capital Abuja and a private home in the northern city of Kano. “We want to be sure that all elements of every offence disclosed by the investigation is properly before the court,” prosecutor Simon Egede said. Judge Adeniyi Adetokunbo Ademola agreed to a prosecution request to restrict access to ...

Nigeria’s National Judicial Council on Monday announced the compulsory retirement of the Acting Chief Judge of Abia state, Justice Shadrack O.E. Nwanosike over the falsification of his date of birth. The council found that Nwanosike falsified his date of birth which invariably affected his retirement age and ordered him to embark on a compulsory retirement. The council, in a press release signed by Mr. Soji Oye, the Acting Director of Information and made available to newsmen in Abuja, stated that the compulsory retirement slammed on the Abia state Acting Chief Judge was part of the recommendation of the council at its meeting presided by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, held on 17th & 18th July. The Council during the meeting also considered and deliberated on the Report of its Committee on Performance Evaluation of Judicial Officers of the Superior Courts of Record in the Federation at the end of which it constituted a five-man Committee ...

Reprieve came the way of aggrieved deregistered political parties in Nigeria as Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court on Monday nullified the deregistration of political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The court also declared section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, which said parties must win seats in the state and national assembly election as null and void. These were contained in the court’s judgment in a suit filed by Pastor Chris Okotie led Fresh Democratic Party on which platform the controversial pastor contested the Presidential election in 2011. Okotie and his party had approached the court seeking for a declaration that section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act, 2010 is unconstitutional, invalid, null and void to the extent that if offends the provisions of section 40 and sections 221-229 of the 1999 Constitution. They asked the court to hold that INEC cannot deregister the party except in accordance...

Yerima's Ambition To Constitutionalise under-Age Marriage. The Senate has asked groups angered by the marriage of its minority leader, Ahmed Yerima, to a 13-year-old Egyptian girl to go to court rather than the Senate for a redress. The Senate spokesman, Ayogu Eze, said this following protests at the Senate by female senators and a coalition of Nigerian women’s groups. The Zamfara State politician was accused of marrying a minor – the 13-year-old daughter of his Egyptian driver. However, the senate spokesman said the accused senator had not broken any rules of the Senate with his marriage to the child. Shortly before the Senate began plenary, members went into a closed-door session in anticipation of a petition that Ufot Ekaette (PDP, Cross River State), leader of the women senators, planned to present against Ahmed Yerima (PDP, Zamfara State). During the session, the Senate leadership stopped Ms. Ekeate’s petition. While briefing the media outside the chambers, Mr...

Nnamdi Felix / Abuja::::: Justice Abdul Kafarati of Nigeria’s Federal High Court siting in Abuja on Thursday restrained the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, as well as the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, from arresting or moving against the managing director of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, Mr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, in respect of an alleged petroleum subsidy fraud. The Anambra state gubernatorial aspirant under the platform of Labour Party had dragged the anti graft agency, the Inspector General of Police as well as the Attorney General of Police before the court following moves by the authorities to arrest and prosecute him over an alleged petroleum subsidy scam. The court faulted an invitation sent to Mr. Ubah by the EFCC and granted an order restraining the commission, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation from moving against the Ubah and his company over the subsidy i...

Nnamdi Felix / Abuja::::::::::::: Arrangements for the forthcoming special convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, were on Thursday halted by an Abuja High Court which restrained the party from proceeding to conduct the planned convention. Justice Suleiman Belgore, ordered the PDP to “allow sanity to reign” and to refrain from proceeding with the conduct or convocation of any form of convention “whether special or ordinary,” for the purpose of electing any officer into the office of the PDP pending the determination of a suit filed by some aggrieved members of the party. The court’s orders came through a ruling on an interlocutory application by some aggrieved party members who raised issues against the party’s decision to appoint some people to act in the place of members of the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, who resigned midway into the case that challenged the process of their election. Justice Belgore however refused to nullify the appointment of the ...

: Nnamdi Felix / Abuja:::::: The end of the ongoing legal tackles over the leadership crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, appears to be in sight following an application filed by Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola, seeking to discontinue the matter. Governor Fashola, through his legal team, filed a notice of discontinuance in the suit he instituted at an Abuja High Court, wherein he sought to restrain Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau state from parading himself as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. At the resumption of proceedings in the matter Wednesday, Governor Fashola’s lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria, informed the court that a notice of discontinuance dated 16th of July but filed on the 17th has been served on the defendants. However, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, also a senior advocate of Nigeria, representing one of the defendants in the matter, Mr Osaro Onaiwu, the factional Sole Administrator of the NGF under Jang, told the...

By Nnamdi Felix / Abuja An Abuja high court has summoned President Goodluck Jonathan to appear and give evidence in the on going trial of two journalists working with Leadership Newspapers who are standing trial for allegedly forging a presidential directives' bromide published in the newspaper on April 3, 2013. The presiding judge, Justice Usman Musale issued the summons; subpoena ad testificandum, dated July 15, 2013 to the President and Commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the federal republic of Nigeria requesting him to come to court with documents to give evidence in the matter. The President is to be served with the subpoena through the Federal Ministry of Justice. The subpoena requested the president to appear before the court from day to day until the cause is tried, to give evidence on behalf of the accused persons and also to bring with him and produce at the time and aforesaid the purportedly forged document titled 'presidential directive' h...

By Akin Kuponiyi An Appeal Court sitting in Igbosere, Lagos, Southwest, Nigeria has discharged and acquitted Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha, the former chief security officer to the late General Sani Abacha  of conspiracy to murder Alhaja Kudirat Abiola. In a lead judgment read by Justice Rita Pemu and agreed by two other judges Aminat Augie and Fatimah Akinbanmi, the Court of Appeal said the case was not properly investigated and that prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The prosecution listed 12 potential witnesses but managed to call only four witnesses. The first prosecution witness was Dr Ore Falomo, the second is Sergeant Barnabas Jabila Mshiela aka Sergeant Rogers. The  third one is Dagama Katako, while a retired police officer, Ahmed Fari Yusuf is the fourth witness. In assessment of the verdict of the lower court, the appellant court said the lower court did not evaluate properly the evidence brought before it. The appelate Court aver...

Published by pmnews on Thursday, 4th July, 2013:::::By Nnamdi Felix:::: The Federal Judicial Service Commission, FJSC, has taken disciplinary action against six judiciary workers implicated in the leakage of an undelivered judgment in a Supreme Court case with reference number; SC 179/2013 involving controversial Anambra state politician, Senator Alphonsus Uba Igbeke Vs Lady Margery Okadigbo and 3 others. The Council at its meeting held last Tuesday approved the dismissal of the judiciary workers over their embarrassing conduct. It would be recalled that the yet to be delivered judgment of the apex court on the matter was widely advertised in the media by senator Igbeke up till the 31st of May when he judgment was delivered. He lost the battle for the senatorial seat of Anambra South at the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria via that decision. According to a press release circulated by Mr. Sunday Sunday Olorundahunsi, the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, the ...

A Nigerian Federal High Court siting in Abuja on Monday restrained Nigerian Presidents from appointing service chiefs without the approval of the Senate. The decision of the court was delivered in a suit instituted by Mr. Festus Keyamo in 2008 wherein he challenged the powers of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to appoint military service chiefs of the federation without the approval of the Nigerian senate, an action the court, presided over by Justice Adamu Bello, had declared unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and restrained the President from further appointing them without the approval of the Senate. Keyamo had approached the court following the appointment of service chiefs by late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua within his first year of assuming leadership of the country after his election at the 2007 Presidential election. The human rights lawyer had dragged the Attorney General and Minister of Justice alongside all the service chiefs before the c...