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Tag: Enyinnaya Abaribe

  • IPOB: Court to try Kanu separately

    IPOB: Court to try Kanu separately

    Fixes Feb 28 for Abaribe, others to account for IPOB leader’s whereabouts

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has agreed to a separate trial for the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

    Justice Binta Nyako granted an application by the prosecution on Tuesday and ordered that Kanu’s trial be separated from those of his co-defendants.

    Kanu was in 2015 charged before the court with three others on treasonable felony charges.

    The others are the National Coordinator of IPOB, Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin Madubugwu; and a former Field Maintenance Engineer seconded to the telecommunication company, MTN, David Nwawuisi.

    The court, in a ruling on April 25, 2017,  granted bail to Kanu, but rejected others’ bail application.

    Kanu has ceased to attend court, with his lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor claiming he (Kanu) has been since some soldiers invaded his home in September last year.

    On Tuesday, his co-defendants (who are in prison custody) were brought to court, Kanu was absent.

    The development prompted the prosecution lawyer, Shuaibu Labaran to apply that the trial be separated to prevent further delay.

    Labaran noted that Kanu’s continued absence from court since he was granted bail in April 2017 has frustrated progress in the case

    He said: “In the circumstance, the prosecution shall be asking for the indulgence of your lordship to separate the trial so that progress can be made in this matter.”

    Lawyers to the defendants did not object to Labaran’s application, following which the trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako granted it.

    Justice Nyako agreed with the prosecution that there was the need to separate Kanu’s trial from the others in order “to meet the justice of the case”.

    Read Also: IPOB: No evidence Kanu is in Army’s custody — Court

    She said: “I hereby separate the trial of the first defendant from the rest of the defendants.”

    The judge also directed the prosecution to ensure that the charges were amended and served on the defendants before the next trial date.

    Upon complaint from Chukwudi Igwe, lawyer to another IPOB member, whose name has been added as defendant in an amended charge,  Bright Chimezie, Justice Nyako directed the prosecution to act on his case.

    Igwe had complained that the State Security Service was holding his client despite an order by a Federal High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, directing that he be released.

    He said, if by the next trial date the prosecution failed to reflect his client’s name in the fresh amendment to the charge, he would apply that the charge be struck out against Chimezie.

    The judge subsequently adjourned to March 20 for further proceedings

    Justice Nyako however adjourned to February 28 ( at noon) for Kanu’s three sureties, including Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, to either produce the IPOB leader in court or show cause why each of them should not forfeit his N100m bail bond.

    The court had at the last proceedings on December 5, 2017, adjourned to yesterday for the sureties to explain why Kanu suddenly stopped attending court and account for his whereabouts.

    Abaribe has filed two application. One is asking the court to discharge him as surety to Kanu, while the other wants the court to inspect Kanu’s house in Abia State, where he was said to have been last seen.

  • Senate halts commissioning of Kaduna power plant

    Senate halts commissioning of Kaduna power plant

    The Senate Joint Committee on Gas and Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy on Monday ordered the suspension of the planned commissioning of the 215 Megawatt Kaduna Power Plant over inconsistencies in the contract implementation.

    The Joint Committee chaired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe handed the order after a one day investigative hearing on the “urgent need to save the 215 MW Kaduna Power Plant.”

    The power plant inaugurated in 2009 is already three years behind the commissioning schedule.

    The lawmakers said they were unimpressed with the reasons given by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Mr. Louis Edozie, who defended the change in the plant parameters from gas to diesel.

    Edozie represented the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola at the event.

    The ministry’s representatives led by the permanent secretary told the Committee about plans to commission one of the eight units in the plant in January next year.

    They also informed the Committee that the unit when commissioned would run on diesel instead of the originally planned gas.

    The diesel fuel is expected to cost the country N46 million per day.

    The lawmakers were however alarmed to hear that the cost would be far cheaper if the plant runs on gas.

    The Chairman of GreenVille LNG, Eddy Van Den Broeke, who led his team to address the Committee told members of the panel that his company had a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kaduna Gas Plant to build storage facilities for the plant at no cost.

     

  • Absence of judge stalls Kanu ’s trial

    Absence of judge stalls Kanu ’s trial

    The trial of leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB ), Nnamdi Kanu was stalled on Monday in Federal High Court, Abuja, due to the absence of the judge.

    The official of the court informed parties that the trial judge, Justice Binta Nyanko, had gone to attend Judges’ Conference within the city.

    Nyanko had ordered Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe, who stood surety for Kanu to appear in court on Nov. 20 to account for his whereabouts.

    The order was predicated on report from Kanu’s Counsel, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor, who claimed on Oct. 18 that his client could not be found.

    Abaribe, who was in court, however, told journalists that the military unsettled Kanu, adding that his whereabouts was not known to him either.

    The lawmaker said it was on the basis of that uncertainty that he filed an application to withdraw his suretiship.

    Also ordered to account for Kanu’s whereabouts were Tochukwu Uchendu and Jewish Chief High Priest Immanuel-El Shalom Oka-Ben Madu.

    Mr Shuaibu  Labaran, the Prosecuting Counsel had through an application demanded that Kanu’s sureties be made to produce him to allow the trial to continue.

    Kanu is standing trial on treasonable charges along with Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuis.

    Read Also:  IPOB leader Kanu whereabouts unknown as trial resumes today

     

  • South East senators condemns Army/IPOB row

    South East senators condemns Army/IPOB row

    The South East Senate Caucus on Tuesday decried the ongoing military show of force in the South East, particularly in villages around Umuahia, Abia State.

    The caucus, in a statement issued by its chairman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, also condemned the alleged military incursions into the country home of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu, saying “such action suggests willful personalisation of the operation and deliberate abuse of the people’s fundamental right.”

    Abaribe expressed sadness that the military chose a time when the caucus has engaged the IPOB leadership and even extracted firm commitment from them that its agitation would be strictly non-violent  and in conformity with international best practices.

    The statement said: “We had hoped that our ongoing engagement with the group be given a chance, and here we are, with a hurried military action deep into a highly populated area with high propensity for casualty, which occurrence would rather escalate the already tense situation.

    “It is more worrisome that the military’s operation ‘python dance 2’ restricted to the South East in a peace time, has no doubt fouled the environment and sent strong signal that the region is under siege, which should not be so in a democracy.

    “We therefore urge extreme caution, and advise the military to de-escalate the situation and choose the best operational modus that will not only guaranty the safety of Nigerians, but also enhance national unity.

    “Nigeria is not at war, people are only exercising their constitutional and universally guaranteed rights. So far they are carrying on in a manner that had never given room to violence which could warrant a wholesale military expedition.”

     

  • Buhari’s Chinese loan request suffers setback in Senate

    Buhari’s Chinese loan request suffers setback in Senate

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s bid to get the National Assembly approval for the proposed $5.815 billion loan from China Exim Bank suffered setback in the Senate on Tuesday.

    The Federal Government plans to use the loan to execute several rail projects in the country.

    Following a motion by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), the Senate resolved to invite the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to explain why Southeast corridor rail line was omitted from the areas covered by the proposed loan.

    The upper chamber, however, rejected a motion, urging the lawmakers to suspend consideration of the loan request pending correction of the oversight.

    The motion entitled: “Outright Omission of Eastern Corridor Rail Line in the request for approval of Federal Government’s 2016-2015 External Borrowing (Rolling Plan)” was hotly debated on the floor of the Senate.

    Abaribe, in his lead debate, recalled that on April 26 the Federal Government laid before the National Assembly a request seeking an approval for a loan of $5,851 billion from China Exim Bank to execute the modernisation of Lagos-Kano, Kano-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan and Lagos-Calabar rail segment.

    He observed with dismay that the project covers only the western corridor of the country.

    The Abia South lawmaker noted that the eastern section of the rail segment linking the Southeast to Northeast parts of the rail line is completely excluded from the request.

    Abaribe urged the Senate to invite Amaechi to come and explain the reasons for the exclusion of the Eastern corridor from the proposed loan from the Chinese bank.

  • South East senators to boycott Buhari’s town hall parley

    The South East Senate Caucus on Wednesday resolved to boycott Thursday’s town hall meeting with President Mohammadu Buhari in Enugu.

    President Buhari is scheduled to hold what organisers termed Economic and Security summit with stakeholders in the South East.

    The Chairman of the Caucus, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, confirmed that the South East Senators will stay away from the town hall meeting.

    Abaribe cited lack of adequate consultation as reason behind their resolution to stay away from the meeting.

    The Abia South Senator said though there was an attempt to consult the caucus prior to the meeting, it was not adequate.

    He said, “The South East Senate Caucus will not attend a planned town hall meeting with Mr. President slated for Enugu having not been adequately consulted.

    “Again, it is the view of the Caucus that what the South East needs is development and not to be tagged with any other issue like security.

    “South East has been utterly neglected and marginalized over time especially with regards to addressing factors that stimulates development including the place of Ndigbo in the present administration.

    “So if we are to hold a town hall meeting the agenda must be restricted to purely development of the region. The agenda must be articulated to address the issues as highlighted.”

     

  • Mark must go Senators meet in Abuja

    …Senators are united behind Mark – Abaribe

    Ahead of the resumption of plenary on Tuesday, some of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senators who lost their primary elections met on Monday in Abuja.

    One of the aggrieved senators who was part of the meeting told our correspondent that the parley was “a continuation of a series of strategic meetings we have been holding before and after our primary elections.”

    However, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, dismissed allegation of plot to remove the Senate President, David Mark, as unfounded and misleading.

    The meeting was held in a high brow hotel in the Apo area of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

    The aggrieved Senator noted that the meeting became necessary ‘for us to articulate and formulate some critical issues bothering on the primary elections.”
    He insisted that “the fact that the primaries in most instances were hugely flawed is not in doubt.”

    He added, “The fact that our interest was not protected even after we were made to believe that there was automatic ticket for most of us, is also not in doubt.

    “It is also true that the Senate leadership failed to do the needful at the Presidency and the PDP headquarters to create a level playing field for us.

    “We cannot pretend that all is well. We cannot also pretend that we are happy the way and manner most of us have been left in the cold to fend for ourselves.”

    Vowing that “we will not just leave things the way they are going” the aggrieved senators added that “we needed to meet to talk to ourselves ahead of our resumption.”

    Asked whether the alleged plot to remove the Senate leadership was also discussed at the meeting, he noted that “nothing is ruled out, everything is on the table but we wait and see as things unfold.”

    He noted that “may be because most of us have been too pro-leadership, always avoiding issues that may rock the boat, we have been taken for granted.”

  • Senate to Obasanjo: Corruption allegation against NASS spurious

    Senate to Obasanjo: Corruption allegation against NASS spurious

    The Senate on Thursday described allegation of corruption levelled against the National Assembly by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as unfortunate and a deliberate attempt to denigrate the institution.

    The Senate in a statement issued by its spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said it was unfortunate that the former President would distort the issue of constituency projects as meaning a direct monetary advance to lawmakers and thus amounting to the “promotion of corruption” by the National Assembly.

    Abaribe said the most unfortunate thing in the deliberate diatribe against the National Assembly, was ex-President Obasanjo’s allegation that the lawmakers are “siphoning public funds through what they call ‘constituency projects.’”

    The allegation, according to Abaribe was spurious as it were because it is very distant from the truth and is nowhere near reality.

    He added that if it were so, the former President would not have tolerated such for the period he was the President of the country.

    Abaribe said: “Ex- President Obasanjo for the avoidance of doubt, was the initiator of the constituency project in the year 2000 as a means of ensuring that projects were fairly spread across the country using the Senatorial zones as the spring board.

    “To ensure execution of the projects, Obasanjo again factored the constituency projects into the annual budgets to be implemented by the executive depending on availability of funds.

    That is to say that no lawmaker ever comes close to the funds or even determine the contractor for the said projects or when the said contract would be awarded.

    “So, it looks curious and surprising that former President Obasanjo would turn around after over 10 years of initiating such a project to allege that the National Assembly is performing the function of both the executive and the parliament.

    “Is it not preposterous for anybody to believe that members of the National Assembly would against the provisions of the Constitution with regards to application of separation of powers, award contracts ‘to their agents to execute’ and expect the Presidency under a President Obasanjo or any other President for that matter to pay for what they are not part of?

    “Such allegation stands logic on its head, as it amounts to an indictment of the Presidency for wilfully contravening the budget laws by ceding its power to execute to the National Assembly, if it was the case.”

    The Senate, according to the statement, challenged the former President to go a step further to furnish Nigerians with details of how the National Assembly members became executors of national budget rather than being law makers.

    Abaribe said: “It will also help to clear the allegation once and for all, if any Presidency official not only from the time past but currently, could come forward and explain the true position of the so called constituency projects.

    “Doing so would at least set the records straight.”

    Accordingly, the Senate warned political leaders to be wary of the consequences to the nation’s democracy of dragging the revered institution of lawmaking to public odium just to score some political points.

  • Abaribe to contest Abia governorship

    •Promises consolidation

    Senate spokesman Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe at the weekend declared his intention to contest next year’s governorship election in Abia State.

    Abaribe, a former deputy governor, told officials at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Umuahia that he is heeding the entreaty from across the political spectrum of Abia to consolidate on the developmental foundation.

    The PDP chairman, Senator Emma Nwaka, assured the people that a level-playing field at the primary election would be provided because the party would not encourage people without experience to learn on the job as a governor.

    Abaribe, amid thunderous applause, told the officials that he was at the secretariat to declare his intention to contest the Abia governorship next year.

    “I am here to formally tell you that I, Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe, will contest for the office of governor of Abia State in 2015. I have consulted widely. I have been to Abia North, Central and South. I have consulted the party elders and stakeholders. I have met the people and the consensus is that I should contest this exalted office,” he said.

    Abaribe, who came with members and officials from across the state, assured that he would consolidate on the development foundation laid by Governor Theodore Orji.

    Nwaka thanked Abaribe for his forthrightness, loyalty and commitment to the growth of PDP.

    He assured that the party would conduct a credible primary election.

     

     

  • Abaribe/SMEDAN Doles Out N33m to 660 Aba Artisans.

    Abaribe/SMEDAN Doles Out N33m to 660 Aba Artisans.

    THE Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has distributed N33million to 660 artisans in Aba, Abia State,to set up small scale enterprises.

    The distribution of the grant, which was facilitated by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, was done in collaboration with the agency. It followed the training of the recipients, who were drawn from the six local governments in Abia South Senatorial Zone.

    The artisans were organised in 33 multi-purpose cooperative societies at 20 persons per cooperative society.

    They received the grants at the ceremony held at the Aba Town Hall. It was witnessed by traditional rulers, community leaders, politicians and traders.

    Abaribe, who distributed the cheques to the beneficiaries, explained that the training was originally meant for 350 persons, but the number of beneficiaries was jerked up to 660 artisans, owing to soaring unemployment.

    He said: “The increase in number means that the amount advanced to each person dropped correspondingly, yet what was given would definitely go a long way to aid the recipients in their chosen field.”

    Abaribe said that he registered the co-operative societies as a vehicle for other empowerment grants from institutions, including the Bank of Industry and other agencies, to channel such assistants.

    The senator said more constituents would be accommodated in the future to stem unemployement.

     

     

     

     

    The deputy governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Petroleum, Chief Don Ubani, expressed delight in the programme and applauded Abaribe for always being thoughtful on the best way to engage the people and fight the war on poverty.

     

    He said: “I am particularly delighted on the training of the artisans on skill acquisition and now empowerment. I hope others should emulate Senator Abaribe’s effort for the good of our people”.

     

    The Chairman of Abia State Traditional Rulers Council, Eze Eberechi Dick, who led other royal fathers to the occasion, thanked Abaribe and described him as a worthy representative of the people.