The Nation Newspaper

Tag: delivers

  • Court delivers judgment tomorrow on Isara Remo stool

    Justice A.A. Babawale of a Sagamu High Court in Ogun State will tomorrow deliver judgment in a suit filed by Prince Adetayo Odunsi challenging the nomination of Albert Mayungbe to the stool of Odemo of Isara-Remo.

    Co-defendants in the suit are Chief Wasiu Ekundayo who replaced the deceased head of the family, Prince Obafemi Awoyade, Secretary, Remo North Local Government; Oliwo of Isara, Chief Ajibowu Ogunfowodu; Apena of Isara, Chief Jimoh Soyombo; Chief Ladipo Ogunyemi; Ogbeni Odi of Isara, Chief Olajubu Osibote; Ekeji Asipa Odi, Chief Tunde Kalejaiye and Asipa Odi of Isara, Chief Owuye Logba.

    Others are Ekeji Asipa Odi of Isara, Chief Efuwape Sotikare; Olori Emo of Isara, Chief Bashiru Awoniyi; Ekeji Olori Emo of Isara, Chief Korede Ogunwole; Asipa Emo of Isara, Chief Nosiru Sodipe; Ekeji Asipa Emo, Chief Adewole Sopitan; Governor of Ogun State; Executive Council of Ogun State; Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Local Government and Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice as second to 18th defendants respectively.

    At the last hearing, the parties adopted their final written addresses.

    The claimant was represented  by Mr Muyiwa Obanewa,  the first, sixth to tenth and fourteenth defendants were represented by Dr Victor Odunaiya while Principal State Counsel, Mrs O.O. Adejumo represented the fifteenth to eighteenth defendants.

    In the suit, Prince Odunsi , who claimed to be a direct descendant of the late Oba Oyemade Mayungbe and progenitor of Erinsiba-Ayoledoye Ruling House, averred that he is the one entitled to the stool of Odemo of Isara-Remo.

    Odunsi sought seven prayers and orders against the defendants including: “A declaration that the first defendant is not a member of the Erinsiba-Adyoledoye Ruling House and therefore, not qualified to contest for the stool;

    “That under native law and custom applicable in Isara and Remoland generally, an Odi (servant of the king) or any of his descendants is not qualified to contest for the stool of Odemo of Isara;

    “That the first defendant’s late grandfather and father, late Ogunsakin and Oyekunle Mayungbe were Odi to the late Oba Samuel Akinsanya and late Oba Adeboboye Osideinde, therefore, not qualified to aspire or to be considered for nomination to the stool”.

    He also sought an order of the court setting aside the February 21, 2011 nomination exercise of the Ruling House during which the first defendant emerged as one of the candidates for the Odemo of Isara chieftaincy, among others.

    The first defendant, Albert Mayungbe, insisted on being a “bonafide member and descendant of the Erinsiba/Ayoledoye Ruling House.

  • Rivers governorship election: Anxiety in Wike’s camp as tribunal delivers judgment today

    Rivers governorship election: Anxiety in Wike’s camp as tribunal delivers judgment today

    There is palpable tension in the camp of the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, ahead of the delivery of judgment today in the state’s governorship election filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

    The Rivers State Elections Tribunal is led by Justice Mohammed Ambrosa and has been sitting in Abuja.

    The exchange of addresses by counsel to the petitioners—Peterside and the APC—as well as the respondents—Wike, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)—took place on Thursday, with the tribunal adjourning indefinitely for judgment.

    Information, however, filtered out in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital yesterday afternoon that the tribunal would deliver judgment in the case at 10 a.m. today.

    Some international observers and other stakeholders who monitored the April 11 governorship election in Rivers State, as well as eminent personalities who testified before the tribunal had described the poll as a sham, saying that it was characterised by violence, massive rigging, intimidation of voters and snatching of ballot boxes.

    Wike, a former Minister of State for Education, and the Rivers State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Felix Obuah, however, maintained that the election was free, fair, credible, peaceful and violence-free, describing the turnout of the electorate as impressive, massive and unprecedented.

    The Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Rivers State, Samuel Nwanosike, said yesterday that he and other members of the PDP in the state were awaiting the tribunal’s judgment, stressing that the lawyers to the Rivers governor, PDP and INEC had done a good job.

    Asked what Wike and other members of the PDP in Rivers State would do if the judgment went in favour of the governorship candidate of the APC, he said that it would be subjudice to comment on a matter before a court or tribunal.

    On his part, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Rivers State, Chris Finebone, said he had no comment.”

     

  • NLNG delivers landmark 3000th cargo to Turkey

    NLNG delivers landmark 3000th cargo to Turkey

    Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) has delivered its 3000th cargo of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corporation at Marmara LNG Terminal in Turkey.

    The event was marked with a brief ceremony on board the NLNG Lokoja, at the Marmara LNG Terminal, attended by senior NLNG officials including MD/CEO, Mr Babs Omotowa, Deputy MD, Mr Basheer Koko, and Commercial Director, Mr Patrick Olinma. Also in attendance were Mr Folusho Adeshida, Deputy Head of Mission at the Nigeria Embassy in Turkey, representing the Nigerian Ambassador, and Botas Petroleum Chief Executive, Mr Mehmet Konuk and other members of the company’s management team.

    Omotowa said during his remarks at the ceremony;

    “Today, we deliver our 3000th cargo of LNG to Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corporation. We take pride in the fact that this delivery demonstrates the consistency and reliability of NLNG as a world class energy supplier. It also underscores the excellent relationship we have with our customers. I also wish to recognise the diligence and dedication of our staff, the kind support of the government, our shareholders and our loyal customers. We remain fully committed to our aspiration to help harness the nation’s gas resources, and our vision to help build a better Nigeria.”

    LNG Lokoja, one of the 23 vessels in NLNG’s fleet, with a 148,471 cubic metre capacity, sailed from Bonny Island Terminal in Rivers State on January 7, 2014, carrying 47,778,900 Million British Thermal Units (MMbtus) of LNG.

    NLNG’s first cargo to Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corporation was delivered on board LNG Lagos at Marmara in November, 1999.

    NLNG has loaded more than 200 cargoes for the Turkish energy company since the start of production at the Bonny Plant in 1999. NLNG currently supplies nearly 25 percent of Turkey’s LNG imports.

    From 1999 to 2013, NLNG has converted over 4 Trillion Cubic Feet (tcf) of associated gas to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) for both export and domestic uses. In doing this, the company has positively impacted on the country’s gas flaring status, helping to improve the environment whilst converting a previously wasted resource into wealth for the nation.

    In addition, Nigeria LNG plans to construct a seventh train to complement the existing six train structure. When in operation, Train 7 will boost the company’s total production capacity to 30 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG and potentially increase Nigeria’s supply of world LNG demand to 10%, bringing more value to government, shareholders, communities and local businesses among others.

    NLNG is owned by four shareholders, namely, the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC (49%), Shell Gas BV, SGBV, (25.6%), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15%), and Eni International (N.A,) N. V. S. a. r. l (10.4%).

     

  • Fashola delivers LASU Alumni lecture Tuesday

    Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, will on Tuesday deliver the 2013 Lagos State University (LASU) Alumni Annual lecture, at the institution’s new auditorium at the Main campus in Ojo.

    Entitled “Good Governance: A Tool for Revitalisation of Socio-Cultural Values for Social Development”, the lecture will be chaired by former Head of State Chief Ernest Shonekan, while retired Justice Adesola Oguntade (CON) will be the Co-Chairman.

    A statement jointly signed by the Alumni President, Major General Cecil Esekhaigbe (rtd) and the Vice President, Mr. Norrison Quarkers (SAN), indicated that the university’s Vice Chancellor, Professor John Oladapo Obafunwa will be the Chief Host.

  • Tinubu delivers keynote address at UK House of Commons today

    Tinubu delivers keynote address at UK House of Commons today

    Former Lagos State governor and National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, will today be the lead speaker at the British African Diaspora Conference in the United Kingdom.

    The event will start at 7pm at the Grand Committee Room, Westminster Hall, House of Parliament, London.

    The conference, with the theme: Leadership, National Development and the People, will be hosted by a senior member of the British Parliament, Mr. David Lammy, MP. He will be joined by Mr. Ivan Lewis MP, Shadow Secretary for International Development  as well as other top politicians from various parties in the British political circle.

    They will share thoughts and deliberate on salient issues of national development, as they concern Nigeria, Africa and the UK.

    A statement yesterday by Mr Sunday Dare of Tinubu Media Office, Lagos, quoted African Partnership Development, the UK body behind the convocation of the conference, as saying the choice of Asiwaju Tinubu as the keynote speaker, alongside other African leaders and top members of British Parliament, is to “stimulate proactive actions and deepen the understanding of the international community and the Diaspora public on the challenges of national development against progressive leadership in Africa from the perspective of the most populous black nation, Nigeria”.

    Tinubu is one of the movers of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

  • Don delivers LASU’s 50th inaugural lecture

    A professor of Exercise Physiology, Rafiu Okuneye, and the Dean, Faculty of Education, Lagos State University (LASU), has delivered the 50th inaugural lecture of the university.
    The lecture, which was held in the new university auditorium, was entitled: Human body, human wellness: The perpetual antidotes.
    Okuneye described the human body as a model, well-designed and shaped by Almighty God. He said the holy books contained verses that testified God’s perfect creation of man. He said: “The body as a frame – small, medium or large – has internal or external segments. The body along with its segments contains substances. In exercise physiology, we termed these segments as body composition, which refers to both fat and non-fat components of the body.”
    He said organs such as adipose tissue, muscle, heart or cardiovascular and skeleton in human body had special implication on movement of the body. He said: “A living condition in which an individual engages in activities and behaviours that enhance quality of life and facilitate the realisation of personal potentials is one that allows an individual to carry out a physical activity with sufficient energy and strength in a positive state of health condition.”
    He identified components of wellness as physical fitness, social, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, environmental and occupational components. He said human action actions with regards to food, drink and the use of organs of the body impacted directly on the body as a whole. He added that the actions could lead to abuse of organs, such as eye, skin, limbs and internal organs.
    “Our actions towards wellness manifest more in our ways of life. The diet we take and activities we engage in, all of which bear consequences on the quality of our life. Since the beginning of advancement in technology and laziness that resulted after the industrial revolution, the need for men to be physically active in order to earn a living has continued to decline,” he argued.
    He said positive actions were required on our body to maintain wellness. Regular participation in physical exercise, he observed, was the most workable option not only for the prevention and rehabilitation of diseases but also for delay in encountering degenerative diseases. At the lecture were the lectures of the institution, which were led by the body of principal officers.

  • Babalakin: Court delivers judgment today

    Babalakin: Court delivers judgment today

    Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos will today deliver judgment in a suit instituted by Mr. Wale Babalakin, against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and also clarify the leave granted earlier.

    The EFCC yesterday explained why its operatives were monitoring the businessman-lawyer at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) where he is claimed to be on admission for an undisclosed ailment.

    EFCC’s lawyer Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) told the court that the move was to prevent Babalakin from “disappearing into thin air.”

    He said the EFCC resorted to adopting the measure upon receiving “a security tip-off” on an alleged plan by Babalakin to elope.

    Jacobs added that since Babalakin had informed the EFCC of his intention to leave the hospital for his home, and asked the commission to guarantee that he would not be arrested, it then became important to put a check on him.

    He spoke at the resumed hearing of Babalakin’s suit before the Federal High Court, Lagos.

    He contended that it was the practice that any individual charged with a criminal act was subject to arrest at any time.

    As against a claim by Babalakin’s lawyer Wale Akoni (SAN) that EFCC operatives had laid siege to LUTH and threatened him with arrest, Jacobs insisted that the EFCC only ensured security surveillance at the hospital to restrain his movement out of the country.

    Akoni posited that officers of the commission had threatened the applicant with arrest, despite the pendency of a suit before the court.

    He sought the court’s clarification of the leave it had granted Babalakin on November 29 to seek to restrain EFCC from prosecuting him.

    He told the court that despite the leave, which he contended ought to ordinarily operate as a stay of further proceedings, the EFCC was still harassing and threatening Babalakin with arrest.

    Akoni urged the court to give a proper interpretation and clarification of the leave granted in line with the provisions of Order 34 (6) of the Federal High Court civil procedure rules, under which the leave was sought.

    He also argued the plaintiff’s substantive application for a prohibition order.

    The counsel further argued that the EFCC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) lack the powers to file charges against his client in Lagos State.

    Akoni contented that the EFCC, not being officers in the office of the AGF, could not charge his client with a federal offence in a Lagos High Court.

    He urged the court to grant the order of prohibition sought, and restrain the respondents from proceeding with his client’s arraignment since, according to him, the whole process under which the EFCC sought to do this, is irregular.

    Jacobs, while arguing EFCC’s preliminary objection, argued that by the provisions of Section 318 of the Constitution (as amended), a public officer can initiate criminal proceedings against accused persons in court.

    He argued that by that provision, public officers are construed to include officers and workers of the respondents-commission, which he argued is a creation and establishment of a statute.

    Jacobs said the allegation of the applicants that the fiat by the Lagos A-G was not exhibited on the face of charge no ID/239C/2012, was a serious misconception, as this fiat had been clearly exhibited even for a discerning mind to see.

    He argued that the power to prosecute offenders was not exclusive to the AGF. He noted that the provision of Section 17 of the constitution allows other agencies, including the EFCC, to institute criminal proceedings. Jacobs submitted that Babalakin filed the suit to prevent the EFCC from discharging its lawful public duties.

    “The ambitious order sought by the applicant is like an otapiapia or a weapon of mass destruction, and should not be allowed.

    “The suit clearly depicts the picture of a drowning man, desperately searching for where to hang on, to avoid drowning,” Jacobs said.

    He urged the court to dismiss the suit, with cost which he suggested should be paid by the applicant’s lawyer if possible.

  • INEC delivers election materials in riverine areas

    INEC delivers election materials in riverine areas

    Sensitive and non-sensitive materials for tomorrow’s governorship election in Ondo State have been sent to the two riverine local government areas, Ese-Odo and Ilaje.

    This is to facilitate distribution to the wards and units.

    The materials were deposited at the Naval Base in Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government, for security reason.

    They were earlier conveyed from the Akure branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office amid security.

    The materials, loaded in about seven Hilux pick-up vans, were deposited at the CBN office in Akure last Thursday shortly after being conveyed from Abuja in an aircraft.

    The handing over of the election materials to INEC was witnessed by representatives of political parties, security agents, reporters and other stakeholders.

    Speaking on the development, a chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), who was at the CBN office during the handing over, hailed the manner the materials were kept in CBN’s custody.

    He said: “As at this moment we are witnessing the handing over of these materials, they have remained intact. Nobody has tampered with them.

    “We need to praise INEC and CBN for showing transparency. These materials have not been tampered with. They have remained intact.”

    A representative of the Labour Party (LP), Dr. Benson Enikuomehin, commended INEC for the orderly manner it handled the election materials by placing them in the custody of CBN.

    He said: “When we got to the CBN office, we met the materials properly sealed. Nobody has tampered with them.”

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) representative, Mr. Niyi Aluko, said if INEC could act with transparency on the field, the election would go smoothly and peace would reign in the state.

    The State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, said the collection of materials by INEC signifies the beginning of the poll.

    He said: “INEC has promised to be transparent and conduct the best election so far in Ondo State. Allegations of possession of illegal voter cards have now been dispelled as we have received the election materials intact.”

    Orebiyi noted that the challenge facing the electoral agency is the attitude of politicians who have no trust in INEC’s activities because of their greed and lust for power.

    He urged them to do the right thing and allow a peaceful election, stressing that the security in place would guarantee a hitch-free poll.

    The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Southwest, Prof. Lai Olorode, said the materials were intact at the CBN, adding that this has demonstrated that the electoral body is ready to conduct a credible election.

    The situation in Ilaje Local Government was peaceful as people were eager to elect the governor of their choice.

  • Woman delivers triplets in flood victims’ camp

    A woman from Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State was yesterday delivered of a set of triplets at a flood victims’ camp.

    Though her identity was not revealed, it was learnt that the woman is among those camped at Fr Joseph’s Primary School in Aguleri.

    The widow of the late former Senate President, Dr Chuba Okadigbo, representing Anambra North, Margery Okadigbo, relived her experience in Awka, the state capital, when she visited the office of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

    Mrs Okadigbo, who was in tears, said she wanted to ensure that the relief materials from the Federal Government were distributed by the agency.

    The senator noted that the situation in Anambra State had gone beyond party affiliation, saying it should be a collective responsibility of everybody and not the governments alone.

    She said the woman at the Aguleri camp delivered a set of triplets – all boys – adding that the victims’ conditions were unbearable, especially the women.

    Mrs Okadigbo said: “I am a woman; I know the pains those people are going through. Everybody has been swallowed up by the floods. This is not a good entry for me, seeing my people dying.

    “I have been moving around the seven local government areas in my constituency, to ensure that the people are safe. The only local government in my area, which is still free of the floods, is Oyi. The other six are under water.

    “Not only that, families are being separated as a result of the floods. Many people will die of hunger and starvation. There is a problem in the land.”

    The senator said the National Assembly had called for a supplementary budget because of the problem, adding that many victims would benefit from the government’s relief package.

    According to her, the floods may last longer than expected.

    NEMA yesterday started the distribution of materials from the Federal Government at various camps in Anambra State.

    NEMA’s South East Coordinator Dr Onimode Bamdele was injured when he was evacuating the victims.