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By Simon Ateba/Lagos For Nigerians planning to travel to the United States, the visa application process has changed, an official said on Tuesday. Stacie R. Hankins, the Consular Chief at the American Embassy in Nigeria who addressed journalists simultaneously at a briefing in Abuja and Lagos said a new passport collection centre has opened in Port Harcourt. “The U.S. Mission is pleased to announce that as of 8 November, our document collection and distribution partners with DHL expanded to include a new location in Port Harcourt,” Hankins said. As it is the case with DHL locations in Lagos and Abuja, visa applicants with approved applications can now collect their passports with their visas from the DHL collection centre in Port Harcourt. “Applicants will have the option of selecting any one of the three sites as their pickup location when they complete their online application,” Hankins said. Similarly, she said, applicants who qualify for the drop box renewal progra...

Suspected mastermind of the Nyanya bomb blasts, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, at a federal court in Abuja awaiting the commencement of proceedings in the suit he filed challenging his continued detention at the facilities if the Nigerian State Security Service. Ogwuche eloped from Nigeria soon after the bomb blasts in April which killed about a hundred persons with another hundred others severely wounded, and ran to Sudan where he was later arrested with the assistance of the Interpol. His lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji, a senior advocate of Nigeria, told the court that his client has been in the custody of the SSS since July, a period that is clearly beyond the constitutional period any Nigerian can be held without trial and urged the court to order the SSS to either file a charge against him so that he can defend himself or alternatively, to release him unconditionally.

A 7 man panel The of Nigeria's Supreme Court on Friday has nullified the impeachment of former Deputy Governor of Taraba state, Sani Abubakar Danladi, who was impeached by the state House of Assembly in October 2012. The state's Acting Governor Garba Umar was appointed by ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai following Danladi's impeachment and that appointment has been nullified with the apex court's decision. The Acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar from was sacked in his capacity as the Deputy Governor of the state. Danladi had challenged his impeachment at the state’s high court, but the court in its judgment of March 19, 2013 upheld the impeachment, a decision which the Court of Appeal, Yola equally upheld in its judgment of July 19, 2013. He thereafter approached the Supreme Court asking it to set aside earlier decisions by the Court of Appeal, Yola and the Taraba State High Court. In its decision, the apex court ordered for the immediate reinstatement...

Trial of Hon Farouk Lawan, the former Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy regime and former Secretary of the committee, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, was stalled Tuesday as the trial judge, Justice Adebukola Banjoko withdrew from case following the allegation of bias leveled against the judge by the lawmaker. Lawan and Emenalo were standing trial over their alleged receipt of $620,000 bribe from businessman, Femi Otedola. Justice Banjoko voluntarily bowed out of the case and ordered the case file to be returned to the FCT Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Bukar, despite Lawan's withdrawal of his  application requesting her to quit the case.  The judge noted that though the application had been withdrawn and the Chief Judge had cleared her of the allegation in Lawan's petition against her, the allegation was a "scandalous challenge" of her integrity.  "In my 17 years on the bench - six years and as a magistrate and 11 years as a judge - I h...

Ahead of the forthcoming general elections, chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has approached a federal court in Abuja asking the court to nullify the appointment of Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu, the party's national chairman, as illegal. The chieftain, Mr. Emmanuel Onu, wants the court to determine whether the process and procedure that produced Mu'azu as the party's national chairman, was in compliance with Sections 47(5) and (6) of the 2012 Constitution of the PDP Cited as defendants in the suit are the Peoples Democratic Party, its national chairman, Adamu Mu'azu and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Mu'azu was appointed by the party's national executive committee to succeed Alhaji Bamanga Turkur, who resigned as the National Chairman of the party  on January 15, 2014  but Mr.  Onu is seeking a declaration by the court that the purported resignation letter of Bamanga Tukur presented by President Goodluck Jonathan to the n...

A federal court in Abuja on Monday declined the request by the federal government to issue bench warrants against chief executive officers of Nigerian Bottling Company and Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited following their non-appearance before the court. The Managing Director of Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Chief Adeola Adetunji and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Bottling Company, Mr. Ben Langat, were yet to be served with their charges personally as required by the law in criminal trials but their respective companies had been served. They were expected to represent their respective companies in the suit but both failed to show up on the ground that they are yet to receive copies of their alleged crimes. Following their non appearance in court, the prosecutor, Chief Bayo Ojo, a senior advocate of Nigeria and former Attorney General of the federation who was hired by the federal government to prosecute the case, applied that a bench warrant be issued against Adetunji and La...

With the defection of the Speaker of Nigeria's House of Representatives from Peoples Democratic Party to All Progressive Congress, maneuverings for the control of that lower chamber of Nigeria's legislature had become very intense. Soon after the Speaker, Aminu Waziru Tambuwal defected, the machinery of the PDP was set in motion with a view to replace him with another member since it controls the majority seat at the House. The Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, alongside leaders in the House who are members of the PDP were summoned by the leadership of the party to strategize on the removal of Tambuwal from office. The machinery of the APC was also set in motion in view of the possible options available to the PDP to achieve their goal. Hurdles were thereafter placed on the way of PDP as the APC instituted multiple cases before the federal high court in Abuja, all aimed at frustrating the plot to remove Tambuwal from office. Less four hours after the APC and ...

Justice Ahmed Mohammed of a federal high court in Abuja has made an order directing the Peoples Democratic Party, its national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, and others not to reconvene the House of Representatives at least until Friday, 7th November when they have been directed to appear before the court and show cause why the reliefs being sought by the Speaker and the APC should not be granted. The trial judge specifically directed that the status quo be maintained in the matter pending the 7th of November when the defendants are expected to appear before the court to show cause why the reliefs of the Speaker should not be granted. The court noted that the order was to preserve the subject matter of the suit which borders on the Speaker's position following his defection to the All Progressive Congress. Justice Mohammed made the orders following the motion exparte moved on behalf of the Speaker and the APC by their lawyer, Mr. Sunday Ameh, a senior. Advocate of Nigeria,...