Imagine It!!!

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal and his party, the All Progresive Congress, APC, on Friday dragged his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the national chairman of the party,  Alhaji Adamu Muazu, the deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Inspector General of Police, the Independent National Election Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, before a federal high court in Abuja. The Speaker who recently defected from the ruling party to the opposition wants the court to stop moves being made by the PDP to declare his seat vacant. Tambuwal insists that he remains the Speaker of the House of Representatives until the expiration of his current term which will last till  the 5th of June, 2015 . He wants the court to make an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from taking any steps whatsoever to abrogate, diminish or infringe on his rights and privileges ...

The arraignment of the Nigerian Bottling Company and Coca Coca Nigeria Limited, alongside their managing directors, Mr. Ben Langat and  Mr. Adeola Adetunji respectively, before a federal court in Abuja over an alleged violation of Nigeria's Counsumer Protection Act, has been fixed for  Tuesday, 4th November  following confirmation that the accused persons have been served with court papers. Their arraignment is scheduled to hold before Justice Evoh Chukwu of federal high court 8. Both executives risk between 3 and 5 years jail term if convicted by the court. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, had filed a one-count charge against NBC and its Managing Director and a two-count charge against Coca-Cola Nigeria limited and its Chief Executive over the alleged infractions of the Consumer Protection law. 

Early hours of Thursday, security personnel attached to the Speaker of Nigeria's House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, we're withdrawn allegedly on the express orders of President Goodluck Jonathan. The President and his party, the People's Democratic Party, PDP, had since Tuesday when the Speaker defected to the opposition All Progressive Congress, APC, been calling on the Speaker to resign from office on the ground that he became the Speaker by virtue of his membership of the PDP which controls majority seats at the House. Findings indicate that more measures have been designed by the ruling party to punish the Speaker for dumping the party. Tambuwal is gunning to become the next governor of Sokoto state and commands large fellowship in the state with the full backing of Governor Aliyu Wamako who is the serving governor of the state. He was recently given a royal blessing by the Sultan of Sokoto ahead of the governorship election in the state. ...

After months of prevarication, subterranean moves and political consultations, Speaker of Nigeria's House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal defects from the People's Democratic Party, PDP, to the opposition All Progressive Congress, APC.

Five suspected job racketeers arraigned on Monday before Justice Gabriel Kolawole of a federal high court in Abuja, have been granted bail in the sum of N5 million each with two sureties for each in like sum. The suspects, Alex Oki, Ogbonna Agwu, Shuiabu Mohammed, Kehinde Jamah and David Kachia, alongside others said to be at large, were arraigned by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, for allegedly impersonating officials of agency, and in the process, swindled unsuspecting members of the public of various sums of money under the guise of helping them secure employment in FIRS. The suspected job racketeers pleaded not guilty to the five count charge and their lawyer, Mr. Ebenezzar Abadaki applied for their bail. He urged the court to grant his clients bail in very liberal terms noting that they had been in the custody of the State Security Service, SSS, since the 9th of September. The lawyer also told the court that the security agency had earlier granted ...

In an unprecedented move to compel businesses operating in Nigeria to comply with the provisions of the Consumer Protection Council Act, especially those relating to product quality standard, the federal government has filed a criminal charge against the Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, NBC, and Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, alongside their chief executives before a federal high court in Abuja, following an investigation of violation of product quality standard by the companies.  Mr. Ben Langat, the managing director of Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, and  Mr. Adeola Adetunji, the managing director of Coca Cola Nigeria Limited, with their respective companies, were alleged to have committed an offence by violating the Orders of the Consumer Protection Council by deliberately failing, refusing and/or neglecting to comply with the Council’s Orders duly made and served on them. The Consumer Protection Council had  earlier found NBC and Coca-Cola culpable following i...

Earlier this Friday, a judge of the federal high court in Abuja, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, during the ongoing trial of Senator Aliyu  Mohammed Ndume, a Peoples Democratic Party member representing Borno south senatorial district at Nigeria's National Assembly who is facing trial on terrorism charges, ordered that the trial would be conducted in partial secrecy. By this order, only accredited journalists will be in attendance with the accused person and his team of lawyers when the trial resumes. But the judge refused to grant the request of the State Security Services, SSS; a security agency in Nigeria, for the witnesses to be masked to conceal their identities for fear of possible reprisal attacks by supporters of the senator who is hugely popular in his area in the beleaguered state of Borno, Northwestern Nigeria where the Boko Haram sect had unleashed series of deadly attacks for some years now. The court insisted that the witnesses' facial identities need to be know...

Indications emerged late Friday afternoon that the Nigerian federal government had struck a ceasefire deal with Boko Haram. Part of the terms of the cease fire agreement include the release of the abducted Chibok school girls. The cease fire deal between the government and the Islamic terrorist group was confirmed by the Director General of the National  Orientation Agency, Mr. Mike Omeri. The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Vice Marshal Alex Bade also confirmed the cease fire agreement between the Nigerian government and the terrorist group. President Goodluck Jonathan's principal secretary, Alhaji Hassan Tukur, reportedly stated that the 219 Chibok school girls who have been in captive since April would be released by the terrorists as part of the deal reached with Boko Haram. Recently, there was a report that the Nigerian government and the International Committee of the Red Cross held discussions with Boko Haram representatives on prisoner swaps as part ...

One of Nigeria's registered political party, Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, on Monday in Abuja urged a federal high court siting in Abuja to stop the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, from going ahead with its proposed creation of. An additional 30,000 polling units ahead of the forthcoming 2015 general elections. In an exparte motion moved by the party's lawyer, Mrs. Nella Andem-Rabana, a senior advocate of Nigeria, the party asked the court for an interim injunction restraining INEC from further creating, delineating and allocating any additional polling units to any part of the country pending the final determination of the motion on notice. The party argued that it was speculative and premature for the electoral body to purportedly create additional polling units across the country based on projected registered voters when the field data collection from the Permanent Voters Card, PVC, distribution and Continuous Voters Registration, CVR, were yet to be concluded...

Justice Adeniyi Ademola of a federal high court in Abuja has ruled that alleged kidnappers of a lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, a senior advocate of Nigeria, would be tried secretly. The alleged kidnappers, Kelvin Oniarah Eziegbe, Frank Auekor and Michael Omonigho, were ‎also accused of carrying out several kidnappings in Edo and Delta States.  The secret trial was granted by the court in order to protect the witnesses some of whom are security operatives. Only the accused persons, their lawyers, the prosecutor and accredited journalists will be allowed to be present during the trial. The judge also refused the suspects' request for bail but granted an order for accelerated hearing to make up for the refusal of the suspects' bail application. ‎Trial is fixed for 13th and  14th of November . The suspected kidnappers allegedly collected the sum of N40 million from Ozekhome following his abduction in August 2013, before he was freed. Also, a former commissioner in Delta State, Profe...

Fresh suit seeking to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the forthcoming presidential election has been instituted before a federal high court siting in Abuja. The present action comes in the wake of attempts by a chieftain of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, to appeal an earlier judgment by an Abuja high court which cleared the President to contest the 2015 presidential election if he so desires. The instant suit was brought by a member of the president's political party‎ the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Adejumo Mansouru from Lagos state and a member of  the opposition All Progressive Congress, APC, Olatoye Wahab from Osun state. They want the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, from allowing President Jonathan to participate in the 2015 presidential election. They argued that by  the provisions of the nation's Constitution, that the President, having contested ...

Following the orders of Justice  Adeniyi Ademola of a federal high court siting in Abuja earlier today, Mr. Bala James Ngilari, the former deputy governor of Adamawa state under the impeached former governor Murtala Nyako, has been sworn into office as the governor of the state. The acting Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ambrose Mammadi, swore Mr. Ngilari in just hours after the orders of the court which also sacked the acting governor of the state, Umar Fintiri. Similarly, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has also complied with the Court's orders and have cancelled the slated governorship bye election scheduled for  Saturday, 11th October . That election will no long hold as Mr. Ngilari will complete the tenure of the former governor with whom he was elected for a four year term of office in 2011 which will end in May 2015.

Fair Play Africa: First United States' Ebola Patience Is Dead : Mr. Eric Thomas Duncan, first Ebola virus patience inside the United States of America has succumbed to the virus. Duncan died on Wednesd...

Mr. Eric Thomas Duncan, first Ebola virus patience inside the United States of America has succumbed to the virus. Duncan died on Wednesday, just a couple of days after he started receiving the trial Ebola virus drug; ZMapp. Duncan, a 42-year-old Liberian who was described as a visitor to a family in the United States, flew from Liberia to Texas, USA, last Tuesday , but reportedly fell sick about six days after arriving Texas  on Saturday, 20th September . This first case of the disease in US soil is testing the preparedness of that nation's healthcare system to battle with the virus. However, Americans are outraged that the ravaging virus which had killed thousands in Liberia and other West Africa countries, including Nigeria, was allowed to get into the United States. They are angry that a patient would arrive on U.S shores with the virus undetected from one of the nation's entry points.

A federal high court siting in Abuja has restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from going ahead with the scheduled governorship bye election slated for Saturday, 11th October, 2011 following the declaration that the purported resignation of the deputy governor,Bala James Ngilari, on 15th July, was null and void. The court presided by Justice Ademola Adeniyi held that the swearing in of Umar Fintiri as Acting Governor is illegal,null and void as the purported resignation of Ngilari minutes before the impeachment of Mrutala Nyako did not comply with the provisions of section 306 (1) and (2) of the Constitution. The sections under reference provide that a deputy governor wishing to resign from office must tender his resignation letter to the governor. In this instance, the resignation letter of the deputy governor was said to have been addressed to the Speaker of the Adamawa state House of Assembly which read the resignation letter before following up with t...

A magistrate court siting in Abuja has discharged Mr. Amaechi Anakwue, a journalist with the African Independent Television, AIT. Amaechi was arrested on the orders of former Rivers and Fct Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 7. The journalist was alleged to have disparaged Mr. Mbu whom he referred to as being controversial during a progamme he anchors on  AIT. An act which the police top brass believes was calculated to impugn his character and reduce his reputation before the public. However, the prosecutor, Mr. Chijioke Okezie at today's proceedings informed the court that he had been instructed by Mr. Mbu to withdraw the First Information Report; FIR, which was filed before the court upon which the journalist was to be tried. According to Mr. Okezie, Mr. Mbu who is the complainant in the case has directed him to withdraw the FIR and to bring the journalist b...

Former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, has been discharged and acquitted by an Abuja high court where he's been standing trial alongside .r. Emeka Ebilah, on corruption charges involving about N170 million. However, his co accused, Mr. Ebilah, a former Secretary of the National Economic Intelligence Committee, NEIC, was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment without an option of fine.  Events leading to the court's judgment in the matter on Thursday following three consecutive adjournments over Mr. Ebilah's absence from court indicates that the former secretary of NEIC may have got wind of the fate that was to befall him. Ebilah had sought refuse at the National Hospital in Abuja on claims of ill health which frustrated the court's judgment. Following his failure to show up personally in court to hear the court's judgment as is required in criminal, the trial judge, Justice Ishaq Bello had appointed some ...