The Nation Newspaper

Tag: appeal

  • Heartland to appeal relegation

    Heartland to appeal relegation

    Four-time Nigeria champions Heartland have announced they will appeal a decision by the League Management Company (LMC) to relegate them after their last league match was awarded to hosts Plateau United.

    Heartland will appear before the commission that would be set up by the League Management Company (LMC) as a first step towards seeking redress from the sanctions imposed on them after an abandoned league game at Plateau United.

    The club’s director of media, Cajetan Nkwopara, in a statement on Friday said that the commission might not be the last port for case as Heartland are ready to pursue all channels of justice to put an end to the reign of a dubious cartel that has seized up the apparatus of match officiating in Nigeria football.

    Nkwopara said the sanctions by the LMC were an initial administrative action but cautioned that the LMC risks shooting itself in the foot if it does not quickly apply wisdom and address the case in its proper perspective.

    “The whole world is already judging the case and by the grace of God, Heartland already have offers from reputable international football experts who would like to help advance the case before the world football court and which is capable of sparking off an uncanny revolution in Nigeria football league,” he stated.

    The director of media said Heartland would obediently follow laid down rules in seeking redress but will not stop at that if justice is not done.

    “We’re touched by the shocking reaction of the world to the overall inglorious conduct of that game in Jos and we thank everybody for the sympathies expressed after viewing clips of the match,” he said.

    “We also call on all progressives who want a better future for Nigeria football to stand behind Heartland while we fight the cankerworm in the Nigeria football.”

     

  • Trump’s asinine appeal to African-American voters

    SIR: Just when it seemed like Republican presidential entrant Donald Trump, a man known for his unchecked bravado, had turned a new leaf after he expressed “regret” over some of his past comments of insults and racialism, he once again displayed his continuous lack of meaningful direction in an attempted outreach to black voters.

    In that ostensible pitch for African American votes made on Friday August 19th before a virtually all-white audience in Michigan, he reportedly said: “Tonight, I’m asking for the vote of every single African-American citizen in this country who wants to see a better future…What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump? You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed — what the hell do you have to lose?”

    If I may ask, does he really think he can appeal to black voters with such condescending fallacies and indecorous annotations?

    My answer to this question from a man who has repeatedly rebuffed invitations from black colleges and organizations to appear before African American audiences, then addresses white audiences about blacks is that the African Americans have everything to lose by voting a man whose policies are conceived in xenophobic spasm.

    His first mistake was to group black people as one monolith. Secondly, he took the worst example of black people and applied their circumstances to all black people in America. Just like other races in America, not all black people are poor, unemployed, nor do they all live in crime riddled areas.

    Trump’s comments betray his mistaken impression that only blacks do drugs, only blacks are on welfare, only blacks are dependent on the government, only blacks are involved in crimes and gangs. As it has been largely observed, many have been persuaded to pitch their tent with Trump largely on the single issue of his presumed pro-business credentials. But again, a man who has filed for bankruptcy four times in 25 years, and in the process, stiffed thousands of small-business creditors hardly seems to be good for business judging by American standard.

    Governance is not about incivility. It is about policies, strategies and advocacy working side by side with citizenship participation.

    Donald Trump, in my view, lacks respect for citizens of the country that he claims to want to represent and help lead without inequity. He only cares about people who share in his contemptuousness and fit in with his group.

    Donald Trump’s “black outreach” campaign is simply an attempt to rob African Americans of their political intelligence and decision-making.

     

    • David Dimas,

    Maryland, U.S.A

  • Ekiti monarch files appeal against removal

    The Owa of Odo Ayedun in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Oba Solomon Ilesanmi Ajibade, has filed a stay of execution and appeal against the judgment of a state High Court, which ordered his removal from the throne.

    His selection and appointment as the Owa was challenged by a claimant to the royal seat, Adekunle Adeniyi, whose prayers were granted by the court sitting in Ikole Ekiti.

    But Oba Ajibade, in a statement day, maintained that since he had filed a stay of execution and an appeal at the Ado-Ekiti Division of the Court of Appeal, he still remains the Owa.

    “There is nothing to celebrate by the petitioner in the judgment given by the lower court,” he said.

    He urged the people of Odo Ayedun to be peaceful and remain calm, noting that the peaceful coexistence of the community remains paramount to him.

    Oba Ajibade emphasised that the law enforcement agents have been mobilised to deal with any person that want to capitalise on the kingship crisis to cause chaos and anarchy in the community.

    The monarch warned against unauthorised installation of chiefs in Odo Ayedun, insisting that he still reserves the powers to appoint chiefs.

    He said: “We are aware of the recent development in our community, Odo Ayedun Ekiti as a result of a judgment rendered by a High Court in respect of the obaship of Odo Ayedun Ekiti in Ikole Local Government, which was misinterpreted by the petitioner.

    “We have appealed against that ruling at the Court of Appeal and we have also filed a stay of execution of the judgment delivered by the lower court .

    “Therefore, there is nothing to celebrate by the petitioner in the judgment given at a lower court by the mischief makers in the community.

    “Since there are grounds for appeal up to the Supreme Court, the petitioner should know that he is into a long haul.

    “I, therefore, appeal to all and sundry in Odo Ayedun community to be law-abiding since our peaceful coexistence is of paramount importance to me as the crowned king of Odo Ayedun Ekiti.”

  • Abia: Ikpeazu raises 50 grounds of appeal

    Abia: Ikpeazu raises 50 grounds of appeal

    •I’m not desperate, says Ogah

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has raised 50 grounds on which he is seeking the Court of Appeal’s reversal of his removal from office for tax certificate discrepancies.

    Justice Okon Abang on June 27, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately issue a Certificate of Return to Dr. Uche Ogah, who polled the second highest number of votes in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election.

    In his July 4 notice of appeal, Dr. Ikpeazu, through his counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), raised 50 grounds of appeal and expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the lower court.

    The respondents are: Dr. Sampson Uchechukwu Ogah(1st); Peoples Democratic Party( 2nd); the Independent National Electoral Commission (3th); and Mr.  Friday Nwanozie Nwosu (4th)..

    His first ground of appeal is that the trial judge erred in law and came to a wrong decision in holding that the appellant was ineligible to participate in the primary election of the 2nd respondent by reason of presenting false information to the 3rd respondent in INEC Form CF001 and consequently granting all the reliefs claimed by the 1st respondent in his originating summons.

    According to the second ground of appeal, the lower court equally erred in law and reached a perverse decision when after finding thus:  “The cause of action arose in this matter when the 1st and 2nd defendants forwarded Form CF001 containing alleged false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission”. It went ahead to disqualify the appellant from being a candidate at the 2nd respondent’s primary election and declared the 1st respondent as the winner of the primary election.

    On his third ground of appeal, Dr. Ikpeazu noted that the lower court erred in law and acted without jurisdiction when it purported to enforce/apply the provisions of the PDP Electoral Guidelines for primary elections 32014 in determining the originating summons before it without the PDP Guidelines being put in evidence before it.

    In his fourth ground of appeal, Ikepazu pointed out that the lower court also erred in law and reached a perverse decision when it held in respect of the Supreme Court decision in Ekagbara v, Ikpeazu (2016) 4 NWLR (pt. 1503) 541 thus: “In fact in the above cited case, Supreme Court in a way departed from its earlier decision in Kharki v. PDP… Supreme Court also held that this court has jurisdiction to entertain a suit questioning the qualification of an aspirant in a primary election by a fellow aspirant when the aspirant whose qualification is being questioned did not pay tax as at when due or where there are lapses in the tax paper of such aspirant… In Ekagbara v. Ikpeazu (supra), the Supreme Court also held that it does not really matter that this will involve the examination of tax administration in Abia State of Nigeria.”

    In his fifth ground of appeal, the appellant observed that trial judge erred in law and came to a perverse decision when he asked thus: “It is either that the information are false or correct, I do not think it is a case of forgery. I do not think facts are in dispute. Even if the affidavits of the parties are in dispute, they are not in my view in dispute on material facts… It is for the 1st to 2nd defendants to show that the information contained in documents attached to Form CF001 submitted to Independent National Electoral Commission are not false … I think the court can conveniently use the affidavit evidence placed before it to resolve issues in controversy. This suit was properly commenced by an originating summon”.

    In the seventeenth ground of appeal, Ikpeazu observed that the lower court misdirected itself and reached a perverse decision when it held that the appellant presented false information to INEC by reason of the alleged differences between the tax receipts and the tax certificate with respect to the tax return 2013.

    According to the last ground of appeal, Ikpeazu stressed that the decision of the lower court was/is against the weight of evidence, and therefore sought the following relief from the Court of Appeal, the first being, an order allowing this appeal. The second, an order setting aside all the main and consequential orders made and granted by the lower court and the last, an order dismissing or striking out the amended originating summons in suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/71/2016.

  • Buhari’s appeal

    Buhari’s appeal

    •Senate should accede to President’s request on passage of anti-corruption and other bills

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s appeal to the National Assembly to expedite the passage into law of some bills before the lawmakers is welcome. The president made the request during a dinner he held in honour of the National Assembly members at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as part of activities to mark his one year in office.

    These include: the bill for Acts of Domestication of Agreements for Avoidance of Double Taxation between Nigeria and South Korea, Spain and Sweden, respectively; the Federal Capital Territory Appropriation Bill 2016; Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill 2016; Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill 2016; and the Statutory Budget of the Niger Delta Development Commission 2016.

    All these bills are important in their own right. Indeed, the president’s appeal is all the more appreciable against the backdrop of the fact that the National Assembly will complete one legislative year on June 9. Some of these bills have been pending before the lawmakers for months. Time is of the essence and the earlier these bills are passed into law, the better for a government that is running against time.

    We need to domesticate the agreements reached between the country and other countries to stem double taxation, which is inimical to doing business. We cannot get the desired response on investments, whether from foreign or local investors, if the taxes are not streamlined. No investor wants to reel under the yoke of double or multiple taxation. Also, there are issues begging for attention in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which can only be addressed after funds have been approved and released.

    With regard to the Niger Delta, there is a lot to be done in the region which is the goose that is laying the golden egg for the nation. The Niger Delta Development Commission was created essentially to accelerate the pace of development in the region. The country needs to cool frayed nerves in the area and this cannot be possible unless the National Assembly gives its consent to its statutory budget.

    Perhaps most important of the bills that the president wants the lawmakers to  pass into law are the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill 2016.

    It is instructive that the two bills were the first sent to the Senate by the president for formal consideration. They were sent on January 27. The Money Laundering Bill seeks to repeal the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended in 2012, to “make comprehensive provisions to prohibit the laundering of criminal activities, expand the scope of money laundering, and provide protection for employees of various institutions, bodies and professions who may discover money laundering”.

    The second bill, as the president noted in his letter to the Senate, “seeks to facilitate the provision and obtaining by Nigeria of international assistance in criminal matters.” These include “the recovery, forfeiture or confiscation of property in respect of offences, the restraining of dealings in property or the freezing of assets that may be recovered, forfeited or confiscated in respect of offences.”

    Without doubt, Nigeria needs these laws in view of the prevalence of corruption in the country. David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, drove the point vividly home when he told the Queen that Nigeria is “fantastically corrupt”. Cameron was right; except that he did not say that the present government in the country has been fighting the cankerworm.

    These laws are important to us because many of our politicians and public officials who pilfered the treasury stashed their loot in foreign countries and unless we have some legal understanding with these countries, it would be difficult to retrieve our assets. Those who have their own loot within we can easily deal with using the Money Laundering Bill.

    We urge the Senate to accede to the president’s request by expediting action on these bills. The country needed them as early as yesterday.

  • Appeal to Ijaw youths

    Niger Delta Avengers, citing the unfair allocation of oil blocks as part of their major grievances blew up Nembe Brass to Bonny trunk line belonging to Agip and Shell about last Saturday. This is the latest in the economic war that has reduced Nigeria oil production from 2.5million to 1.5million barrels per day. Delta State Information Commissioner, Jonathan Obuebite said ‘the activities of the group were adversely affecting Ijaw people whose only source of livelihood is the environment’. The Ijaw boys are shooting themselves in the leg. The communities affected will suffer the effect of pollution for the next few years. Investors are already moving to safer environments like Cross River and Akwa Ibom at a critical period when the area needs to get ready for the challenges of post oil period which globalised economy searching for renewable energy sets at 2030. Already Warri has lost its shine with the entertainment industry taking the greatest hit. In 14 years, oil as source of energy consumption will be near zero.

    The Ijaw unfortunately are Ijaw’s worst enemies. They have on account of a culture of entitlement been unable to compete with other ethnic groups such as Ikwere, a minority Igbo ethnic group that has dominated the politics of Rivers State producing the likes of Peter Odili, Rotimi Amaechi and Nyesom Wike. And while the Kalabaris showcase their Tam David-West, the Tamunos, Douglases, the Ijaw advertise the likes of Asari Dokubo who vacant-mindedly and without a sense of history denies the collective contribution of the rest of the federation to the liberation of Ijaw during the civil war and ex-militant, Government Ekpemupolo alias ‘Tompolo” who according to Chief Edwin Clark, lacks enough education to secure government job.

    But the fault is not in neither in Dokubo or Ekpemupolo’s stars but in the conspiracy of their leaders who in the past traded in their name in order to satisfy their greed. Most of the Ijaw leaders were in alliance with the north when Awolowo and his AG embarked on free education in the old Western Region. They were in politics in the Second Republic when Ambrose Alli of the old Bendel, Olabisi Onabanjo of Ogun State, Michael Ajasin of old Ondo and Lateef Jakande of Lagos established public universities to accommodate products of their free primary and secondary school programmes. But the Ijaw political elite and traditional rulers described by Saro Wiwa as ‘vultures’ denied their youth good education so that no one questions them as they collude with multinational oil companies to feed on the blood of the poor.

    What ill-educated Ijaw youths are now doing is nothing but a misdirected aggression. Their enemies are not Hausa-Fulani owners of oil bocks but their corrupt leaders and politicians who instead of confronting their past recently claim ‘Buhari’s war against corruption will lead to anarchy’. Ijaw leaders were part of past governments including that of Abacha regime alleged to have traded oil blocks to buy legitimacy. President Jonathan was Vice President for two years and President for six years. He had an opportunity to correct the mistakes of the past. But like many other Ijaw leaders, he merely empowered ill-educated Ijaw youths useful only for proxy war.

    Before him was Alfred Papapreye Diete-Spiff, a Naval Lieutenant Commander  who in 1967 at 25 years of age was appointed the first military Governor of Rivers State. His greatest legacy was the shaving of the head of Nigerian Observer newspaper’s reporter who had published a story about an impending teachers strike in Rivers on Spiff’s birthday. When Murtala Mohammed toppled Gowon government in 1975, Diete-Spiff who could not pay teachers in Rivers was cruising in the high seas in his private ship named ‘OginaBereton’ later seized by Murtala Mohammed who also allegedly stripped him of his rank. Spiff was later detailed to forfeit a total of 18 properties located in the Government Reserved Area, Trans-Amadi, Borikiri layout, Recreation Layout and Ogbunabali, all in Port Harcourt. He is today the Amanyanabo of Twon Brass in Bayeslsa State, a throne he ascended in 1996. When Umaru Dikko during the Oputa Truth Commission called attention to marginalization of Ijaws by their leaders,  Spiff before staging a walk out with Rivers delegates insisted no one would dictate to them on how to spend their own money.

    Melford Okilo who later became governor and senator served as Minister for Commerce and Tourism during Sani Abacha regime when most of the controversial oil blocks were allocated.

    Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, ‘Governor General’ of the Ijaw was said to be the mastermind of the then rampaging Niger Delta militants. His involvement in corruption and money laundering was exposed by governments of Britain, United States, South Africa, Bahamas and Seychelles as well as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Bank under the Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative’. They revealed his portfolio of foreign assets which included accounts with five banks in the UK and further accounts with banks in Cyprus, Denmark and the United States; four London properties acquired for a total of £4.8m; a Cape Town harbour penthouse acquired for almost £1m, about £1m in cash stored in one of his London properties. When Britain’s Metropolitan police charged him to court, he jumped bail and escaped to Nigeria. He was later convicted in Nigeria but granted amnesty by President Jonathan, another Ijaw leader.

    Rivers State under Peter Odili (1999-2007) saw a surge in attacks on the oil industry by militants demanding greater benefits, kidnappings by ransom seekers, political violence and deadly robberies by gangs armed with AK-47 rifles.  EFCC in a 2007 report accused his government of ‘fraud, conspiracy, conversion of public funds, foreign exchange malpractice, money laundering, stealing and abuse of oath of office’. Human Rights Watch also issued a report detailing pervasive patterns of corruption and mismanagement at the state and local levels under Odili’s administration. In March 2007, Justice Ibrahim Buba gave “a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from arresting, detaining and arraigning Odili on the basis of his tenure as governor based on the purported investigation”. Odili was alleged to be the brain behind the split in Asari Dokubo-led IYC which led to the formation of MEND headed by Ateke Tom, Dokubo’s deputy in order to settle scores with Chief Edwin Clark.

    James Ibori was alleged to have spent Delta State money to fund Yar’Adua’s presidential election. On December 17, 2009, a Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State discharged and acquitted Ibori of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by EFCC. Ibori was later found guilty of 10 counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud at Southwark Crown Court, London and on April 17, 2012, sentenced to 13 years. Some of his properties confiscated include a house in Hampstead, north London, a property in Shaftesbury, Dorset, and a mansion in Sandston, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

    Edwin Clark, 86, has been part of government since he was about 32. Kaita recently reminded him during one of his tirades against the north that he has always been a northern ally.  Clark shortly after a society wedding at age of 85 finally established Edwin Clark University in his village where students will pay about N400,000 per session. His response to critics of official looting by custodians of Niger Delta commonwealth was ‘‘who are they to tell us how we spend our money’?

    Ijaw youths, behold thy leaders.

  • Fuel Price: Appeal for understanding

    SIR: Finally, the Federal Government of PMB bites the bullet over a realistic price regime for fuel products in Nigeria. After an initial glitch and prevarication which though understandable, government finally pegged the price at N145 per litre of PMS. Normally and ordinarily, one expects labour to match out ferociously against the move, much more so that a similar move by the previous administration of Goodluck Jonathan was greeted by same economic shut-down compelling the government then to beat tactical retreat. Labour may therefore appear hypocritical and unsurefooted if mum is the word this time around. This may loosely give some justification for Labour’s planned nation -wide industrial disharmony in Nigeria.

    However, bearing in mind the enormous goodwill and trust upon which this government rode to power, one may want to call for understanding, mutual trust and perseverance . One more chance Labour has is to revert back to its original plan if government proves insincere with the lofty promises :there is always a second chance so goes the saying. People calling for calm have always predicated and premised optimism on promises made by government if the hike is allowed to stay.   Hopes of job opportunities, renewed infrastructure, products availability, economic growth and social -life change-over are too attractive, beneficial and beautiful for anyone to ignore. These are in addition to the expectation of delectable economic environment that will magnetize foreign investment and liberalize business potentialities in the oil sector. So, rejecting the hike without a heart for these promised opportunities, no matter how forlorn they look, seems mindless ,utopian and merely throwing away the child with the bathwater. Optimists in the present game of price increase may therefore be seen not to have placed their enthusiasm on false hope.

    Lastly, global trends tend to tilt in the direction of inevitable subsidy removal. Aside humongous sums for maintaining subsidy, which in actual fact is hard to find, most of the oil -producing nations even more economically stable and diversified than Nigeria, have yielded to more sterner measures as a natural sensitivity to hopelessly nose -diving oil income. These countries include the United States of America, China, Iran, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela ,Kuwait, Iraq and even the octopus oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia. If these countries with combined capacity of supplying 64 per cent of world energy requirements have had their various doses of economic readjustment prompted by declining oil income, it would be foolhardy for Nigeria to sit -by and whine endlessly over inclement economic situation back home. Nigeria occupies the 13th position out of 118 nations of the world powering the planet earth with petroleum, biofuel,liquids derived from coal and oil shale according to a 2013 statistics released by CIA World Factbook and International Energy Agency (IEA). Against this background, it looks dystopian and rash and even economically unsustainable to retain payment of phantom subsidy in the face of overly economic adversity. A passionate appeal is therefore made for some understanding and trust. Government too must not willingly or inadvertently bungle the goodwill which it has been enjoying from inception till now. In fullness of time, national interest will be the better for it. The time for understanding and collaboration by all stakeholders cannot be grimmer and riper than now.

     

    • Femi Y. Y. Oyedemi

    Hillsboro, Oregon, USA

  • Supreme Court decries Mobil’s reluctance to prosecute appeal

    The Supreme Court has decried the reluctance of Mobil Producing Unlimited (MPU) to prosecute an appeal it filed in 2010 against the May 21, 2009 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Calabar.

    The appellate court had held that about 860 Nigerian Mobil workers hired as security guards between 1990 and 1996 were its staff and not officials of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) as the company claimed.

    A five-man panel of the apex court, led by Justice Suleiman Galadima, noted that the appellant appeared unwilling to prosecute the appeal. It urged Mobil to be certain about what it intends to achieve with the appeal.

    The court’s position was informed by the uncoordinated approach of the appellant’s lawyers and the consistency in the errors they commited in the filing of applications, which often led to adjournments.

    When the case was called on April 25, Mobil’s lawyer, Rowland Obaji sought leave of court for an extension of time to file an appeal and deem the already filed amended appeal as properly filed.

    Justice Galadima drew Obaji’s attention to a wrong prayer in his motion and noted that the court could not amend defective documents for parties.

    Without objection from lawyers to the workers and the police, O. K. Salawu and Sebastian Barth Ozoana, the court struck out Mobil’s motion.

    Justice Galadima noted that similar motions dated September 29 and 30, and December 15, 2015 filed by Mobil had been withdrawn and struck out.

    When asked if he knew when the other motions were earlier struck out, Obaji said he could not recall because the file where it was indicated was with the Senior Advocate leading him in the case.

    “It seems you are not prepared to prosecute this appeal. You should tell us what you intend to do with this appeal. You seem not to be familiar with your appeal and processes filed so far,” Justice Galadima said.

    The court then directed Obaji to file a new motion to regularise the appeal, following which a new date will be issued for hearing.

    Since Mobil lodged the appeal in 2010, it has taken no major steps to ensure its prompt determination. Most adjournments have been at its instance.

    When parties returned to court on June 1, 2015, it was also the unpreparedness of Mobil that foisted an adjournment on the court, prompting the Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad-led five-man bench to impose N100,000 cost on the company and adjourn to December 14.

    On December 14, Mobil’s lawyer, A. O. Wahab attempted to move his client’s application for leave to regularise the appeal, only for Justice Mohammad to, again, notice that the application was incompetent.

    Justice Muhammad also observed that a motion for stay of execution of the judgment, which Wahab said his client filed on February 12, 2010 for stay of execution of the Appeal Court’s judgment was not in the court’s file.

    He consequently ordered the appellant to withdraw the defective application, re-file it on a later date and ensure that all the necessary processes were in the court’s file. Justice Mohammad was however, silent on the return date, prompting lawyer to the workers, Ifeanyi Maduabuchi to draw the court’s attention to the fact that the case was about labour dispute, which requires prompt hearing.

    Maduabuchi said despite the order in the judgment restraining Mobil from dismissing or punishing the workers, it had allegedly sacked some and was subjecting others to unfriendly treatment. He urged the court to intervene and protect the workers.

    The 860 Nigerians were engaged by Mobil as security personnel between 1990 and 1996 to secure its assets in Lagos, Port-Harcourt (Rivers State), Eket and Quo-Ibo in Akwa-Ibom State.

    Dispute arose about their employment status in early year 2000 when about 27 of them in Eket were issued transfer letters by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), transferring them to Lagos. The 27 rejected the purported transfer on the ground that they were not staff of the Nigeria Police.

    They complained to Mobil, who claimed it had transferred their employment to the Nigeria Police and thus raising the question about whether the company could alter the terms of their employment without their knowledge and consent.

    The workers claimed they were directly employed and paid by the oil company (as reflected in their employment letters tendered in evidence in court); that they were only trained by the police on security operations (under an arrangement between Mobil and the Nigeria Police Force), and that they are entitled to the same benefits as other employees of the oil company.

    On its part, the oil company insists that they should look up to the police for their benefits and other entitlements because it engaged them as supernumerary (SPY) police personnel and not actual staff.

     

     

  • Colleagues plan appeal sessions for Ibinabo

    Colleagues plan appeal sessions for Ibinabo

    In solidarity with her cause, friends, colleagues and well wishers of embattled AGN president, Ibinabo Fiberesima across Nigeria will come together on Thursday, May 19 for prayers and supplications to the Justice System for the pardon of the actress.

    According to a statement sent out by one of her lawyers, Barrister Norbert Ajaegbu, who is also a stakeholder in the Nigerian film industry, the gathering is not in any way intended to truncate the judicial process but to appeal for mercy and leniency from the authorities for Ibinabo, who’s presently undergoing breast cancer treatment amid being a mother and bread winner for her family.

    “We commiserate with the Giwa family and feel their pains over the loss of the Good Doctor and have made ongoing efforts to comfort and be with them all through this process. It is an unfortunate cycle which has brought upon this but we sincerely believe that in the end, healing and reconciliation will prevail,” the statement reads.

    Ibinabo was sentenced to a five – year jail term for the death of a Lagos State Doctor, Suraj Giwa. She was later granted bail in the sum of N2million and two sureties who are residents in Lagos in like sum.

    Ibinabo’s lawyers had filed a bail application on the grounds of a serious medical attention. The popular Nollywood actress’ appeal of the 2006 judgement by a Lagos High Court was thrown out by the Lagos appellate court on January 28, 2016, reserving the five-year jail term without an option of fine.

    There are indications the case may receive further hearing at the Supreme Court.

  • Tompolo serves EFCC with appeal records

    Tompolo serves EFCC with appeal records

    Counsel to a former Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, Tuesday said his client has served the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with his record of appeal.

    He said the commission’s response to the appeal is being awaited.

    Tompolo filed his appellant’s brief of argument on March 11 against the order of the Federal High Court for his arrest made on January 14.

    Tompolo had on January 27 filed an application to set the warrant of arrest aside, but Justice Ibrahim Buba dismissed it.

    Adegboruwa, in a statement, said in demonstration of Tompolo’s desire to have the appeal heard and determined expeditiously, he compiled and forwarded the record of appeal to the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division on March 3.

    “The prosecutor, that is the EFCC, has been duly served with the said record of appeal,” the lawyer said.

    He added: “In further demonstration of his commitment to the rule of law and due process, Tompolo filed his Appellant’s Brief of Argument, through the law firms of Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa on March 11, 2016, thus activating the judicial process for the prompt and effective determination of the said appeal.

    “The consequence of this in law is that Tompolo’s case is now before the Court of Appeal, with the concomitant effect that the trial Federal High Court will willingly cede jurisdiction over Tompolo’s case to the Court of Appeal since the appeal has now been entered, while Tompolo and his team of lawyers await the response of the EFCC to file their respondent’s brief so that the appeal can proceed to hearing timeously.”

    Tompolo said Justice Buba erred in law in refusing to set aside the warrant of arrest issued against him.

    He said there was no evidence to show that he had been notified of the summons and the criminal charge pending against him.

    Tompolo also complained that the learned judge should have ascertained that the EFCC duly complied with the order for substituted service, by posting the charge at the correct address.

    The appellant stated further that the application leading to the issuance of the warrant of arrest was not competently placed before the court, as the counsel that signed and filed it on EFCC’s behalf failed to affix his stamp and seal on it.

    Tompolo is asking the Court of Appeal to set aside the warrant for his arrest and vacate all subsequent proceedings emanating from the “flawed” process of the criminal charge.

    He is praying that the charge against him be transferred from Justice Buba to another judge of the Federal High Court.

    The case comes up before Justice Buba on March 22.