The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • SAN charts roadmap for Tinubu on judiciary

    SAN charts roadmap for Tinubu on judiciary

    A senior lawyer, Wahab Shittu (SAN),  has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure a judiciary that will have maximum respect for the rule of law.

    Shittu gave the advice as part of his expectations  for the judiciary under President Tinubu-led administration.

    He gave his preference for a judiciary that would restore public confidence in the justice delivery system, promote decent criminal and  civil litigation and one comparable in standards to the best in the world.

    Shittu said he envisaged a judiciary where all stakeholders,  particularly lawyers and judges, would be jurists obsessed with the theory of justice rather than adherents to technicalities.

    Read Also: ‘Arbitration/Mediation law will entrench its practice in judiciary’

    He also urged for a judiciary with zero- tolerance for corruption and for delays in the administration and dispensation of justice.

    Shittu, who is also a leading prosecutor, routed for a reform-oriented,  courageous and disciplined judiciary that would uphold high ethical standards in all spheres.

    He in addition urged the President to ensure a judiciary that would hold governments at all levels accountable and promote responsibility in governance.

    He asked the new administration for a judiciary  that would strengthen the principles of separation of powers and deepen democratic standards and principles.

    Shittu stated his preference for a judiciary that will promote respect for fundamental rights,  respect for due process, transparency and support democratic institutions.

  • Island property case suffers fifth adjournment for judgment

    Island property case suffers fifth adjournment for judgment

    Judgment has again been adjourned until June 20, 2023, in the property case involving the Administrators of the Estate of Regina Omoloto Wright and their Ganiyu Smith, Lagos Island property tenant, Star Properties Limited.

    The case suffered delays for many years before Justice Taofiquat Oyekan-Abdullahi of the Lagos State High Court, who later retired before it was re-assigned to Justice Olalekan Oresanya.

    The new judge has adjourned for judgment for the fifth time.

    Judgment was first fixed for December 13, 2022, but it was moved to January 26, 2023.

    It was not delivered that day and was again shifted till February 14. Judgment was not delivered on February 14. It was further adjourned till March 30.

    Again on March 30, the judgment was stalled and was shifted to May 18.

    Parties were again disappointed on May 18 when the case was again adjourned until June 20 for judgment.

    Read Also: Lagos Island agog as Sanwo-Olu commissions dualised Adeniji Adele Road, Tapa Street

    Judicial watchers are concerned that litigants being made to endure many such adjournments is one reason there is a loss of trust in the judicial system.

    The Estate Administrators had rejected a bid by the tenant, Star Properties, to pay a 1958 lease of £130 (about N60,000 based on old official conversion rate) per annum.

    The tenant is insisting on paying the original 1958 leasehold rate of £130 despite not being a party to the original agreement.

    The family, represented by Adediran Thomas and Mrs Oyinkansola Obasi (nee Thomas), contends that the annual rental value of the property as of 2016 was N15 million as determined by estate valuers.

    The Administrators contend that Star Properties is a tenant, not lessee, as it is far removed from that 1958 leasehold agreement.

    According to them, the original leasehold agreement states that the leasehold would cease if the rate due was not paid for one year.

    The Administrators’ position is that having failed to pay for 14 years as of 2016, Star Properties can no longer have a leasehold of the estate since it claims to derive legal rights from the 1958 leasehold agreement.

    Star Properties, whose directors and founders include Chief Chris Ogunbanjo, is seeking an interpretation of the 1958 lease agreement on the property on 3, Ganiyu Smith Road, opposite St Nicholas Hospital, Lagos Island.

    But, in their counter-affidavit, the Administrators said the late Mrs Wright owned the property, formerly on 3, Prison Street, Lagos Island, with title number L01630 registered with the Lagos Ministry of Lands on April 16, 1948. She also built on it.

    The Administrators said the late Mrs Wright signed a lease agreement with Mr Maroun Daakour on June 16, 1958, for a 99-year lease commencing April 1, 1958, at £130 per annum.

    Daakour sub-let the property to Vensimal Sawlani and Hotchand Sawlani on August 31, 1961, before Star Properties eventually took over from the Sawlanis.

    After the original estate administrators died, Mr Thomas and Mrs Obasi were appointed as the Administrators.

    Star Properties failed to pay for 14 years the naira equivalent of £130, which it insisted on paying, thereby rendering that contract null and void, according to the family.

    They said all efforts to negotiate and reach a compromise with Star Properties and the Ogunbanjos proved abortive.

    The family of Mrs Omoloto Wright is of the view that Star Properties/the Ogunbanjos are only tenants, as there was no leasehold contract with them.

    The family insists that the 1958 leasehold contract which was with Maroun Daakor was so bad and one sided, with no review clauses.

    It is praying the court to disallow the injustice from continuing, especially with a party which was not signatory to the contract.

    The respondents had briefed their lawyer to open negotiations with Star Properties to seek an amicable settlement.

    They engaged an estate valuer, Jide Taiwo & Co, which estimated that the property’s rental value for 14 years (2003-2016) was N90 million at the time.

    The family asked the tenant to pay half of the sum, but Star Properties refused the reduction and rejected the valuation report.

    The Administrators said when the matter could not be resolved amicably, they asked their lawyers to issue a quit notice to Star Properties partly for non-payment of rent, which as of 2016, was 14 years overdue.

    Two months after the quit notice, Star Properties sent a cheque of N1,082,000, which in its view was supposed to cover the 14 years of unpaid rent, but the administrators rejected it.

    However, the Administrators’ law firm was encouraged to accept the cheque by the former judge despite the lawyer making it clear he was under clear instruction by his clients (the administrators) not to accept it.

    The respondents said Star Properties did not pay the outstanding rent or move out at the expiration of the quit notice.

    But, Star Properties said it “acted in good faith by issuing the cheque for the rent due in compliance with the lease agreement between parties”.

    The tenant argued that it was not part of the terms of the lease that the rent would be reviewed before its expiration.

    It added that it only agreed to a review of the rent “on compassionate grounds” and is “not even bound to concede to the review of the agreed rent”.

    Both parties await the judgment on the interpretation of the 1958 leasehold agreement on June 20.

  • experts call for renewed commitment to UN SDGs

    experts call for renewed commitment to UN SDGs

    Experts and stakeholders in international law have called for the prioritisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the foundation for social, economic and infrastructure development planning in Nigeria if the country is to effectively combat plastic pollution and advance all-round sustainable green growth.

     The recommendation was made at a public lecture to commemorate this year’s World Environment Day held at the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti.

    The theme of the event was “Solutions to Plastic Pollution’’.

    The event held in partnership with the Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (OGEES Institute), Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), and Triple Green Environmental Development Foundation (TGED Foundation).

    In his opening message, the President of the International Law Association (Nigerian Branch), who is also vice chair of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Prof. Damilola  Olawuyi, (SAN), urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure the attainment of the UN SDGs.

    He said:  “We have just seven years left for the attainment of all the SDGs, which places enormous responsibility on the new administration of President Bola Tinubu.

    Read Also: Canadian govt trains Nigerian farmers, policymakers on profit making, attainment of SDGs

    “A renewed commitment to the SDGs can be the foundation for attracting new global sustainability-related investments and financing, doubling our internally generated revenue and creating new green technologies and jobs that are needed to propel the Nigerian economy at these very challenging times.

    “The way forward is to place the SDGs squarely at the heart of planning and decision making at all levels.

    “As time and opportunities wait for no one, I hope the new administration will take prompt and active steps to refocus national planning on the SDGs, realising that if we fail to do so, such financing opportunities will go to other ready markets.”

    In a keynote address, Prof. Christina Voigt, a world-renowned professor of international environmental law at the University of Oslo, Norway, called on governments across the world, including Nigeria, to adopt two complementary strategies to combat plastic pollution and advance the SDGs.

    Prof Voigt, who is also the chair of the IUCN World Commission of Environmental Law advised:  “First is the bottom-up strategy of adopting homegrown solutions to plastic pollution, including through clean entrepreneurship innovation, and second is the top-down strategy of adopting and implementing international instruments on combating plastic pollution.”

    This was followed by panel discussions which featured experts including Dr. Isa Elegbede of Geo Blue Planet, Switzerland, Dr. Adenike Akinsemolu of the Green Institute, Nigeria and Folakemi Jegede, a member of the NREE Committee, who discussed the role of government and business enterprises in reducing plastic pollution through sustainable packaging, green procurement and emphasis on pollution control.

    On her part, the Chairperson of the committee, Ms. Oluwaseyi Ebenezer, charged governments, as well as various stakeholders, to not only curb plastic pollution but also to stretch their reach far and beyond to other environmental issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss through continued collaboration and partnerships in line with the ‘United Nations SDG 17 to create a greener and safer environment for us all.

    This year’s celebration also featured a road campaign on plastic pollution across Ado Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State on June 5.

     The campaign was declared open by the Vice Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Prof. Elisabeta Smaranda Olarinde, who stated the urgent need to address the adverse environmental impacts of plastic pollution and encouraged the public to embrace sustainability lifestyles.

    The road campaign was attended by a large number of people including notable outfits such as the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Ekiti State Ministry of Environment, NGOs and several youth-led organisations.

    The ILA was founded in Brussels in 1873. It  has some 4,500 members in 45 national and regional branches around the world. It is headquartered in London under the leadership of the global chair, Professor Christine Chinkin.

    The Nigerian branch of the ILA regularly hosts innovative lectures, seminars, conferences, and other capacity development programs to advance the study and understanding of international law in Nigeria.

    The World Environment Day is an annual event led by the United Nations Environment Programme and held annually on June 5 worldwide to promote global awareness on environmental issues.

    This year’s ceremony was organised by the Natural Resources, Energy and Environment (NREE) Committee of the International Law Association (Nigerian branch) chaired by Ms. Ebenezer.

  • Int’l Conference: NBA-SBL unveils sponsorship deal for young lawyers

    Int’l Conference: NBA-SBL unveils sponsorship deal for young lawyers

    The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) has set up a sponsorship deal for young lawyers planning to attend this year’s edition of its Annual International Business Law Conference.

    NBA-SBL’s 2023 Conference Planning Committee termed the deal the ‘Young Lawyers Sponsorship Opportunities’ initiative.

    This year’s edition of the conference, the 17th in the series, will hold from July 5 to July 7, at the Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos State.

    The theme of the conference is “The Nigerian Business Landscape: Priorities for Law, Policy, and Regulation.”

    The organisers explained that registration for the event was ongoing, adding that although early bird registration ended on May 31, interested participants have up till July 5 for regular registration.

    Read Also: NBA Ado-Ekiti tasks Tinubu on justice system reforms

    In a statement, the organisers expressed hope that the ‘Young Lawyers Sponsorship Opportunities’ initiative would encourage young lawyers’ participation.

    They said the sponsorship was open to lawyers with 0 to five years of post-call experience and below 25 years of age.

    Sponsorship benefits for successful applicants include conference registration fees, accommodation, feeding, and transportation logistics around the conference venue. 

    The conference’s Chair, Media and Publicity Sub-Committee, Efeomo Olotu said: “We realise that these are indeed challenging times for Nigerians and there may be young members of the NBA-SBL who desire to attend but are unable to due to financial constraints.

    “This is our way of encouraging them to attend and recognising young lawyers as veritable members of the NBA-SBL community”.

    Olotu urged them to visit all social media handles of the NBA-SBL to obtain more information on how to get qualified for the sponsorship.

    Recently, the organisers added a lawyer of fun and excitement to the event with the introduction of the Lawyers Got Talent competition.

    It said all registered participants automatically qualify to participate in the contest, which is geared towards showcasing lawyers’ unique skills and abilities beyond legal practice.

    Interested contestants have till June 15 to indicate their interest to participate and submit their entries.

  • Onjeh hails President Tinubu, commends Gbajabiamila over student’s loan law

    Onjeh hails President Tinubu, commends Gbajabiamila over student’s loan law

    The All Progressives Congress(APC) 2023 senatorial candidate for Benue South, Comrade Daniel Onjeh, has showered encomiums on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for signing the Students’ Loan Bill into Law.

    In a statement, Onjeh expressed optimism that the new law will ameliorate the sufferings of indigent students and reduce the dropout rate in institutions of higher learning.

    The law, he stated,could not have come at a more opportune time considering the prevailing harsh economic climate occasioned by the rising cost of living.

    Onjeh also commended the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, who initiated the Bill.

    He stated that he and all former NANS Presidents ,as well as all students across Nigeria, will continue to appreciate him for initiating the Bill and seeing it to fruition.

    Read Also: Tinubu will deliver dividends of democracy — Gbajabiamila

    He added the law is poised to bring succour to many intelligent but indigent students who are compelled to take time off their studies in search of menial jobs to earn money to pay for their tuition and upkeep.

    A former President of NANS and West African Students Union( WASU), the Students’ Loan Bill was one of the demands he made at a grand rally he organised in Abuja in 2002 tagged: “Save education, save the future.”

    Onjeh urged students across the nation to avail themselves of the unique education financing opportunity, while appealing to the implementers of the noble law to ensure that the loans are awarded to only those who truly need them.

  • National Assembly threat to pension reform

    National Assembly threat to pension reform

    By : Grace A. Abayomi

    It is not uncommon for government agencies to work at cross purposes, but we may have entered a phase in which the National Assembly is working against itself and wilfully tearing its own laws into shreds. The passing of the Bill for the Establishment of a Police Pension Board by the National Assembly is the latest act. By excluding the personnel of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), the lawmakers have just contradicted a legislation they made nine years ago. Section 5 of the Pension Reform Act, 2014, says in unambiguous terms that there will be no exemption to the CPS apart from members of the Armed Forces and the intelligence and secret services of the federation. It also excludes “any employee who is entitled to retirement benefits under any pension scheme existing before the 25th day of June 2004 being the commencement of the Pension Reform Act, 2004, but as at that date had three or less years to retire”.

    Despite the clearly spelt-out provision, the lawmakers earlier this year trampled on its own laws and undermined itself when it passed the National Assembly Service Pensions Board (Establishment) Bill establishing the National Assembly Service Pensions Board, thereby exempting the personnel of the service from the CPS. Former president, Muhammadu Buhari signed it into law on the eve of his departure from office. This is one of the most damaging moves in Buhari’s eight years.

    Read Also: IGP vows to ensure professionalism in Police

    With the National Assembly Service Pensions Board (Establishment) Bill signed into law, the next step was not surprising: the Senate passed the Pension Board Bill to transfer the full burden on pension payment to the federal government. Going by media reports, personnel of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Federal Fire Service (FFS), and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), among others, are gearing up to be exempted.

    Now, there will be no end to exits from the CPS. All it takes is to lobby the National Assembly by any means possible. Nigeria will return to the era of owing arrears of pensions as we witnessed for decades before the pension reform. Third, we will return to seeing images of pensioners on queues waiting for their benefits. It is very clear that government will not be able to meet the new obligations. Nigeria is suffering from revenue inadequacy and pension payment always gets relegated on the list of priorities. By and large, one of the most successful reforms in the history of Nigeria is now destroyed by the actions of a few individuals who do not give a hoot about the national interest.

    In 2004, the federal government embarked on one of the most ground-breaking reforms ever with the enactment of the Pension Reform Act, 2004 (re-enacted in 2014). Before then, employers used to run riotous schemes that did not inspire confidence in the employees. In the private sector, there were schemes that were less than beneficial and were often implemented in ways that gave too much room for discretion and often short-changed would-be beneficiaries. The public service operated the DBS under which retirees were entitled to life pension based on years of service and hierarchy. However, economic challenges and fiscal crises caused arrears of public pension payments to accumulate. Pensions were budgeted for annually but were only paid if there was funding. Pensioners were dying in penury and frustration while waiting for their entitlements. This was the situation when the Olusegun Obasanjo administration introduced the pension reform in 2004.

    With the reform, the CPS has been regarded by Nigerians as an outstanding success story. Under the CPS, it is mandatory for employers in public service and private sector with a certain number of employees to make a minimum contribution towards the retirement benefits of their employees. There is also the contribution by the employees themselves, which is akin to compulsory savings towards retirement. The funds are invested by the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and kept in custody by Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs). As a result, the old story of “no funds” became history. Nobody needed to wait for any budgetary allocation to pay pensions as the funds were already warehoused during the employee’s active years. Also, value is added to the savings over the years through returns on investment. These fundamental changes have created a new economy. From a negative position of huge unfunded liability, pension assets in Nigeria had grown to N15.45 trillion as at February 2023. The total number of pension contributors is close to 10 million and growing.

    Unfortunately, it is not everybody that is excited by the success story as we can now see. For years, some interests in the Nigeria Police Force had been making efforts to exit the CPS. When police agitation reached its height under former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013, the police were allowed to set up their own PFA as a compromise, to take care of their supposed peculiarities. Still, they were not content. According to previous reports that were not refuted, the determination of the police to exit went to the illegal extent that the Deputy Inspectors Generals of Police (DIGs) and Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIG) were enrolled on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to collect full salaries for life under a defined scheme that was not intended for them. This they did without the permission of anyone. They did not get the permission of the president and the regulatory authority and it is not in conformity with the Pensions Reform Act.

    Some of the statistics should be of concern to us. Of the N577 billion budgeted for pensions in 2022 by the federal government, military pensions and gratuities account for N237 billion. That was close to half of the entire pensions budget. Police pensions and gratuities for certain exempted groups amount to N8 billion of the federal government budget for pensions for the year under discussion. However, if the National Assembly succeeds in pulling the NPF out of the contributory pension scheme altogether, that alone would have consumed the entire federal government budget for pensions in 2022. The military is just about 25 percent of the size of the police, so the federal government is going to be saddled with a pensions and gratuities budget that will pass N1 trillion. With its current fiscal challenges, the federal government will have no other option than to owe pensions.

    Meanwhile, the contribution of police funds to the pensions sector will shrink and this will no doubt affect the growth and prospects of the pension industry in particular and the Nigerian economy in general.

    The passage of the Bill for the Establishment of a Police Pension Board by the National Assembly always looked like they were working to an answer. At the public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Police Affairs on January 20, all major stakeholders, apart from the police, opposed it. The National Pension Commission (PenCom), which regulates the industry, the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) canvassed robust arguments against it. Boss Mustapha, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), informed the Inspector General of Police, via a letter, in July 2022 that an SGF circular Ref. 59149/S.1/C.1/11/266 dated July 20, 2021 which said the police must be under the CPS remained in force. Mustapha also referred to the White Paper on the report of the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies which forbids any government body, apart from the military and the intelligence services, from exiting the CPS.

    It is important to mention that the argument of those seeking exemption is that they will secure a guaranteed full monthly salaries package upon retirement under the Defined Scheme compared to what they may take from the PFAs under the Contributory Scheme. However, this is erroneous. There are other ways of getting more benefits allowed by the Pension Reform Act. For instance, what the Pension Act prescribes is merely a minimum contribution rate, which can be enhanced by the employer. Thus, rather than shoulder a burden of unsustainable pension liability, government can decide to do one or two things that are permissible under the Pension Reform Act. Government can increase the rate of its monthly contribution above the current minimum 10 percent. Government can also have a gratuity package that will be a lump sum paid to the retirees on exit from service, in addition to the contributions remitted to their employees’ RSAs. Indeed, if government decides to do both or any of these two benefit improvements under the CPS, the pension system would still be less costly and less volatile for government. Returning to the Defined Benefits Scheme is going to be fatal.

    •Mrs Abayomi, an economist, lives in Akure, Ondo state.

  • Social media as regulator

    Social media as regulator

    In the past week, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and the former governor of Kaduna State Maallam Nasir El-Rufai have been under intense public umbrage in the social media for their alleged public communication infractions. While speaking after his inauguration as the re-elected speaker of the state assembly, Hon. Obasa said: “There would be laws…in the areas of economy and commerce, property and titles, and we will reverse all that is reversible to protect the interest of the indigenes.”

    The inauguration statement coming shortly after the Oba of Ogombo made a public announcement that owners of land in the community should come forward for ratification, the social media have been abuzz about a plan to dispossess non-indigenes of their lands in Lagos State. With all manner of conspiracy theories flying around, there are claims and counter-claims about the intention of the Speaker and the Oba. The social media pundits are even imbuing the Speaker with legal impossibilities, saying that he would make laws to convert 99 year leases to lesser years.

    On his part, the social media has been roasting El-Rufai for his statement that there is an alleged Islamic agenda in Kaduna State and the entire country. Having won Kaduna State election in 2019 with a Muslim as deputy, and also enthroned Governor Sani Uba with a Muslim as deputy, he was quoted to have boasted: “If we continue like this for 20 years, everybody will understand that we (Muslims) are in charge. If Uba finishes, we will bring another person. After 24 years, everybody will know where he belongs. They will know Muslims will not cheat them and we will live in peace. I swear, this is our agenda since we came out to look for leadership and by the grace of God and your support and prayers, we are on track.”

    Read Also: Covenant University urges public to disregard admission list on social media

    El Rufai was speaking to Muslim clerics and he told them that they are the ones that made it possible for him and his party to win the election in the state, and to further sweeten the talk, he claimed that similar game plan was afoot in the country with the president and his vice practicing the same religion. While President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima who are wearing the shoes are working assiduously to reassure the entire citizens that there is no Islamic agenda, El-Rufai’s garrulousness provides more armour for social media feud.

    The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi (Okwute) whom El-Rufai referenced in his speech, suffered the social media backlash during the elections. He was accused of pushing a Christian agenda when a tape emerged in the social media where he allegedly said the election was a religious war. The backlash was heavy and the social media feasted with “Yes Daddy” compliments for Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners Chapel. Obi’s claim that the tape was doctored never stopped the social media diatribe between the contending denizens.  

    So, the social media has become a form of regulator for public office holders and aspirants. Apart from giving a voice to the voiceless, it manages to keep issues the public consider of interest in the front burner. It also does not forget easily. Without the social media, politicians believe that their worst controversial statements would die as soon as another controversy erupts. They know the mainstream media would not waste time regurgitating old news when developing stories are contending for media space. Such luxuries are gone with the advent of the social media, as intermittently old news are rebroadcast and the original purveyors made to pay for their old indiscretion in the court of public opinion.

    Many who believe that El-Rufai may be strategizing for the 2031 presidential elections are up in arms castigating him and daring him to show his hand. They will keep reminding the general public of El-Rufai’s religious bigotry and present him as unfit for such high office. On his part, the crafty politician may actually be using the social media to spread his fidelity to Islam, and may be hoping to ride on that fervour to win the presidential election.

    Overseas, the social media has been a pain in the ass for politicians. In Senegal where there are deadly clashes between the police and demonstrators over the detention of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, social media is perceived as the fuel. Claiming to act in public interest, the Senegal’s Interior Minister Antonie Felix Abdoulaye Diome banned social media in the country for complicity in the crisis. He said the government took the step: “to guarantee the safety of people and property. We are going to reinforce security everywhere in the country.”

    Some repressive countries like China, North Korea, Iran and a few others, banned social media usage in their countries. In June 2021, Nigeria banned the use of twitter, when the social platform yanked off the twit of President Muhammadu Buhari which was considered a hate speech, against people from the eastern part of the country. While the ban lasted, denizens of social media used other platforms to fire umbrage against the former president and his government.

    Lauretta Onochie, the former social media aide to President Buhari and currently the chairman of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is still carrying the baggage of her social media activities in her new assignment. Buhari’s earlier attempt to nominate her as a commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in October 2020, was stiffly resisted by the public, and even members of the National Assembly. After two attempts failed on the floor of the Senate, the nomination was withdrawn, until the NDDC opportunity came up.

    So the social media has a strong check on political practice. Those who understand the ubiquity of the platforms and its reach are always careful about what they do and what they say, especially when they are in public spaces. With technology at the behest of friends and foes alike, everyone is a potential paparazzi. The invasion of privacy has become a common phenomenon and what was done to amuse or scurry a favour can turn to a nightmare. Dark secrets could also become weapons in the hands of enemies by the power of social media.    

    But the social media has also been a medium for spreading dangerous and divisive news, and if politicians have their way, they would regulate the use of the various platforms. The National Assembly dreamed of regulating it, but the idea died at incubation. How to go about it without incurring the wrought of denizens of the social media is a major challenge. Going forward, with President Tinubu in the saddle, this column doubts if anti-democratic laws would pass muster under his watch.

  • Emefiele: Don’t make him a hero

    Emefiele: Don’t make him a hero

    By now, most Nigerians must have seen the viral image of Godwin Emefiele clambering down a Toyota Hilux van into the waiting hands of the men of the Department of State Security who immediately saw him into a waiting aircraft. A far cry from what the truth-averse netizenry had put out as the account of the man not only cuffed but thoroughly manhandled in what was supposed to be the greatest hounding of the century; none of such drama was suggested in the less than a minute-length video. Rather, an apparently ‘humbled’ or ‘flustered’ Emefiele with half dozen security men in tow, with one dangling a cuff as if to remind of the seriousness of the moment, was the best of the ‘drama’ we saw!

    Of course, with conspiracy theories never in short supply in these parts, and with the DSS already providing the lead in their characteristically distracting mind-games, such are the tales already being woven about the man’s many sins that future Nollywood movies are not only already in the making, there have since emerged the usual tales of an ethnic plot being hatched!

    With all that happened in the past week, the question of what has become of the December 9, 2022 order by Justice John Tsoho of an Abuja High Court barring the Department of State Services, DSS, from arresting and detaining Godwin Emefiele on allegations bordering on terrorism financing and economic crimes has since become somewhat academic.

    Read Also: Emefiele’s exit… and the fireworks that heralded his suspension

    The learned judge, while declining to grant the application ex parte at the time  had noted that (1) secret police did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes; (2), that the name of the respondent was given simply as ‘Godwin Emefiele’ without a material disclosure that he is the same person as the CBN governor, and (3) that if the applicant believes that the evidence available to it so far is sufficient, then it can as well arrest and detain the applicant, even without the order of the court!

    Interestingly, Justice M. A. Hassan of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would, based on that ruling further hold that “any continuous harassment, intimidation, threats, restriction and free movement, abuse of right of office, surreptitious moves to arrest, and humiliation of Mr. Godwin Emefiele over trumped up allegations of terrorism financing and fraudulent practices etc., would constitute a flagrant breach of his rights to personal liberty, dignity and human person and illegal and unconstitutional!

    That was six months ago. So what has changed? Pretty lot, you might say. In the first place, none of the rulings actually went as far as pronouncing Emefiele as untouchable! Justice Tsoho in fact did aver that DSS didn’t even need a court order to arrest and detain Emefiele if it truly believes that the evidence available to it so far is sufficient!

    In any case, the terrains between the two rulings and the present have certainly changed considerably. And this, I daresay, goes beyond the simple fact about a new Sherriff being in town! As it is, the man is no longer the nation’s topmost banker. He is simply Godwin Emefiele – without the CBN address. Moreover, there is a new broad thinking both on the direction of the economy as a whole and more specifically the entire gamut of monetary policy management. While the latter has inevitably raised troubling questions about the role of yesterday’s men in fostering the current climate in which the apex bank actually became an SPV for all manner of executive fancies, asking Emefiele to step aside would seem the least an administration which not only knows what to do but how to go about the business could do in the circumstance!

    Then comes the question – why bring the DSS into the equation? The question, to my mind, is best directed to the high officials of the Buhari administration who tolerated the initial aberration. Was the president actually aware of the grave charges levelled against his number one banker? Was it a case of the president not appreciating the grave implications of the DSS putting a sitting CBN behind the bars? Even the learned Justice Tsoho was sensitive enough to chide the DSS for seeking to detain ‘Godwin Emefiele’ without a material disclosure that he is the same person as the CBN governor!

    Surely, if it seems stranger than fiction that the DSS would move to take in Emefiele for questioning over allegations of high crimes, even more baffling is that the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces would treat same as just another routine matter of crime and investigation.

    Again to the question – why now DSS? Thanks to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, all the encumbrances on the path of the DSS have since been removed. Much as Nigerians tend to find the sometimes loathsome methods of the secret police deplorable, it nonetheless stands to reason that the DSS needs to be availed of the opportunity of proving the charges!

    Of course, there might yet be other parallel questions on Emefiele’s stewardship as helmsman at the apex bank; an inquest to know the conditions and the extent to which procedures were subverted, if truly there were such cases, or where laws were broken, to establish them. Such an undertaken, were it to be considered necessary, would seem to be better suited for an independent body of external auditors. Mercifully, there is at the moment, no indication that the administration will shy away from undertaking this important task, if it becomes necessary.

    For now, it suffices to state that drama apart, the DSS more than any other institution, ought to know the implication of labelling a citizen a ‘terrorist’.  Nigerians surely expect to see the weighty allegations proven in the court of law; and whilst that is ongoing, ensure that it does not constitute either a distraction or something of a judicial fishing expedition that would in the end translate into the more pressing tasks of institutional correction and restitution being left undone.

    Surely, the DSS ought to know that anything short of the foregoing would turn the man into a hero!

    For Emefiele, the wheels, as they say, have turned full cycle. Imagine how quickly how the tables have turned. Yours truly, had while calling out his untrammelled power described him as “a governor without the restraint of parliament; whose control of the purse knows no limits; an individual who could, in a fit of unbridled activism and assumed opportunistic exigency, collapse the dividing walls of monetary and fiscal management without a restraining voice; a player whose ego and sense of entitlement not only reckons him among the gods but also above the deep state…”.

    That was four months ago. All of those now belong in the past. It is a lesson in the transience of power.

  • Emefiele and the many knives

    Emefiele and the many knives

    When the elephant falls, the Yoruba say, every sort of knife — long or short, sharp or blunt — slashes and cuts.  That essentially is the Emiefele story.

    On June 10, the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria’s secret police, arrested Godwin Emiefele, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), suspended on June 9.  After, he was flown from Lagos to Abuja, said the DSS, for “investigative reasons”.

    Since that arrest, the roast-and-skin-them-alive lobby, at their growling worst at the end of one administration and the beginning of another, have been baying for blood — not exactly of Emiefele’s alone; but others’ too, against who they bear a grudge. 

    To Obiora Ifoh, factional national publicity secretary of Labour Party (LP), his party’s preferred villain-in-chief is Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, with his Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    INEC’s crime?  LP’s Peter Obi lost the presidential election under INEC’s watch!  Not a few in this camp, in wilful hyperbole, even claim INEC just conducted Nigeria’s “worst election”  — yeah right: with Maurice Iwu-delivered, Olusegun Obasanjo-decreed “do-or-die” heist of 2007!  

    Indeed, combative ignorance is the limit!

    Read Also: New naira notes: I would have issued warrant for Emiefele’s arrest, says Gbajbiamila

    This Day also quoted Ohanaeze Ndigbo, speaking through one Chima Uzor, who signed as Ohanaeze’s director of national interest matters, as claiming Emefiele’s suspension from office was — using Uzor’s exact words — “a witch-hunt and a sign of ethnic cleansing” to cancel the Igbo from public office! 

    What crap — and just as well Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the Ohanaeze president-general, has dissociated the body from it!  Otherwise, the Igbo would have learnt nothing from the last election: that excessive clannishness and blatant ethnicization bring nothing but grief.

    But back to saner climes.  For Monday Ubani and the Nigeria Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) which he chairs, even a more compelling arrest, than Emiefile’s, is Hadi Sirika’s, the former Aviation minister, for his alleged “scam of ‘Air Nigeria’”, as reported by The Nation of June 11.

    Fair enough.  Let Emefiele, Sirika and any other person from the ancien regime bear own cross for whatever allegations levelled against them.  

    But let no one presume it’s some willy-nillly roasting of some heretic to roaring applause, at some pious stake in some medieval court!  This is a 21st century democracy, run on the rule of law and powered by strict due process.

    Neither Emefiele nor Sirika would have strong cases built against them by circulated court rumours, codified by the media’s zest for scandals and sleaze.  

    So, the Federal Government will do well to graft hard facts from alluring fiction; and ignore those baying for blood on the fallacy of false equivalence.  Let everyone answer to his or her alleged crime.  But let no single innocent soul be harassed or traduced.

    Besides, Nigeria derives no benefit from a sick culture of tarring, wholesale, every old order as a den of robbers that must be demonized. That’s an ill wind. It blows no good.

  • June 12: Hope to Renewed Hope

    June 12: Hope to Renewed Hope

    What happened yesterday — a presidential broadcast making June 12 and MKO Abiola the core of this democracy — should have been routine since 1999.

    But back then, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, first president of this 4th Republic, somehow felt burying the annulled election — and MKO’s supreme sacrifice with it — was wise.

    Thirty years later, it’s Obasanjo’s turn, still alive and kicking, to see the burial of his own stratagem.  History never forgets — and Obasanjo is thrilling living example!

    Thirty years — 1993 to 2023 — have been a hard and bumpy ride, especially testy for the democratic forces — testy because it appeared only the reactionary forces were structurally entrenched to milk a democracy they actively worked against.  

    But yesterday, that nearly turned full circle — President Bola Tinubu, a proven democrat that pulled all stops for June 12 and its revalidation, was finally in the saddle.  No wonder, his speech was ode to June 12 and MKO!  

    Even MKO, martyr of Nigerian democracy, would beam staring down! An epoch just ended.  Another one is beginning.

    Read Also: Abiola and lessons of June 12

    In 1993, when the military were arrogant overlords, was Hope ’93.  In 2023, with a growing democracy, though with birth pangs and learning storm, is Renewed Hope.  

    The link, again, is Tinubu — the man that broke ranks with his Shehu Yar’Adua People’s Front (PF) faction of the victorious (but now defunct) Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    The PF faction, under SDP national chair, the late Tony Anenih, traded off MKO Abiola’s   win for Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Government (ING), which the late Gen. Sani Abacha brusquely collapsed to revert to jackboot rule of the harshest hue.

    In Tinubu, as president, the immutable lesson of history is clear: the future belongs to the bold, the persistent and the consistent — so long as the cause is just.

    As he was a thorn in the flesh of the haughty military (epitomized by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida aka IBB and Abacha: 1993-1999); so was he the palladium of opposition during the neo-military era of looming civil domination (symbolized by Obasanjo’s imperial presidency and the entire PDP years: 1999-2015).

    Still, today isn’t for Tinubu’s further lionization.  History has done that already. Besides, it’s a solemn time, at the start of his presidency to further anchor the progressives era, for which he needs fulsome prayers, not excessive praises.

    It is, however, a fit period to x-ray how the noxious forces that tried to arrest Abiola’s destiny have fared, 30 years after.

    IBB annulled that election in a fit of military hubris.  But today, he lives to witness the futility of a reckless and wayward wield of power.

    It is perhaps Karma’s special rebuke that President Muhammadu Buhari, who IBB toppled in a palace coup, became the elected president that eventually validated MKO’s win, though long after the man had died.  IBB’s own civil power comeback was guillotined by a hideous uproar!  He scrambled off the race like a frightened rat!

    The late Yar’Adua thought trading off MKO’s mandate would game the system in his favour.  But he got consumed by it all, just as Abacha, by his own iron tyranny — but not before he jailed Yar’Adua and Obasanjo, two principal players in Shonekan’s ING contraption, for an alleged coup.

    Ironically, the “luckier” Obasanjo (unlike Yar’Adua, he got out of jail to become elected president) earned about the harshest verdict of history.  Like IBB, he’s very much alive to carry the can!

    Under his nose, Obasanjo’s many plots are collapsing: ING; vaulting May 29 over June 12 as Democracy Day to bury Abiola’s martyrdom; the unhorsing of PDP, following its loss of power in 2015; hardly any physical legacy traced to Obasanjo’s eight-year imperial presidency: beyond hankering after an illegal third term, brazenly rigged polls, and the moral stink of his presidential library.

    God has laid the ruins of the conservative era before President Tinubu for a reason: to actualize MKO’s pro-people Hope ’93 cry with his own “Renewed Hope” agenda.

    With the back-breaking foundation of the Buhari years and his own sure-footed policy directions so far, he is condemned to succeeding — for failure is no option.