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Tag: denies

  • Lagos Assembly denies plan to impeach Ambode

    The Lagos State House of Assembly has denied the rumour in the media that it is planning to impeach Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

    Speaking at plenary yesterday, Speaker Mudashiru Obasa urged the public to disregard the rumour.

    Obasa said he had received telephone calls and enquiries from prominent residents on the alleged impeachment plan against Ambode.

    According to him, Solidarity Group of Nigeria and a faction of the state chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), led by Mr. Fuad Oki, had been insinuating that the state’s lawmakers allegedly threatened the governor to open the treasury for them or face impeachment.

    Obasa said: “We are not embarking on any impeachment process against the governor. If there would be an impeachment, it would be from the governor. And if there would not be any need for impeachment, it would be from him, based on his actions.

    “Even at that, impeachment is constitutional. So many speakers, Senate presidents, presidents and others have been impeached all over the world. So, nobody can threaten us if it happens because we are representatives of the people.

    “We don’t need the wailers to guide us in performing our duties. It is not out of place for us to do our job.”

    The Speaker added that if there was going to be an impeachment, it would be done in the open.

    He said Lagos residents would know if an impeachment against the governor would happen.

    Obasa said the Assembly was working with Ambode to ensure peace and development across the state.

    Majority Leader Sanai Agunbiade said the constitutional procedure for an impeachment does not harbour secrecy, adding that the public would know if it would happen.

    Last week, the Assembly ordered the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state to direct the operators of private sector participation (PSP) involved in refuse collection to return to work.

  • EFCC denies investigating Benue State Govt

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has denied investigating the accounts, appropriation and administration of funds of the government of Benue State.

    It faulted insinuations that it was working to cripple the government.

    The commission said it was only investigating some officials of the state government against who some citizens made allegations of diversion of public funds, money laundering and related offences.

    The EFCC said its activities in Benue were within its constitutional powers. It faulted claim by the Benue State Attorney General that the investigation being carried out by the EFCC in the state amounted to usurping the functions of the House of Assembly.

    The anti-graft agency made the explanation in its response to a suit  filed by the Benue State Government through the state’s Attorney General.  Defendants in the suit are EFCC, Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, Clerk, Benue State House of Assembly and the Auditor General, Benue State.

    The EFCC, in its counter-affidavit to the plaintiff’s originating summons, stated that its investigation in Benue was informed by petitions from indigenes of the state, including former Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav and Joel Magnus, President of a group, Concerned Citizens of Benue State Transparency Anti-Corruption Group, Gboko, Benue State.

    It stated that the petitioners identified some officials of the state government, who they accused of diverting the state’s funds and engaging in money laundering and other related financial crimes, a development, which informed why the state has been unable to pay staff salaries.

    The EFCC added: “In carrying out its onerous duties, the 1st defendant, being a responsible agency of government, has employed the best practices of extending invitation to concerned State Government functionaries through high ranking government officials such as Secretary to the State Government, Permanent Secretaries of relevant ministries/agencies, Accountant General of the state and Liaison Officer, Benue State Liaison Office, Abuja without resorting to crude and uncivilised methods.

    “The 1st defendant is not investigating the accounts and/or appropriation, disbursement and administration of funds of Benue State Government. The 1st defendant is only investigating economic and financial crimes, money laundering related offences allegedly committed by some officials of Benue State Government.

    “The ongoing investigation cannot result into a shut down or grinding to a halt, the activities of governance in Benue State as the 1st defendant is not an army of occupation. Indeed, the 1st defendant has not shut down government offices/business as it has been inviting relevant state government officials to make statements and/or furnish relevant documents as the need arises.

    “The ongoing investigation can only result in restoring the confidence of citizens of Benue State, who are calling for accountability, transparency and probity in the affairs of government of their state. It may well be that the outcome of investigation may prove the allegations as baseless, which is in the interest of the government of Benue State.

    “That contrary to the depositions contained in paragraphs 12 13 of the affidavit in support of the originating summons, the business of governance of Benue State has not in any way suffered or been destabilised consequent upon the ongoing investigation, as relevant officials only report as the need arises, who report and make statements and or bring relevant documents in furtherance of investigation.

    “That contrary to the depositions contained in paragraphs 21, 22 and 25 of the affidavit in support of the Originating Summons, it is not true that honouring invitations by relevant Benue State Government officials in furtherance of ongoing invitation is distracting or causing inconveniences to the officials invited, who by virtue of their offices and responsibilities/duties, their statements are crucial to the investigation, which is very painstaking.

    “That contrary to the depositions contained in paragraphs 23 and 24 of the affidavit in support of the originating summons, the statutory duties of the 1st defendant of investigating criminal allegations are never in conflict with the constitutional duties of the 4th defendant, hence there is no usurpation of the official functions of the 4th defendant, whose constitutional duties are quite distinct and different from the statutory duties of the 1st defendant.

    “The 1st defendant has never interfered with the federal principles relating to the tiers to the tiers of government, as the 1st defendant is only discharging its statutory duties.

    Yesterday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba fixed August 29 for the hearing of the suit in which the plaintiff is challenging the propriety of EFCC’s ongoing activities in the state.

  • Tenure extension: APC denies man for dragging party to court

    Tenure extension: APC denies man for dragging party to court

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State yesterday described one Okere Uzochukwu, who took the party to court over the extension of the tenure National Working Committee (NWC) as an impostor.

    Okere, who claimed to be an aspirant for the chairmanship position in Imo APC, also joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the suit number FHC/A6J/CS/219/2018, praying the Court to quash the extension.

    A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Imo State governor, Sam Onwuemeodo, reads: “We start our reaction by stating that Okere Uzochukwu is not a registered member of APC in Imo State.

    “We have done our checks and could not locate such name in our official membership registers.

    “It is now left for Mr. Okere Uzochukwu to mention his ward, his registration number and show his membership card.

    “His case would also help the party to expose some untrustworthy politicians who crawled into Imo APC and have been playing their usual hide and seek game.”

    The statement added: “The truth is that no genuine member of the party could wake up one morning and take the party and its National leadership to court without clearance from the leader of the party in the state or clearance from the State exco of the Party.

    “He is an impostor and does not have the support of APC members in the State in his action, especially when he is not a member of the party and since Imo APC is not against the tenure extension for John Oyegun-led NWC.

    “The APC governors Forum, which the Imo governor chairs had pressed that the extension of tenure be made across the board in which the State, Local Government and Ward Officers of the Party would benefit from the exercise and that was done.

    “There is therefore no reason to warrant any Court action since the extension was done in good faith.

    “The leader of the party in Imo, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and the party, its executives and Stakeholders in the State dissociate themselves from the court action.”

     

  • Court denies alleged killer-wife bail again

    Court denies alleged killer-wife bail again

    Justice Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja has for the second time denied Maryam Sanda, wife of ex-People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chairman’s son, bail despite claiming she is three months pregnant.

    In the last ruling delivered on December 14, last year, Justice Halilu granted Maryam’s three co-defendants bail, but declined her plea for bail and ordering the defendant to be remanded in Suleja prisons.

    She was accused of causing the death of her husband, Bilyamin Bello, who the son of a former PDP Chairman, Haliru Bello.

    Maryam was accused of “stabbing him on the chest and other parts of the body with a knife and other dangerous weapons, which eventually led to his death”.

    The offence was said to be punishable under Section 167 of the Penal Code Act.

    At resume of hearing yesterday, defence counsel Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN) said since the application for appeal of the first verdict on bail has been abandoned at the Court of Appeal, it would not constitute an abuse of court process to hear the second application.

    Police prosecution counsel Mr. James Idachaba stood his ground that since there had not been any application filed before the Court of Appeal withdrawing the notice of appeal as at the time of filing the fresh application on January 24, the said application constituted an abuse of court process and deserved to be struck out.

    The trial judge, who ruled in the prosecutor’s favour, said the application was an abuse of court process because she failed to withdraw her notice of appeal challenging the ruling earlier delivered on December 14, last year.

    Justice Halilu added that it would amount to taking a path of destruction to rule on the merit of the fresh application for bail when the applicant’s notice of appeal challenging the earlier decision of the court on the same subject matter of bail was still pending before the higher court.

    “The application is liable to be struck out and it is accordingly struck out,” Justice Halilu ruled.

    After the ruling, Idachaba said: “My lord, we have brought five witnesses to court and we are ready for commencement of trial.”

    But Daudu notified the court that he had an application challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case on the basis that the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation is yet to give an opinion on the case before the charges were filed by the police.

    After listening to both parties, Justice Halilu adjourned till March 19 for continuation of hearing.

     

  • Ngige denies saying govt spent N1b on burial  

    Ngige denies saying govt spent N1b on burial  

    Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige has said that media reports quoting him as saying that the federal government has spent about N1 billion in the burial plans of former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme were misleading, while the controversy generated by the report were needless.

    The Minister said he never attached any figure to the plans being made by the government to ensure that the former Vice President gets what he termed “a deserving national tribute to one of Nigeria’s foremost Statesman.”

    In a statement signed by the Special Assistant no Media to the Minister, Nwachukwu Obidiwe e, the Minister said he only gave a summary  of the number of projects the  Federal Government has undertaken to ensure that a man who  easily was Nigeria’s beacon of democracy was given a decent burial.

    The statement said: “Perhaps the Hon. Minister has prempted the rhetorics of cynics and detractors  who could have easily run to town to claim the Federal Government has abandoned Ekwueme in  death.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, what he did as a member of the Burial Planning  Committee was to give the details of the road rehablitation projects from the Awka end of the State and from Abia and Imo State axis , all leading to Ekwueme’s home town of Oko, as well as the   medical services, the  Mausoleum and others.  But at no time did the Minister  attach a figure of One Billion Naira.

    “An unedited video and audio tape of the interview as recorded by both broadcast and print reporters  is easily within reach.

    “The Minister is an Igbo man and knows full well that just as  a count is not taken of the number of children a parent is blessed with in Igbo tradition, the same tradition holds the burial rites and attendant expenses even more sacred to warrant such display of figures.

    “ However, it is important  to add that such pieces of  information in an administration such as ours  that is  anchored on openess, and bouyed by the Freedom of Information could be at the finger tips of any investigative reporting.”

    The statement further that the Burial Planning Committee was satisfied with the progress of the  work and looked forward to a very successful event which has already kicked off beautifully and successfully  in Lagos, Abuja and Enugu.

  • Oyo Assembly denies endorsing Akintola

    Oyo Assembly denies endorsing Akintola

    The Oyo State House of Assembly has denied reports that it endorsed a governorship aspirant, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), ahead of next year’s election.

    The Assembly described the report as “a misconception, erroneous and out of place”.

    It emphasised that the Legislature is not an endorsement body, adding that the current Assembly would not endorse any candidate because it is not authourised to perform such a function.

    Addressing reporters after a budget defence meeting yesterday, Deputy Speaker Abdulwasiu Musa said the legal luminary visited the lawmakers, like three other aspirants had done before him, to curry the support of the lawmakers.

    Musa said the lawyer was hosted the same way the lawmakers did for those before him.

    The deputy speaker said the Assembly, which has three major political parties, is not a political party and would not have endorsed an aspirant from any political party.

    He said: “This is a responsible and responsive House of Assembly. We do our things in consonance with the laid-down rules and regulations of the land. The House of Assembly is not an endorsement body. It is not a stakeholder as far as the endorsement of any candidate is concerned.

    “What happened specifically last Friday was that one of the governorship aspirants in the state, Mr Niyi Akintola (SAN), came to solicit and canvass for the support of members, just as we had earlier received no fewer than three other aspirants before him.

    “The Assembly welcomed him and wished him well in his governorship pursuit. We did not at any point endorse him. It was a misconception, it is erroneous and out of place.

  • FG denies it wants to start issuing visas on arrival for Africans

    FG denies it wants to start issuing visas on arrival for Africans

    The federal government yesterday denied it has decided to start issuing visas on arrival for all Africans.

    The deputy chairman of the African Union, Kwesi Quartey, was reported to have broken the news in Addis Ababa in a Facebook post.

    He praised the action as a “laudable move towards Africa’s integration agenda.”

    The AU’s political affairs office said in a tweet that Nigeria announced the action at a retreat for permanent representatives.

    A spokeswoman for the AU chairperson, Ebba Kalondo, was also reported to have said they were waiting for details from Nigeria as the news was “announced verbally with no formal communication.”

    Contacted yesterday, Information Minister Lai Mohammed asked for time to confirm from the appropriate quarters.

    He later sent a text message that no such decision was in place.

    The AU has advocated for a “single African passport” that aims to improve intra-African trade and has called for “the abolishment of visa requirements for all African citizens in all African countries by 2018.”

    Africans need visas to travel to 55 percent of the continent, according to AU figures.

    According to the African Development Bank’s 2017 Africa Visa Openness Report, Africans can get a visa on arrival in just 24 percent of other African countries, while North Americans, for example, have easier travel access on the continent.

    “Free movement on the continent would entail the implementation of continent-wide visa-free regimes including issuance of visas at ports of entry for Africans,” the AU suggested in February.

    Already Ghana, Rwanda, Mauritius and the Seychelles issue visas on arrival to all African passport holders, the AU’s Quartey has said.

    In 2016, the electronic African Union Passport was launched and issued to heads of state and governments, with the goal of expanding it to citizens.

  • Passport office denies corruption allegations

    Passport office denies corruption allegations

    The Passport Office at Alausa, Ikeja yesterday denied that its workers were involved in racketeering.

    It said contrary to reports by an online news website, there were accredited cyber café operators allowed around its premises to assist applicants with registration and payment for their passports.

    Some officers told The Nation that the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) accredited the business centres following applicants’ incessant requests for assistance.

    The requests, they said, were granted to ensure that officials did not abandon their job to assist applicants.

    An official said: “E-Passport is a cashless and participatory idea. Applicants play their parts and NIS officers do theirs. People are expected to log on to the website, do their payments; bring all documents to the passport office, where we take over and process within a time limit.

    “But we discovered that people used to complain about payments. They could not do the E-transacts. That was why NIS officers started assisting in doing payments. That led to the job suffering and we decided to bring cyber cafés closer so that they can assist the applicants who couldn’t do it on their own and our personnel can face their jobs.

    “Accredited cafés were allowed around passport offices. Applicants patronise them and they do their things without interference from the NIS. We do not take part in it. But along the line, we discovered that some of these applicants complained that they were being charged far beyond the official rates.

    “The business centre owners were invited and they explained that they were doing so to cover the cost of their Internet subscription, their time and intellect. At that point, we told applicants to do their registration anywhere they can and just bring the documents since we could not force the business owners to collect any amount.

    “It is not true that they are within the premises because they are not allowed here. It is also false that we do not have an information desk.”

    NIS spokesman James Sunday, an Assistant Comptroller of Immigration (ACI), said the Comptroller General (CG), Muhammad Babandede, had ordered immediate probe of the allegations.

    He said: “The CG has given a directive for the investigation of the allegations and that is what we are doing. I can tell you for sure that we do not have accredited agents.

    The guidelines for application for international passport are clearly stated in our website. We also sent out our customer feedback number, 07080607900 and email address nis.servicom@ nigeriaimmigration.gov.ng for Nigerians to contact us.

    “The problem is that Nigerians like to look for shortcut and so they fall into the hands of people who fleece them. They prefer to do things through the backdoor. They need to know that every office opened by the NIS has a duty to serve them.”

  • Suspect denies raping girl, 13

    • ‘She’s my fiancée; I’ve paid part of her dowry’

    A 42-year-old man accused of defiling a 13-year-old girl, yesterday said he planned to marry her and had paid part of the bride price.

    According to him, he had paid N64, 000 of the N84, 000 dowry.

    Lucky Emmanuel, a trader, who lives at Ilaje in Ajangbadi, Lagos, was paraded at the Lagos State Police Command yesterday by Police chief Fatai Owoseni.

    The suspect said he had been dating the victim for eight months, adding that she told him that she was 18-years-old.

    Emmanuel was arrested after the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) informed the command about the teenager’s predicament.

    The victim, said to be a primary school pupil, at Ajangbadi, according to Owoseni, was taken to a hospital for check-up.

    Emmanuel, who claimed he was arrested for rebuffing her relatives move, to extort him, said he had given her money to undergo pregnancy test.

    He insisted that the girl’s mother was in the know of their relationship, but couldn’t state the woman’s residential address when asked to do so.

    The suspect said: “We have been dating for eight months and she told me she was 18 years. I have fulfilled some of the traditional rites required to marry her. I paid N20,000 for introduction and gave her father N64,000 out of the N100,000 demanded for other traditional rites. Her parents know that I have been taking care of the girl.

    “I was surprised when I received a call that the police were looking for me after the girl’s school authorities said that she is too young to get married.

    “It became clear to me when I found out that it was one of their relatives, who wanted to extort money from me that reported me to the school where my wife was attending.

    “I have met elders in her family three times. Her mother’s clothes which she gave me to mend because she wants to travel are still in my shop. I just feel sad that I am being treated this way after all I have done for the family.”

    A source said the girl’s parents denied knowing the suspect, adding that the victim usually sold plantain to the suspect.

    The victim, she claimed, went to sell plantain to the suspect when she was defiled and given N500.

  • Fashola denies frustrating Lagos

    Fashola denies frustrating Lagos

    Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola yesterday denied frustrating the government of Lagos State’s  efforts to rebuild the International Airport /Oshodi Road.

    His ministry has presented the state government’srequest to the Federal Executive Council, stressing that he was following the due process.

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode spoke on Wednesday of his administration’s battle to get the green light to rebuild the road, which he described as “a disgrace”. The Federal ministry of Works, he said,  was frustrating the efforts to take over the all-important road.

    Fashola said in a statement by his media aide, Hakeem Bello, that he had explained the processes to the governor, adding that equating processes to a lack of cooperation is akin to creating a storm in a tea cup.

    Dismissing the governor’s allegation of non-cooperation, he listed some requests the ministry had granted to the state government since he assumed office.

    Fashola alleged that the state government had refused to provide land for the take off of the National Housing Programme in the state.

    He explained that he decided to respond to the governor’s allegation to ensure that members of the public are not misled by deliberate or inadvertent mis-statements.’

    The statement reads: “The allegations of lack of cooperation from the Ministry and frustration of Lagos State Government development initiatives are simply not true and the facts do not bear them out.

    “In 2016, the Hon Minister for Power Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji  Fashola, SAN, approved the use of the Federal Ministry of Works yard at Oworonsoki for Lagos State Government to create a lay-by to ease traffic.

    “The Hon Minister also approved that Lagos State be granted the Rights to manage the Street Lighting on the 3rd Mainland Bridge to support the security initiatives of the State, a request which the previous Federal Government administration had denied Lagos State for years.

    “During the same year, the Hon Minister also supported the approval of the World Bank Loan of $200m to Lagos State, again a request the previous administration had denied Lagos State.

    “As far as International Airport Road which is currently the ground for alleged “frustration” is concerned, the correct position is that the Lagos State Government presented a  request for four roads that it would wish to take over.

    “This is consistent with the position being canvassed by the Hon Minisiter for states who are interested to apply to take over roads that are within their states.

    “The Ministry has presented the Memorandum conveying the request of the Lagos State government to the Federal Executive Council as was done with a similar request by the Kaduna State government in 2016.

    “Due to the fact that two of the roads also connect Ogun State, the Federal Executive Council could not reach an immediate decision on them because it requested the input of the other state government affected.

    “The Kaduna State government requested the Federal Government to transfer two roads within Kaduna Metropolis to the state in November 2015. Due process was followed and the request of the state government was approved in August 2016, a period of ten months.

    “Federal Executive Councill Memorandum are debated and commented upon by all members and in cases of roads, surveys, maps and other material have to be provided to assist members understand the location and connectivity of the roads, (in this case Four roads), in order to assist how they vote on the Memorandum.

    “As far as the Presidential Lodge is concerned, it is under the management of the Presidency and not the Ministry.

    “After the approval by Mr President that the Presidential Lodge be handed over to the State Government, there was a directive to the Ministry to work out the modalities for handing over.

    “The ministry has prepared a vesting instrument to convey the transfer and all that is needed is a survey plan.

    “The Presidential Lodge is a high security location and officials of the Ministry also require security clearance to enter in order to do any works.

    “Access to the lodge is not under the control of the Ministry.The motive behind this public accusations must therefore be scrutinised coming barely a week after the governor spoke with the Honorable Minister, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN on the outstanding requests of the State for several minutes and the Minister took time to explain the situation of things to the governor. (The first telephone conversation the governor has had with the minister since May 29, 2015).

    “If there is any lack of co-operation it is on the part of the state government that has refused to acknowledge not to talk of approving the Ministry’s request for Land of the National Housing Programme in Lagos.

    “The ministry is not frustrated by this lack of response and remains optimistic that a response will come from Lagos State.

    “The ministry remains committed to serving the government and good people of Lagos and will treat all their requests on merit and in accordance with necessary due process as will be done to other states.

    “As far as the refund of N51Billion is concerned, this is not a new item. Almost all if not all states have these claims and the Federal Ministry of Power Works and Housing has verified these claims.

    “What is left is the process of raising the finance to pay the debt owed to the States.

    “Those who are familiar with the workings of Government will attest to the fact that it is an intricate sequence of processses, consultation and collaboration.

    “Equating processes to a lack of co-operation is therefore akin to creating a storm in a tea cup.”