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Tag: Amina Augie

  • Amina Augie shines at 70

    Amina Augie shines at 70

    Retired Supreme Court Justice Justice Amina Adamu Augie is by one of the brightest legal minds in Nigeria.

    With the fearlessness of a tiger and the heart of a lion, she has remained a force in the legal profession with an unbiased view in any case she has handled.

    While in service, she paid attention to every detail and remained outstanding in her career which spanned over four decades.

    Last Sunday, she celebrated her 70th birthday and retirement amid fanfare.

    Read Also: Praises for Justice Augie

    Many dignataries attended her birthday bash in the heart of Abuja.

    Still looking elegant, Augie showed that age does not define poise. Clad in a champagne colour free-flowing gown, she was a show-stopper.

    Her birthday saw many who usually dids not attend parties or social functions. 

    Many people came out of their shells to celebrate the woman who had shattered the ceiling in the legal profession.

    Some guests said interesting and sweet things about the woman who cares deeply for those around her.

    The birthday girl with her ravishing smile and warm nature personally welcomed her guests.

  • Supreme Court affirms N1b debt owed Imo Govt.

    The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal Owerri which upheld N1 billion contract debt owed E.F. Network Nigeria Limited by the Imo State Government.

    Delivering judgment, Justice Amina Augie, held that the appeal filed by the Imo state government and Gov. Rochas Okorocha challenging the judgment of the lower court was not meritorious.

    Augie, who read the judgment prepared by Justice Kayode Arioola therefore, ordered the Imo State Governor all other three appellants to immediately pay the firm and its promoter, Mr Gideon Egbuchulam the N1billion.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judgment sum was an outstanding amount left unpaid in a contract awarded to the company in 2008 under the administration of the state’s former governor, Ikedi Ohakim.

    Augie went ahead to dismiss the appeal and awarded N500, 000 cost against the appellants.

    NAN reports that other appellants listed in the suit were Attorney-General of Imo State, Environmental Transformation Committee (Imo Entraco) and The Ministry of Environment, Imo State.

    Okorocha and others had approached the apex court to challenge the July 4, 2016 judgment of the court of appeal, Owerri.

    READ ALSO: Court orders arrest of Imo APC Caretaker Committee members

    The appellate court had upheld the Feb. 11, 2014 judgment delivered by Justice Ijeoma Agugua of the Imo State High Court which gave the initial judgment against the state government.

    The judgment creditors (E.F Network Nig. Ltd and Egbuchulam) had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the appellants failed to pay the sum after an execution of a contract for the state government.

    The company and its promoter were contracted by Ohakim’s administration which Okorocha succeeded to implement the state’s Clean and Green Initiative.

    The firm was awarded a contract to supply 10 million refuse bags and 40,000 plastic rolling containers at N42 per bag and N20 per plastic container.

    NAN

  • Supreme Court okays emergence of Delta traditional ruler

    *Strikes out appeal against Uwaukoni as Iyasei of Ogwashi-Uku Kingdom

    The Supreme Court has affirmed the emergence of Chief Mike Nwaukoni as the Iyasei (traditional Prime Minister) of Ogwashi-Uku Kingdom in Delta State.

    A five-man panel of the court, in a unanimous judgment on Friday, struck out the appeal filed by three members of two royal families in the kingdom for lacking in merit.

    Justice Dauda Sidi Bage, who read the lead judgment, faulted the competence of the appeal filed against the July 12, 2010 judgment of the Benin division of the Court of Appeal, which upheld Nwaukoni’s installation as the 13th Iyasei of Ogwashi-Uku Kingdom in Delta State.

    Justice Bage said: “The amended statement of claim was found to be defective. The entire appeal therefore collapses. This appeal is hereby struck out. Parties are to bear their respective costs.”

    Other members of the panel were Justices Dattijo Mohammed, Kumai Akaahs, Paul Galinje and Amina Augie.

    The Supreme Court’s decision on Friday brought to a close the about 13-year dispute over who should occupy the traditional stool.

    Read Also: Buhari tasks Nigerians on tolerance ahead of 2019 election

    Augustine Arueze, Okonkwo Iyase and Chief Colins Afuwah – had, on behalf of the Umu-Uti family of Agidiase Quarters of Ogwashi-Uku, instituted the appeal, marked SC/55/2011, before the apex court.

    They had prayed the Supreme Court to, among others, set-aside the July 12, 2010 judgement by the Court of Appeal, Benin, which upheld Nwaukoni’s installation as the 13th Iyasei of the Kingdom.

    The appellants had argued that the Court of Appeal erred in allowing Nwaukoni’s selection and installation as the Iyasei.

    They had equally contended that Nwaukoni is not a member of the two royal families, from where all the past Iyasei were selected.

    The appellants argued that it’s was only Ugbekide (from the Chami lineage) and Umu Uti (from the Jogwa lineage of Agidiase, Ogwashi Uku of Aniocha South LGA Delta State, could produce an Iyasei.

    The Benin division of the Court of Appeal had, in its judgment, reversed the March 20, 2008 judgment of the High Court in Ogwashi-Uku.

    The High Court had, in its judgment, faulted Nwaukoni’s selection by the Ogwashi-Uku Council of Elders, known as the Obi.

    The High Court had granted reliefs in a suit the appellants filed in 2005 to stop Nwaukoni’s installation as the Iyasei.

  • Augie, Solanke, Olanipekun for firm’s 25th anniversary

    Justice Amina Augie of the Supreme Court will deliver the 25th anniversary lecture of a law firm, Kenna Partners.

    It will be chaired by the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Chief ‘Folake Solanke.

    In commemoration of the firm’s silver jubilee, a colloquium with the theme: Footprints in Law and Society: Towards a paradigm shift, will be held.

    A panel consisting of members of the bench, legal luminaries and other professionals will discuss the evolution of law and legal practice.

    They include former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), former Foreign Affairs Minister Odein Ajumogobia (SAN) and Mr. Damian Dodo (SAN).

    The firm will unveil a book: Brief insights: a Selection of Milestone Cases, which chronicles notable court decisions.

    Kenna Partners’ Principal Partner Prof Fabian Ajogwu (SAN) said: “The book is a careful selection of cases, the persuasive arguments of lawyers and the decisions that have enriched legal practice and modern legal history in recent times.

    “The milestone cases selected and discussed touch on practice and procedure, company law, real estate, fundamental human rights, election petition, oil and gas, maritime, amongst others.

    “The book is another contribution to legal knowledge and practice in Nigeria by the law firm of Kenna Partners.”

    The event will hold on Friday at the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Ajogwu said Justice Augie would discuss how the legal profession can retain its cherished traditions while evolving to meet the emerging realities of a dynamic and interconnected modern world.

    “Law continues to be an instrument of social engineering and as the law evolves, there is a need for lawyers, judges and the entire legal system to adopt changes in the approach to addressing challenges in the society,” he said.

    On how the firm has come this far, Ajogwu said Kenna Partners places premium on human capital, adding that they have a seamless structure that ensures things work with or without him.

    He said he hoped that the firm, with its succession plan, will get better in years to come.

     

  • Appeal Court reserves judgment on Al Mustapha’s appeal

    Appeal Court reserves judgment on Al Mustapha’s appeal

    The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on Monday reserved judgment in an appeal filed by Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan, challenging a death sentence handed them by Justice Mojisola Dada of a Lagos High Court, Ikeja.

    Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to late General Sanni Abacha, and Shofolahan former Personal Assistant to Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, were sentenced to death on January 30, 2012, for conspiracy and murder of the late Mrs. Abiola.

    Justice Amina Augie, who led the appeal panel, reserved judgment, after counsels to the appellants and respondent adopted their written briefs.

    Counsel to Al-mustapha, Joseph Daudu (SAN), while adopting his address, urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the lower court.

    He argued that the trial court erred in law to have based its judgment on the testimonies of prosecution witnesses (PW1 and PW2), which were contradictory.

    “The testimonies of PW1 and PW2 were inconclusive and contradictory. The court drew inferences from these contradictory statements, to establish the guilt of the appellant.

    “It is my submission that those inferences, upon which the court based its judgment, are merely political evidence formulated by the respondent, and which the trial court ought not to have considered.

    “I therefore urge the court to allow this appeal, and quash the judgment of the lower court” Daudu said.

    Lawyer to Shofolahan, Olalekan Ojo, also aligned with the submission of Daudu.

    In his response, counsel to the state government, Lawal Pedro (SAN), urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the lower court.

    Pedro argued that apart from the evidence of PW1 and PW2, there were other evidences from the defendants themselves, which supported the counts of conspiracy and murder.

    He said the statements of the defendants, which were tendered as exhibits, indicted them.

    Pedro urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lack of merit.