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Tag: Falana

  • Electoral Act 2015 legalises card reader, says Falana

    Electoral Act 2015 legalises card reader, says Falana

    Contrary to the judgments of the Supreme Court in upholding some disputed governorship elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on April 11, 2015, Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has asserted that the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2015 legalises the use of card reader machines.

    He averred in a statement issued in Lagos that Section 52 of the Electoral Act has been amended to accommodate the use of card reader machines.

    Falana said: “Prior to the amendment, section 52 of the Electoral Act had prohibited the INEC from the use of any form of electronic voting. But following the amendment of the provision, INEC has been conferred with the power to determine the procedure to use for any election.

    “Specifically, section 52 states that ‘voting at an election shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission’.

    “With the amendment of the law, INEC was on terra firma when it determined to use the card reader machine for the accreditation of voters for the 2015 general election”.

    The senior lawyer said there was no need to further amend the law to legalise the use of card reader, emphasising that the suggestion “is totally uncalled for”.

    He said: “In view of the clear provisions of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Act 2015, it is indubitably clear that the INEC acted within the ambit of the law when it issued the directive for the use of card reader machine for voter accreditation during the last general election.

    “The card reader device was designed to deal with the manipulation of election results through the declaration of bogus votes that have no correlation with the number of registered voters. Thus, with the use of the card reader machines, the number of total votes cast in an election cannot exceed the number of accredited voters.

    “The strident opposition to the use of card reader for voter accreditation by seasoned riggers of elections was borne out of the realisation that it could substantially eliminate the manipulation of election results.”

    Falana added that a number of the election petitions filed by aggrieved candidates were anchored on the gap between the number of voters accredited with the card reader machines and the fake election results declared by some returning officers.                                                                                                                                  But he wondered why at the election petition tribunals, the INEC, through its lawyers, canvassed rather curiously, that the directive on accreditation of voters with the aid of card reader machines was not backed by any law.

    “And that failure to comply with the directive could not vitiate any election conducted by the INEC. Since the INEC has replaced manual accreditation with electronic accreditation, the law does not require a petitioner to tender evidence of manual accreditation along with the report obtained from the card reader machine.

    “However, in spite of the clear position of the INEC on the mandatory use of card readers for the governorship and state legislative elections, it did not adduce any argument in favour of the use of electronic device at the various election petition tribunals and the appellate courts. It is particularly intriguing that the INEC did not defend the card reader by relying on section 52 of the Electoral Act (Amendment Act) 2015.

    “If the attention of the Justices of the Supreme Court had been drawn to the 2015 amendment of the Electoral Act, they could not have held that accreditation by the card reader machine was supplementary to manual accreditation. In other words, the judgments of the apex court would have legitimised the use of card reader for voter accreditation. No doubt, the legitimisation of the card reader would have had dire consequences on the results of the disputed governorship elections,” he said.

     

     

  • Ese: don’t mix criminality with religion, say Soyinka, Falana

    Ese: don’t mix criminality with religion, say Soyinka, Falana

    Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka and activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday condemned the Federal Government’s failure to prosecute Senator Ahmed Yerima who allegedly married an Egyptian girl of 13.

    Soyinka said failure to punish such acts embolden others to engage in them.

    He also faulted attempts to justify Ese Oruru’s abduction and conversion to Islam.

    At a joint briefing in Lagos, Soyinka and Falana said Ese’s abduction was an act of criminality that must not go unpunished.

    Soyinka disagreed with a professor of Islamic Eschatology and Director of Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Ishaq Akintola, who claimed that Islam has no age barrier in marriage.

    “I want to ask him (Akintola), who invoked religion in the first place? What everybody was screaming was that this was a crime, a criminal act. Who brought religion into a purely criminal act? People should be very careful when they speak. They should take care not to worsen an already inexcusable situation by dragging religion into it,” Soyinka said.

    According to the Nobel laureate, specialists in human physiology had declared that at a certain age, a girl-child is not fit for sexual intercourse with “a grizzled, horny adult”.

    “So, who exactly brings religion into issues of governance, of constitution, of law? We’re saying that there’s something higher than the protocols of any religion, and has to be higher simply because those who inhabit this border called Nigeria belong to more than one religion.

    “There has to be a commonality which directs our conduct, which organises our lives. As inadequate as it is, it is the Constitution.

    “For me – I don’t know about you – the welfare of a child is even more important than money that is stolen. You can always retrieve the money, but when you damage a child with a fistula, which ruins a child for life, if you believe in God, you’re committing a crime against God.

    “If you steal money, you commit crime against the circular society, but when you damage a child because of your own depravity, you ruin that child for life, you traumatise that child, so don’t come and tell me that you’re religious and pious.”

    Soyinka noted that during the Yerima child-marriage saga, scholars highlighted tenets from the Quran which proved Yerima wrong.

    “A governor, now senator, boasts that he has a right to marry and consummated a marriage with a 13-year-old, when it’s proven that he actually paid the father who was a driver in Egypt, and we screamed at the time that this was a crime, not only in Nigeria but in a Moslem country – Egypt; that this was cross-border sex trafficking, in addition to flouting the laws of this nation and Egypt.

    “He took the girl from school and then announces his right to consummate the marriage – that his religion permitted him to do so,” Soyinka said.

    According to him, acts of impunity inevitably lead to problems such as Boko Haram.

    “When you invoke religion, there are others who will say: ‘O, you say you are pious, but I am holier than you, therefore I can interpret that same source the way I want to authorise me to kill you, your wife, your brothers, your family; because I say you’re not holy enough and I can prove it.’ That is what happens when we allow people to get away with impunity based on religion.

    “So, let’s take religion out of this. We’re talking about pure criminality and it is my demand, and will always remain my demand, that until you make an example of people like Yerima, there will be thousands of Yunusa, the man who abducted Ese,” Soyinka said.

    Soyinka said demanding justice for Ese does not mean being against Islam.

    “I sympathise with his (Akintola’s) feeling that his religion is under siege. But he should look for other reasons. He shouldn’t try and suggest that people hate Islam. Don’t say that people are Islamophobic. That’s rubbish.

    “We’re against crimes, defined by the Constitution, the legal structure that bind us all together, and we say leave religion out of it. Any religious practice involves a continuous debate. But when we’re talking about crime please don’t diffuse the subject. When we say Yerima should be prosecuted, don’t diffuse it,” Soyinka said.

    He also faulted the idea that it is culturally acceptable to marry under-age girls. According to him, culture changes.

    “Culture is not static. It’s dynamic. It constantly evolves. There are hard-core materials in any culture, but culture itself, especially the practice, in view of greater knowledge, discoveries, even as a result of learning from other cultures, we adopt what we have always considered sacrosanct, because at the bottom of it all, at the heart of it all, culture is about human beings, about humanity.

    “There’s no culture without humanity. It’s human beings who create culture and who are guided by it and who adapt them.

    “So, when I read anything which suggests that a culture is sacrosanct, I just wonder on what planet they are living, because history contradicts this absolutely.”

    Falana said under Section 38 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, no child of school age should be forced to convert to another religion other than his parents’.

    The section says: “No person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if such instruction ceremony or observance relates to a religion other than his own, or religion not approved by his parent or guardian.”

    Falana said Ese was attending a school in Bayelsa State when Yunusa allegedly abducted her to Kano State and forcefully converted her to Islam without her parents’ approval.

    “That is a violation of Section 38 of the Constitution,” Falana said.

    Falana noted that Yunusa’s father had spoken out that he warned his son not to bring Ese to Kano, adding that when the Emir learned of it, he directed security agencies to intervene.

    “There is a United Nations convention for the rights of the child. Nigeria as a UN member ratified the convention and domesticated the law in 2003. Since 2003, we have had the Child’s Right Act. Under Section 15 of the Act, every child in Nigeria shall be educated at the expense of the state from primary to junior secondary school.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, in 2004, we also enacted the Compulsory Universal Basic Education Act that has also imposed a duty on the state to ensure that every child is educated from primary to junior secondary school.

    “In fact, under that law, it is a criminal offence not to allow your child to be educated. What Yunusa has done by taking that girl from her school in Yenegoa is a violation of that law.

    “About 24 states have adopted the Child’s Right Act, and under the law, which is applicable in Bayelsa State, what Yunusa did is purely criminal – kidnapping, forced marriage, rape, sexual assault on a girl who was 13 last year. Now she has been put in a family way. You can imagine the danger to the health of that girl.

    “That is why all Nigerians must rise to retrieve all under-age children that have been forced into illegal marriages. We need a national movement against child marriage in our country,” Falana said.

  • Ese Oruru: Falana advises states to adopt Child Rights Act to stop abuse

    Ese Oruru: Falana advises states to adopt Child Rights Act to stop abuse

    Chairperson of the Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA), Mrs. Funmi Falana has advised state governments which have not adopted the Child’s Rights Act to do so in order to stop further abuse of children.

    Falana gave the advice in a statement issued in Lagos yesterday in reaction to the case of Ese Oruru, 14, who was abducted by one Yinusa from Bayelsa State to Kano. She said the advice became necessary having just found out that the case of Ese Oruru is not an isolated one.

    “We have established  that Ese Oruru’s case is not an isolated one and that there are many other teenagers and their families who are suffering in silence.

    “We have just received the  report of the kidnap and conversion from Christianity  to Islam of a 14-year old girl named Lucy Ejeh which occured in Zamfara state.

    “Lucy was allegedly abducted by one Hajiya Zarau on the 31st day of October 2009 and taken to an imam’s house for the purpose of conversion to Islam.   All efforts made by her parents to secure her release have proved abortive.

    “We use this opportunity to call on the government of Zamfara State to ensure that Lucy is re-united with her family without any further delay while her abductors are fished out and prosecuted.

    “We are also compelled to call on parents whose underage daughters have been abducted and forced into illegal marriages to report to the media and human rights organisations in the country.”

  • Falana kicks as army commutes Gen. Ransome-Kuti’s dismissal

    Falana kicks as army commutes Gen. Ransome-Kuti’s dismissal

    Lagos lawyer and counsel to Gen. Enitan Ransome-Kuti, Femi Falana (SAN) has described as “totally unacceptable” the demotion of his client from the rank of a Brig. Gen. to Colonel.

    Falana was reacting to the decision of the Nigerian Army Council, which confirmed Ransome-Kuti’s conviction but commuted his sentence of dismissal from service to reduction in rank from Brigadier General to Colonel with four years seniority with effect from October 15, 2015.

    The decision on Ransome-Kuti was published in a circular signed by Colonel O.N. Taiwo for the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

    It reads: “A Special Court Martial (SCM) was convened  to try the above named senior officer. He was arraigned on a three-count charge for failure to perform Military Duties and Miscellaneous Offence Relating to Service Property. He was tried, discharged and acquitted on count one.

    “He was, however, found guilty on count two and three. He was thus awarded dismissal from the Nigerian Army on Count two and six months’ imprisonment on count three.

    “Consequently, I am directed to inform you that Reference B has conveyed to this Headquarters that the Army Council in its last meeting on 22 February 2016, confirmed the conviction of the accused senior officer on count two but commuted the sentence of dismissal to reduction in rank from Brigadier General to Colonel with four years seniority WEF 15 October 2015.

    “The council also quashed the finding of guilty and award of six months imprisonment awarded by the SCM on count three and replaced same with a finding of “not guilty”. The senior officer was thus discharged and acquitted on count three WEF 15 October 2015″.

    The circular also directed the Army Headquarter Garrison to release Ransome-Kuti from close custody, from where he would be posted out of the jurisdiction.

    However, Falana maintained that there was no justification whatsoever to warrant the demotion of the former General.

    “That is my first reaction,” he said, ‘but I am holding a meeting with my client tomorrow (today) for further direction on the matter.”

  • Falana asks court to ban dollar as legal tender

    Falana asks court to ban dollar as legal tender

    The Federal High Court in Abuja has been asked to stop the use of dollar as a means of payment in the country.

    The court is also asked to restrain the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from allowing market forces to determine the exchange rate of naira to the dollar.

    These are contained in a suit by rights’ activist, Femi Falana (SAN), with the CBN as the sole respondent.

    Falana said the CBN has “dollarised the economy” to the extent that the dollar has become a legal tender, with school fees, rents and others now being charged and paid in dollars  “to the detriment of the nation’s economy”.

    He argued that CBN’s monetary policy resulted in the naira chasing a few dollars, with an attendant weaker naira and adverse multiplier effects, such as rising inflation, closure of factories and increasing unemployment.

    Falana noted that even when the CBN claimed to have fixed the exchange rate at N198 to a dollar and President Muhammadu Buhari was refusing to devalue the naira, the CBN has “allowed market forces to increase the exchange rate to over N400 to a dollar”.

    The plaintiff, in a supporting affidavit, said “the devaluation of the currency and dollarisation of the economy have made mockery of the 2016 budget.

    “The monetary policy of the defendant (the CBN) has led to a situation whereby too much naira chase few dollars, thereby making the naira weaker in relation to the dollar and instigating an adverse multiplier effect.

    “The monetary policy of the defendant has also led to increasing costs, rapidly rising inflation and interest rates, closure of factories and high unemployment.”

    The plaintiff asked the court to determine “whether the monetary policy of the defendant, which allows market forces to fix and determine the exchange rate of the naira is not a violation of Section 16 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act 2007 and Section 16 of the 1999 Constitution as amended”.

    He also seeks a determination whether the CBN’s decision to allow the dollar as legal tender is not a contravention of Section 20 of the CBN Act.

    Falana prayed the court as follows:

    *A declaration that by virtue of Section 16 of the CBN Act 2007, the defendant shall fix and determine the exchange rate of the naira by a suitable mechanism devised for that purpose.

    *A declaration that the monetary policy of the defendant, which allows market forces to fix and determine the exchange rate of the naira is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates Section 16 of the CBN Act 2007.

    *A declaration that the dollarisation of the economy through the use of the dollar as a legal tender in Nigeria is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates Section 20 of the CBN Act, 2007.

    *An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant from allowing market forces to determine the exchange rate of the naira.

    *An order directing the defendant to stop use of the dollar as a legal tender in Nigeria.”

  • Tarfa to compensate EFCC, Falana after withdrawing N5bn suit

    The Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday asked a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Rickey Tarfa, to pay punitive cost of N10, 000 each to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), MTN Nigeria Communications Limited and activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) for withdrawing a suit filed against them.

    Tarfa had filed the fresh suit over an alleged unauthorised access to his mobile phones.

    He demanded N5billion for the alleged violation of his right to privacy.

    Tarfa, who also joined EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu and a foreigner, Mrs. Rashidatou Abdou, will pay N50, 000 to the respondents.

    It was the second fundamental rights suit Tarfa would file since his arrest for alleged obstruction of justice.

    A lawyer from his chambers, O. Oladele, moved an ex parte application which sought to discontinue the case.

    Tarfa gave no reason for withdrawing the action.

    EFCC lawyers, Mr. Wahab Shittu and Rotimi Oyedepo, did not oppose the suit’s withdrawal.

    They, however, urged the court to award punitive cost against Tarfa.

    “We have no objection to the discontinuance of the suit but we want the court to award a punitive cost against the applicant. Our names have been flying around in the major newspapers since yesterday,” Shittu said.

    Oladele argued that the respondents had no right of reply because his application was an ex-parte one.

    Besides, he said Tarfa did not serve the respondents with the suit, therefore they did not suffer any inconvenience or incur expenses to warrant financial compensation.

  • Activist deplores attack on Falana

    Activist deplores attack on Falana

    Rights activist and lawyer Morakinyo Ogele has called on Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose to call his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka to order over the latter’s attacks on a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana.

    Ogele said Olayinka’s attacks on Falana was “reprehensible, unacceptable, disrespectful and a manifestation of intoxication of a transient power.”

    Falana came under attack from Olayinka over his (Falana’s) position that the June 21, 2014 governorship election was rigged given the latest revelations by the former state Peoples democratic Party (PDP) Secretary, Dr. Tope Aluko.

    Olayinka, in a statement accused Falana of speaking from both sides of the mouth and being inconsistent in his reactions to issues in the polity.

    But Ogele, in a telephone chat with our reporter yesterday described Olayinka’s tirade against Falana as “uncalled for”, maintaining that the former President of the West African Bar Association (WABA) only expressed his opinion over latest revelation brought to the public domain by Aluko.

     He said: “I want to advise Fayose to call Lere Olayinka to order because his outburst against Falana couldn’t have been sanctioned by Fayose.

    Press Secretary who has conducted himself with decorum in the

    discharge of his duties in defending government policies and his

    principal.

    “Falana is a man respected all over the world as a human rights

    activist, defender of the defenceless and fighter for the common man.

    Falana is a thorn in the flesh of bad leaders who never shies away

    from speakimg his mind on topical nation issues.

    “Where was Lere when Falana and other pro-democracy activists fought

    the Babangida and Abacha dictatorships to a standstill.

    “If Falana and his comrades never fought and won the battle against

    military dictatorship, Lere and his ilk won’t be in government today

    and he should remember that he will leave government one day and be

    made to account for his deeds during his tenure.”

  • Falana, others: we’ll fight anti-graft battle obstacles

    Falana, others: we’ll fight anti-graft battle obstacles

    Lawyers stormed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday to defend the integrity of their trade and support the anti-graft agency’s battle against corruption.

    The group of “Concerned Lawyers” described as embarrassing, actions of some legal practitioners which seem to be hindering the fight against corruption.

    The lawyers, who were led to the agency’s Lagos office by Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), promised to  mobilise Nigerians against any group seeking to hinder the anti-graft war.

    They also backed the EFCC for keeping some high profile suspects in custody, wondering why the courts will grant them bail, but refuse suspected kidnappers and armed robbers bail.

    The lawyers, who were received by EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu, assured the commission of their unflinching support so long as it is prepared to fight corruption without being selective.

    Falana, who first spoke on behalf of the group, urged the  agency to avoid generalising on corruption among lawyers, insisting that there are as many bad eggs in the legal profession as there are in the commission.

    He noted the worrisome spate of corruption in the country, describing it as a family phenomenon, where fathers and their children are locked in the same prison without shame.

    “We are here to assure the EFCC of our unflinching support and solidarity as long as the EFCC is prepared to fight graft without trace of selectivity.

    “We also want to urge you to beware not to fall into the fallacy of generalisation. There are bad lawyers and judges, but there are also good ones.

    “Name and shame criminal minded judges and lawyers. Majority of members of the legal profession are prepared to work with the EFCC to ensure that corruption is fought.

    “There should be respect for lawyers doing their professional duties. No lawyer should be harassed for doing his professional duty. But any lawyer found to have aided and abated corruption should be dealt with in accordance with the laws.  No one is above the law.

    “We are embarrassed by a few of our privileged colleagues who bribe judges, talk to them behind doors to pervert justice,” he said.

    While reiterating that every accused person is entitled to legal representation, Falana urged lawyers to uphold the ethics of their profession.

    “Lawyers must not be allowed to take advantage of their profession to frustrate trial of a suspect. We have a duty to this country as ministers in the temple of justice,” he said.

    Emphasising the call for bail denial for persons accused of corruption, Falana noted that the courts must exercise their discretion to bail very well.

    “Why deny a suspected armed robber or kidnapper bail, but grant a person who is accused of stealing N10 billion or above bail and give him his passport to roam the world?

    “Corruption is responsible for armed robbery and kidnapping. It is responsible for unemployment in our society and so, why should such people enjoy bail?

    Replying, Magu said he was willing to die fighting graft, noting that corruption has started fighting back.

    He said: “Corruption has started fighting back. Beneficiaries of proceeds of corruption have constituted themselves into a gang of 134 lawyers to fight back, but we will win.

    “We have professionals who are paid with stolen funds to fight those fighting corruption. They do not believe that corruption in itself is wrong…”

    He described them as a “set of unpatriotic Nigerians”, noting that they have created an industry out of providing expertise and technical know-how to crooks.

    “It was against this backdrop that I made my call on some senior lawyers to aid EFCC to recover our stolen commonwealth, rather than helping to thwart the efforts of the government in that direction. Since I made that call, a number of your colleagues have been calling for my head.

    “I want to announce that we have been prosecuting lawyers quietly. Apart from the widely published case against learned silk, Ricky Tarfa  (SAN), the EFCC has taken several lawyers to court and some have been convicted. The commission would be releasing all the information about those people to the public soon.

    “Apart from those, we have been quietly investigating many senior lawyers across the country in relation to the proceeds of certain heinous crimes against the Nigerian people. When we have reached a comfortable stage in our investigations, we would take them to court and make the outcomes of our inquiries known to the people.

    “I am very much aware that the war against corruption and all the work of the EFCC cannot be done without the courts, where lawyers and judges make up that indispensable branch of democratic governance.

    “Far from the devious insinuation that we may be denying the rights of suspects and accused persons to legal representation, what we are asking members of the noble profession to do is stricter due diligence on their prospective clients and refuse to be part of the mindless looting of Nigeria.

    “Let senior lawyers allow the ethics of their profession, the interest of Nigeria and their good conscience to guide them when they accept briefs and are called upon to use their skills to pervert the cause of justice, as many now do.”

    Meanwhile, Mohammed Fawehinmi, son of the late legal icon, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, advocated death penalty for corrupt persons.

    He said: “Once there is evidence, there is no point granting corrupt people bail. Keep them under lock and after the trial, execute them. Judges should stop relying on Section 36 for corruption matters.

    “More than 4200 soldiers have been killed in the fight against insurgency; over five million people have been displaced.”

  • Falana to govt: recover outstanding $66.5b loans, others

    Falana to govt: recover outstanding $66.5b loans, others

    Lagos Lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday urged the federal government to recover its outstanding $66.5billion in loans, royalties, levies and other recoverable revenues instead of “seeking an emergency loan of $3.5 billion” to fund ots ambitions N6.8 billion loan

    In a letter to Minister of Finance Mrs Kemi Adeosun dated February 12,  Falana hinted of his plan to seek the leave of the court “not later than February 29” to stop the government from taking the loan, since “you have not deemed it fit to react to the serious issues raised in the letter.’

    Falana had written a letter dated February 5, addressed to the minister, cautioning the government against taking an emergency $3.5 billion loan.

    But the federal government has since announced that it is not taking “any emergency loan” to fund its 2016 budget plans.

  • Battle on tariff hike not over, says Falana

    Battle on tariff hike not over, says Falana

    Human Rights lawyer Femi Falana has warned electricity distribution companies to expect more opposition from rights groups, if they implement a new tariff approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

    Falana spoke at the 2016 National Conference Meeting of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Lagos on Saturday, with the theme: ‘Challenges of Protecting the Human Rights of Nigerians.”

    Other speakers at the event included CDHR President Malachy Ugwumadu, widow of the late rights activist Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, Bose, and wife of CDHR founder, the late Alao Aka-Bashorun, Kudirat.

    Falana said: “Last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) went to the streets to send a note of warning that there is no way you can justify increase in tariff by 45 per cent; the battle is not over yet.”

    “The NLC president informed me that what happened during the week was just a warning and until the government reverses that decision to increase tariff, in the midst of darkness, the struggle will continue.”

    Earlier, CDHR President Malachy Ugwumadu said the organisation would aid the government’s anti-corruption fight by publishing a document detailing the history, extent and perpetrators of corruption.

    Ugwumadu said: “We intend to capture the looting activities in the country, liaise with law enforcement agencies and document names of those alleged to have milked us dry.

    “The purpose for this is to ascertain the actual amount, track the much to be recovered and quantify in developmental terms, what they would have translated to.”

    The conference also marked the 10th Beko memorial as well as that of Aka-Bashorun.

    Mrs. Ransome-Kuti said her late husband’s life was full of purpose and protection of people’s rights.

    She urged Nigerians to back President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts to sanitise the country.

    “We now have a President that represents integrity, transparency and due process,” she said.