Ondo Protest Takes Life

​The protest in Ondo State, over the weekend, took a bloody dimension as a secondary school student was said to have been hit by the tear gas canister, released by the police in dispersing the rioters in Ondo town, near Ife garage. This came as opposition political parties in the state, weekend, called for calm and caution over the protests.

The name of the pupil has not been identified as at the time of filling this report. But Vanguard gathered that the student of St Joseph College was on his way to the school on Friday when he was hit by the canister. Moreso, Akure, the Ondo State capital, was not left out, as rioters again trooped to the streets, protesting the decision of INEC.

The Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, emerge from his Palace, over the weekend, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the Ondo PDP crisis arising from substitution of Eyitayo Jegede with Jimoh Ibrahim as governorship candidate by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) according to court orders. Aladetoyinbo made the appeal while addressing aggrieved PDP members and the supporters, who again came out in their thousands at his Palace, in Akure. He also enjoined INEC to be not be partisan. 

“The judiciary should also intervene and make sure that all parties get justice because we don’t want any injustice in Ondo State,” he said. Speaking on behalf of the protesters, PDP Chairman in the state, Engr Clement Faboyede,  called on the president to prevail on INEC to look into the issue. 

“We don’t want Ondo State to be on fire because our state is peaceful. Some cabals in All Progressive Congress (APC) are using Jimoh Ibrahim against the candidacy of Jegede, Jimoh is not a PDP member but rather a card carrying member of Accord party,” he said. The supporters carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘Return Jegede to us’, Buhari should not interfere in Ondo politics’ and ‘Remember 1983’. In Akure, the state capital, the protesters led by Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Jumoke Akindele and Ondo State PDP Chairman, Clement Faboyede marched from Alagbaka through the popular Oba Adesida road and climaxed at the Palace of Deji of Akure chanting “Eyitayo is Our Choice.” 

The action paralyzed vehicular, business and commercial activities as all shops in the city were under lock and key in solidarity with Eyitayo Jegede. Opposition parties Weanwhile, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, called on security agents in the state to be more pro-active in combating criminal activities as the governorship election draws near. In a statement by the state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Remi Olayiwola, the party said that the protest that trailed the removal of Jegede’s name and its replacement with Jimoh Ibrahim had to do with the flag bearer of only one out of the 28 participating political parties in the election. The SDP said: 

“The other day, it was the APC disturbing the people of the state, today, it is the PDP. These are political parties in government at various levels in the country. So, if there’s any violence during the forth coming governorship election, the two parties must be held responsible.” 

Also, the Alliance for Democracy, AD, condemned the acts of brigandage and blocking of roads by protesters were  organized by government. State Secretary of the party, Sola Agboola called “on the law enforcement agencies to call Governor Mimiko and his protégé, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria to order and hold them responsible for any infraction and breakdown of law and order. 

THE Jimoh Ibrahim faction of the  PDP in the state  has accused the state government of stage managing the series of protests in the state. The faction’s Director of Media and Publicity, Yemi Akintomide  said that the move was to “deceive the public that the candidacy of Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim was rejected by the populace.” Akintomide frowned at the “desperation and pull-it-down at all cost attitude of Governor Mimiko who swore on oath to protect the people and maintain peace and order across the state. 

“We call on human right groups to rise against this unholy action of ridiculing, disparaging and dis-humanising the dignity and sanity of womanhood, all in the name playing destructive politics that will do nobody any good.

  “We are appealing to our resourceful market women, darling wives, beautiful sisters and brilliant ladies to shun any act capable of jeopardising their hard earn, long standing family names and core values; and not to dishonour and disrespect their dignified bodies to march half naked in exchange for any amount of money not worth the pride of their womanhood. “We urge Governor Mimiko to toe the line of peace by pursuing the case against Jegede in the appellate courts as demanded by the Constitution.” 

He added that “We also urge them not to rest on their oasis by ensuring nobody, no matter how highly placed, further disrupted the relative peace we have been enjoying in our state.  

“The AD, as a peaceful party, abhors violence and destruction of public properties and we view with seriousness this shameful act of brigandage to force the hands of the law to do your wish by fire by force as Mr Mimiko is doing. “The present mayhem is an organised one  being perpetrated by the Ondo State Government and not that of the reaction of the people.”

©VGN 

NASS Moves To Abolish States, LGs Joint Account

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The Chairman, Senate Committee on State and Local Government Affairs, Sen. Abdullahi Abubakar, on Sunday said provision has been made in the ongoing Constitution amendment process to totally abolish the contentious joint account between states and local governments.

Abubakar, who made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birninkudu, Jigawa, also said the lawmakers plan to abolish States Independent Electoral Commissions.

He said that the decision was taken at a recent retreat in Lagos by Speakers of State Houses of Assembly and Members of the House of Representatives.

Abubakar explained that the decision was taken to strengthen local government administration, for optimal performance.

The Senator said that the National Assembly was working tirelessly to dialogue with State Governors to allow local governments operate independently.

Abubakar said it was unfortunate that only 10 out of 36 states in the country had conducted election into local government councils.

“This means that 75 per cent of the local government leadership in the country occupy the offices unconstitutionally and unelected.

“From my tour to some local governments, the third tier of government has been rendered useless, empty, and nothing meaningful is happening at the grassroots government.’’

He said a stronger local government administration would impact more positively in local areas, help tackle rural-urban drift and rising security challenges.

“If our local governments function well, the youths in the areas would leave their houses and go to work and return home without any problem,” he said.

Abubakar, who is also a member of Constitution Amendment Committee, said SIECs would be abolished to guarantee free, fair, credible and acceptable election at the local level.

“It will be the responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local government polls.

“We are doing all these so that political parties can vie for positions freely during local government elections without any fear of intimidation by the ruling party in a state.

“We have made far reaching changes in the spirit of the change mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari,’’ Abubakar said.

OUTSIDE THE BOX: ​THE FISCAL SIDE OF THINGS… By ALEX OTTI

 

“We are moving towards a (complex) global economy. One way of approaching that is to pull the covers over your head. Another is to say: It may be more complicated- but that’s the world I am going to live in, I might as well be good at it.” — Phil Condit

There can’t be a better way to describe our country’s current challenges than with the wise words of Phil Condit. It is a very complex and challenging economy that we are grappling with. But complex situations demand complex thinking and complex solutions. The easy way out like Condit aptly explains is to play the ostrich, hiding our heads in the sand and pretending that our entire body is covered when we all know that the rest of our body is exposed for the world to see. The rough and narrow route which is bound to produce better results is to gird our loins and take the bull by the horn, believing firmly that we can make lemonades out of the lemons that have been thrown at us. This option cannot happen by accident. It has to be a well-articulated and planned process and executed flawlessly by very brave and bold leadership. There may be some pain in the process, the pain may be severe, but must give way to sustainable gain in the final analysis.

A lot of attention has been paid on monetary policy in the recent times as we try to find our way out of the present economic challenges. Today, we intend to discuss fiscal policy as an instrument available to economic managers to help in navigating around our challenges and place us on a path of sustainable development.

Fiscal policy has been defined as the means by which a government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to monitor and influence a nation’s economy. It has been described as the sister strategy to monetary policy. Monetary policy being a strategy which central banks use to control money supply, interest and exchange rates. Fiscal policy therefore refers to the use of government revenue collection, mainly taxes and expenditure (spending) to influence the economy. Using fiscal policy, regulators aim to control inflation, reduce unemployment, control interest rates and stabilise business cycles. An economy in recession would benefit from fiscal policy if the government reduces tax rates to induce consumer spending because if people and businesses are paying less in taxes, they would have more money to spend and invest. The other alternative is for the government itself to increase its spending by investing more, say in infrastructure in the case of Nigeria. All things being equal, the additional spending by government would create jobs directly and indirectly thereby reducing the unemployment rate. Of course, economists have identified some drawbacks of the implementation of fiscal policy but both policies (fiscal and monetary) are indispensable in rescuing a struggling economy, maintaining a strong economy or cooling off an overheated economy. What separates one government from another is the extent of their understanding of the right policy mix to achieve desired macroeconomic results of price stability, credit availability, financial stability and economic growth.

There seems to be an agreement that given the economic recession that the country is experiencing the government needs to adopt a fiscal stimulus package to resolve the issue. At least, there is no better way to support this view than to point readers’ attention to the fact that the N6.08 trillion budget for 2016 provided for a deficit of over N2 trillion. This was approved by the National Assembly earlier in the year. What is, however, an issue is the speed with which the implementation is being handled. As we approach the end of the year, activities seem to just be taking off at a very slow speed, threatening the chances that the benefits of the stimulus would be enjoyed in this financial year. Be that as it may, we want to devote the rest of the discussion to taxes. Generally, our tax administration has been very inefficient. My belief is that because government has access to cheap oil money, it has not considered it expedient to improve the administration of taxes in the country. So, when we join others to refer to tax payer’s money, some of us cringe and ask, which tax payer’s money? The standard measure for tax collection is to compare what component of the GDP is accounted for by taxes. This is referred to as tax to GDP ratio. This measure is important not just for purposes of understanding how efficient the tax collection system is, but also to show the level of real economic activities in the country. The assumption is that it is only that part of the population that is employed, and that part of businesses that is making profits that would pay taxes. Because one cannot give what one doesn’t have, it is not expected that the unemployed or businesses that are at the verge of extinction would pay taxes to government. Generally, it is accepted that the tax to GDP ratio for developed countries is always higher than that of developing countries. Thus, the average tax to GDP ratio for the EU countries is about 36%. One of the highest ratios is Denmark at around 51%. Nigeria’s tax to GDP ratio is presently 6%. This is abysmally low compared to some other African countries like Botswana 35%; Benin Republic 16%, Burkina Faso 12%; Burundi 17%, Cameroun 18%; Cape Verde 23%; Cote d’Ivoire 15%, DRC 13%, Egypt 16%; Ethiopia 12%; Gambia 19%; Kenya 18%, Malawi 21%; Rwanda 14%; Senegal 19%; Togo 16%; Zimbabwe 27% and Ghana 21%.

PWC in an extensive study provides answers as to why the situation is this way in Nigeria. Out of the over 180 million Nigerians, and a labour workforce of 77 million people, only about 10 million are registered for personal income tax across all the states of the federation. Out of this number, 46% are registered in Lagos. That explains why Lagos accounted for 40% (N268bn) of the total taxes (N684bn) collected by all the states in 2015. While only about 13% of the labour force pays some form of personal income tax, only about 12% pays VAT. Corporate income tax faces the same fate as only about 10% of companies file tax returns and we know that some of them are very good students of Donald Trump. According to PWC, the low level of tax compliance has to do with incoherent fiscal policies, cumbersome and inefficient tax administration system, high level of tax evasion, ambiguities in tax laws and lack of transparency regarding the utilisation of tax revenue for social services and visible development. The result of a survey they carried out is very interesting. 70% of the people surveyed claimed they do not pay tax because they do not see tax payer’s money at work, over 22% said it was because of unclear tax rules and complex compliance process while over 7% said it was due to poor enforcement by tax authorities. None of the respondents said it was due to people being poor or not being aware, the survey concluded.

Like I had indicated earlier, I believe the reason why government has not given its best to tax administration is because of the fact that it has come to rely heavily on oil revenue as the major, if not the only source of revenue and therefore sees tax collection as a minor irritant. Like we can see today, this may have been true in the past but definitely no more. Given that government has not been collecting much from the populace, it has also denied itself the use of this very important instrument for the management of the economy. From our analyses earlier, governments use fiscal policy of tax and spending to stabilise the economy. But not when the taxes were not being collected in the first instance.

Another unfortunate fallout is that the social contract between the rulers and the ruled cannot be enforced. The ruled do not feel they can hold the rulers to account because it cannot in all honesty, talk about tax payer’s money. The rulers don’t also feel compelled to deliver on the contract because they are not spending tax payer’s money in the real sense of it. That is probably why our power infrastructure was left to collapse, our roads and rail networks were left to decay, and our educational and health care delivery system have become a disaster amongst several others. If truly, government was dependent on tax payer’s money, it would be more interested in the wellbeing and survival of the tax payers, knowing very well that if anything happens to any of them, government revenue would be negatively affected.

The opportunity presented by the current economic recession is useful for government to completely restructure how it does things. It is an opportunity that should not be wasted. Government should start with proper documentation of the populace. We must digitally map the country so we know where everyone is. Everyone should have a tax payer’s identification number once they are of age. All the information should be in a central database accessible by different government agencies. Tax administration should be made very simple and straight forward and be made part of our culture.

It has also been reported that the current system is very complex and cumbersome and keeps away those that would have qualified as ‘voluntarily compliant’. In an annual report, “Paying Taxes 2016”, jointly issued by PWC and World Bank, Nigeria was rated no 181 out of the 189 countries measured along the lines of the ease of paying taxes. We were only better than eight countries in the whole world. This is a clear signal of how bad things are here with respect to paying taxes. It is sad that our system is hostile to even those who want to pay us money. We must take a serious look at the entire tax administration system to make it friendlier and more efficient.

Legislation and enforcement cannot be overemphasised in the reform journey. To encourage voluntary compliance, the law must not only make it a criminal offence to evade tax, but it must also be enforced. Awareness and education would follow to ensure that more people are brought into the tax net while government would also be required to be more transparent and responsible in the use of tax payer’s money.

We must begin to make the transition to funding public expenditure with tax payer’s money not with profit made by government from participating in business. This way, when government officials spend our money, they know they owe us explanations. When government is dealing with the taxpayer, it knows, it has to treat him as the one that pays the piper and should, therefore, dictate the tune. Even others living off tax payers, including those on benefits would realise that their life is dependent on the magnanimity of the tax payer.

As I conclude, I’d like to share a joke someone sent me: “My Income tax return form was rejected because my response to the question, ‘number of dependants’ was 2.1million illegal immigrants, 900,000 criminals in over 85 prisons and above all 769 idiots in parliament. 

They said it was not an acceptable answer! I’m still wondering… Who the hell did I miss out?”

‎Over 9 Killed, 24 injured in Maiduguri Twin Blasts

​Over nine persons were killed and 24 injured Saturday in in an explosion that occured in two spots in Maiduguri, Borno state. 

Spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA, Sani Datti in a message confirming the incident said one of the explosions occured at the entrance to Bakassi IDPs and the second at NNPC station along Damboa road. 

The agency rescue team are already at the scenes evacuating victims. “Nine (9)persons lost their lives with twenty four (24) persons injured and evacuated to various Hospitals from the two scenes of explosions in Maiduguri this early morning”, he said.

A Cabal In The Presidency Offers To Free Senate President Saraki If He Frustrates The Confirmation Of EFCC Chairman, Magu

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A cabal made up of high-level appointees in President Muhammadu Buhari’s office has struck a deal with Senate President Bukola Saraki to cease all forms of prosecution against him if he would agree to block the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Mr. Saraki has had a series of legal losses in his bid to stop his multiple prosecutions for false asset declaration and money laundering. The senator’s latest legal misfortune came earlier today when a panel of the Court of Appeal dismissed his effort to stop his trial.

However, Mr. Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura, as well as the Attorney General of the Federal, Abubakar Malami are conspiring to frustrate Mr. Saraki’s prosecution, according to a finding of a lengthy investigation by our correspondent. Since his appointment as the EFCC’s acting chairman, Mr. Magu has faced unusual impediments from Mr. Kyari and other members of the cabal, all of them members of an inner circle within the Presidency.

Our investigations revealed that Mr. Magu got on the bad side of the president’s Chief of Staff when he refused to drop investigations against Sahara Energy, a company in which Mr. Kyari has a substantial interest. Mr. Magu also incurred the anger of the Chief of Staff when he refused to accept a deal to free Jide Omokore, a businessman with ties to former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Our investigative correspondent learned that Mr. Omokore had made efforts to see President Buhari twice with the assistance of the Chief of Staff and offered bribes to Mr. Kyari and his team. Our investigator also learned that Mr. Kyari had also promised Mr. Omokore that he would be off the hook once he paid back a mere N500 million as restitution, even though the businessman accumulated billions of dollars through fraudulent oil swap deals and questionable acquisition of oil assets arranged by former Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Alison-Madueke.

The EFCC’s Magu scuttled Mr. Kyari’s deal with the oil tycoon when he not only arrested Mr. Omokore but also detained and arraigned him in court for money laundering.

On his part, Attorney General Malami may have joined the conspiracy to fire Mr. Magu from the EFCC because the AGF is close to interests that see Mr. Magu as a threat. Also, a source close to the AGF told our correspondent that Mr. Malami was upset that the EFCC boss was not taking directives from him regarding issues of who to prosecute or not a decision that made him set up a national protection commission domiciled in his office. For instance, on several occasion when the EFCC played a major role in the arraignment and prosecution of Senator Saraki, the AGF and several members of his team, including the Solicitor-General of the Federation and the Director of Public Prosecution, had put enormous pressure on Rotimi Jacobs, the independent prosecutor in charge of the case.

Soon after Mr. Magu’s appointment, the AGF had written a scathing report addressed to President Buhari stating why he was completely opposed to Mr. Magu’s confirmation as the substantive EFCC chairman. Based on Mr. Malami’s prompting, Chief of Staff Kyari and the DSS Director-General went to work to find dirt on Mr. Magu. It did not take long before they found out that the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, was a strong backer of the EFCC chair. Mr. Kyari and his team also discovered that both Mr. Monguno and Mr. Magu had been close friends with a former Air Force officer and a member of the Presidential Arms Investigation Panel, Air Commodore Umar Mohammed (rtd).

In June, DSS agents raided Commodore Mohammed’s home and detained him on allegations that he received bribes from some suspects accused of stealing funds budgeted for arms. SaharaReporters learned that, while in DSS detention, Mr. Mohammed was pressured to implicate both Mr. Magu and Mr. Monguno as persons for whom he was collecting bribes from former Nigerian military officers under investigation. However, Mr. Mohammed refused to budge. In retaliation, the DSS refused to release him despite several court orders to do so. Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, one of the judges who gave an order for Commodore Mohammed’s release, himself became a victim of a late-night raid by the DSS two weeks as DSS agents began hunting down judges accused of corruption.

When DSS agents could not get Commodore Mohammed to implicate Mr. Monguno and Mr. Magu, they wrote a report claiming that the detained former officer had been paying the rent for Mr. Magu’s home in Abuja. They also alleged that Mr. Magu once flew to Kano on a private jet owned by the detained air force general. When the DSS eventually charged Commodore Mohammed to court, they made no mention of his being a front for Mr. Monguno and Mr. Magu. Instead, he was accused of being in possession of guns with an expired license and $1million allegedly found at his home.

SaharaReporters learned that, as part of the internal conspiracy to stall Mr. Magu’s confirmation, the Chief of Staff, Kyari, refused to forward a letter to the Senate requesting for confirmation of the EFCC boss. However, while President Buhari was in the United Kingdom in June 2016 for a short vacation and medical checkup, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo invoked his powers as Acting President to compel the Chief of Staff to send a letter to the Senate asking for Mr. Magu’s confirmation.

A reluctant Mr. Abba Kyari sent the letter. However, as soon as President Buhari returned the Chief of Staff showed him “mountains of security reports,” including some that claimed Mr. Magu was leaking presidential secrets to Saharareporters and other news media. The source also disclosed that Mr. Buhari wanted to know if Mr. Magu owned expensive homes, huge bank accounts or had ever received proceeds of corruption, to which the COS reportedly answered in affirmative.

A source at the Presidency told our correspondent that President Buhari insisted that, since he ceded power to the VP, everything Mr. Osinbajo did while was away could not be reversed.

According to one source, President Buhari did not want to use Mr. Magu’s confirmation to bargain with Senator Saraki whom he loathes, hence the president did nothing to lobby the Senate President to confirm the EFCC chair even when Mr. Saraki met with him to ask for directives on what to do with Magu.

Our investigation discovered that Mr. Saraki has been an active player in the plot to stop Mr. Magu. The EFCC chair had offended the senator twice during his political career. During the senator’s tenure as Governor of Kwara State, Mr. Magu was in charge of the dreaded “Governance Team” set up by the Nuhu Ribadu-led EFCC to go after corrupt state governors between 2003 and 2009. Mr. Saraki was investigated and was due for arrest when Mr. Ribadu was kicked out of the EFCC after he managed to arrest former Governor James Ibori of Delta State. Mr. Saraki then shopped for and recommended Farida Waziri as Mr. Ribadu’s replacement. As soon as Mrs. Waziri was firmly planted as the chairperson of the EFCC, she went after Mr. Magu, got him arrested and detained on the flimsy excuse that EFCC documents were found on his laptop in Lagos. Mr. Magu spent weeks in detention in 2008 and was subsequently freed and redeployed to the Nigeria police.

Also, as soon as Mr. Magu was appointed to head the EFCC, he arrested Mr. Saraki’s wife, Toyin Saraki, and interrogated her for hours. EFCC officials said Mrs. Saraki wilted under the intense interrogation and offered “very helpful information about her husband’s financial misdeeds.”

SaharaReporters learned that Mr. Magu has made efforts on his own to reach out to Senators to confirm him. However, our investigators learned that some of the top senators demanded that he drop investigations against them or hand over their files to them for destruction before they would back his confirmation. Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, whom Mr. Magu disgraced earlier this year after he was given an award by the EFCC liaison to the National Assembly, reportedly tried to extract apologies from Mr. Magu while secretly filming their encounter. Also, Senator Stella Oduah, a former Aviation Minister, went to meet Mr. Magu in his office in the company of a former Secretary to the Federal Government, Pius Anyim, to pledge her support so long as Mr. Magu was willing to drop investigations relating to her multimillion dollar airport renovation projects during her ministerial tenure under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Also, former Governor Goodwill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State reportedly asked that Mr. Magu soft-pedals on a myriad of corruption cases against him.

Two EFCC sources told SaharaReporters that Mr. Magu tactically decided to slow down on prosecuting high-profile corruption cases in order to advance his confirmation. However, his confirmation woes appear even more complicated as several targets of EFCC investigations have been pressuring Senators not to confirm him.

Mr. Saraki is coordinating onslaughts on Mr. Magu while regularly telling lobbyists for the EFCC chairman that new conditions must be met before he would move forward on the confirmation. According to one of our sources, Mr. Saraki is demanding that some seasoned EFCC investigators who handled his case be transferred out of the agency back to the police. He had also required that Mr. Magu forward to him all files relating to high- profile investigations of senators. Our source said the Senate President appeared to want the documents to use them either to control other senators or buy their loyalty.

One source said Attorney General Malami had already fulfilled the first part of the agreement between him and Saraki. Last month, the AGF’s office suddenly withdrew forgery charges against Mr. Saraki and his deputy, Mr. Ekweremadu, claiming that prosecutors did not have a watertight case against the two senators. At the next adjourned date, charges were also dropped against two senior National Assembly staffers who aided the forgery of National Assembly rules that led to the controversial election of Mr. Saraki and Mr. Ekweremadu in 2015.

Our source stated that the next case to suffer would be the assets declaration case against Senator Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. According to the source, Rotimi Jacobs, the independent lawyer handling the case, was being pressured to withdraw from it to enable more malleable prosecutors to take over. The source said the strategy was to prevail on the judge to conclude the trial without imposing any significant sentence.

Mr. Saraki, who is currently in Geneva, is assuring those lobbying on behalf of Mr. Magu he would get the EFCC chairman “confirmed” as soon as the cabal at the Presidency sabotages all the anti-corruption cases against him and Mr. Magu promises not to go after some persons of interest to him.

©SaharaReporters 

ABIA STATE PDP CHAIRMAN, JOHNSON ONUIGBO ACCUSED OF COLLECTING BRIBE TO INFLUENCE PARTY PRIMARIES

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The heat generated via the Abia State local government election PDP primaries seems not to be cooling off as accusations and counter accusations is building everyday as gathered by Abia Facts Newspaper.

Chief Johnson Onuigbo, the Abia State PDP Chairman is being accused of  collecting bribe from some aspirants to influence the final decision of all the primaries conducted.

Formal Chief whip of Abia State House of Assembly, Dr. Ikechukwu Nwabeke has come out to accuse Chief Onuigbo of collecting bribe to influence who will emerge chairmanship flagbearer of PDP in Osisioma local government area during the forthcoming local government election in Abia State.

Abia State PDP members protest out come of primaries

Dr. Nwabeke is resisting any attempt to thwart the wish of delegates who will vote on the primary day.

“During the councillorship primary our political structure won, but they trying to cancel it, we will resist it” he said.

Abia Facts Newspaper had earlier reported widespread conflicts relating to the PDP primaries.

©AFN 

IKPEAZU TEARING APART THE FABRICS OF DEMOCRACY IN ABIA STATE – By Hon. Demian Igbokwe

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“A product of illegality must begat illegality” With the just concluded PDP ward and local councillor-ship primaries it has become clearer the mission of the Okezie Ikpeazu led administration in Abia state as aimed at insuring that the spirit of democracy and good governance is finally laid to rest in Abia state.

Having followed the controversial peoples Democratic Party congress that threw up chief Johnson Onuigbo and other party executives from the ward to the state level and the hurry in organising a local government election that lacks all the ingredients needed to guarantee a fair enough election that will give room for equal participation by all the political parties I became more convinced that Ikpeazu has not only come to kill the economic fortunes of the state but to also murder the spirit of democracy and fairness in our electioneering process.

 

Given his travails and the ship of his administration about to wreck as a result of a fraudulent electoral process that threw him up as governor, one would have expected that Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu PhD would have taken a turn around and done things differently atleast to prove to Abians that he is willing to bring a change to a system that has been bedevilled with fraud and insincerity.

 

But the electoral fraud,manipulation and deception coupled with high degree of mal-administration,cluelessness,wasteful expenditure etal. that this administration had showcased has been proved to be worse than that of the two previous administrations put together, the open display of cheating is already sending shivers up the spines of Abia electoral watchers and participants. While other political parties are now expressing fears as to what there chances would be if they enter into such an electoral contest that has already been decided and the winners handpicked ever before going to the field.

The Johnson Onuigbo led PDP in Abia state has eroded the little trust that members of the party have for the party with their barefaced imposition of candidates for the councillorship and chairmanship slots across the 17 LGA,s in Abia state, the direct implication is that if their plans work out unchecked Abians are going to be saddled with a set of 17 remote controlled council chairmen whose allegiance will be to Ikpeazu and the stake holders that planted them in offices and not the people who they are meant to be accountable to.

 

Dr. Ikpeazu and the PDP under his watch has told Abians in clear terms through his actions that nothing good will come out of his administration and that even if given eternity with an economy as strong as that of the United Kingdom that no body should expect any positive development be it political, infrastructural,social etc. from his administration.

 

Will Abia continue to live under this Gods forsaken administration that has bedevilled us since may 29th 2015? God forbid, that was why every well meaning Abian will have to join voices and demand for justice from the Supreme Court, every Abian should look at the plight of the civil servant who  has not been paid for 9 months, I charge all Abians including the political class to shun greed and remember that a child will not be taught in school because his/teacher is being owed for 9 months.

 

Every Abian with his conscience intact should remember that a child is about to die because his parents or guardian cannot afford to take him to hospital because they work in the local government and has not been paid for 13 months but the state government collects the funds meant for the development of the councils as at when due.

 

Every Abian should pray for justice because it is only justice that can liberate us from the chains of those that promised to repair our roads and shortly after voting them in they now prefer to fly on chattered jets while the bus driver who depends on what he makes on the road daily for the upkeep of his family can no longer drive out for business because the entire Aba road network has become flooded and are no longer passable because our leaders had diverted the funds meant for the repairs and reconstruction of this roads to their personal bank accounts locally and abroad.

 

Let us pray and ask God for a quick intervention through the judiciary before they impose on us another set of 17 Council chairmen who will be accountable to their political masters rather than the people whom they are supposed to represent.

 

Let God please look at the suffering Abian and give us the man Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah who has a work plan with a welfarist agenda for every Abian. Abians pray ka Uchechukwu mee na Abia

Man Found In Sapele River Said He Crashed ‘Flying’ From Benin To UK,

A man, who confessed to newsmen that he was ‘flying’ from Benin Airport, Edo State, to attend a meeting in the United Kingdom, before watching a football match going on simultaneously in the coven, also in the United Kingdom, was, yesterday, discovered at Ajogodo River, Sapele, Delta State.

​Fuel finished in my ‘private jet.’ The self-confessed wizard said: 

“I was flying in with what is known in the physical realm as ‘Plantain Leaf,’ but it is actually my expensive private jet in the coven realm. 

“It crashed me into this bridge, when the fuel in it finished. My members will be here tonight to refuel it for me, so I can continue my journey to the UK. 

“I have to be in the UK to watch football, because there is economic recession, unemployment and inflation in Nigeria.”

CORRUPTION: I AM MANDATED TO INVESTIGATE EVERYONE, INCLUDING GOVT OFFICIALS, AND OTHERS… MAGU

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Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu has come out to reveal that the mandate given to him on investigation of corruption by President Buhari did not shield anyone, in Kaduna, yesterday, that they have the mandate to investigate every government official, including ministers, irrespective of political party affiliations.

Magu, who said the mandate was part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s measures towards winning the war against corruption, disclosed that, “every  government official is under investigation without them knowing it.”

He said this during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the National Union of Textiles and Garment Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), in Kaduna.

However, Magu dispelled insinuations in some quarters that EFCC operations was one-sided in the fight against corruption.

“We have course to investigate; in fact, we are investigating those in government without them knowing. Not only that, the president has given me the mandate to investigate every corrupt Nigerian leader irrespective of his political affiliation. I don’t think we have the monopoly of knowledge to tackle corruption. But, more than that, the fight against corruption is designed and structured to boost confidence in the economy as well as to attract investors both within and outside the country,” Magu added.

The EFCC boss also described corruption as a crime against humanity.

He said, before now, there was no hope for Nigeria, but President  Buhari had shown “demonstrable political” will to deal with corruption.

“Corruption affects everybody, that is why everyone is a major stakeholder in the fight. That is why I have the passion, zeal and courage to lead the fight against corruption,” Magu said.

In his remarks, NUTGTWN General Secretary, Issa Aremu said the EFCC should be empowered to invite those living above means to explain their sources of wealth.

Aremu said if investigating agencies were not satisfied with explanations by suspects about their sources of wealth, such persons should be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, the EFCC has revealed why it arrested former presidential spokesperson, Dr. Reuben Abati on Monday.

The commission said, in a post on its official Facebook page, it invited Abati to its Abuja Headquarters to explain his role in an alleged mismanagement of the nation’s funds during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. An EFCC operative told Daily Sun the specific reason Abati was invited  “has to do with the ONSA money.”

EFCC also arrested and detained former minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed over alleged N1.2 trillion fraud. Last week, former minister of state for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro was detained on allegations of money laundering.

MAN BEHEADS A WOMAN IN ABA PARK

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A 20-year-old man identified as Emmanuel Effiong has said he beheaded a woman at the Aba park on the instructions of a mad woman, who allegedly advised him to throw a human head into a river or he would go mad.

“I gave a mad woman money one day in Aba and she told me to look for a skull or human head and throw inside a river or I will go mad.

 

“One morning, when I saw a lifeless body in front of the park, I decided to cut off the dead woman’s head for the exercise. I threw the head into the Aba River to remain a normal person,” he said.

 

Effiong made the confession while in the custody of the police. He had been arrested by police operatives in Aba, Abia State in connection with a threat to kidnap and kill one Ikechukwu Udogu. 

It was gathered that the search for Effiong started when the police got the information that an unknown person, through a phone text, threatened to kill one Udogu, if he failed to pay him a N15m ransom.

 

It was learnt that police operatives attached to the Central Police Station, Aba, swung into action and arrested the suspect with the mobile phone number used in sending the threat message.

 

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Adeleye Oyabade, who confirmed the arrest of the suspect, said he confessed to the crime.

 

Oyebade added that the suspect also confessed that he was behind the headless woman found on September 29, 2016 at the Aba main motor park.

 

He said three knives and a phone were recovered from the suspect, adding that investigation was in progress to unravel the mystery behind the dastardly act.

 

Speaking with Southern City News, Effiong, who said he hails from Ikot Edet in Akwa Ibom State, accepted that he demanded the ransom from Udogu for refusing to pay him his salary since September 2009.

 

He said, “I served Mr. Udogu for many years as his gateman, but he stopped paying my salary since September 2009. So, I decided to send him the threat message to get my money from him.”

 

©magicfm

SEEDC SCAM: Ikpeazu’s Aid, UBA Staff And Others Re-arrested By ICPC Abuja

​#TRENDING 

#UPDATES ON THE # SEEDC N52m CONTRACT FRAUD INVOLVING ABIA STATE SSG #DR_EME_OKORO, #NNABU_NDUKWE_EVUKA, #Emuchay_Glory(UBA_STAFF),  #AUSTIN_EMEH AND OTHERS… 

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ICPC ABUJA HAS ISSUED A FINAL LETTER OF INVITATION TO THE ABIA STATE SSG DR EME OKORO OWING TO HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE SOUTH EAST ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT CENTER, SEEDC N52M CONTRACT FRAUD. 

THE SSG AS WE GATHERED HAS REALIZED HE CAN NOT RUN FROM THE LAW FOREVER AND HAD SENT HIS LAWYER TO ICPC ABUJA LAST WEEK THURSDAY WHERE HE WAS ISSUED THE FINAL INVITATION LETTER FOR THE SSG TO REPORT IN PERSON FOR QUESTIONING. 

ALSO,  THE SSA TO GOV OKEZIE IKPEAZU MR NNABU N. EVUKA (SELF ACCLAIMED GODFADA TO DR IKPEAZU),  MISS GLORY EMUCHAY  A STAFF OF UBA PLC FACTORY ROAD BRANCH UMUAHIA ABIA STATE, MR AUSTIN EMEH OKECHUKWU OF PET-MOBEL HOTELS UMUAHIA, AND MR ONYEMAECHI CHUKWUEMEKA EVUKA YOUNGER BROTHER TO MR NNABU ARE CURRENTLY BEING QUESTIONED BY THE ICPC ABUJA. 

THE ABOVE MENTIONED PERSONS AS WE GATHERED WERE REARRESTED  FOR THE SECOND TIME BY  THE ICPC TWO WEEK AGO. 

WE ALSO GATHERED THAT MISS EMUCHAY GLORY HAS BEEN UNDERGOING SERIES OF INTERNAL INTEROGATIONS FOR MONTHS NOW WHILE UBA PLC HAS ALSO CONCLUDED PLANS  TO ARREST AND PROSECUTE  THE ABOVE MENTIONED FOR FRAUDULENTLY STEALING FROM PHRENEMOS INTERNATIONAL LTD’s UBA ACCOUNT. 

MORE UPDATES COMING……….

READ ALSO :ICPC Arrests Gov Okezie Ikpeazu’s SSA UBA Staff And Others SSG Dr Eme Okoro Goes Into Hiding

 

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Abia Governorship Tussle: Appeal Court Adjourns Nwosu, Ikpeazu Suit Indefinitely

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A five-man panel of the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, hearing appeals on the tax forgery suit filed against Abia Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu has adjourned indefinitely.

This appeal was to determine a pending motion filed by Sir Friday Nwosu, which urged the Supreme Court to take over the matter or order the panel to expeditiously determine it.

Ruling on the suit, Presiding Judge of the Court of Appeal, Owerri, Justice R.C. Agbo told parties in the suit that he had to adjourn the matter indefinitely until the motion filed by Nwosu was determined at the Supreme Court. The judge also adjourned two other appeals filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Ikpeazu, on the suit challenging some aspects of the July 8, 2016 verdict of the Federal High Court, Owerri.

It added that the appeals could not be heard since they emanated from the same judgment. Nwosu had filed a motion praying the Supreme Court to intervene under Sections 17 and 22 of the Supreme Court Act to consolidate and deliver judgment on all appeals lying at different courts on the Abia governorship tussle, insisting that it will serve the best interest of justice if Appeals Nos. SC/717/2016, SC/719/2016 and SC/739/2016, lying at the Supreme Court, are heard together with his appeal, CA/OW/190/2016 pending at the Court of Appeal, Owerri, to avoid rendering it an academic exercise.

Finally, Amaechi ‘on the run’ as APC chieftains desert him, IPOB, AFENIFERE, others warn Buhari against shielding him

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The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose; the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere; the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB); human rights lawyers and a host of others yesterday called for a probe into the allegations levelled against the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, by some justices of the Supreme Court.

Justices John Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta had accused the minister of attempting to bribe them to pervert the cause of justice and influence the outcome of the tribunal rulings on governorship elections of Akwa Ibom, Abia and Ekiti states.

Fayose

Fayose, who is in the centre of the allegation fired the first salvo through one of his media aides, Lere Olayinka, noting that, for a justice of the apex court to have deposed to an affidavit, it means he had sworn to the truth to the best of his knowledge and ability, and that such an allegation should not be left lying low.

“Our take is that the allegation should be looked into. When is the Department of State Service (DSS) storming Amaechi’s house? When is Amaechi going to be arrested? When is President Muhammadu Buhari going to order investigation into these damning allegations?” Fayose queried.

Afenifere

While speaking with Saturday Telegraph yesterday through its Secretary-General, Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa, Afenifere specifically called for the suspension of both Amaechi and the judges so as to conduct a thorough investigation of the allegation that the minister wanted to pervert the cause of justice.

The septuagenarian leader said the judges and Amaechi should vacate office and face investigation if the anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari must be taken seriously, saying that it would be wrong for both the judges and the minister to remain in office at the same time when they were being incestigated.

“With what is happening, it is difficult to get at the truth of matters. Even then, can there be fire without smoke? The way these people have been parading themselves shows that a lot is shrouded. When Amaechi was governor, people said he had questions to answer about his financial dealings.

“Why we don’t support the fire brigade action and clapping down on them in that manner, it can’t be said that their hands are clean especially when judges give different judgments on the same matter. There is something wrong basically.

“I agree that corruption has to be fought to a stand still and we must begin with the judges who give the judgment. Both the judges and Ameachi should vacate office in order to defend themselves. That is how to know that we are fighting corruption”, he said.

Another Afenifere chieftain, Senator Femi Okurounmu, said the allegations against Amaechi should be investigated. Speaking in a telephone interview, Okurounmu stated that the former Rivers State governor had been overdue for prosecution over alleged corruption cases.

He said, “Amaechi has been overdue for prosecution even before this allegation by the judges because he was one of those whom the United States government forwarded their illegal lodgments in banks to Buhari even before he was made a minister. “But because he is in APC, Buhari took no action. Now that we are getting allegation even from judges, any element of doubt about Amaechi being a very corrupt man should be proved or cleared. “Some of these people should go to jail if Buhari is sincere about fighting corruption”, Okurounmu said.

A human rights lawyer, Mr. Morakinyo Ogele, said since Amaechi has no immunity, he should be investigated and if found guilty should be prosecuted. Ogele said it is an offence punishable under the law to want to bribe judges saying, “the man should not be spared because he belongs to the president’s political party”.

He however said it would be unfair for the accused to be suspended from office pending investigation. Ogele added that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) was wrong to have called for the suspension of the judges pending investigation, saying the NBA could not approbate and reprobate at the same time.

IPOB

On its part, the leadership of IPOB accused President Muhammadu Buhari as well as the All Progressives Congress, (APC) of shielding the former governor insisting that the allegation of inducing the judges must be probed.

The organisation in a statement made available to Saturday Telegraph, signed by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, noted that the alleged attempt to induce judges to thwart justice was a corruption of unimaginable magnitude. “This is corruption in the highest order and the president is shielding him and others.

“The APC is bent on ruining the country, if not so, why is the government still appointing corrupt people while there are good and transparent people in Nigeria?” “Some people in APC have been alleged as a corrupt errand boys who shared money to judges to deliver cases in favour of the APC.

They are destroyers, squanders and evils that believe in any little opportunity to siphon the public funds. “The fight against corruption in Nigeria is a system where government of the day uses the agencies to torment the opposition group.

“Therefore, the government and the givers of bribe are corrupt because the law says that he who gives and he that takes bribes are both corrupt and it is dangerous for the government to still retain those corrupt people, if the government still believes in fighting corruption with high level of transparency,” the statement reads.

CACOL

On his part, the executive chairman of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Comrade Debo Adeniran, said the counterallegations being shoved down the minds of the people, following the recent ‘can of worms’ opened by the arrest of some judges are designed to distract attention from the real issues.

“Without mincing words, it validates the position that indeed, sharp practices of humongous dimensions have been and apparently continue to be perpetrated in the ‘Temple of Justice’. “The counter-allegations being put forward by Justice John Okoro for instance, betrays the reality that the existence of corruption in the judiciary is deep-seated and had been sort of institutionalized.

“Assuming without conceding that Justice Okoro is right, the fundamental question to ask is: why did he wait till when he was arrested and charged with allegations of corruption to reveal that to the legally necessary quarters and the public as a honourable Judge well schooled in law and its applications?

“And then do the counterallegations erode the gravity of the corruption crimes the judges are being judicially made to answer for? Are the counter-allegations evidencebased? “The DSS acted on an evidence-based operation, the right thinking Nigerian knows that if the DSS had not carried out the arrest of the suspected corrupt judges, Justices, like John Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta would have seen no evil, and heard no evil. “Let no frivolous counterallegations from suspects of corruption in particular hinder the very important need to cleanse the judiciary of the cockroaches, rats and mosquitoes.

Let elements that have allegations substantiate them with evidences in the law courts, in others words, nobody is above the law, and whoever the law pronounces culpable should face the constitutional consequences.

“Nigeria must move forward, the attempt to use illogical distractions to solicit public sympathy over corruption crimes is not acceptable and will fail. On all suspected corruption criminals; we once again call on all the anti-graft and law enforcement agencies be diligent and thorough in their investigations and prosecutions, just as we emphasise the need for operating within the rule of law”, CACOL said.

FHRACC

In the same vein, the Foundation For Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade called on the Federal Government to extend its robust fight against corruption to its political appointees. National Chairman of the group, Mr. Alaowei Cleric, in an online statement made available to Saturday Telegraph described as weighty the allegations of bribery and undue interferences against Amaechi, saying that the matter should not be swept under the carpet.

The statement reads: “The petitions written by Hon Justices John Okoro Inyang of the Supreme Court and Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court to the National Judicial Council which indicted the trio of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Minister of Transport and the Department of State Services is too weighty to be thrown overboard especially with regards to Buhari’s resolve to stamp out corruption from our body polity.

“Since the government has assured Nigerians that there is no sacred cow in its anti-corruption crusade, Buhari should prove to Nigerians that he is for nobody and for everybody. The government should set up a fact-finding committee to unearth the truth behind the allegations.

“And now that the government has declared a total war on corruption, we charge Mr. President to beam his searchlight on some of his appointees.” The group also urged the government to follow up keenly the N500m MTN bribery allegations against Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and the N270m scam against Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, noting that these scandalous dealings should not be swept under the carpet.

NDITG

However, the Niger Delta Intelligence and Transparency Group (NDITG) lent its weight behind the embattled minister, saying that the bribery allegation is a sponsored conspiracy to blackmail Amaechi. The group said its investigation has revealed that top PDP officials are behind the “ongoing conspiracy being orchestrated by Justices Okoro and Ngwuta to blackmail Amaechi”.

In a press statement issued yesterday by its National Secretary, Micheal Awhawha, the group said the opposition party leaders and state executives who are envious of Ameachi were behind the separate letters written by the justices, all in a bid to tarnish the image of Ameachi. ”

Our findings revealed that it was the agenda to use the embattled Justice Okoro and Justice Ngwuta to smear the image of Ameachi. It is quite unfortunate that Justice Ngwuta in his letter laced with lies and deception unsuccessfully tried to implicate President Muhammadu Buhari, indeed, the judiciary needs urgent overhauling.

“The agenda is simple, the conspirators want to do everything possible to blackmail Amaechi by linking him to arrest and investigation of corrupt judges. But, we advise the governors of an opposition party to focus on providing good governance to their states and not attempt to waste time and resources on plots to blackmail Amaechi”.

The group further stated ” we have observed that since the Justices Okoro and Ngwuta letters were made public, Nigerians who could not be deceived by mere lies have expressed their supports for Ameachi. Infact, Justice Okoro and Justice Ngwuta have destroyed the reputation of the judiciary in Nigeria”.

“We suggest that Buhari and Ameachi should focus more on their efforts towards the repositioning Nigeria for greatness to guarantee a better country for future Nigerians”, the group noted. 

Syndicated from the New Telegrapgh

Muslims Declare That They Must Cannibalize Human Flesh For Allah, They Take An Innocent Man, Carve His Heart Out And Eat It In

The barbarity that just came out today is unreal. This is the Shiite peaceful rebels, planning to enter Mosul, Iraq, 

One chants a fragmented prayer repeating “Allah wills it, Allah provides” while another says “barek, barek” (first bless it, bless it), as if it was a sacrificial lamb.

As the Shia Muslim savages are opening the heart of this Sunni Muslim, Mayan style, to only find out what Allah provided they eat was the man’s heart, and right in front of the camera. They then continue to pull out the liver and whatever else from the chest cavity while you can hear a sound of someone throwing up in disgust. One man tells them repeating “A’fieyh” “A’fieyh “bone appetite, as another man takes a napkin and wipes off the blood from the mouth of the cannibal who just took a large bite out of the heart:

http://shoebattube.com/player/embed_player.php?vid=1272&width=660&height=440&autoplay=no

Am I dreaming as I write this? Or will I wake up to soon realize, I do live in a dream world of zombies becoming reality. Eating human flesh brings in demonic influence and even possession.

Ashura, which to Shiites means “Day of Remembrance,” is one of the most sacred and emotional events in Islam, a defining religious moment for Shiites. The events and rituals surrounding Ashura yesterday have some massive demonic manifestations, but the one in the video above, have gone to the realm of demonic possession.Ashura, which means “Day of Remembrance,” is one of the most sacred and emotional events in Islam, a defining religious moment for Shiites. The events and rituals surrounding Ashura yesterday have some massive demonic manifestations. But this one, in the video above, have gone too far, it is unbelievable.

Pakistani Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves with knives during Ashura commemorations. 

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NJC REPLIES NBA, WE CAN’T SUSPEND JUDGES WITHOUT PROBE

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The National Judicial Council on Friday rejected the suggestion by the Nigerian Bar Association to suspend serving judges who were among the seven arrested by the Department of State Service between October 8 and 9.

The NJC, in a statement by its Acting Director, Information, said it had no powers to suspend serving judges without investigating a petition accusing the affected judges of certain acts of misconduct.

It said lawyers who were part of the members of the NJC participated in the emergency meeting of the NJC where the raid on the houses of and the arrest of judges were condemned.

The NBA President, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), made the call on Thursday in Abauja at the valedictory court session held in honour of a retiring Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Sotonye Denton-West.

Mahmoud said at the event, “We therefore strongly recommend that, without prejudice to the innocence or otherwise of the Judges involved in the ongoing investigations, they should recuse themselves from further judicial functions or required to proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence is fully and completely established or until the conclusion of all judicial or disciplinary proceedings”.

But reacting to NBA’s stance on Friday, the NJC said acting in line with NBA’s suggestion would amount to violation of section 158 of the Constitution.

The statement read in part, “‎Thus, the current position of the Nigerian Bar Association vis-à-vis its recommendation that the affected judicial officers involved in the on-going investigation of Judicial Officers by the DSS, be requested to proceed on compulsory leave until the conclusion of all disciplinary proceedings against them, is unacceptable to the NJC; as it breaches the 2014 Revised Judicial Discipline Regulations formulated by NJC pursuant to Section 160 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.

“It is to be reiterated also that by the provisions of Section 158 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, NJC shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person while exercising its disciplinary power of control over Judicial Officers in the Federation.

“The members of the public are hereby informed that the mechanism that will determine a judicial officer to be directed or requested to proceed on compulsory leave or be suspended from office, is a disciplinary power that NJC can only exercise after initiating disciplinary proceeding on the complaint or petition forwarded against the Judge, after he has been found culpable.

“Therefore, to act on the recommendation of the NBA, it is not only contrary to the provisions of Section 158 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, but it means NJC will direct any judicial officer that has been petitioned even if the allegations contained therein are frivolous and baseless, to proceed on compulsory leave or be suspended from office without complying with the rule of law.

 

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